Chapter 11
The sun shone down fiercely through the ceiling of the orangery and I lay back on the couch with one of my hands lightly shielding my eyes. Outside, I could see a gardener working away, trimming back the rose bushes and collecting each clipped stem in a small pile on the patio table.
Marianne was in the kitchen, she had asked me to help her with something but had yet to elaborate on what. I cast my mind back to the previous evening and I remembered his lips on mine. I remembered the way he had gripped me with such power that I was weak at the knees. I thought of The Underworld… and I knew that even though it excited me, I never wanted to go there again.
“Aradia?” Marianne called through from the kitchen.
I got to my feet and went through. She was elbow deep in herbs and oils, mulching them all together as she burned purple candles.
“Can you pass me the athame?” she asked me.
I reached down and picked up the small dagger-like blade. I lay it on the table in front of her and then traced my hands along the light blue candles that lay all around the base of her mixing bowl.
“I’m going outside,” she smiled. “I’m going to do a ritual for your mother.”
“But it’s day time?” I asked her.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “The moon will be out soon enough.”
She gathered up the pieces she needed and I watched her nod her head in the direction of the blue candles. I picked them up for her and followed her out into the garden. We walked down towards the lake through the forest and she stopped at a clearing.
It didn’t register why straight away, but I immediately felt uneasy.
“Right,” she smiled, “I’m going to open a circle. Would you like to stay?”
She knelt down in the soft earth and began to draw a circle with the athame.
All I could feel was dread and I shook my head.
“I don’t like it here,” I said.
Her smile dropped and the color drained from her face.
“I’m sorry,” she stammered, “I’m a fool.”
The second she said it, I knew why I was feeling so peculiar. I recognized the clearing and that part of the forest immediately. My memories pulsed back to me and I felt woozy. It was where I had gotten lost all those years before and where my powers had unleashed themselves without warning.
I was standing right where I had been when I had killed the Baker Boy.
“Aradia,” she began, but I shook my head and shut her down.
“It’s okay,” I said. “Here,” I dropped the candles with a thump to the ground. “Send Mom as much positive energy as you can, she needs it.”
As I marched away from the clearing my heart was pounding and my palms were sweating.
Something wasn’t right. I stopped in my tracks and turned back to look at Marianne. She was watching me with tears in her eyes and I could sense the deceit, but I didn’t know why.
I could have stayed and had it out with her… but I wasn’t ready. I had to get back up to Woodmont and prepare myself for Lucifer. I had already decided that I was going to let him make me his. And nothing Marianne could say would stop me.
In my room I lay back on my bed and looked up at the ceiling. Why did I feel as if suddenly, something was about to be revealed? I had the overwhelming feeling of dread pulsing through me and no matter what, I couldn’t shake it. It was something to do with that clearing in the forest… the Baker Boy… my past…
I rolled onto my side and buried my head in my pillow. Since I had set foot in Valport my power had been ready to break free again, but I had kept it reined in like my mom had always taught me.
Men don’t like powerful women, she had said. Don’t even let them see what you can do.
I’d been so afraid… so cautious… But Lucifer, he seemed to love the fact I was a witch and he even knew the origins of my name. Aradia was a witch queen and I had been named after her because of the alignment of the stars on the day I was born.
The power was always in you, Marianne had told me. From the very moment you entered this world.
I pushed the memories away and closed my eyes.
As the day passed and the sun began to set I stayed up there alone and didn’t answer Marianne when she called to me. I needed to be alone. I needed to think. Somewhere at the back of my mind a memory was niggling and was desperate to break free, but I couldn’t quite grasp it.
I ran the shower so it was red hot and climbed inside. As the heat ravaged my body I thought of Lucifer and his incredible touch. I washed everywhere, I wanted to feel brand new. When I turned off the water and got out I chose the biggest towel I could find and I wrapped myself in it, my skin pink and raw.
It was almost 8pm by the time I unlocked the door to my room and made my way back out to the landing and down the staircase. I could hear Marianne and I knew I couldn’t leave her for a second night in a row without explaining myself, so I wandered along to the kitchen and stood in the doorway.
“You look lovely,” she said seriously. “Where are you going?”
“You know where I’m going,” I said defiantly.
She pushed her chair back along the slate floor with a screech and got to her feet.
“Please don’t,” she whispered.
“What I don’t understand, is why?”
Marianne looked down to avoid my gaze and rubbed her temples.
“He’s a dark force Aradia,” she said with defeat.
“But he’s not a witch… I haven’t seen him do anything untoward.”
“That doesn’t mean he can’t,” she sighed. “The truth is, I don’t know what Lucifer is made of… I don’t know who he is or what runs through his veins… all I know is that there is a darkness around him that never seems to lift… and that all of the people close to him have died.”
I pouted and put my hand on my hip.
“I like him,” I told her, “I know you don’t, and you’re just looking out for me… but there’s something about him that I can’t forget. And if I’m completely honest, I don’t want to forget… I need him. It’s like we were meant to be together.”
I could see the tears welling up behind her eyes.
“You’re an adult,” she said, “I can’t stop you.”
I nodded my head and felt relief.
“That’s all I really wanted to hear,” I said.
She sat back down at the table and brought her clasped hands up to her mouth.
“He can sense your power,” she added as I turned to make for the door, “He’ll use you.”
I stopped in my tracks and turned to look at her.
“I don’t think so,” I said.
“Well…” she said with menace, “He has before…”