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: Seriously... 3 chapters in 3 days. I'm feeling totally inspired lately. I'm not sure where it's coming from but I like it! Anyway please read and review. Enjoy!
Eleven days had past, each day at 3pm Finnegan came as promised and I had still not seen or heard from Morgan. Sky, I knew had gone to visit her often to see how she was doing and she assured me she was doing much better and coming to terms with things. I didn't ask if she knew where her feelings stood about me. I was too scared to know the answer.
Each day Finnegan had presented me with a different series of questions. The first few days he wanted my version of events of everything that had happened, starting with what led me to being possessed by the Taibhs up to how Selene took it from me and everything that happened in between.
He asked me about my relationships with other people such as Killian, Sky and Morgan. Morgan, he asked a lot about her, after all she was the reason the Taibhs hold on me began to sever, he also tasked me with completely random scenario based questions to assess my judgement as a person and as a witch to see if they could sense whether light or darkness was strongest within me.
Some days he'd ask the same questions but word them differently hoping to catch me out and see if my answers were still the same as if to see if I was genuine. Even though I caught on, I answered honestly each time. I was by no means perfect and light now and I didn't pretend to be, witches can sense lies and any indication that I am being false with Finnegan would just make things worse. Even for the brightest witches there will always be temptations that will make you wonder whether you should misuse your magick "just this once" but it's the little choices that always lead to the bigger ones.
Before the Taibhs, I remember my sense of judgement and my morals were strong they were drilled into me by my parents and my uncle Beck. My only lapse in judgement was conjuring the damn thing in the first place. I had discussed that with Finnegan one day as I wondered if I would be punished for that act as I knew many witches in the past have been.
He said, in his opinion, I was a child acting impulsively out of grief and that I didn't know any better. In cases like that Finnegan informed me that the witch would usually be sentenced for re-education unless it was repetitive behaviour and then the witch would be sentenced in accordance to the severity of the action.
"As a child you clearly didn't understand the limitations of the spell properly which led to the possession the first time you did it. We'll never know if you would have done it again or not because after that first time as you were already under the dark spirits control. We can't just assume you would have either and I doubt even you know the answer to that. So I have to go by the information we discuss in our sessions and the evidence I am presented with and decide who you are as a man today," he explained
He needed to ensure that the Taibhs hadn't corrupted me in anyway, he performed a spell on our first encounter after the reigning that proved no traces of it were left lingering within me. Selene had done a good job ripping it away from me.
Despite it all, I began to form a weird connection to Finnegan. I actually really liked the man, the council had a reputation for being unfair and lording it over the wiccan world with harsh punishments should they step a toe out of line but he was a fair and decent man who I could see was genuinely trying to see what my intentions were for the greater good of everyone and wasn't ruling me as guilty until proven innocent, which are the ways that the council was usually known for.
Occasionally he'd actually open up and tell me a little bit about himself and what he did for the council. He had been working for the council for most of his life but was only recently elected as an elder and had big ideas to change the way the council operated to make things more fair. That's why he had come here, the council were planning to just strip me like any other member of Amyranth, but Finnegan received Sky's case notes he didn't believe that they should be making such an extreme decision in my case and offered to investigate and be the judge on what should be done. I would be forever grateful to him for that.
We had a long discussion about what needed changing in the Council and we agreed upon many points. I offered suggestions that he hadn't even thought of and thought they were brilliant.
It was then on that 11th day he looked at me and said, "I'm think we're done here, Hunter. I'm quite satisfied with what I've seen and heard and I truly believe you are of no danger to society. The reports from Sky and witness testimonies that have been sent to me were also thorough enough to indicate the same," Goddess knows who and where they managed to pull witness testimonies from, I thought
"It's quite clear that you had no real free will in the choices you made." he concluded,
"I know that," I said, "But I still feel like I want to make amends for everything I've done,"
Finnegan looked thoughtful for a moment, "Perhaps I can help with that," he said, "I feel that you and I have very similar attitudes and morals and are looking for the same thing from the council," I nodded completely agreeing, "As I said already I'm trying to change the council from the inside, completely modernise the way it works and update the medieval rulebook and bring them into the 21st century and I think you'll be a good asset in helping me, I can't believe I'm asking this of someone I came here to investigate but I guess I'm asking if you'll like a job?"
I was stunned but completely excited by the idea. "What would you like me to do?" I asked
"How about, I free you from the reigning spell first, I should be able to undo it myself and then we'll talk?"
I was all for that plan.
Having my powers back again in full force felt amazing. I felt like Dorothy stepping out of Auntie Em's house into Oz where it was full of colour and wonder. I could feel magick in everything and I never wanted to feel disconnected from it and the world like that again.
"Better?" Finnegan smiled, Hell yes, I sent my reply to his mind and I conjured a small ball of witch fire in my hands just because I could and bounced it around my palm before letting it fizzle out. Damn it felt good, I couldn't wait for my next circle.
