The Witchfinder Wars (19 page)

The soft flesh was marked with a symbol I
recognized instantly. I'd seen it on the cover of the books Ivy had
me study. Indented in the pale skin, a small circle flanked by two
half moons shown in the light, pale and worn, like a scar that had
been there for a long while. My fingers traced it before I found
the courage to meet her eyes. They were patient, even amused by my
amazement.

"What is this, Aunt Evie?" My words came out
in a whisper, though no ears could have heard us here
underground.

"The mark of the Chosen, Annie. You will
receive yours in time. It is to separate us from the others so we
will know our true brothers and sisters in magic."

"Did it hurt?"

It looked like it would have hurt. Hurt a
lot. I released her wrist and stared at her.

She sighed. "Annie, it will come to you on
its own. There is no telling how this will form on you. I fell on a
glass statue my mother had put out in the garden. Ivy cut hers on
the rocks at the edge of the pond. It will come to you as it wills,
not as you chose. There is no rhyme or reason to it. Now may I
continue?"

I nodded and leaned forward once more.

"The Witchfinders discovered the mark, but
in their quest for power and riches, they began to gather up
innocents along with the witches. Everyone was burned. Or tortured.
It didn't matter which; both ways meant a certain death as long as
they got what they wanted. It's our energies, Annie; that's what
they're after. If they ever get their hands on you, promise me you
will do all you can to escape. Even if it means your death. Because
if they drain you, and they will, you'll lose so much more than
your powers. You'll lose your ability to remember things. Your hold
on your sanity. And when the energy is all gone, and there is no
more use for you, they will...let you die."

She tied the band back around the scar and
grasped my hands.

"Our deaths have granted them unlimited
wealth and power. But now the Witchfinders are much pickier about
who they target. Larger covens break up for fear of being
discovered. Smaller ones shun the most powerful of us for fear the
energies will bring attention to them. This is where you come in,
child."

"But, Evie, that's just it! I
don't
have any powers! I don't have anything other than what you and Ma
have forced down my throat for the past seventeen years. So if they
ever do capture me, the Witchfinders are going to be sorely
disappointed."

My aunt shook her head, her grip tightening
on my fingers. "No, you
do
, child. You do. Annie, you are
just so stubborn. So persistent when you get an idea stuck in your
head. You won't let it go. Even if you don't understand the
consequences of it."

The breath I was holding escaped in a
groan.

"So they are after us now? Why?"

Evie nodded. "They are. I saw them in the
stars last week; your mother, in the cards. She didn't want to tell
you for fear you would turn away from your nature, Anya. You
are
a very powerful girl. When you are in the circle, our
success rate skyrockets. It's as if our presence doesn't even
matter. The Great Mother listens to
you
. Grants you what we
are seeking. We are there to help of course, but if we were not,
your power would remain the same. You overshadow us, child, and we
know this. That's why your mother wants you in the coven so badly.
So you can help us succeed when so often we've failed. Yet, having
you there is dangerous. I knew this, but I didn't realize how much
so until you told me you had seen the Goddess last night. That
vision, that contact, explains why you are so important. To Her,
you are so much more than just another follower. She must see you
as a daughter. A direct link for Her here on Earth. Though I can't
for the life of me understand why."

Saw her? I talked to her. Hugged her. But we
hadn't gotten that far in my story yet.

"We weren't surprised at how strong you are,
though. Your father was as strong as you are now in his prime.
Annie, your power will surpass his with time. Especially now that
we must consider your connection with the Great Mother."

First, I learn of a secret hideout behind my
house. Next, I learn we are being hunted by a crazy group of psycho
witch-hunters. And I am considered special to our deity. Now, she
mentions my father. They never talked about him; he had left us
before I was born. Hadn't he? Or was that something else?

"Wait a minute, Aunt Evie." I pulled my
hands free and stood. "My father? I thought he had deserted us.
Fear of commitment and all that. What are you telling me?"

Suddenly, Evie appeared old to me. Fragile
as I towered over her. I was too angry to care as I turned my back
on her.

"He did leave, Annie. But not by choice.
Sandor and your mother...they were two halves of a whole. The night
he was taken, he was traveling up north to find a skilled mid-wife
to help with your birth. If a doctor saw your mother's scar, he
could have turned us in to the Witchfinders, and you never would
have been."

"So that's it? He was grabbed by these
Witchfinders?"

"We believe so. His energies were of fire
just as yours are. The gypsy tribe he was going to meet up with
never saw him. And we searched desperately for him. Your mother
refused to give up hope he was still out there. Alive. But Ivy was
distraught, darkened by the tragedy that was unfolding when you
were born. It's still too painful for her to discuss it. I'm sure
he died years ago at their hands. I hope he did, anyway. He named
you, you know. Your mother was going to have you named "Josephine"
after her favorite French empress, and Sandor tried his best to
convince her otherwise. When he disappeared, you became Ivy's final
tribute to him. Your name was a constant reminder for her of the
happy times they spent with one another."

No, I didn't know. I hadn't known any of
this and now, I didn't want to. It was so much easier to just
believe the man who should have raised me had abandoned me instead.
Abandonment was easy to explain. Easy to justify since Ivy had been
so young when she became a mother. No, it was much too painful to
realize the father I had believed didn't care anything about us
did
care. Cared enough to risk his life for ours. And lost
it.

My sudden anger surprised me. Sure, I'd been
angry before when Evie dropped this latest bombshell. Yet, my anger
was focused not on her, but towards the company that had stolen the
childhood I should have had. Stolen the man who should have loved
me, guided me. Locked him up and took his powers.

Unless he did the unthinkable before they
could. Unless he took his own life to save himself from the torment
Evie described
.

