“The box, upon which the ritual was founded on, has since disappeared.”
Dad sat back from the book as we all silently absorbed what we had just heard.
“You know what this means, right?” Vance asked to no one in particular. “My grandparents have the box.” He started pacing the room.
“We need to find out when the next lunar eclipse occurs during a full moon,” I added.
“It’s in July,” Brad spoke up. “Shelly and I studied about it in science with our tutor.”
“That can’t be right,” I said. “There’s no way I could’ve delivered a baby by then. They were very specific in their desire for me to produce a child.”
“That’s it, though!” Vance said, turning suddenly to face me. “My mom said they couldn’t drink your blood unless it was mixed with their own. If you had gotten pregnant that would have fulfilled that.”
Everyone in the room just stared at him with blank looks, trying to comprehend what he was saying.
“Don’t you get it? They had no intention of ever letting you go to term! It was your blood mixed with mine that they wanted. A baby just enhanced everything! They could drink straight from you or the fetus.”
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Shelly said suddenly. “They’d really just slice her open and take her unborn child right there?” she asked with a horrified look on her face.
“Yes, if they deemed it necessary,” Vance replied without any hesitation, turning to look over at her.
“No offense, Vance, but your family sucks!” she said with a nauseated glance, and she placed a hand over her stomach.
“I happen to agree with you on that one,” he replied softly, and my heart ached at his comment.
“All right, everybody calm down, and let’s think this thing through. We need to lay out our facts and look at them. What stone circle are we talking about here? Stonehenge?” my dad interjected, offering a suggestion, and he looked around at all of our faces.
“Actually there are over one thousand stone circles in the British Isles and western Europe,” Grandma Milly spoke up with a slightly dismayed look.
“You’re kidding!” Dad replied in amazement. “How are we going to find out which one is the right one?”
“Maybe it doesn’t matter which one it is in,” my mom suggested. “Maybe it can be any stone circle.”
Dad walked back over to the open book on the table, silently reading down the manuscript again.
“I don’t think so,” he disagreed while he looked over the text, pointing out the one phrase that had caught his eye. “It specifically says ‘the circle of stones’ like it’s speaking of one in particular.”
“So now what do we do?” Shelly asked with a sigh, plopping down into one of the dining chairs dejectedly.
“More research,” Brad said absently. He stuffed a day-old muffin into his mouth and licked his fingers.
“Ugh,” Shelly grunted in reply, not looking at all happy about that statement, flashing Brad a disdainful glance.
“I know everyone is tired of all the digging we’ve had to do lately, but the good news is we should be able to research several of these places on the Internet. We’ll get all the information we can on the stone circles from there. Those that we can’t find out much about we’ll drive to. It’ll be an educational field trip of sorts,” Dad said, trying to encourage everyone.
“We need to find out the geographical origin of the white witch coven. If we know what continent they started on, then my guess would be that the stone circle referred to would possibly be in the same place,” I suggested, trying to think of anything that might help us out.
“Or we could try to find out where the first white witch left this world. Perhaps that would yield us a clue,” Vance added. “Who knows if she moved around from place to place in her life? If she knew she was going to die, wouldn’t she go to the place where she knew her powers would be transferred?”
“Those are both very good points,” Dad agreed. “I also think we need to keep reading through this book and see if we can find anything more to help answer these questions. Any volunteers?” he asked, and he looked around at all of us.
“I’ll do it,” Grandma said, piping up instantly. “All this history is very interesting to me, and it’s clear this is part of our ancestry. Maybe it’ll yield some clue to our own heritage.”
“It’s all yours,” Dad said, gesturing toward the book before he stepped out of her way. He continued on. “Vance and Portia, why don’t you go hit the laptop in your room while Mom and I take Brad and Shelly to the Natural History Museum to see if we can find anything clues about these stone circles, what they were used for, and how they were created.”
“Yay, a museum,” Shelly said sarcastically, without any enthusiasm in her voice as she rolled her eyes. “Because that’s so much better than a library.”
Chapter 16
Vance and I climbed out of the car, the dim moonlight washing over us while we moved toward the giant stones in the circle ahead of us. Dad had divided us all into separate research parties to check out different locations, and Vance and I had been given the assignment of going to explore Stonehenge. We had been on a guided tour here earlier in the day, but Vance had wanted to come back when the place was deserted and explore it more at our leisure, so after having dinner in the nearest town we made our way back out to the isolated area.
The large towering stones loomed up out of the night as we entered the edifice. We walked around each of the massive pillars together, running our hands reverently over them as we passed, feeling their hewn textures move under our skin.
We were silent as we moved, listening to and feeling the energies that flowed around us until we had made our way into the inner circle of stones.
“Do you feel it?” Vance asked while he held his hands out from his body, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.
