The next morning after picking Caleb up, Kiera had a smile on her face as the young couple walked hand in hand into the student filled halls. They got several nods of approval from what Kiera had learned were the Shifter students to the evident surprise on Robert’s face when they had found him standing next to Caleb’s locker.
Kiera also took note of the hostile looks and mumbled comments from the female witches. Micah’s remarks returning to her thoughts ‘They won’t like that you and Caleb are together.’
Stepping into his personal space, Kiera kissed him long and hard before pulling back and saying, “I need to get to homeroom. I’ll see you at lunch.”
There was nothing that could contain the smile that filled his face after that searing kiss from Kiera. “Sure thing see you later,” Caleb replied.
Kiera turned to catch the Witch Bitches reaction seeing shock on most to one girl dressed in leather who had nothing but malice in her eyes for Kiera. Good, now I know who to keep my eyes on. She thought to herself.
Robert watched Kiera walk away then back to his best friend, “What in the hell did I miss yesterday afternoon?”
Caleb grabbed a couple of books then closed his locker, “We spent the afternoon together and it kind of just happened.”
“What kind of just happened? You need to fill me in,” Robert complained.
“I don’t know what happened. I just know we went out to Fort Sewall climbed out onto the rocks and talked, then the next thing I know we were kissing. That’s the whole story,” Caleb finished as the two of them arrived at their homeroom.
Veronica had spent the previous afternoon tailing what she and Kiera had dubbed the Witch Bitches, a group of Senior females who seemed to think that they were the ones who ran the school. After some digging, it wasn’t far from the truth. All four girls belonged to one of the founding families. Their leader was the buxom blonde named Ashley who had a penchant for wearing leather.
Playing the tourist, something that wasn’t too far from the truth since Veronica had never been to Salem before. Dressed in blue jeans, Thor tee shirt, and jean jacket. She was accompanied by one of her fellow Valkyrie agents, Megan who was wearing a sundress and sandals.
The Witches didn’t give them a second look since both agents were normal humans.
Now, Veronica stood in her commander’s office ready to give her report on her findings and what she thought. A part of her felt guilty that she hadn’t told Kiera about what she had been up to, but the other part of her didn’t want to blow Kiera’s cover in case she was wrong.
“Report!”
“Followed who I believe to be the individual that we are seeking. Her name is Ashley Hubbard who descends from Elizabeth Hubbard, one of the girls who initially accused people of witchcraft during the infamous Salem Witch Trials. Turns out that Elizabeth did this to help hide her own skills with the Craft.
“Ashley is a natural leader among her peer group and from what I have been able to discern she’s also the most powerful witch in her age group and only second in power to her mother.” Veronica handed her commander a folder with photos that she and Megan had taken during their outing.
“Thank you, I will pass this up to the Inquisitor. We need to keep an eye on this group. Get with Kiera and fill her in on what you think. Also, I will leave how you use your squad in this. I have a feeling that the Inquisitor will want more surveillance and we can’t strike until Morrigan shows herself. Am I understood?” Command Reed replied.
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Good, dismissed,” Commander Reed began to skim through the photos as Veronica left the office.
Megan was waiting outside Commander Reed’s office with Kelley, and Jennifer the rest of Veronica’s squad minus Kiera. “What did the Dragon Lady say?”
Veronica shook her head and motioned for them to follow her, “The commander wants us to keep an eye on those girls and to remain alert for when Morrigan makes her appearance. Everyone believes that this should all go down on Halloween night.”
Saturday morning arrived, and Kiera woke up to find that her apartment had been invaded by her fellow Valkyrie sisters.
Veronica and Meghan were sharing the bed in the spare bedroom, while Kelly and Jennifer were crashed out on the sofa and loveseat.
I must’ve been tired more than I thought after getting home last night. Kiera thought as she made her way into the kitchen to get the coffee brewing. Once she had the elixir of life started Kiera disappeared back into her bedroom to prepare for her day with Caleb.
If Kiera were honest with herself, she’d admit that she really liked Caleb. She had felt a connection with him the first time they met, but she had written it off as nervousness for her assignment. She had thought after that first day that he was the one that they had been sent to find, but after learning that he was a male witch of little power. It was normal according to him and Robert who had explained that the most powerful male witch would have power equal to a mid-level female witch.
Not letting Caleb or Robert be the primary source of her info, Kiera had paid attention to the other girl witches while eavesdropping on their conversations. The rumors had it that Caleb’s blood was so far from being of pure blood that they hadn’t understood why he was even allowed in their school. Because it’s not your school you bitch! Kiera had thought after hearing those comments. She had learned real fast that the Witch students who were from or associated with the founding families were true racial purists.
