The Witch and Her Second Chance

13 | Sisters

"That really was something else." Jackie hummed. "Even Chris wasn't that responsive. Fuck."

Jo couldn't help the effect it had had on her either. She'd watch Verins face, well, his eyes–the rest of his face obscured while he was tasting her–while Jackie f****d him. He was 100% in with everything the two of the women wanted. Jackie and he were having some kind of sexy game of chicken, and he won. And Jackie was happy to have lost.

Her and Jackie were going back to Verin's hotel the next night. Another new first. They'd never had another hook up so close together but they had another day after that of the cafe being closed so were taking advantage to get a visit in before they were busy for the week. But thoughts of their sexy time was the furthest thing from Jo’s mind. Instead, she thought of the conversation about the woods and what her sister had said to her. A bubbling feeling of anxiety was building as the morning drew on–as she resigned herself to the fact that she would have to go there.

"Hey, sweetie," Jo spoke abruptly. "Is it okay if I go see Missy? I just feel like I need to talk to her."

"Of course," Jackie gave her a hug on her way to freshen her coffee. "I'll just chill here."

Jo messaged her sister to see where she was and was glad when she confirmed she was home. She wasted no time making her way, first to her sister's home.

"Tell me more about what you felt." She sat with a cup of tea in her sister's dining room.

Missy thought back. "It was fleeting, but it felt like it flowed like a wave washing over and through me."

"Were you here?"

Missy nodded. Missy's house was on the outskirts of the forest, and she was never able to leave again. Missy had been studying abroad during her high school years–the same as Jo had years earlier. Missy hadn't been home when their home ceased to be–she couldn't let go of the guilt of surviving. But Jo was so happy she had her–she knew she didn’t deserve the family she had left.

"It felt like it was carried on emotion," Missy added.

Jo frowned, trying to understand. "Do you think it was a message? Could there be people on the other side communicating?" She didn't dare to hope.

Missy could only shrug. "Whatever it was, it created a window into the Coven. I know it."

Jo absorbed that information. How could they test that? She noted down all the times Missy experienced the feeling. Almost all of these had been when Jo had been at the coffee shop. Once, when she was with Verin and Jackie. Could she have just not noticed it? The city wasn't that far away. She hadn't felt her magic much since that day–first, she had been horribly depleted, and then as it built back up, she had neglected it–truth be told, she was too scared to use it, so she stopped. Magic was like a muscle. You had to build up stamina and resilience. She could still do basic stuff but hadn’t done anything significant in years.

"Let's go to the portal site," Jo said, standing up, but her sister stopped her.

"It’s under surveillance."

"What?" Jo asked, surprise lacing her voice. “Who? The Black Clove?”

Missy shook her head. “I don't know why but the warlocks have been monitoring it all along. I don't know if it's in agreement with other covens,” She shrugged in indifference to her lack of knowledge. There was no obligation for other supreme leader to inform them of the warlocks intentions, no matter who their parents had been. “But no one has ever told them to leave."

Jo couldn't help but think about Verin coming across this. He had said he'd been brought into something different than his usual line of work. Had a warlock hired him? Maybe it was unrelated, or the witches and warlocks weren't the only ones monitoring these spaces. Humans measured seismic activity–it wasn't a stretch they'd be interested in the cause of what Missy had described if a human sensor had picked it up.

She chewed her bottom lip. She could've sworn Verin was human. He–okay, he was a little different. He was obviously intelligent, but she noticed that a few times, she had said something that he hadn't understood. He never showed it openly, but she'd noticed he'd change the subject or deflect. She thought back to his profile pic, that old-world vibe to his clothing and the room he'd been in. She also thought about how she felt when she was around him.

She hadn't really thought about those others out in the world and beyond. She knew she wasn't the only one living among humans, but she didn't interact with otherworldly people anymore, so she didn't look out for them. She'd lived so ingrained with humans since she'd met Jackie. Had she just not sensed what he was? Maybe she was wrong…

Jo blew air out, blowing her hair. "You still any good at going invisible." It was one of the simpler use of magic, to bend the space around you. They'd driven their parents crazy with that growing up.