“Yes,” I replied, knowing instinctively he was talking about the humming pulse that was filling the air around us.
It was as if magic was alive and beating in the very air here.
“Something very powerful is at work here,” Vance said, and he lifted his palms into the air in front of him.
I watched him in amazement when sparks began generating from the tips of his fingers. There was a loud snapping sound, and suddenly the air burst into electrical currents around him.
He chuckled, and the currents spread through the air, twisting, zipping, and arcing in all directions until there was a current attached to every stone in the circle. I felt like we were standing in the middle of an electric storm ball, and I could feel the static electricity in the air begin to even lift the hairs on my head.
“Come here,” he said with a grin while he continued to manipulate the magic around him.
I walked toward him, and the streams of electricity danced harmlessly away from my body as I approached, until I was standing right in front of him.
“Lift your hands up,” he commanded me, and I did as he asked.
He moved his hands until our palms were almost touching but not quite, and I felt him link with me mentally.
Sparks began shooting from my fingertips the second his mind attached to mine, and I jerked a bit as a wave of the most intense power I had ever felt coursed completely through my body from head to toe.
My breath caught when I suddenly realized this was his magic flowing through me. Never could I have imagined the strength or the level at which he operated. I had always known he was strong and gifted magically, but I would have never dreamed it possible at this magnitude.
A stronger surge moved through me. I felt my hair lift and swirl away from my body as it did, and I realized with awe that he was playing. What I was feeling was not even the full extent of his power! I wondered how he could possibly contain it all. My body was trembling at the invasion of it, and it continued to pulsate through me, causing magical reactions from my own power. I noticed the tips of my fingers had now turned to sol
id ice.
The air twisted and throbbed with the electric streams that lifted from our bodies, twisting together. I watched the display around us in amazement. It was a phenomenal sight to behold, to be a part of.
He stepped forward then, locking his fingers with mine, and I felt more than saw the explosion of electricity when his lips touched mine. I felt my knees buckle under the power of his magic. He released one of my hands and caught me easily around the waist before pushing me backward with his body until my back was pressed against one of the ancient stones.
He lifted the one hand he still held up over my head, pressing it up against the rock as well. He ran his free hand down my arm, sending actual sparks over my skin, raising huge goose bumps there, before he took my free hand and threaded it around his waist.
Lifting his hand, he touched my face, running his thumb over my lips while he looked at me. He looked like some sort of mythical god standing in front of me with the very air crackling and swirling around him.
Suddenly his fingers felt very cold on my lips, and I looked down to see that the tips of them had ice on them also, and I realized my powers were transferring to him as well.
“Look at the two of us.” He grinned seductively while continuing to run his thumb over my lower lip. “Fire and Ice … literally.”
“How are you doing this?” I asked him.
“I’m not. It’s this place. It’s intensifying everything,” he replied dipping in to replace his thumb with his ever so hot lips.
Another shock of power rolled through me again, and my knees buckled so badly I would have fallen except he held me so firmly pinned there with his body. He kissed me feverishly, twisting his free hand into my hair, and I could feel the heat of his magic roll through me with the contact.
He burned so hot it was almost unbearable for me. I had never realized how cold my magic felt before this point, but getting to experience him in this way was shedding a whole new light on him for me.
He kissed me for a long, long time until I started to notice that both of our lips were becoming icy as well.
He broke the kiss with a laugh.
“We’re going to have to stop this, or you’re going to turn me to a block of ice.” He grinned.
“I don’t think that’s possible since my insides are currently on fire with your magic,” I breathed heavily.
“This has certainly been an interesting exchange of power between the two of us, hasn’t it?” he said, his gaze flitting over my face.
“Yes, it has been very enlightening,” I agreed.
He let out a sigh, leaning his forehead against mine, and I stared deeply into his blue eyes.
“I think I want to kiss you here all night long,” he said.
“That sounds divine,” I replied, watching him.
“Does it?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow at me slightly. “I’ve never been so hot and cold all at the same time before in my life! I’m afraid if I continued, you might freeze off some of my body parts!” He winked, and I laughed out loud at him.
It was then that I noticed he actually had frost on his eyebrows, and I smiled, reaching up to brush it off.
“I guess we could always take the kissing someplace less magical,” I suggested to him.
“Kissing you is always magical, Portia, no matter where we are. And what tends to follow it is even more so.”
“You know what I mean,” I said, shoving at his shoulder slightly with my free hand.
He just laughed, swinging me up into his arms. He proceeded to carry me, electrical storm and all, to the edge of the circle.
As it turned out, while we easily concluded that Stonehenge definitely had a magical influence, none of us had any luck with our assignments. We found nothing that indicated whether any of the stone circles we had looked into was the one the white witch had been speaking about.
