"HUNTER!"
The moment I saw the flames flicker I knew something was going to happen, and instinctively, without thinking I found my body crashing into his, letting out a painful "oomph" as we crashed onto the floor. I took me a moment to gather myself before I rolled off him onto my back. At that moment the flames broke free of the hearth that imprisoned them, shooting out and upwards, charring the ceiling.
Hunter immediately went to jump up to tackle the flames but I slammed my arm out, smacking him hard across his broad chest to keep him down, as I saw the flames suddenly hurtle back in on themselves, scant millimetres from our faces. It was like a mini tornado of heat and smoke and magick. I gasped involuntarily before they died completely and I was left slightly shocked at the unexpected events.
"Okay, its safe" I croaked out, managing to gather my senses enough to realise magick was no longer in the air.
"Shit" Hunter cursed. He never cursed, "Are you okay? In the name of the Goddess what was that!"
"Im just Peachy" I breathed, pushing myself into a sitting position. "I wonder if that was meant to cremate you or me"
He stood silently then and fumbled with the light switch, chasing away the shadows that remained, and apart from the ceiling, you would never have been able to notice what had just passed. As though it hadn't just happened.
I watched as he ran a hand through his silvery blonde hair pacing slightly, and I could tell a million thoughts were racing thought his head at that moment. He reminded me vaguely of Ciaran, as he talked of the phone to god knows who, pacing his study. I shook images of my Da out of my mind. Focus on one problem at a time.
I groaned as I forced myself to stand up, the tumble having jarred my back.
"Its okay, I'll give myself a hand up" I muttered smoothing my clothes out, checking my self over for sign of any obvious injury. Apart from a slight crease in my otherwise flawless attire, I was fine.
"Shit, im sorry. Are you okay?" His accent so much more noticeable as he was caught of guard.
"Your built like a god damn rock you know that" I scowled rubbing my arm, trying to distinguish if the red marks where from the fall, the fire, or his vice like grip previously.
"Yeah well you tackled me like a boulder" he said, the corners of his lips holding the ghost of a smile.
"Sorry next time I'll ask first" I drawled
"Do you think there will be a next time?"
All traces of humour were gone, and I took a brief moment before answering. Would the be a next time indeed.
"Not for you. I gather you haven't had any mysterious forces trying to screw you over till I set foot in the door?"
"Not previously I must admit" again, the slight ghost of a smile. What a fucking mind warp of an evening this was turning out to be.
"It would have been for me" I said half to myself as I tried to organise my thoughts, tapping a perfectly manicured blood red nail against my hip "Now was that Cal, Amyranth or some one else entirely is the question. Probably a combination. It was a threat though … yeah a threat, that wouldn't have killed me, just put me out of action for a bit… so a warning… a warning? Why warn me off and not just kill me? Maybe Ciaran's helping as best he can…." I trailed off immediately and grabbed my phone, smacking in numbers urgently, eyes wide.
"What is it?" He asked
"My sister" I gasped suddenly realising she may be in danger. There was no better way at getting a message across that going for the family. I was about to have a nervous break down waiting for her to answer; she finally did with a cheery hello.
"Thank the Goddess" I whispered down the line "No, sorry, I… are you okay? No im fine… Im at Hunters, we almost took a exploding fire to the face…. Yeah I don't know how either…look, can you come here, straight away. You're not safe away from me right now. Please MK, I know you're a big Wiccan badass mo fo these days, but as your big sister im begging you, please don't be difficult and come here…"
I hung up slowly and looked at Hunter.
"Im sorry I should have asked first, but whatever your problems with me, MK is innocent off all of this."
"Hey" he cut me off "You think im gonna let personal differences put Mary Kathleen in danger? Its fine. What we have sort out is what just happened"
"Its not your problem" I frowned, trying to same some face after tonight events. If any of my NY friends had been here, I would have lost some serious street cred. I wasn't sure what had possessed me to say what I had.
"I thought you wanted my help"
"You thought. And besides that was before I realised they were gonna dirty the playing field so soon"
"Morgan" he sighed, blatantly irritated "If they've 'dirtied the playing field so soon' as you so eloquently stated, don't you think your gonna need back up"
"I have MK, Tyler's coming. Besides, I'm just a murdering woodbane who's bleating on about a non existent dark wave" I spat
"Your infuriating, you know that right!? Did you ever stop to think how this is affecting us here; knowing that we may have unwitting helped Cal in what ever it is he is trying to do? You have a real superiority complex. And MK is your back up? She's not a blood witch. Goddess, she's still a kid! And Tyler? You get off the phone to an active member of Amyranth and the fire explodes! Does that shriek dangerous coincidence to you? And hell, how do I know that little stunt wasn't planned? And from what I gather I don't think your fathers gonna come riding into the sunset any time soon either."
