Page 36 of Fallen Angel

A knock rapped at the door. She answered it and seemed relieved to find Callan there. She ushered him in as he looked over his shoulder, then shut the door.

“Did you bring it?” Raven asked. Callan nodded and pulled a folded handkerchief from his pocket. He unwrapped it and revealed a few strands of black hair.

“’Twas all I could get without her noticing,” Callan said. “I gathered it from the ground after our last coven gathering.”

“You are sure they are hers?” Raven asked, inspecting the hair. “We do not need much, but the strands must belong to Mara.”

“Yes, I am certain.”

Raven cupped the handkerchief and placed it on the stone floor in front of the fireplace. “The more we understand about Mara, the better chance we shall have of freeing you from her grasp.”

“I am amenable for any option. She is becoming more arduous to resist,” Callan said. “My mind only clears of her fog when I am a great distance from her. And even then, her influence lingers. It is then, however, that I think of you.” He looked to the floor.

Raven smiled and opened a spell book beside her knee. Hannah felt her own cheeks flush.

Raven took a deep breath and hovered her hands over Mara’s strands. Her palms glowed white as she spoke,

“Take me to whence her heart turned cold,

A story that has yet to be told.

Reveal Mara Eden’s past to me,

When her light within was forced to flee.

The moment when darkness swallowed her whole,

And black magic infiltrated her soul.”

Raven’s eyes illuminated white. Hannah felt herself being thrust to wherever the spell was taking her. Within a matter of seconds, Hannah stood beside Raven. A girl with flaming red hair sat on a bed and stared aimlessly at a candle that burned on her nightstand. Her knee shook, causing the bed to squeak.

A light knock sounded at the door. The teenager startled and steadied her shaking knee. Her parents cautiously walked into her bedroom and offered weary smiles.

“’Tis nearly midnight, Mara. Are you ready?” her mother asked.

“I think so,” Mara answered.

Her mother and father eyed each other. Her father sat at the end of his daughter’s bed.

“You know that receiving this magic is a gift that comes with great responsibility. You must remember your teachings and the ways of our coven,” he said.

“I know,” Mara snapped, but caught herself, covering her face with her hands. “I’m sorry. You have told me this many a time.” She looked between her mother and father. “Why are you so afraid?” Mara asked. Though Hannah could discern a hard edge in young Mara, there was also a softness she didn’t expect.

Mara’s father gulped and exchanged another glance with his wife. “We are not afraid, darling. It is simply that, with your occasional outbursts…”

“I have been working on my temper,” Mara interrupted. “I have been better.”

“We know you have, darling,” Mara’s mother said. “We only hope your magic does not aggravate the issue.”

“I guess you simply must trust me, then.” Mara stared them down, then exhaled through her nostrils. “I shall try to be good. Promise.”

Her parents smiled and scooted closer to their daughter. “We know you shall,” her father said. Trepidation still lingered in his tone. Her mother took her hand and gave it a light squeeze, but Mara snatched it away.

“’Tis going to happen soon,” she said. “You do not have to wait and watch if you do not desire to.”

“We would not dare miss such an exciting moment in a witch’s life,” Mara’s mother said, feigning enthusiasm to mask her fear. Since learning about the Convergence, Hannah never thought of it as a positive experience. But from Mara’s mother’s comment, it was clearly supposed to be celebrated.

A surge of what resembled forked lightning, silver and dark, blasted through the bedroom ceiling. It struck Mara’s chest.

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