But a part of me, the one I could only
attribute to him, was sure he would never have done such a thing.
He would have spent his days in captivity, trying to figure out how
to get back to the ones he loved. I knew this as sure as I was
breathing because, if I had been in his place, I would have done
the same.

Evie walked toward the bed and moved a
picture off the wall. Behind it was a small safe. She punched in
the code before opening it and taking something I couldn't see out.
Then she returned to me.

"Lift your hair, child."

I was too stunned, too hurt to protest. I
lifted my ragtag ponytail and felt the weight of something press
against my collarbone. She tied a knot at the back of my neck as I
reached up to examine the present.

It wasn't a necklace. Not exactly. The
leather strap held a pale blue oval stone that chilled me as it
grazed my skin. I pulled it up and studied the fine lines etched
into stone, following them until I realized they created a faint
version of the symbol forever scarred on Evie's wrist. The stone's
heart was a clear shade of white with blues and greens running
through it like the veins in my arms.

"Moonstone?" I asked as Evie came around in
front of me.

She nodded. "Moonstone. It is the stone of
pleasant dreams, and lovers. The wearers of moonstone will always
be reminded their love is real each time they gaze upon the stone.
As long as it is in their possession, no night terrors will come to
them."

Her hands were cold as they wrapped around
mine and the stone I held.

"This was the last thing your father gave to
Ivy before he left us. I think that, somehow, he knew he wouldn't
be coming back to her. So he wanted her to be protected; as I am
sure he would want you protected now. Sandor could divine by fire,
you know? See things in the flames not even we could see in the
timeless practices of stargazing or the tarot."

For nearly eighteen years, I had worked hard
not to think about my father, even about having one, since he had
never been around to begin with. Of course I asked about him as a
child. Who wouldn't? But it caused Ivy too much pain. The mere
question of 'who' was enough to send her into hysterics complete
with tears and screams. I learned quickly to lock away any
curiosity I had about him. Now, as the pieces fell together, I
found I was afraid to know what picture they would hold.

If he had been taken because of his power,
then I could be next. But my powers had only just begun to surface.
It could be years before they exposed their true potential.

Couldn't it?

Divination by fire. His gift was fire. The
one he passed down to me. My father drew his strength from it. His
knowledge. And I am following in his footsteps, almost as if I am
reading a script he had already written. Acting out his life
through the reflection of my own. Which means I could be taken away
from here. From Manning. Tortured. My powers stolen until I
die.

I looked up at my aunt with a fear I saw
reflected in her face. I knew she had to be thinking the same
things racing through my own mind. When Evie nodded, I knew she
understood.

"That is why I showed you this place, Annie.
If anything...anything at all ever happens, I want you to run here
as fast as you can. Forget about me. Forget about your mother.
There's plenty of money in the safe to get you out of Manning. From
there, do everything you can to avoid magic until things have
quieted down and you're safe. Even talking with the Great Mother.
She will understand your silence. She will protect you when all
else fails. Promise me this."

I wrapped my arms around her then, the
moonstone hanging at my neck burning my skin as I hugged the
fragile creature who had taken such pains to warn me of the
future.

"I promise, Aunt Evie. Thank you."

I bit my bottom lip as I made the promise I
knew there was no way I could keep. If they were ever in danger, I
would do all I could to save them.

Even at the expense of losing myself.

I asked a simple, single question as I held
her.

"When?"

She pulled back from my embrace and sighed
before sitting back down on the sofa. "We don't know for certain.
The stars have been shaded to me as far as when they will strike.
But it will be soon. Sooner than any of us can expect. Annie, I
want you to bring some of your things down here. Clothes. Books.
You may be hidden from the world for a while and you must be able
to survive it."

"I won't hide forever, Evie. I...." I curled
up on the other side of the couch. The flush in my face must have
told her what I was thinking, and she frowned.

"If this is about some boy, Anya, you can't
be serious. We're not talking about you skipping school. This is
your life! One you can lose quite easily!"

"You don't understand, Evie." The tone I
used was cold, devoid of any emotion except for anger. How could
she understand? As far as I knew, she had never loved anyone other
than my mother. Evie wouldn't know what it was like to have your
heart shattered at the thought of losing the one you wanted. I
leaned forward as I tried to explain.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you
since this morning. The reason I fell asleep on the altar. I...I
met a boy at school. The night of the ritual, I did a binding spell
to make him mine." Her eyebrow rose at that, but she kept silent as
I continued. "I didn't see him for days afterward. His father died.
Then he came here yesterday, visited with me. But it was so much
more than that, Evie. Tommy...he cares for me. And I care for him
too. Enough to release the binding. I can't stand the thought of
him leaving me, but I won't influence his life that way. I won't
take away his ability to choose whether to love me or not."

"What happened?"

A simple question I should have had the
answers for. I took a moment to breathe before I answered. "It
didn't work. The Great Mother told me She couldn't grant my
request. That our destinies were intertwined long before any of
this happened."

Evie was examining my face and I saw her
skepticism, almost as if the story I told her was one that had come
from a very good imagination. It wasn't the reaction I had expected
from her. If anything, I would have expected this disbelief from
Ivy before I could ever imagine it coming from my beloved aunt.

Her skepticism was replaced with a look of
suspicion. "You said his father died a few days ago. What's his
last name?"

"Hopkins. Why?"

She hissed between clinched teeth before
scrambling up to her feet. When she pulled me up with her, I was
sure she was going to strike out at me. Instead, Evie wrapped her
hands around my arms and shook me.

"No! No. You stay away from him, Annie!
They...he...no!"

I jerked away. I was still enough of a
teenager to feel the rebellion building up.

"I knew you couldn't understand! I won't do
it, Evie. I
can't
do it! The Gods know, I tried. How can you
be acting this way? You don't even know him! He's a good person.
Kind. If it hadn't been for him, then..."