Summary – Hunter arrives in Widows Vale with his mentor Ciaran MacEwan. There he meets his half brother Cal and his girlfriend Morgan, whom he feels strangely drawn to, and is sucked into a cat and mouse game that has played between Ciaran and Selene Belltower for years and on top of it all he is reunited with his cousin Sky who is a Seeker for the International Council of Witches and has been hunting him down for years.
Disclaimer: These are all Cate Tiernans toys. They're just in my playground.
A/N: Hi guys, another update so soon, I know its amazing! Please read, enjoy and review!
I'm seeing a change in Hunter this week, a good change. He's still a stick in the mud don't get me wrong but I don't know… he's finally found something to disobey Ciaran for and that's always a good thing in my books. He's going to risk it all for this girl, risk being found a traitor. Amyranth will surely kill him for such an act.
I know he's always been conflicted about his feelings for Amyranth, he's power mad but he's not a killer like they are.
I don't believe Hunter has ever been his real self since I've known him it's like he's two people, there's always something that dwells within him that occasionally rears its ugly head, but this week I've been getting more glimpses of the real him and I like seeing it, maybe he needs help, but I wouldn't know where to start.
- Killian
The week flew past and Saturday had finally come around again, this time, thanks to Killian, I didn't isolate myself indoors. We ventured out on several occasions and I didn't run into Sky once. Morgan, however was a different story. We bumped into each other in Practical Magick on Thursday, I was going to tell her our plan then and there but just as I was about to Cal walked in.
I think Killian was just the medicine I needed, it gave me a nice reprieve from the Selene, Ciaran and Cal drama and helped to take my mind off Morgan, not hugely, but it helped.
The only problem about a reprieve was that the darkness inside me was beginning to squirm again, it was hungry for something more. I had been skipping Amyranth meetings and circles all week and the darkness wasn't happy. Neither was Ciaran.
He collared me last night while Killian was out fetching Chinese food.
Giomanach, come to me, he sent me the witch message, I knew he wasn't happy when he used my coven name. I found him in his study.
"You wanted to see me?" I asked
"Why did you insist on my idiot, playboy son coming here?" he asked, "he is nothing but a bad influence on you, you've neglected your work since he's been here,"
"I'm sorry, Ciaran," I said honestly, "I just had a lot on my mind with the Cal bombshell and with Sky being here," I told him, obviously leaving the part out about my feelings for Morgan, "I just needed to take my mind off it all for a while,"
Ciaran studied me for a few moments, "I understand that sometimes we all need to take a few steps back and have a break from it all," he said, "but now is not a good time for this, Hunter. Not here, not with Selene. Not while we're so close to getting the Sguirs Dan."
When he calls Morgan by that title, it makes me forget about the fact he's talking about Morgan and I feel an unquenchable thirst for her power, I shuddered. The darkness inside was more powerful than I was.
"Do you understand how important this is to our cause, what her power added to ours will mean?"
"I understand," I nodded,
"We have a job to do, Hunter," Ciaran said, "Yours is to keep that seeker away, she's been poking her nose into Selene's coven again, trying to warn some of the members. It's also your job to help Cal lure the girl to us so that she'll be easy prey when the time is right,"
"And when will the time be right?" I asked
"Soon," he promised, "While I was in New York I made all the arrangements with Amyranth, the ritual will take place there,"
"You mean away from Selene?" I asked, Selene wasn't connected to Amyranth the same way Ciaran was, she was a member of San Francisco's cell, but he was the New York's cell coven's leader, "You're planning to do this without her,"
Ciaran smiled, "Of course I am. That woman does not need another reason for a power trip. She already thinks she's more important than she actually is and she needs knocking down a peg or two,"
"So what are your plans for the girl?" I ask, "Did you want her to join us or did you want to just strip her powers?"
"The powers she could contribute to us will definitely be more potent and more useful if she were to join us," he said, "but if she refuses us, her powers will still be a massive boost to the collective,"
Again, I shuddered at the thought but the darkness within me drooled with anticipation.
"Killian won't be a problem," I assured him, "I'll regain my focus, but Killian is much better with people than I am, he could prove to be more of a help than a liability,"
Ciaran nodded, "Very well, ensure that he is, and Hunter..."
"Yes, Ciaran?"
"Don't let me down again," he said and waved his hand at me, I was dismissed.
Once Killian returned with our food, I told him about my conversation with Ciaran. We had to get to work quickly, with only the word 'soon' to go on, we needed to be prepared. After we ate, we hit the books and came up with a small bugging charm that we would give to Morgan, it did just exactly what Killian and I discussed. It should only alert us to her fear.
The Cirrus coven meeting was tonight, ideally we had decided that Cal was not to know about the charm, although we both knew Cal didn't want to see Selene or Ciaran harm her, the fewer people to know about it the better and the safer it was for Morgan, so now we had to work out how exactly to tell Morgan about the charm and give it to her without the prying eyes of her jealous boyfriend.
