Page 159 of Demise

Rachel softens to her like butter as she nods and smiles.

“Of course it is. What do you want to know?”

Giselle begins dishing up a plate, handing it to Skyla as she takes it gratefully. Wesley is the next to dish up, of course, followed by Liam. The rest of us wisely don’t bother trying the food, a fact Giselle notices with a purse of her lips but shrugs it off.

“We talked about the jars and crystals in the shop a little. Is that all you can do? I mean, you guys don’t have like…powers, do you? Is that offensive?” she asks, turning to her mom.

Giselle shakes her head softly as Jonathan speaks.

“Not at all, sweetheart. Everyone is different, some feel more drawn to one thing than another. Some are born with gifts, and others enjoy basking in the energy and positivity that can come from it all. Rachel was born with a gift of clairvoyance, like we explained last night. Occasionally, she will get visions, see things before they happen.”

“Very rarely,” Rachel intervenes.

“But it’s happened,” Jonathan defends. “It’s what saved my Giselle,” he says as he wraps his arm around his wife.

“Astrid here is gifted with tarot and palm readings.”

Astrid nods with a smile as Skyla faces her.

“Like pulling your future and stuff? That’s really cool.”

“I rely heavily upon my ancestors when doing readings, but it brings me a lot of joy,” Astrid says.

Jonathan nods as he faces Skyla again.

“Others like me or your mother were not born with a specific gift or proclivity towards anything, but we positively believe in the power of intention, manifestation and karma.”

Liam frowns. “That doesn’t sound like the witchcraft we’ve been taught.”

“That’s because you all have been taught by murderous neanderthals with their heads in the sand,” Sariah says as Astrid shoves her shoulder softly.

“I’m going to guess you had family in the trials?” I ask

“My family’s surname is Corey,” Sariah says.

“And mine is Good,” Astrid adds.

My eyebrows raise at that. Sarah Good is mentioned several times in Thomas Putnam’s journal, even before the trials began. Her family was extremely impoverished and known mostly as beggars. He always seemed to have sympathy for her, though. Or at least that’s how he wrote about her. Which is strange, seeing as he didn’t have a sympathetic bone in his body when he had a hand in leading the largest witch hunt this country has ever seen.

“It’s not just about gifts or no gifts either,” Giselle says. “That’s what I believed when I first met Jonathan and Rachel. As children, we were taught that witches have a great evil in them and will turn it against anyone and everyone. That’s just not the case.”

“No,” Rachel agrees. “There are many kinds of witches that practice many kinds of practices. You can put it simplistically like light witches and dark witches. Our Coven all prefers to practice in the light, though. Myself, for example, I’m a moon witch. I’m very guided by the moon and its phases link with mine. Even my body’s natural cycle syncs with the full moon, every month, without fail.”

“Jillie, who left, is a nature witch, meaning she feels very closely connected to nature and all of its elements and energies,” Sariah adds.

“And I identify as an eclectic witch,” Astrid says. “I don’t feel a draw to one certain thing. I enjoy practicing with all different elements, energies and practices. Though I prefer tarot, whereas my wife is a crystal whore,” she teases.

Sariah’s eyes widen comically. “They are incredible, there is literally a crystal for anything you could ever need!”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean we need two of each in our house, babe,” Astrid laughs.

Shaking her head, Sariah mumbles under her breath.

“Agree to disagree.”

Something plucks at my mind, a memory from a time that seems like forever ago when it was really just a few months back.

“Is that why Asher and Skyla’s ceremony was rushed?” I ask.

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