Missy groaned. "You have to be naked for that."

Jo nodded, "We should be quick, then."

~*~

They were in and out in five minutes. After traipsing naked but invisible through the forest for a good while, careful to stay away from where the warlock guard was posted, they returned to Jo’s car and hastily pulled their clothes on.

Jo hadn't been back to their home since the portal closed. On that day, there had been nothing but the memory of where her home had been. She hadn't been able to face it; even when Missy had still been optimistic the other covens could reverse the closure, she had stayed away.

The second they approached the site, she could feel the buzz of the portal seam, like a thronging of energy pushing against a closed door. She wondered when it started. Was it when Missy recalled feeling the connection first?

"That warlock was cute," Missy commented as Jo pulled the car onto the road.

"Oh yeah?" Jo asked, amused. The young warlock had been sitting in a booth–like guardhouse. He'd been singing a strange song in a language they hadn't understood, but it had been adorable how he really belted out and danced in there, thinking no one was watching.

Missy just shrugged.

Jo bit her smile. She missed seeing her sister as she remembered her—flirty and fun. Jo hoped she could make up for all Missy had endured without her family, without her people.

~*~

Verin checked with his superiors before reaching out to the witches, but it appeared there was no need for secrecy that the warlocks were interested in this particular portal. The other covens just wanted to know what caused it so they could ensure it didn't happen to them.

Though Verin was sure his people wanted the knowledge for nefarious reasons, his recent treatment was still in place, so he felt no lingering anxiety about the thoughts. They just came and went.

"Were there any last communications or visitors?" He tried as a last-ditch effort with the older witch he'd found to meet with, but they had absolutely nothing.

They met in an old library. In the far corner, on a half-raised level, they could see back through the library.

"Some members were outside when it occurred, but none of them could provide any insights. We don't know what happened right when it closed." Sian was a well-aged female witch with pale skin and golden blonde hair.

"Anyone around here I could at least speak with?"

"There is Millasandro Orchid. She lives in a cabin on the western border of the forest."

"Orchid?" He raised an eyebrow.

The older lady nodded at his pick-up, "Yes, she was the daughter of the coven leader. Her sister was also outside, but she lives further away in the city."

"The other portals that closed in the past, were there any records of–" He stopped talking as the elder witch shook her head, a preemptive answer to a question he didn't have to finish–no one had felt the same instance as now. He changed his question, "Were there any significant events that occurred back then?"

The witch was thoughtful, "One of the other covens that closed in the late fifties had filed reports of attacks in the weeks leading up to the closures." She directed him to an archive section of the library. "We have a small amount of information available here–the archives at the Silver Ivy Coven may have more."

The older witch had shown him a map showing the location of the Silver Ivy Coven and its proximity to the closed portal of the Dark Pine Coven, which had closed over fifty years prior.

Verin combed through the records available before leaving, taking a copy of the reports and any others linked to a time shortly before or after the closure. He also did the same for the more recent portal closure.

He thanked the witch before leaving. He then called ahead and left a message on the young witch's home phone, Millisandros. He hoped she was there by the time he arrived.

He was getting tired. He'd been out all day and, at this rate, wouldn't be back to his hotel until evening. He wanted to relax a little tonight, with Jo and Jackie returning over quickly the next night.

Jo preoccupied his thoughts, as well as Jackie. She was a lot of fun. He was looking forward to the next challenge. He was sure there was a limit to their escalation, but he'd been enjoying the steady climb they'd been on.

Celeste had been bugging him all morning, messaging and asking how his trip was going. She was arriving any day now, after running some errands for him amongst her own work back in Therien.

He would see if she could see anything from a different perspective—something he wasn't seeing. Because, as of now, if Millasandro couldn’t tell him anything new, he had no idea how else to proceed.