Page 33 of Midlife Demigod Unexpected

“The Sword of Althyrius,” he said. “Yes, it belonged to Esmeralda. She was the lover of Dagda and a member of the coven,”

“Okay, so Dagda got around.” I nodded in irritation.

Jane shrugged. “He was a God. I think they’re kind of known for that.”

“So, how did he end up with it, and why is it in my hands?” I said.

“Because there was a falling out in the coven after the blood pact was made and your father did not want it in the hands of The Estate, at least not the Hayes. At the time she was an insanely jealous woman, and she was in love with the Dagda, too,” he said. “The Dagda wanted to protect the cemetery, but it was too late.”

“What do you mean it was too late? It was a hundred and fifty years ago,” I pointed out. “How could it be too late?”

“The spell had already been cast. The blood had already been paid. The blood sacrifice was made. The second sacrifice was established,” Toern said, his eyes blinking into awareness.

“The second sacrifice?” Jane asked.

Toern looked up at her. “What the hell was that?”

“You said there’s going to be a second sacrifice,” Jane said. “We don’t even know what the first sacrifice was, unless it was you in the crypt?”

“I don’t know,” Toern looked confused. “I just don’t think you are here to do what you think you are doing.”

“We are here to protect the cemetery. That’s what we were told by Hilda we were here to do. It’s what the coven was always meant to do since its first inception,” Jane said.

“I couldn’t see it all clearly but there’s a spell on the coven and on the cemetery.” Toern said.

Jane and I exchanged a look.

“Why do I get the feeling it’s not like a ‘everything is going to be wonderful’ spell?” I asked.

“I think we better get back to The Estate and check in with Mae,” Jane said.

Chapter 24

Jane had already notified the coven we had a problem to look at. Yet another one. By the time we arrived at The Estate, the rest of the coven had already gathered, even Trina and the kids had closed the bakery to come.

“What did you find out?” Mae asked as we came up the stairs and she opened the door to wave us into the house. Everyone was gathered in the red room.

“Toern thinks the first coven wasn’t what we thought it was. We tried to tap into his memory but all we found was a blood sacrifice. He thinks that was used to cast a spell on the coven and the cemetery, that we’re bound together,” I explained.

“How can we find out?” Bianca asked. “We need to look at everything a little different. What if what we think happened isn’t what happened?”

“Are you saying the first coven wasn’t all it was cracked up to be?” Kartika asked.

Chloe stood with her arms folded over her chest. “Well, we already know my maker was a psychotic asshat and a half. I wouldn’t be surprised if he associated with reprobates. Even if they are your ancestors.” She nodded somewhat apologetically around the room.

Mae fingered the pendant thoughtfully. “How can we get better insight into what happened then?”

“It’s in your hands,” Hilda pointed out. “We need to look at the pendant. If your ancestors touched it there should be some story attached.”

“Absolutely. I can do psychometry very easily,” Jane said with a confident lift to her chin. It would have looked too cocky coming from anyone else. With Jane, it just looked like a fact.

Mae slipped the pendant off her neck and handed it to Jane. I’d never seen her take it off before, but this time she seemed quite grateful to remove it, as if the weight of it was a little bit much for her at the moment. I couldn’t say I blamed her. They’d been holding up against the forces of the Dark Fae and demigod. We thought we were on the right side of the argument. The whole time we didn’t truly know our roots. We were just taking it at face value as to what we had been told. Even my mom recognized that.

Jane held the pendant in her hand, her eyes closed. She waved her other hand over it, murmuring a simple spell. Her body grew still, and she let out a long sigh. When she opened her eyes, she motioned us over to the screen that hovered above the crystals.

“It’ll be easier if I show you. Come,” she said.

We watched on the screen as a woman stood alone in the altar room of The Estate. She had long brown hair that was pulled up in a loose bun. Her dress was made of green cotton with a high neck and long sleeves that draped over her thin wrists. She stood alone in the altar room holding the pendant in front of her. Tears were streaming down her face. She reached forward into the cauldron and her finger came out dripping of blood.

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