Kiera walked out of her bedroom dressed in jean short shorts with a green flowy top and wrap around sandals whose straps crisscrossed up to her calves. She stopped and raised an eyebrow at Veronica who was in the process of pouring herself a cup of Kiera’s coffee.
“You know I’ve killed people for less. You better have left me some,” Kiera stated.
Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, “Why are you up at this ungodly hour?”
“I have a date today with Caleb. He’s showing me around Salem,” She beamed at her friend.
“Who are you and what have you done with my broody best friend?” Veronica asked before taking a sip of coffee.
Kiera finished making her coffee, “You were the one who told me to enjoy my time here. That’s what I’m doing besides Caleb will be eighteen next month, and he’s really nice.”
“You know he could be the one we are looking for?” Veronica offered.
“I thought that too, but all the info that I’ve gathered doesn’t show that. Yes, his parents are non-existent, and his birthday matches but his power is low. I overheard the Witch Bitches even questioning why he was in school with them,” Kiera replied.
Veronica nodded after hearing Kiera’s assessment. “Then I’m going to keep an eye on the Witch Bitches. My bet is it’s one of them and if I had to guess it’s that Ashley chick.”
Kiera thought about that for a moment, “I can see that. She’s arrogant, cruel and often displays her power around the school.”
“Wait, Caleb isn’t coming here to get you is her?” Veronica asked.
“No, I’m meeting him at the diner downtown, and since Meghan is here I’m going to take her car,” Kiera smiled wickedly as she picked up the keys to Meghan’s vintage 1969 Pontiac GTO.
“I know nothing, now go and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Veronica offered as Kiera left the apartment.
Kiera arrived at the diner and after parking went inside to find Caleb waiting for her and a half-empty pot of coffee sitting on the table.
“How long have you been here?” She asked after giving him a kiss and sitting across from him in the booth.
Caleb waived, “Only about thirty or forty minutes. Celeste, my adopted mom, has been acting weird most of the week. If you ask me, I think she doesn’t know how to deal with me having a girlfriend. We are boyfriend and girlfriend, right?”
Kiera laughed when he blushed then she put him out of his misery. “Yes, we’re boyfriend and girlfriend. Now, tell me what we are going to do today?”
“I thought we could start at the Witch Museum and then wing it from there,” He replied.
They ordered breakfast then spent the rest of the day exploring Salem. At some point in the afternoon, Caleb led Kiera into a Craft and Component shop that he explained that he often visited whenever he need spell components or items to help with his witchcraft.
It was here that Caleb purchased a silver pentacle pendant and necklace for Kiera. At first, she was hesitant about it saying that it was a symbol for the devil. Caleb told her that wasn’t the case and it was just a symbol used by those who followed Pagan beliefs and Witches who used it in most of their rituals.
Kiera wore it from that day forward.
The following weeks went by uneventful. Kiera spent as much time as she could with Caleb after school. Often accompanying him and Robert to The Commons was where the two young men would talk about their Craft. Kiera found herself on the receiving end of Robert’s endless questions about her Pyrokinesis and never seemed to relent until she gave him a demonstration.
On one of these days after school, Kiera and Caleb ended back out at Fort Sewall. They were often found out here as it was the location of their first kiss and it had nothing to do with witches which made them both happy to be away from all that drama.
They were sitting on the rocks with their arms around each other when Caleb pulled back from kissing Kiera. He stared into her green eyes for what seemed like forever.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Kiera asked staring back into his storm-colored eyes.
“Remember when I told you about this darkness that I often feel inside me and how whenever I’m with you it’s as if the shadows are chased away?” Caleb replied.
“Yes, you said it wasn’t supposed to be the cheesy pickup line it sounded like,” She answered.
He blushed, “Yeah, well there’s a reason for the darkness that I’ve never told anyone about.”
Taking his hands in hers, Kiera offered, “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“I want to. I haven’t been this sure of something in a long time. Even my mom has noticed that I’m not as broody or angst-filled as I used to be.” He turned his gaze out to sea watching the storm on the horizon as lightning danced in the dark clouds. “My birth mother is Morrigan, and my father was known as Samael.”
Kiera sat there thinking about what she was just told and the ramifications of what Caleb had just said. “You mean your mother was named after The Morrigan and why does Samael sound familiar, but I can’t place it?”
“No, she is The Morrigan, and you probably would know my father under his other name, Lucifer Morningstar,” Caleb replied soberly.
“You mean to tell me that your mother is the Celtic Goddess of Death and your father is the devil?” She asked curiosity in her tone, “How is that even possible?”
