Page 16 of The Curse

He stared at me blankly before replying, “Well, that’s just stupid, seeing as how you’re a witch. How could you not believe?”

“We haven’t established that I’m a witch yet,” I corrected. “You think I am because you’re picking up this weird energy from me. I, on the other hand, am on the fence and leaning heavily toward the not-a-witch side. I mean, I can’t do anything…cool. I wanna be able to do something cool if I’m going to be a witch,” I teased.

“Like what?”

“Fly. I want to be able to fly,” I replied smoothly. I wasn’t kidding either. I’d always fantasized about being about to soar through the air. Sure, I’d always been Superman in my visions, but a witch on a broom would work, too.

He barked out a laugh. “Hell, Nico. Why not start right at the top of the list? Only the most powerful witches possess enough magic to be able to levitate objects. Why don’t you start out with being able to turn the lights on with a snap of your fingers?”

I frowned. “Because I don’t need to be able to turn on lights with a snap of my fingers. They make light switches that do that when I clap my hands. No, I want to fly.” I took a huge bite of fish that I’d coated in tartar sauce and shoved it into my mouth. Marblehead had the best fucking fish and chips on the planet. They might have other good foods, but I wasn’t sure I’d ever know. I couldn’t get past the fish and chips cravings. Thinking about what Stair had said, I asked, “Anyway, you said levitate objects. I’m not interested in levitating objects—just me. I want to levitate me.”

“Aww, how cute,” he purred. “You’re such a cute little virgin witch. It’s like I can take a piece of clay and mold you into anything I want. Okay, here’s your first witch lesson. They don’t fly. They levitate objects through the air and ride them. That’s why you’ve always seen witches flying on brooms and the historian usually only get partial facts. They’ve made it into something cute when it really was just the necessity of needing an object to ride as they soared through the air.”

I stopped chewing and stared at him. He was messing with me, I was sure of it. He looked fucking serious. “Are you kidding me? Do some witches really fly? I was just fantasizing about the possibility, never really thought it could happen.”

“I’m not messing with you,” he answered with a grin. “But I’m going to have to break it to you now, you aren’t going to be able to fly, Nico. You aren’t powerful enough. I feel magic buzzing around you from time to time, but nothing that would indicate high witch level. Anyway, Morgan wouldn’t have allowed you to set foot in Salem if you possessed that type of mystical magic. Absolutely not,” he assured me. “She doesn’t take kindly to threats, and that type of power would be considered a threat to her.”

“Corbin could fly,” I answered smugly. “How did she deal with that…or did he never go into Salem?”

His eyes narrowed at me. “How did you know Corbin possessed that particular power?”

“Because you told me he was a high witch,” I answered. Paused, and then added, “And because I feel it somehow. And because of what I saw in my dream.”

He leaned in. “You saw him fly?”

“Yeah, he was trying to get to Nico when he walked off the cliff. In my vision, I was Nico. I was falling, and I saw him flying toward me, but he couldn’t make it in time. A column of fire shot out of his hand right before I hit the rocks.” I shrugged. “Then I was dead.”

“A column of fire? Are yousure?” he demanded.

“Uh…yeah, I’m pretty sure. Forgive me for not remembering every detail as I was about to splatter. My mind may have been on other things.” It hadn’t been though. When I’d been Nico, rocketing toward those rocks, I’d only been worried about Corbin, not myself. “What does it mean? Anything?”

“It means he was casting a spell. A strong spell. Only the strongest magic causes fire to fly.” He stroked his chin.

“Well, it sure the hell didn’t work, because I splattered. Nico, out.”

His eyes rose up to meet mine as he said, “You don’t know what spell he was casting, so there’s no way of knowing whether it was successful, or not.” He grabbed his plate, tossed it into the trash, and said, “Let’s go. Hurry up. Shake your pretty ass, Nico. We’ve got things to do.”

I looked at my food sadly. There were still a few bites left. As I tried to decide if I needed to make him wait while I finished shoving every delicious morsel into my mouth, he took the choice away from me when he snatched up my plate and tossed it. I tried not to growl as I stood up and followed him to the parking lot. “You better be glad I’m not a practicing witch because I would have turned you into a toad for that shit. I was going to eat that!”

He snorted. “You’re only a non-practicing witch because you don’t know what the hell you’re doing or how to control your magic. I feel pretty safe around you right now,” he mocked. “Let’s take my Jeep this time. I know where the graves are and it would be easier to drive you there than trying to yell every twist and turn into your ear from the back of your bike.”

He climbed into a brand-new, cherry-red Jeep that was totally tricked out. I found myself bitten hard by the jealous bug. As soon as I climbed in, he shot out of the parking lot, going much faster than the signs posted all around allowed. I held on and enjoyed the ride.

Five minutes later, we were out of the Jeep and he was striding across the ancient cemetery with determined steps. I followed without saying a word. The moment he’d pulled onto hallowed ground, my body had started doing strange things. The energy was off the charts, and my chest ached. Still new to what was happening to me, I wasn’t sure if it was because of the surrounding death and decay or if it had something to do with me closer and closer to Nico and Corbin’s graves. Of course, Nico wasn’t really there, but it was powerful all the same.

After we’d walked for what seemed like forever, we came upon a black iron gate that looked to enclose a fairly large family plot. He unlatched the gate with a twist of his finger, like Morgan had used to knock me on my ass yesterday, but then raised his hand to tell me to stop walking. “There’s a protective spell that keeps everyone out except for members of the coven. Give me a second to see if I can grant entrance for you, okay?”

I don’t know how I knew, but I knew I was welcome inside the coven plot. I’d guess it was my mysterious connection to Nico, Corbin’s lover. “I don’t think that will be necessary, Stair. Let me try without undoing the spell.”

He giggled. “You’re going to get the shock of a lifetime, Nico. It’s a rather strong deterrent devised to keep people out of our…”

He stopped talking when I walked through without feeling even the slightest twinge. I turned and smiled at him. “Told you I was welcome.”

“Smartass,” he accused as he entered the area and locked the gate behind us. He smacked me on the ass as he walked by and said, “Follow me.”

The tightness in my chest grew as we traveled deeper into the coven’s hallowed plot. By the time we reached a raised spot in the center, I could barely catch a breath. I wasn’t sure if it was excitement or fear. Looking around, I noticed that the tombstones were arranged in the shape of a pentagram, with Corbin and Nico’s stones being in the center. I couldn’t help but notice that there weren’t a lot of graves when one considered how old the hallowed plot was. “Why so few?” I asked quietly. Whispering felt more respectful.

Alastair dropped to his knees in front of Corbin’s stone and bowed his head. I could see his lips moving but couldn’t understand the words. I remained quiet as he paid his respects to the man that had once been the high witch to his coven. After a few moments, he stood back up and turned to me. His eyes were damp with unshed tears. “Your energy is buzzing all over the place, Nico. You feel more powerful than ever before. I don’t know how, but you’re going to be the witch that gets revenge against Morgan for killing our high witch.”

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