Year of the Witch Page 5
“We’ll get you next time, witch. You and your wolf.” Click.
Chapter Twenty-Three
We were all sitting on the floor of my room. I had called an emergency meeting, and Devon and Rachel had rushed right over. I was surprised to see that Jake had driven them. Since my few kisses with Sean, I had thought less about Jake. Okay, fine, truth be told, not at all. I guess I was finally over my childhood crush and maybe on to my first love.
The kitten alternated between sitting on my lap and Devon’s lap.
“You little traitor,” I said to the kitten. Devon laughed out loud. Seriously. I looked to see if Rachel had indeed heard it as well. She smiled at me.
I told them all my story of what had happened that day at the library. It included backtracking to catch them up on the fact that Sean was indeed our mysterious shape shifter, as I had discovered that night of the dance. It finished with me telling them how he’d saved me in the library. Sean encouraged me to include the part about the book. I still had not showed him the various parts I had found about my witch ancestors and their personal interactions with golden wolves, as well.
“I agree with Sean,” said Rachel. “Maybe Ben just didn’t know about the book. I can’t imagine he would keep it from you on purpose. He’s been nothing but good to you and your family—to all of us.”
“Maybe Ben didn’t know about it—maybe he did,” said Devon. “But my bet is that Grams hid it there for safekeeping. I mean, c’mon, where better to hide a book than in a library full of them.” We all processed that for a moment, and she continued. “I’m sure Grams knew you would find it sooner or later. And you did, you were drawn to it, you said, right?”
“Okay, so if we go with that theory,” I pondered out loud, “What is in that book that is so important it had to be hidden, even from other Council members? So important that these other shifters want to see it, too?”
“Trina?” asked Sean. “Do you trust us all? I mean, I think maybe we need to go through this book page by page together to discover just what makes this book so important. You and the other witches can judge the contents on possible dangers to you or the coven. And I can see if I pick up on something affecting our clan or the other shifters. What do you think?”
I think he looked adorable sitting on the floor of my room, barefoot in his jeans and white t-shirt. I thought it was cute to watch him try to ignore that little black ball of fur hissing at him every now and then.
“Trina?” Devon called my name and brought me back from my little daydream. “Well, at least we know why that kitten hates your boyfriend.” Everyone laughed. I relaxed a little and sat back against my bed. I felt Sean’s fall around my shoulder. Boyfriend sounded good.
“Trina? Hello, Earth to Trina?” It was Rachel this time. “Look, I think Sean’s right. We need to figure out why this book is so important, especially since they know you have it; and they want it. Can you tell us anything you’ve read in it so far that might give you some idea?”
“Not really. So far it seems to be a journal written by lots of my different ancestors. I saw spells, prayers, dreams—things like that. It’s called the Book of Shadows.”
“Sounds kind of ominous,” said Rachel. “Let’s get started.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
We decided we would catalog our findings in the sections I had mentioned. Plus, we included an extra heading for anything possibly pertaining to the shifters. It was time consuming, since I refused to let anyone remove any of the pages from the original binding of the book. We alternated taking breaks and running out to pick up dinner. Finally, we decided to call it a night. I watched out the window as Jake once again picked up the girls.
“Bother you?” asked Sean, coming up behind me. He slid his arms around my waist, and I leaned back into him comfortably.
“Not a bit, and you know it.” I nudged him playfully with my elbow.
“I think I’ve got it in me to keep working for another hour or two if you do,” said Sean. He pulled me over, and we plopped back down on the floor of my room. I was slightly anxious. I knew that the first passage I had seen about the witch dreaming of the golden wolf was within the next few pages. I wondered what kind of reaction Sean might have to it. What if us falling for each other was all because of a prophecy or whatever? I decided to merely tailor my reaction off of his at this point in time.
I closed my eyes and must have dozed off. I awoke to Sean shaking me and yelling at me excitedly.
“Trina, Trina, wake up…you’ve got to listen to this.”
I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Sean began reading from a passage:
“And it shall be the legacy of the Sayter family line that the youngest witch of every third generation shall lead her coven within the protection of the Council and the Guild. The Goddess shall provide the stability of the Earth element through the binding of the new and old. The young fledgling herself will provide the elements of Air and Water, through her own knowledge and dreams. And the element of Fire shall provide the ultimate protection through the presence of the chosen one from the Guild—the golden wolf.”
“What the hell, Trina?! This book is talking about me and you. It was no coincidence that I was chosen by the Guild to protect you. It’s some sort of prophecy. I don’t understand.” Sean ran his hand through his hair, clearly frustrated. “So, what? We had no choice in this? Emotionally, we’re bound together because centuries of some stupid spell say so? Yes, I was and still am drawn to you. But I know you love Jake. You shouldn’t have to be with me because some stupid prophecy says so.” Sean tossed the book onto my bed and was out the window so fast that I hadn’t even had a chance to get up off the floor. By the time I got to the window, I saw that he had shifted and was running away from me. I caught a final glimpse of his gold-streaked tail as he skirted through the weeds.
I slumped back down onto the floor. As the tears rolled down my cheeks, B.B. crawled onto my lap, purring loudly. I absently rubbed my fingers across her soft fur. Oh, little one, you’re so lucky. You have no idea what it’s like to be a teenager. And a teenager in love, at that.
The tears continued to fall—for Grams, for Sean, and for all of my worries about running a coven at age sixteen. I need help and guidance. And Goddess knows, I need protection. With the shifters after both Sean and I, there was no choice left but to let Ben and the Council know of the other shifter’s evil intentions. It was time for me to share the book and the prophecy with the rest of the witches, whether I was ready to or not.
The End of Book One…
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Bibliography
Cunningham, Scott. Earth, Air, Fire & Water: More Techniques of Natural Magic.
St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 2001.
Rain, Gwinevere. Confessions of a Teenage Witch: Celebrating the Wiccan Life.
New York, NY: The Berkley Publishing Group, 2005.