49
AN: Forgive this writer a bit of literary nonsense in this final chapter, which ends on a happy note.
If you want to catch a star then walk my way
I will take you where the night is always day
You can follow me if you really try
Maybe we will find a rainbow, teach it to fly
Lyrics by John Martyn, Performance by Bombay Bicycle Club
Beltane bloomed fairly and the sun shone strong on Sibyl's face. She removed the cross she had always worn for Karin's sake and gave it a fitting burial at sea. With a smile unlike anything ever seen on her host's face, she walked barefoot on the beach, enjoying it for the last time. Her white shift floated in the breeze like a main sail, only gathering around her growing belly as she strolled. She'd invited Ethan to join her, but he'd cried hangover and said he'd see her at tonight's ritual. Instead, she spotted her friend Dee on the rocks and watched as she made her way along the tide line. "It's almost done," Sibyl said, emotion cracking her voice as she linked arms with her oldest friend.
"Has your brother shown his face?" Dee asked, stopping to skip a stone across the tiny waves caressing the shore.
"No, but he called me last night. Francis will make sure he shows up."
"Is that part of your deal?"
"Deal?" Sibyl smiled enigmatically as she watched gulls flying low on the water.
"With Neptune. I seem to recall that you owed him a favor."
There was nothing she could get past her friend. "Perhaps that is so. Does it matter?"
Dee tugged sharply on her elbow. "Of course it matters! Have you learned nothing all these years? Human life is precious, and we never take it for granted."
Sibyl looked down at Karin's body. "She will not miss him much. There is no love lost between them, and without his power, he is nothing but a shell."
"Even so, you cannot be so cavalier about someone's life. Be sure to respect him properly when you sacrifice him."
"I will do that." Sibyl hugged her friend and added, "And I will see you on the other side."
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft star-shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.
Prayer, Poem by Mary Elizabeth Frye, Song by Lizzie West
Stars burned in the evening sky, more luminous than the brightest diamond. The scent of magnolias and sea salt filled Cassie's senses as she stood gathered on the beach with the others. A bonfire burned between in the fire pit, and boughs of flowers were racked on driftwood. Adam held her hand tightly as the Crowhaven witches chanted in Latin, then switched to English for their benefit. Dee and Sibyl came to them with crowns of white roses, and they accepted them with grave expressions. Everyone stayed clothed, and instead of celebrating The Great Rite, the coven merely praised and gave thanks to the Goddess.
It was only after most of the witches scattered that Sibyl took Ethan's hand and bent her head to his. They talked for a long time, and Cassie watched Ethan walk away with tears burning bright in his eyes. He said nothing to Adam as he made his way up the cliff stairs, followed in short order by Dee and Sibyl.
They got to the top and Sibyl said, "It's over, Cassie. Thank you for doing this. It means a lot to my friends, and it means the world to me."
Cassie replied, "Is there nothing we can do to help?"
Sibyl shook her head. "Tomorrow will be a new day, and I will be gone." She hugged each of them before walking away with her friend.
Sibyl crouched on the rocks and waited for her brother. When he finally came, it was after 3:00. "I knew you would come."
"Of course. He insisted."
It wasn't so dark that she couldn't see his face, and his facial features shifted like a kaleidoscope. Suddenly her long dead father was staring back at her with glittering hatred and she accepted it as her due. "It's been a long time, Francis."
"You dare to address me by my first name?"
Sibyl smiled. "I do, and it's no more than you deserve."
"Pardon me, daughter, but wasn't it you who betrayed our coven to the Salem witch hunters?"
She nodded. "You know it was."
He looked anguished. "I taught you everything you knew, and that was how you repaid me?"
Sibyl shrugged. "You forgot the best part. I used your spell to travel to this time and find a host body."
Rob/Francis's features screwed up. "And now it's time to pay the price for your treachery."
"I agree, but I will not sacrifice this body."
She felt power welling up in her brother and pushed back, suddenly realizing her own power had never really deserted her. "You will not," she insisted, forcing her will onto Francis and feeling his stunned surprise at her strength.
Sibyl pinned him to the rocks and heard sloshing as a being emerged from the water. It was covered in seaweed and its towering shadow enveloped them. "What is this madness?"
Her lips curled into a smile as she opened her arms and welcomed Neptune's foot soldier. "My gift to the God of the Sea."
Rob's lips opened in a silent scream as he was overcome by this watery warrior and dragged into the sea. At the exact moment she felt Rob die, Sibyl separated herself from Karin's body and soared into the night, freeing Karin and moving off into the place she was always meant to be.
Epilogue, Two years later
Adam and Cassie were home from college and they laughed as one redheaded twin and her blonde brother toddled around the garden. They squealed with delight on discovering lady bugs, and buried their faces in the old fashioned roses. Even at this distance, Adam could smell their wonderful scent.
"How's your Dad holding up?" Cassie asked after a long beat.
Adam looked up at the deck, where Jane and Ethan were cooking hamburgers. "Pretty good, considering everything."
"What about Karin?"
She was a silent shadow of her former self, caught up in her religion and shunning the Conant family. "She wants nothing to do with us."
"I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. They have a good life here." The twins skittered closer and Alicia held up her arms to be picked up. Adam kissed her cheek and smiled as his sister snuggled into him. Her red curls twisted like corkscrews and when she turned her face to his, he was struck anew by her resemblance to Cassie. Michael insisted on taking over Cassie's lap, and instantly started laughing when Cassie tickled his face with a stem of grass. His brother was his miniature, the spitting image of himself at the same age.
He watched Cassie look around and knew she sensed Sibyl's presence. "She never left you."
"No." Adam often saw Sibyl in his dreams, where she encouraged him and gave him advice. As for his Dad, Sibyl made contact in more visceral ways that Adam never asked about. All he knew was that his Dad wasn't drinking and seemed happy with his lot in life. The Boathouse's business had grown to the point where he'd opened a second restaurant, one which he hoped Adam would manage one day.
"And have the witch hunters caused any trouble?"
"Nope. Since that fire burned down their meeting house and killed a dozen of them, they haven't bothered us."
"When did this happen?"
"Last May, right on Beltane."
"Think Sibyl had a hand in that?"
Adam started to smile when a laugh rang out from the garden. No one was there, but he recognized that snicker. "Maybe, but nobody will ever prove it."
Cassie smiled back at him, and he wondered if they could take up where they'd left off the summer after graduation. College had separated the Circle, but they'd come together on holidays and vacations. Except for Cassie, who lived with her Blake relatives in England where she studied English at Oxford. She turned slightly pink at his scrutiny and looked at her perfectly manicured toes. "That's good to know. I'm glad things are going well for everyone."
He dared to reach for her hand and was surprised when she squeezed back. "And us?"
Cassie put his hand to her cheek and curled her fingers around his. "Better than ever."
The End