We had gone on numerous amounts of the so-called “field trips” to visit some of the stone circle sites we had not been able to research from London. For weeks we toured properties and listened to lectures from informed sources on the histories of said places.
After a while the information we were hearing began to run together. No one knew why these circles were constructed, when they were constructed, or what they were used for.
Several had theories about their being used as astrological calendars, ritual places, or even something that marked the passing of someone into death. No one was really sure what they were all about.
The only thing we could consider as marked progress on the subject was a reference that Grandma had found in the book she had continued to study. It had said the high priestess of the white witch coven had never left Scotland during her immortality. We had concluded from that little tidbit of information that the stone circle spoken of must be one that was found in Scotland.
We had decided then, together as a group, that we should probably relocate back to the area. Dad had done a lot of research on places in Scotland, and with the help of Crispin, we finally located on old Scottish keep currently under reconstruction to be made into a hotel.
They had one wing that was finished but not yet opened to the public. We were able to get permission to stay there in the keep, thus removing ourselves from a place Douglas and Fiona might continually be searching for us.
Dad had been in touch with the rest of our coven who were still back home in Sedona, and they had informed him that there had been some foreign people who had been asking after our whereabouts. We were certain they came from Douglas and Fiona.
“I’ll give them credit for being persistent,” Vance grumbled when he heard the news. “Is everyone in Sedona all right?”
“They said everything has been going along as it normally would,” Dad replied nonchalantly, though I could see a small flicker of worry cross over his face which he hurriedly disguised.
I sighed, knowing he was feeling concern over several issues and wanting to keep everyone safe.
Later that evening, when Vance and I were lying in bed together, I asked him a question.
“Why do you think Douglas and Fiona want this power so badly? History says the power has always been used for good.”
He shrugged for a moment, considering before answering.
“I just assumed it was because of how much it would enhance their powers,” he replied. “Plus the longevity will help them to rule with those powers over their followers.”
“There’s one problem with this, though,” I said while I trailed my fingers up and down his arm.
“What’s that?” he asked, watching me through half-lidded eyes.
“They can’t both receive the power. It would only go to one of them, whoever had the most of the blood source in them.”
“You’re right,” he said, and the emotions danced over his face while he pondered my comment. “Either they’ve designated one or the other to be the recipient, or they’d have to betray each other when the time comes.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” I replied with a smile. “That would make them divided against one another. Which one would the rest of their coven follow, or would they be divided also?”
“You’re thinking that they could be easier to fight if they were fighting against each other, aren’t you?” His eyes flashed over me in appreciation.
I nodded my head.
“If they have to fight each other and us, how could they possibly win?” I said with a shrug.
“That’s a really good point. Now we just have to hope this is the course they’re on. If they’ve chosen one to receive it, then it’ll have the opposite effect, uniting them even stronger.”
“You’re right,” I replied as I climbed off the bed to walk over to look out the window in the keep. “Is there some way we could try to figure out which way things are leaning?”
“You mean start spying on them?” he asked with a slight frown. “I don’t know how safe that would be.”
“What about Crispin’s coven? They’ve been spying o
n them for years. Douglas and Fiona are completely aware of it, too. It wouldn’t be anything out of the ordinary,” I said, and I turned to look at him.
He got off the bed and came to join me at the window, wrapping his arms around my waist.
“I think that’s a good idea. I’ll talk to your dad about it in the morning,” he said, bending to kiss my lightly scarred neck.
I enjoyed his touch while I watched the moonlight wash over the landscape outside. It really was beautiful here. Too bad everything was so shrouded in mystery right now; we would have actually been able to enjoy our stay completely.
As it was, Dad hardly let Vance and me out of the keep for fear that someone we had met at the reception would see us and tell Douglas and Fiona about it. He made it very clear we were not to stray from the grounds.
We had spent several days entertaining ourselves by exploring around the ancient place and some of the outbuildings. On many occasions I would find Vance sitting alone in the crumbling old Kirk, silently contemplating things.
I could tell that he was slipping back into some of his old habits where I was concerned. Often his mind would be fettered in front of me as if he were trying to protect me from something.
Though it was frustrating to me, I also knew he was a lot more worried than he was really letting on. I didn’t bring it up again since I didn’t want to add to his burdens, but I was disappointed.
Still, I knew it was hard for him to let me in anyway, since he had been so practiced at shutting himself down completely before we had met. It was his way of protecting himself, too.
I had seen the richly intricate person he really was, though. His emotions sometimes threatened to completely overwhelm him. He considered that the ultimate sign of weakness. He had to be in control.
I looked forward to the day when he would realize it was those emotions that I loved so much about him. It was all of his little imperfections that made him real to me in a way I wished I could make him understand.