“That’s the interesting part. How familiar are you with the events that took place right before the Emergence happened?” He asked.
“Yeah, something about an ancient evil that was imprisoned somewhere in Central America escaped and attempted to set up shop in L.A. before being taken down by a group of supernaturals led by Dorian and Talia Callahan…” She paused, “Wait, isn’t our Current Events teacher’s last name Callahan?”
Caleb pulled her close before continuing, “Yes, he’s their father. Their mother is the Alpha for the shifter pack here, but that’s just part of the story. What most people don’t know is that Bronwyn also employed three powerful witches. One of which was my mother, The Morrigan, who used Bronwyn’s knowledge of the Fallen and angelic magic to summon and imprison Samael, who is responsible for the race known as Witches. Not that they will admit that in polite company. Well, it turns out that Bronwyn was also a Fallen Angel but wasn’t constrained by the agreement that was brokered between Heaven and the Fallen since she had already been imprisoned by her own brothers and sisters.
“Bronwyn killed Samael and offered everything but his head to my mother and her sisters. Mother put his boy into stasis and when Merlin showed up, yes that Merlin, to help the supernaturals in their battle with Bronwyn he discovered my mother and they did battle. Turns out my mother tried to kill him about a thousand years ago. She has an otherworldly hatred for Merlin.” Caleb paused and looked at Kiera, “You still with me so far?”
She kissed him, “Yes, go on it’s interesting. I thought my family was fucked up.”
He chuckled, “No shit. Anyway, my mother concocted this idea of taking the preserved essence of Samael and impregnating herself to birth a one of a kind witch with the power of a Goddess and a Fallen Angel. She had hoped for a girl because they tend to be more powerful in the Craft than boys are. As you’d expect she was not happy to give birth to a male. Still surprised she didn’t kill me outright.”
Kiera gasped and grabbed hold of him, “Then we’d have never met. That would’ve sucked.”
He kissed her for a long time before he finished his story. “In the end, my mother gave me to Celeste one of her circle. She brought me here and raised me as her own, but I have always worried about the day when my mother returns and decides that it’s time for me to fulfill her schemes.”
They sat there well into the night, and Kiera’s heart was torn between her duty to The Brotherhood and the young man she was falling in love with next to her. By the time she dropped Caleb off at his home her decision was made. She’d take his secret to the grave. There was no way she would tell Veronica about Caleb, let them continue to think that their target was Ashley.
Kiera had also become the object of Ashley’s group’s obsession, where they resorted to spreading rumors and gossip about her that wasn’t true. Only once had it almost come to a violent head when the Witch Bitches cornered Kiera in the girl’s locker room after gym class.
“You know you’ll never be good enough for him,” Ashley proclaimed to her clique.
Kiera turned to face her antagonist, “What do you care? None of you even give him the time of day and considering your kinds penchant for proper breeding I’d think you’d all be lining up and sticking our asses in his face hoping he’ll choose you.”
Laughter erupted from somewhere in the locker room, which caused Ashely’s face to turn even redder. “Grab her! I’m going to teach this bitch that you don’t fuck with our kind.”
What Ashley and her friends weren’t prepared for was fully trained Valkyrie. The Brotherhood had taught her how to fight hand to hand in several different disciplines. Her favorite was Aikido, so when Natalie, the Goth girl, ended up on her back with such speed it caused the other two girls, Brittney and Dani to give pause to the woman in front of them.
Ashley walked between Brit and Dani with a look that was pure hatred. “I was just going to have you beaten, now I think you need to be shown your proper place,” She finished as her hair began to float around her as she gathered power.
“Oh shit!” Kiera exclaimed.
The following weeks had been some of the best that Caleb could ever remember having. Ever since meeting Kiera it was like he had found a grounding rod in her. Every minute he was around her the shadow that hung over him lightened. He couldn’t explain the feeling to his mom, she had been acting strange lately, and that bothered him. He was also afraid to ask his best friend Robert worried that he would begin asking questions again like he had done after the encounter with the demon. How do you tell your best friend that your father is the Fallen Angel Samael and your birth mother is The Morrigan, Celtic Goddess of Death?
It was just a week until Samhain, and his eighteenth birthday, Caleb wasn’t sure what would happen on that night with regards to him coming into his full power. One thing was clear he was planning on celebrating it with Kiera, they were planning on heading up into the White Mountains in New Hampshire for a weekend of camping and whatever else just happened.
The class had ended when he and everyone else felt the wash of power pass through the school. “What was that?” Robert had asked as he followed Caleb.
“I’m not sure, but I think it came from the gym,” Caleb replied.
