Magick (The Unwanted Series Book 1) (5 page)

He leaves and slowly closes the door.

Duke licks my face and lays his head in my lap. When I touch my face, I feel the tears spill. I didn’t know I was crying until then, but regardless, here I am streaming like a garden soaker hose down my face. Gah, I’m usually not such a crier, but now I feel like a cry baby.

I waggle Duke’s ears and get dressed in my comfy clothes. Duke leads the way to the kitchen.

It’s almost the typical scene, except father isn’t on his cell tapping or talking. He’s staring out the window, holding a cup of coffee. He looks older to me. His dark brown hair is brushed back, revealing glints of silver at his temples. His square jaw is taunt, looking like he’s disappointed or upset. I don’t want to interfere and stand there in silence.

Duke gives us away when he barks.

“I’ll feed him, if you can heat up Mrs. Scott’s delicious French toast,” I say.

Duke bounces up and down when I pour the kibble in his bowl. His happiness changes my solemn mood.

The plates are at the table and garnished with strawberries for flair and two slices of bacon. The syrup sits in the middle of the table. My father is staring at the cappuccino machine with his eyebrows creased.

“Need help with that?” I ask.

“If you want your tea, absolutely! This looks high skill.” He laughs.

I lift the lever in my cup and add the steamed milk to my tea to finish it off. Then we head to the table.

Sitting there eating in silence, I break the tension.

“So, you grew up in magick and always had powers?”

I still can’t believe this. Here I am asking my father about his magick and powers. It’s all surreal. I end up pinching my leg, just to make sure I’m not dreaming still.

Damn it, it hurt I felt it — it’s not a dream.

Taking his last drink of coffee, he answers, “Yes, I grew up with magick, although my powers were bound until I was older. This is the case for most families where powers are anticipated. Understand that powers vary for Wiccans, and can depend on bloodlines. For our family, specifically, you will be envied by many, which is dangerous.”

“Why is that dangerous?”

Pausing, he looks out the bay window. “It’s dangerous because of my bloodline… And your mother’s. Nuala’s bloodline is royal and is of pure white magick, whereas mine, although a noble bloodline, is full dark magick. Our union was not sanctioned. Nuala was next in line for the crown. Her older brother, Liam, renounced himself from the family. Her younger brother, well… he passed away when you were little. The MacKinnon’s royal legacy boils down to you.”

His pensive expression gave way for me to change the subject. I didn’t want to talk about mother and her dead brother, I wanted to focus on something light.

“Rebel. You and mother ran away, then?”

He grins and laughs. “We did. We got married and pregnant with you within a year. It was the best year of our lives. But Harkin, your grandfather, and the Guardians caught up with us. When we went back to face the music, it was more of a celebration that you were with us. It wasn’t all forgiven, but your mother was next in line for the crown, so she committed to the duty.”

“So she would have been queen?”

He nods.

“But the accident… it changed everything.”

So much for something light. That accident, is the reason for all of this and I hate thinking about it. I can’t look at him directly so I look out the bay window and hug myself with my arms.

When I look back at him, his eyes are gray and sad. “Yes, it did change things. I met with Sabine and Harkin, and we made a pact to protect you. We’ve moved around, as you know, all to keep you safe. There are many in Edayri, the magick realm that believe there should be a sovereign government over a royal one. We didn’t believe the accident was just an accident. We all knew, in time, you would need to ascend the throne following Nuala. Your mother was the white light in my darkness, just as you are. She was brave and smart, and ready to change the times — which, unfortunately, I’m sure others didn’t agree with. I know that Harkin and the Guardians worked hard to learn all they could about the accident, but unfortunately all I can tell you is that demons were involved.”

“Demons? So what types of magical beings are there in the Edayri realm?” I ask him, but I’m not sure I really want him to answer me.

“Every kind you can imagine, and some you may never have heard of. The big five are Wiccans, Demons, Valkyrie, Fae and Shape Shifters.”

“No vampires? You know, the kind that sparkle?” I giggle to myself, thinking
“Go Team Edward!”