A few hours, a lot of talking and plenty of cups of tea later, Finnegan and I had worked out the baseline plans for a whole new council operation that we were calling The New Charter and it would make the ICOW completely obsolete. I would stake my magick on the fact that it would make the lives of witches all over the world better.
We were really on to something great and I took a lot of pride in what Finnegan and I had accomplished thus far.
"There's a lot of travelling and a lot of ground work to be done. We have to reach out for supporters all over the world and select the right places to open the initial New Charter quarters." Finnegan started consulting the atlas and listed ideas for where in the world he thinks the main 5 quarters should be.
A lot of travelling. I swallowed hard. Sensing I was troubled Finnegan stood up straight, "That's not going to be a problem is it?" he asked
"No, it's just that things here are... uncertain, right now." I scratched an itch on my brow.
"Don't you think it's time you call her?" he was perceptive, "This is big, Hunter, it's going to be huge. And I want you to be a large part of it. Hell, you already are a large part of it, look at what we've done tonight alone!" he gestured to all our paperwork, "You need to know where you stand. But whatever you decide we can make it work, somehow, because we make an excellent team."
He was right, I couldn't continue another day without facing her again. We called it a night as it was already approaching midnight and once he left I headed to bed.
The next morning was a Sunday and from what Morgan had told me in the past, her parents usually went to church on a Sunday morning and more often than not these days she opted out, choosing to remain at home alone. That was my opportunity.
I got in my car and drove to Morgan's and felt incredibly nervous already fearing her probable rejection. As I approached the house I cast my senses and as I predicted she was home and her parents and sister weren't there.
I knocked on the door and a few moments later she opened it looking a little dishevelled wearing an old Foreigner band t-shirt that looked over washed and moth-eaten and a pair of oversized flannel pyjama pants. Her hair was slipping out of a braid that she must have done before bed last night. My arrival had clearly woken her. I immediately had to stop myself from reading her because I knew she'd pick up on that and I didn't want to upset her in anyway.
"Hunter," she looked surprised to see me but not disappointed, that was a good first step.
"Is this a bad time?" I asked her
"No, no" she said, "Come in," she led me through to the den and offered me a drink, I instantly regretted declining her offer as my mouth suddenly felt very, very dry. I knew it was the nerves.
I took a seat on the overstuffed couch as she went to the kitchen to fetch herself a can of diet coke, I shuddered at the thought of drinking that gassy brown liquid first thing in the morning.
"What?" she asked defensively, picking up on my disgust.
"How you can drink that stuff just after you've woken up?" I asked,
She sat on the other end of the couch and shrugged taking a long sip. I smiled, it felt good to be in her presence again. "I missed you," the words slipped out of my mouth, "I'm sorry I didn't come see you before, it's just that..."
"Sky told me," Morgan cut in, "she told me what was happening with the council. What was it like to have your magick reigned in like that?"
"I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy," I said, "But I guess some times it has to be done for the safety of everyone. Luckily I passed all their tests, I have all my magick back now. They don't believe I'm a threat or anything." I needed to reassure her that I was good now, that I was safe to be around, because that's what the council thought.
"I never thought you were, Hunter," she sounded sincere, "I was just confused,"
"And now?" I asked
"And now I'm just upset that it's taken you eleven days to come and see me," she sounded a little hurt, "I know I needed a little time, but eleven days? I missed you too,"
"I was scared," I admitted, "I didn't think you'd want anything more to do with me,"
"Hunter, it was too late for that from the moment I met you," My heart skipped a beat. This was going so much better than I had ever believed it would.
"I'm sorry it took so long, but I'm here now," I promised, "How've you been?" I asked
She had to pause to find the right words, "I've had to do quite a bit of soul searching," she admitted, "after learning that Ciaran is my birth father I guess I've just questioned all my choices I've made so far and then I over analyse choices I have to make. I've lost trust in my own judgement as if I'm just going to turn dark all of a sudden,"
"Believe me, I understand," I told her, "But Morgan, you were raised by good people, your birth mother was a good person. I believe you are a good person and if you ever feel unsure I promise I'll always be here to help you just like I'll need your help from time to time. No matter who you are or where you came from every single person has to make the right choices every day and it all comes down to what YOU want to do and who you want to be. Heritage does not equal destiny."
"I love you," she breathed. Finally those three little words I had been waiting for.
The space between us suddenly became too much and I needed to be touching her. I inched closer to her on the couch. "I'm so relieved and happy to hear you say that," I whispered, I took her hand in mine and pressed my lips to her forehead placing a chaste kiss there. All my fears and doubts over the last eleven days vanished and a weight had been lifted.
As I pulled back we gazed into each other's eyes and I could feel her love for me and a part of me knew it was there all along. I couldn't hold back no more I pulled her head to mine and I kissed her as if it was the first and last time all rolled into one, like I had been waiting a lifetime just for this kiss. I poured my heart and soul into it sharing with her exactly how I felt about her and she did the same.
Without a doubt it was the most amazing kiss of my life. "I love you too," I told her when our lips finally parted, as if she didn't know already.