I had worked out how to find out if Morgan was in danger, but now I needed to figure out how to sway her to Amyranth. I knew deep down Morgan would not go for it, she's too pure of heart. So the real question was, how would I save her without being a traitor to Ciaran?
The truth was I needed Morgan, the weight of my internal darkness felt lighter and the thirst for power was easier to ignore when she was nearby. Right now it was almost impossible. It has only been since Morgan had come into my life that it begun to feel like my darkness was a separate entity within me. Perhaps Athar was right, perhaps the taibhs I conjured all those years ago has been controlling me all this time.
I didn't really have the time to worry about my possible problems right now, my main focus was Morgan and keeping her safe.
I told Killian the circle was being held an earlier than it actually was to guarantee that we'd actually be there in time and sure enough it worked, we got to Cal's with 10 minutes to spare and Killian hates turning up events early, he enjoys being fashionably late.
Morgan of course was already there, I had walked into the circle room just as Morgan and Cal were sharing a kiss, and judging by the look on his face, I knew he planned that perfectly. I plastered on my most friendly smile and greeted them both in a friendly manner despite the fact my heart was sinking inside.
Once more people showed up Cal began the circle, and I realized I was suddenly very eager to be a part of a circle with Morgan. Her power was divine and it was beautiful to behold.
"In our circle today, I thought we could concentrate on what we want from life. What are our goals? Who are we now and who do we want to be?" Cal said, he begun to move the circle deasil, "You don't need to say it out loud but think about it," he begun to sing a low power chant that I instantly knew was his ancestral power song and soon I heard Morgan's voice join with his singing her own song, it was beautiful, I was in awe.
As I joined my voice with theirs with my own chant, I begun to think about what I wanted. A harsh voice inside me I didn't recognise as my own screamed 'POWER!' it scared me, it was becoming more and more clear to me that my need for power came from something else. It wasn't me and I was scared of it. Something about being around Morgan seemed to have awoken me to the truth. Maybe she could help me as I am trying to help her.
Suddenly it came to me very strong, I knew what I wanted. I wanted to be myself again, free myself from this entity and be with Morgan, more importantly than that I wanted to be worthy of Morgan. I wanted to be good. The darkness inside me didn't like it, it stirred and I felt it fighting for control.
Please, stop
I started choking and coughing, I felt like I was suffocating. "Let's take it down" Cal's voice sounded so far away, he brought the circle down and once I felt it end I broke the circle and headed straight for the bathroom.
The choking feeling eased off, I splashed my face with cool water and drank some out my hand. After a moment I looked at myself in the mirror. My eyes suddenly flashed black and I jumped back. What the hell was going on with me?
A knock at the door made me jump, "Hunter?" it was Killian
"Just give me a minute" I said, my voice was hoarse
"Are you okay? What happened out there?" he asked
I emerged from the bathroom, "I don't know," I shrugged it off not making a big deal about it, Killian seemed to understand I didn't want to talk about it.
"I have an idea about our situation," he smiled
We headed back out to the circle room and Morgan immediately ran over to me, "Hunter!" she cried, "Are you okay?"
My eyes flickered up to Cal and his eyes were burning with hatred. "What happened?" she asked me
"I'm not sure," I said, "Just suddenly felt a bit overwhelmed and started coughing, but I'm fine now," I smiled at her, "Honest,"
She smiled relieved, why was she so concerned about me? I wondered
"In the spirit of being fine, I suggest we all go out. Are there any decent bars around here?" Killian asked
This was his plan?
Everybody looked at him like he was crazy, myself included, I could tell that they were all wondering if he was seriously suggesting that a large group of underage teenagers would ever be able to get into a bar in a small town like this and were judging if this was a good idea or not.
Eventually the girl with the blue and black hair, Raven I think her name was spoke up, "Sounds great, I'm in"
A few others joined in, 3 or 4 members decided against the idea but everyone else was in. Morgan was reluctant to join but Cal was really up for the idea (thank God for Killian) and he persuaded her to come along.
Raven told us all about a biker bar at the edge of town that she often got served in and we all decided to meet there.
I climbed into the car with Killian, "So what's your actual plan here?" I asked him
"Divide and conquer!" he grinned, "I distract Cal, get him drunk and the good times rolling, while you talk to Morgan,"
It actually wasn't a bad plan. It could work.
"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked me, "How the hell did you start having a coughing fit in the middle of a circle?"
"I'm not sure what happened," I didn't want to think about the realization I had during the circle and the fact that my body has been invaded by what I believed to be a dark taibhs I raised as a child meaning that it had been controlling me for large part of my life. My focus had to be Morgan, once I knew she was safe then I'd look into my problem, "but I'm okay now," I told him