I bristled big time "One, next time Seeker, im gonna leave you to fry. Secondly? My superiority complex comes from my abilities, I'm up my own ass and I don't care, as far as im concerned I sensed the dark magick brewing and dived your sorry ass out of the way before you batted an eyelid! And don't you so much as speak my father's name. You wanna slate Tyler as my ally, fine but then you better reflect back on having an active member of Amyranth in your own goddamn coven" I near yelled not hearing the front door open " and finally, Mary K may not be a blood witch, but she's loyal, devoted, courageous and strong. She's helped me this far. She has more potential than you could imagine and she has proved herself time and time again. If the only ally I have is my sister, so be it. I couldn't ask for a better one" By this point I was right up in his face, not even realising I'd been stalking up to him.
Hunter was silent a moment and I could feel the anger rolling off him in waves "We have company"
I turned to see Sky Eventide and MK stood in the doorway.
"MK" I stated "Your okay" I wasn't about to let out a big rush of affection in front of him now.
"I heard your little speech" she smiled softly and I suddenly got flustered.
"Yeah well, you know how self righteous seekers can be"
"And I know how much my big sister means to me too." She added softly "Thanks for believing in me"
I slung my arm round her shoulder, and she accepted the gesture, as Sky went to check Hunter was okay. I heard him explaining what was going on, as she demanded what the hell I was doing here. She still wasn't growing on me.
I took a step back from Mary K and gave her wink to let her know I was all good, and she winked back. I smiled genuinely for the first time that evening.
"Tyler's coming!" Mary K suddenly squealed having picked up on Hunter re-iterating the events to Sky.
"Wow, my ear drums!" I cringed " and it was gonna be a surprise. He's packing as we speak"
"Did I ever tell you, you fuckin rock!"
"Maybe once or twice" I drawled smiling "We need a bit of back up, and you need lover boy"
MK actually had the grace to blush.
"As long as you use protection I don't object"
I was met with immediate chastisement from all 3 of them "I was only joking " I laughed "And the look on your face was priceless smurf"
She poked her tongue out at me.
"Hello, we have a bit of a situation here" Sky's voice sounded irritated
"State the obvious much?" I retorted "Besides, its my problem"
"So it was Cal" Mk assumed
"Honestly? Im not sure. It all happened quite fast you know, I didn't get a chance to trace the source. I was too busy worrying about my hair getting singed."
"Your unbelievable!"
"And you need to register the expression lighten up. We all know that some shit is going on, duh. Any one can see that. So we don't need to be so doom and gloom about it"
"Is she always this sardonic" Hunter chuckled looking at MK as my expression turned to one of indignation.
"No" Mary k answered simply and smirked "she's usually a lot worse."
"Worse?" Sky echoed
"Sure. This is her being polite"
I smiled softly.
"Why is Tyler coming here anyways" she carried on "I mean, not that I mind but, if shit here is getting heavy, surely it would make more sense to re-group in NY. We have the safety of the town house, and you've got all your wicked magick ju ju there. step away from the heat, and formulate a plan of action on safe ground you know, where you don't have to worry about firebombs."
"We could still get fire bombed at home sis" I said softly, half lying. The chance was unlikely.
"But it would make more sense you know? Plus we have Revenge up there, we can black list it again to pull some resources" she grinned referring to closing it down and getting the illegal magick working.
"I am not blacking my club again MK" I pouted "Besides, I think as this is where shit is going on, this is where we are needed you know?"
"No, cuz if you get hurt here we're screwed" she smiled "you said the other night, we'd stand a better chance working from NY than going solo this end. Plus Killians good with the research, and Da might have the inside scoop you know. Like he would let any one within a mile radius of you"
"touching" sky drawled, cut off as hunter gave her a stern look I recognised. It basically translated to shut the hell up.
"Mary K….. " I began only to be cut off by hunter
"New York seems a plausible idea Morgan" he said softly and I nodded softly in agreement. He was right. We all knew it.
"Mary K" I said again "Da and Killian cant help at the moment"
"Well color me stunned"
"Sky" Hunter warned
"Why not?" Mk carried on unfazed before smiling brightly "Has he gone off to Scotland with that girl again?"
"No Mary K, truth be told, Im not to sure where they are"
Silence.