The two boys arrived at the gym to find that a large group of students and teachers had surrounded something. That’s when Caleb heard Ashley’s voice, “This is what happens when you fuck with someone above your station.”
Caleb pushed his way through the crowd when he reached the opening what he saw caused his blood to rage. Before him, Kiera was encased in a globe of water that had to be Dani’s doing with Natalie and Brittney directing power into Ashley as she struck the bubble of water with lightning which caused Kiera’s body to jerk and spasm.
The crowd was calling out for Ashley to fry Kiera, and when Caleb saw the look of pleasure on Ashley’s face, he lost it.
“ENOUGH!” He cried out as he knelt and slammed both fists on the ground. The resulting shockwave that flowed from him with the amount of power he used knocked everyone down and shattered the ball of water holding Keira.
She landed on her kneels coughing and spitting up water as she did all she could to gulp for air.
“Who dare’s interrupt me and my punishment?” Ashley commanded as she regained her feet.
“I did,” Caleb answered softly as he rose up and headed towards Kiera.
“Who do you think you…” Ashley stopped as she took in Caleb’s demeanor. Fire and rage blazed in his eyes and held more power that she could ever hope.
As Caleb knelt next to Kiera, “Everyone leave now!” The command was understood, but the amount of force behind it left the witches who were present dumbfounded since many had known Caleb since elementary school and he had never displayed any level of power near this.
Robert stood there, confusion evident on his face for he had known Caleb the best and if the looks he was receiving from his fellow witches was any indication that they believed that he should have known.
“You… you shouldn’t have done that,” Kiera coughed out.
“If I hadn’t then they would’ve killed you,” Caleb said softly as he sat and pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her. “Besides, I can’t have the first girl I’m falling for die on me before our big weekend.”
Kiera took his face in his hands, “You shouldn’t have done that because now they will know who you are.”
Confusion crossed Caleb’s features, “Who will know who I am?”
“We will know,” A new voice behind him said.
Caleb turned to see four women he had never seen standing before him. They were dressed the same in blue camo style fatigue pants, black combat boots, and black performance tees with a stylized red cross on the left chest. The also had gunfighter style holsters on their right hips.
He turned back to Kiera, “The Brotherhood, but how did you know?”
The two of them stood up, and Kiera stepped away from him tears in her eyes, “Because I’m one of them. I’m sorry.”
Kiera saw the moment something broke inside him and she turned and ran as tears streamed down her face.
Caleb watched Kiera run away when everything clicked into place, and his heart shattered. “This will go a whole lot easier if you just accompany us to our Commanderie,” The blonde leader said.
Caleb turned a gave them a mischievous smirk, “I don’t think so.” He waves his hand at the four Valkyrie agents, and they flew off their feet some twenty feet from him before he turned and fled.
He wondered throughout Salem for the rest of the afternoon staying away from his home and after ignoring the texts from Robert on how he could have kept all this from him and Kiera’s apologies for misleading him and that she had planned on telling him when they were up in New Hampshire he turned his phone off.
It was nearing 8 pm when Caleb came across a diner, and after making sure that no one was following him, he ducked inside and took a seat in the back away from the windows.
He noticed the large man who entered with a beautiful black-haired woman as the waitress delivered his Coke and took his order. She was a stunner curvy in all the right places with a gorgeous pale complexion. Her partner wasn’t some thug. He was wearing a nice suit, but he acted more like a bodyguard than a boyfriend. When she caught Caleb looking she just smiled at him, which caused him to blush and turn away.
The waitress dropped off Caleb’s burger before disappearing back into the kitchen. He then realized that he and the couple were the only people in the diner. Where did everyone go? He thought as the incredible looking woman sat down across from him.
“It’s been a long time Caleb,” The mystery woman said.
After doing his best to avoid choking on his burger, Caleb sat the burger back on his plate. “I’m sorry, do I know you?” He asked.
“Yes, although you wouldn’t remember me. I’m Morrigan, your mother.”
Caleb searched frantically for a way to escape, but all he found was her guard standing next to him. “How did you find me? Mom said we were well hidden here from you.”
Morrigan laughed, “Mom, that’s cute. Celeste, your sister, has kept your Mother informed and up to date with your progress. I’ll admit when you turned out to be a boy and a girl I was skeptical, but I guess your father really came through.”
“Wait, Celeste is my sister?” Caleb asked confusion etched on his face.
“Yes, and unlike you, she has always been faithful in her duties to me.” Morrigan glanced up at her companion, “Take him.”
By the time the command registered in Caleb’s brain a black bag had dropped over his head as he heard ‘codladh’ the Gaelic word for sleep before his head fell onto the table.