This is all absolutely nutso. The smug look on my father’s face doesn’t gel with my sense of humor at that moment. Seriously, Fae and Shape Shifters? I don’t even know what a Valkyrie is, this is just —. I can’t help it; my lightness is shattered. It’s all I can do to keep my chin up and look at him, my father a dark magick Wiccan. A man who is formal and overly organized, a man who is usually in a suit and tie in some board meeting. This man has magick at his fingertips and now I do too.

“I’m sure there are, but I doubt they sparkle. You need to take this seriously, Willow.”

I lean back in my chair and look him in the eyes. “I am taking this seriously. I didn’t mean to offend, but it’s a lot to take in. I don’t want to be the whiny teenager throwing a fit, but my world is rocked, and a little levity every now and then is okay… right?” I cringe hoping he doesn’t jump down my throat. He doesn’t, does that make it better? No, it makes it worse.

“I do forget how young you are.” He gathers his dishes and mine and goes to the sink. I follow him to his office, and we sit in the large maroon wingback leather chairs that face each other in front of the fireplace. I tuck my left leg up under my right leg. I’m waiting not sure what to say, what to ask. What I can handle. I think learning everything in the full rush last night broke me somehow and I’m timid. I don’t want to break, I don’t want to have an episode and wake up again. It’s just us and it’s been awhile, since we’ve sat and talked at any length about something important.

My father opens his palm, and a blue light dances around his fingertips. It’s just like the light I saw in and around my hands last night. My eyes follow the wave of light. I can’t help but be amazed. It’s like nothing I had ever seen before in real life, magicians on TV got nothing on this. It’s seductive and intimidating, I can’t help but feel cool that I have it too. This whole magick thing is unwanted but at the same time, maybe…

My trance is interrupted when he says, “You are unique when it comes to our family’s powers. You embody both the light and the dark. I like to think Nuala is more prevalent than my family’s side, but the fact is that you have more dark magick. You should know it’s taken me decades to learn that magick is magick, no matter from where its base form comes. Dark doesn’t necessarily mean bad, just as light doesn’t necessarily mean good.”

He closes his palm and the dancing blue light extinguishes immediately. I frown as soon as it’s gone.

“Do others believe that dark magick is wrong?” I don’t know why, but dark magick worries me. Will it change me?

“Willow, there is a lot of prejudice around magickal families. I think your terms are snobby and over privileged brats. Whether it be light dark or anything between, they will have it measured in percentages like DNA. For Wiccan culture, it’s about purity above all. One with nature, the goddess, and the spirit. It’s not that different with other magickal beings.”

“So… they’re behind the times, it sounds like. Joy.”

“In many ways, yes,” he replies.

“How am I going to learn everything? I know nothing about what’s it called, Edayri? And who lives there. I’m an outsider. I can’t imagine anyone thrilled with me showing up. If I don’t accept the crown, what will happen?”

I really hope he answers with no big deal. Democracy wins out blah blah blah…

“A little chaos will ensue.”

Of course. I sigh and lean back in my chair.

“But the biggest impact is to those of the previous crown. There is a legend that the family’s magick of that bloodline can be reversed. I don’t know if it’s true, but the belief is that once things are undone, the space-time continuum in which we live will change and revert, ripping… A rift. Who knows? The point is, no one knows or has seen it, so we don’t know exactly what will happen. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying ‘magick comes with a price’?”

I confirm knowing the saying, because every movie or TV show that has witches notes it as part of some moral aspect. I guess there may be a few Wiccans in the entertainment business. Hopefully I’m not as far behind in learning as I thought I was.

He continues, “The same goes for the royal position. There is a price for each judgment, each sentence, and each law. The idea is to balance out the power within the position so that it limits the person who holds the crown… and their family.”

“Okay. Interesting.”

My father stands up and walks to the fireplace, where he pulls a hidden lever. I never noticed it before. The bookcase rocks backward, revealing a dark passageway. I stand in awe. He walks in, and with a wave of his hand the entryway lights up.

I follow him while I close my hanging mouth. This is wild: my house has a secret room! Cool!