More Silence as she toyed with her lip ring.
This was never a good sign. She opened her mouth a couple of times but no words came out and Sky even had the grace to be quiet.
"I guess there a few things I should tell you" I said softly to MK "You guys probably need to here it to. Sit down with me sis"
"Is this a Morgan moment?" she asked, wandering if I was gonna be flippant red, or be real with her like a sister.
"Im all Morgan for 5 minutes okay?" I said and we sat down on the sofa, and I took her hand, as Sky and Hunter discreetly settled in the old arm chairs. "And Sky? I don't care if you believe what I tell MK, but just promise me you wont interrupt what im telling her"
Sky frowned but nodded.
"I didn't go the Da for the reasons you think I did" I sighed looking at Mary K
"I know why you went. You had no where else to go after that night"
"Sort of" I sighed, wondering how to explain my moronic existence to my sister. "I love Da Mk, you know that. But I used to hate him with a passion. The night I left Widowsvale I changed. I went crazy in my head. I truly became a woodbane. I wanted nothing more than to kill Ciaran McEwan. that's why I went to New York. He killed my friends.." I was aware of Hunter silencing sky before I continued, "So I took the woodbane attitude. I wanted to kill him as revenge. Now you know why we named the club what we did" I said trying to lighten the mood a bit "reminiscent of how me and Da came to be" I paused a moment, letting MK adsorb what I had said as I tried to think of how to phrase it.
"He knew I was coming of course. He didn't even stand up as I blew his door of its hinges. He laughed. You see he didn't love me then sis. He said he did. Still claims he did what he did out of love but he didn't. He said his planned had worked. All along he wanted me for my power. And the power that wasn't mine"
"What power that wasn't yours?" she quizzed "and of course Da loves you"
"He loves me now. Very much Mk. But, my birth mother Maeve belonged to Belwicket. A coven that was destroyed by the dark wave."
"What that got to do with it."
"Belwicket was almost destroyed, but not quite. Mary K….. that night, the night when everything went wrong. Ciaran didn't kill Matt and Thalia, attack the coven, as a ditch attempt to force my by his side. He didn't do it out of a warped love for me. He did as that night, I had an announcement to make."
"Your engagement to Hunter" she whispered softly, a pitying expression across her face.
"Yeah that" I laughed dryly not meeting Hunters gaze. "but also the fact that I had become High Priestess of Belwicket. Belwicket is the strongest coven in Ireland to this day. As strong as Amyranth. And I alone hold the power to access that magick that power."
"No way"
"Ciaran, as head of Amyranth, found out as soon as I became high priestess. If I made it to Ireland, if I became my mothers daughter… he knew that eventually we would have fulfilled the sgiurs dan legacy. We would have over thrown Amyranth. He couldnt let that happen. He wanted me in MY as he wanted to destroy Belwicket, and in turn he wanted to take my powers as his own"
"But he wouldn't do that"
"The Ciaran McEwan you know now is very different to the Ciaran McEwan I knew at your age. He wasn't my Da. He was a murder, he practised Dark Magick, stole people powers… all for his own greed"
My voice was void of emotion as I played absently with a streak of red hair. I hated talking about the old Da. It was never pleasant to dwell on what he was capable of. What he had done. Sheerly because he could.
"I wont go into the details of that evening, as it involved a lot of pain on my part. He almost killed me. A deal was made."
I paused again, as I pictured myself sprawled across his desk, screaming in pain. I couldn't help but shudder. I knew MK noticed, as I felt her small hand rest upon mine,
"I wont go into details of the deal. But the gist was if I promised not to over throw him he would leave Belwicket alone, on the condition I stayed by his side, became his prodigy. As time grew by I truly did become his daughter. I stayed because I had no where to go. But I grew to love him, and he grew to love me. Then Amyranth came into the picture, demanding I join their coven. If I wasn't with them I was against them. I couldn't do that. I couldn't abandon Belwicket. And now, my father couldn't abandon me. He went through hell and back for me. Made enemies you don't want to make, even when you're thee Ciaran McEwan. And for the last three years he has fought head on with Amyranth to keep me alive. At a price. He was been steadily losing control MK. And now, they are summoning this dark wave, Ciaran knew it could kill me. Im his only daughter, his only link to my mother…. He warned me as best he could. Pushed me to come back here. Dropped cryptic hints. He went against Amyranth once again to keep me alive….to keep you alive…. And now Amyranth know I know, and Ciaran and Killian have vanished."
Silence.