Page 6 of First Ritual

I’d expected thirteen. Grandma always said there was one for each lunar cycle.

“Where is Wild?” snapped the small man who’d met me at the barrier. His voice echoed in the underground chamber. “Why isn’t he here?”

With a name like Wild, I’d assume the answer was obvious.

Bare-footed man replied, “I’m sure Mr. Astar will be fine with us forging ahead, Barrow. Might you do the honor of opening our council session this evening?”

Barrow’s peeved expression cleared. “Thank you, Varden, yes.” He held out his palms either side as though propping himself between two narrow walls. “If you will all join me.”

Judging eyes were on me as I adopted the posture too. I bowed my head.

“Mother,” he said in a ringing voice. “From your energy are we born. From your lessons are we taught. By your mercy do we live. By your hammer do we fall. Into your open arms do we slip unto our end. Peer into our hearts and ambitions and guide us from falseness to truth, to oneness, and to prosperity in your world. Mother be.”

I lowered my arms and opened my eyes, feeling around, oh, twelve sets on me as I echoed, “Mother be.”

“She knows the ways of the mother, then,” a woman whispered.

She was right here, but I didn’t react.

“It appears so, Winona,” Barrow answered.

The tall woman with braids—Opal, I’d heard her referred to during the walk here—leaned forward on the heavy slab of stone that formed the table we sat around.

“Miss Corentine,” Varden said. “You have expressed a wish to join our coven. With the full moon nearly upon us, as per our protocols, a choice must be made tonight as to whether this is in the best interest of our people.”

Which is exactly why I’d arrived tonight. And why I didn’t get to take Keg Guy to bed. Still pissed about that.

“A coven is a delicate thing,” he continued. “We must be in constant balance for our magic to be at peace and for our hearts to be peaceful also. Any potential upset to that balance—in terms of personality, in terms of family and what has been, in terms of power, and in terms of agenda—must be carefully weighed. Speak to us of your story so we might convene and give you our decision.”

This was the make-or-break moment. I had everything to lose and nothing to gain if they didn’t let me stay. Even if joining the coven proved deadly, horrible, or everywhere between, I needed that to happen. I’d thought very carefully about what to say if they didn’t kill me at the barrier.

I met the gazes of the twelve council members in turn after standing. “Thank you, sir,” I said softly. “My deep thanks to the council for allowing me opportunity to speak.” First up, addressing the elephant in the room. “Your words on balance are something I take seriously. Twenty-one and a half years ago, my mother and grandmother abandoned their places in this coven, and though I have not existed in a magus society, I have always gravitated toward large groups. In whatever capacity that experience lends me, I understand that their departure created turmoil and the imbalance you spoke of.”

“It did,” Opal mused, resting against the tall back of her chair. “There will be many who remember the confusion and hurt of that time. There will be some who wonder if the apple falls far from the tree. What do you know of why they left, Miss Corentine?”

My stomach churned at the question, which felt loaded. “They never told me. They refused to answer questions on the subject. I gathered the topic was a great source of pain to them. In the years since they passed, I’ve thought about mother’s pregnancy. Whether there was an issue with the father, but I have nothing more to go on.”

Winona’s eyes narrowed. “The father could still be here. His family also, including children born to another woman. That could create conflict.”

I fanned my lashes downward. “I have no interest in seeking out my father. If he wishes to make himself known, that’s okay. I didn’t come here with the ambition of finding him. He has nothing to fear from me.” Truth. I couldn’t care less about him, and I was sincere in that.

That seemed to satisfy her some. “The knowledge that Hazeluna ran away pregnant will bring a fresh wave of conflict too.”

I continued, “As for any old hurts that rise to the surface with my presence, I hope to be a tool in aiding my fellow magus to truly heal and embrace what happened so long ago. That would soothe my grandmother’s and mother’s souls, too, I believe. Perhaps if they weren’t killed in the car crash, they would’ve returned here one day to do so themselves.”

I’d made it to the weakest part of my speech.

“A car crash killed Hazeluna and Rowaness Corentine?” Varden asked in a neutral tone.

I took a steadying breath. I’d recited these words over and over so I could say them aloud. Because most of them were true. “None of us should have survived the crash, sir. They gave everything to keep me tethered to life. Well, us. Except my twin didn’t make it.”

Happiness left me with the words. I couldn’t hide my pain in the shocked lull that met my confession. I’d preferred to have kept knowledge of my dead twin to myself, but some things couldn’t be masked from other magus. Any proper probe of my power would reveal the withered magical tether that used to tie me to my younger-by-seven-minutes sister.

Maybe a car crash didn’t take my twin, but she’d died that day. As had my mother. My grandmother. Most of me died with them too. One day I’d had them, and the next day I’d had no one. No companion, no guide, and no mentor. They’d been ripped away. Killed. While finding their murderer took second seat to my real reason for coming here, I had to consider that every single person who lived under the knolls could have been behind their deaths, maybe even the council or the entire coven.

Whoever murdered my family could wish to see me dead too.

I could never forget that. I wouldn’t forget that. The feeling of blackness consuming me, then waking to the lifeless bodies of my twin, mother, and grandmother tormented me.

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