Will of the Witch [Legacy, BK 2 - Completed]

Chapter 13.3

JOHN

There was none of the dizzy vertigo like when I travelled through Ezra or Benji's portal. It was more like a long step through a doorway that led me right back where I was only weeks ago. The freshly cut grass left a thick scent in the air that brought back many memories of family barbecues and parties.

I turned back to the portal. Cameron and the other Witches still appeared awestruck, but Hunter looked as though he wanted to jump through after me, the pain clear on his unhappy face.

"I'm sorry," I said, and shut down the portal.

My chest throbbed. Part of me had wanted Hunter to come, because I didn't want to face this alone. What if we were caught? On my own, I would at least have a chance to escape again, but after what'd happened after they'd caught Ezra, they probably would kill Hunter on the spot.

Facing the house, I distracted myself by focusing on the details. New cushions covered the patio furniture and new flowers filled the planters. All of the lights were off and, other than the shopping spree, nothing seemed out of place.

It felt like there was a neon light shining on me, and I had this odd sense I was being watched. My parent's wards and protections! The thought came across too late. Even the other Witches had seen me as a Necromancer, I should've known that the protections here would too. As I cautiously examined the wards, I sensed the conflict within them. They recognized me by blood, but my power was the issue. The wards saw me as a threat, but because of my blood they hesitated, waiting to see what I would do.

Quickly, I tried to think of what I could do, some magic that would convince the wards that I was okay. Part of me wanted to get in and out of here unnoticed, but I wasn't kidding myself. Too much could go wrong. My old Earth magic was out of the question. I couldn't reach it anymore, but maybe something spirit related? What was something my new power could do that looked like something I used to do?

I thought back to how Kaylee had shared her power with a demon. I wasn't sure it would work due to the differences in my powers, but all the magic was the same, right? Maybe, just maybe, it might be enough. Reaching to the nearby honeysuckle bush, I remembered the day I planted it with Mom. It was the spring after I'd been told my affinity with Earth. Mom had taken me to the garden center, let me pick out anything I wanted. The honeysuckle was one of her favorites and mine too.

I touched one of the flowers and instead of willing the plant to grow or strengthen its roots as I once would have, I swallowed past the lump in my throat and pulled the plant's power into me. I drank it down as the plant withered and died before my eyes. Carefully, I held its magic within me, like it was my own to use.

The wards accepted it, allowing me to move once more now that my power and blood had reconciled with what they knew.

Looking at the shriveled vine, emotion swirled in me, but I didn't let it overwhelm me. There was too much to do. I moved across the lawn and on to the porch. Opening the back door, I made no effort to hide my presence, but I didn't exactly want to yell, "I'm home!" either.

The kitchen was dark, the only glow from the appliance clocks and the little multicolored night light plugged into the bar. I walked through to the dining room, the memory of my last dinner with my family whispered through my mind with all its painful details. Other memories swept over me, too. Birthday parties. Family movie nights. Watching my sisters learn magic from my parents. All that great American childhood schtick with a twist of a family secret.

For all the memories, suddenly I felt like a stranger in my own family's home. I felt removed, alien, as if they were someone else's memories. That's when I realized they were.

I had changed. It wasn't just that I was no longer a part of their family or even a witch, for that matter. I was an entirely different person than the one that had been here last. I was different because I had willed it so. I would help put everything right and atone for what the Witches had done. Even if it took my life.

Hurrying to the hallway and into the small office Mom and Dad shared on the far side of the living room, I couldn't waste anymore time. I needed to find the information and get gone.

The rest of the house was just as quiet and still as the kitchen. I couldn't even hear snoring upstairs. Where was everyone?

I went to the double curved desks and stopped at the closest one, Dad's side, first. The keyboard was pushed aside for his calendar blotter, which was marked up with all his appointments and meetings. It was his own personal code: everything Coven related was written in red, personal appointments in black, and anything specific to our family in blue. It was in short hand so that it was mostly initials with times.

I'd been reading his calendar for years, I knew what to look for. Dad was on a week-long overnight trip for the Coven and Chelle had gone with him. Tasha was also out for an overnight training. But there wasn't anything here about Mom or Frankie.

Moving on to Mom's desk, which was a mess, as usual. Files and papers were piled on the corner. Pens, glasses, and a couple of stray coffee mugs littered the surface, leaving her desktop to battle for room among the clutter.

Her information wouldn't be as easy to find or as clear cut as Dad's. She kept most of her appointments in her phone, but was also likely to write down notes on whatever was available while she was on the phone. There was nothing to find, however, no notes from the last few weeks, nothing besides an appointment with her hair stylist and a list of birthday gift ideas for Dad. Nothing even close to that I was looking for.

Frustrated, I turned away from the desks and paced across the carpet.

There had to be something here, some clue. Both my parents were high enough in the ranks of the Coven to have access to the important information, so where was it?

I glanced at my father's desktop, and knew where I needed to look next. Hitting the spacebar on the keyboard, the computer woke up and I entered his password, letting a quick breath out as the computer display changed to the desktop without any issue. He hadn't changed it since I helped him set up three years ago. Of course, I'm sure he doubted that he'd have to worry about someone in his own house accessing it.

The first thing I did was flip through the open windows, even though there were only three. But his browser had about fifty tabs open. I shook my head at the nonsense, but one of the tabs caught my attention. It was a map and directions to one of the Coven's facilities outside of Louisville, Kentucky.

I remembered that one, I'd spent a large part of my training there as an Earth Witch because that was where the Earth Priest was based. And it was a great place to keep the plants and up the protections and security on them, too, since the compound was set outside of the city, looked like a kid's sleep away camp.

Looks like I was going further down memory lane tonight than I thought.