The room is painted in dark green and has shelves of books and a seating arrangement of oversized puffy paisley patterns in muted dark colors. There’s a table, like in my chemistry class, with a sink and burners in the corner with a cauldron. There is also a fireplace. It’s placed just where you’d want to hang out with tea and a good book.

“What is this?” I ask.

“I guess you could call this my lair, or you can just call it my private study.”

My father’s eyes twinkle with excitement his whole demeanor changes like an excited kid at Christmas and I mirror him. This private study is so unexpected for the father I know. Granted, the father I know is so different from 24 hours ago. I wonder if he sees me the same way?

“What do you do here?” I gesture to the cauldron and the bookshelves that house a few glass bottles with stoppers. “Do you practice magick or make potions down here?”

“Truth?”

I roll my eyes. “Yes, truth. It should be an open book.”

He smiles a genuine smile that reaches his eyes. I haven’t seen that since I was a little girl. It’s like I have my daddy back. I suddenly want to keep him happy, especially when he’s with me.

“Speaking of books,” he says, pulling a large one from the shelf, “This book not only contains all our ancestry information, but also magick incantations, potions, and fortunes.”

“Fortunes?”

His smile continues. “Your mother really liked that toy, the magick eight ball, so she developed a spell and added it to be a part of the Book of Shadows, such that it’s a fortune teller. Although I suspect it only tells you what you are ready to know, sometimes it’s good to have the confirmation.”

That is so cool!

My father shows me the book, and several places throughout are blank. He explains that only family can read the book, and it will only show each individual what they need to see. This book is unique, because my father and my mother incanted their own family’s books into this one. Therefore, it’s not that old, but it has centuries and centuries of information. He shows me how to get into the room and how to leave it. He then leaves me alone in the room with the Book of Shadows for most of the afternoon.

I think about my most basic question, “how was magick started?” I flip through the book as my father showed me and, the scrolling script appears. I learn that the divinity revolves around a Goddess and a Horned God. I read further that the pentagram is an elegant expression of the golden ratio phi which connects to ideal beauty to express trust about hidden nature. I always thought the pentagram was an evil symbol, but now I want to see if it would show Coral’s hidden nature to Daniel and the school. I couldn’t help but laugh to myself at that thought. I kept reading and was surprised how connected Wiccans are to nature and the flow of the spirit. There are many elements to which Wiccans associate any physical power to, however the element of the spirit is the most coveted as it’s balanced with all the elements — air, water, earth and fire. I no longer doubted and played with the notion that this was all hocus pocus, I continued reading about my heritage, my family’s history and I no longer felt like it was just me, father and Mrs. Scott anymore.

That evening, Mrs. Scott joins us and we eat dinner together. I learn that she is a practicing Wiccan, but is limited in physical powers. I figured, she is a Wiccan since she helped raise my father when she was much younger. I was happy she knew about everything, it was someone else I could talk to. It’s not like I would be able to share this with Lucy, Emily or Daniel. I practice my ability to control my power with my father. Mrs. Scott watched in awe and would laugh and clap with joy almost after every exercise. My hands and fingers develop a white lacy flowing pattern like henna when I conjure my magick into a light blue flame, like my father’s. The pattern on my hands and fingers disappears a few minutes later after I extinguish my magick. I can feel the pull to do more, but it’s getting late. The day has gone by so fast. I’ve learned so much. Mrs. Scott pulls me into her bear hug that makes me feel like a tiny toddler, but I love it.

“Oh sweetheart, you will be the best leader for the crown, the throne all of Edayri.” She kisses me on the forehead and I turn to my father as she leaves.

“Thank you for today,” I say.

“I’m here for you, Willow. I love you very much. I know you have your doubts about all this, but Mrs. Scott is right you have the makings of a fine Queen.”

He is walking up the stairs and I feel proud of myself. It’s the relationship I’ve always wanted with him, what we did today, what we would do when I was so much younger. I don’t know what happened over the years but, I’m happy now and now is what matters.

“Darkness is coming for you,”

Fate taunts.

The girl defiantly walks forward.