Saving Angel (Book 1 Epta Borromean Realms)

Chapter 1

Angel stared at the neatly folded clothes on the bed before her. Her hair hung forward as she bent over to check that everything she needed was there. She huffed quietly to herself, regretting that she had not finished packing the night prior. Rather than preparing to leave for her trial, she sat waiting for her elusive mother instead. She was excited about leaving for the trial a month ago, but now she found herself feeling a bit more uncertain.

Feeling her frustration rising, she began stuffing the clothes into her duffel bag and mumbling quietly to herself. "'This is the way our coven works,' they said."

It was a common practice among the various covens to send every girl of age out to train with another coven after each Beltane. Trials could last anywhere from one year to ten. The young witch would return when their powers were fully developed and assume a role within their coven's hierarchy. In her coven, however, they couldn't come back unless they were 'bound and pregnant.'

The more she learned about the archaic practice the more unsettling it became. The elders called it a trial, but the women were only accepted back once their powers were tied to a man, a warlock. They called it their trial but it always seemed like they were sent out only to return subservient to another. Not to mention, other covens did not like cursed ones.

The women in her coven were Voyeurs, but everyone outside called them cursed ones. Perhaps they knew what a voyeur was, but they had no idea what their gifts truly entailed and that scared the shit out of them.

The young woman laughed at herself, knowing she would get acceptable treatment from the new coven because of her name. Shaking her head, she continued to gather her things and mused about the name she had been given.

Angel.

'Who names their abomination after a heavenly entity? Why not call me Beatrix or Desdemona? A cursed child should carry a warning on them.' She grumbled stuffing more things into the already full duffel.

'The rest of our coven had no problems naming their children appropriately. Like Mallory! Bad is literally in the name! But no, I was named Angel."

She stilled when the sound of a car's tires on the gravel drive broke her inner thoughts. She peeked out the window to see a plain-looking pregnant woman climbing out of the front passenger side of the vehicle. Her mother's cousin Malvolia had come back nearly a year ago from her own trial with a husband in tow.

Malvolia! She felt it was an excellent cursed name for a child in their family. And goddess, help her, that woman brought ill will everywhere she went before she came back from her trial.

'She must be carrying twins for her belly to be that round,' she whispered to herself.

Angel's mother had not been around much for years, so Malvolia had stepped in to help raise her. She would hear her sometimes in the house, late at night, her mother. Rummaging and muttering about the future, Angel refused to climb out of bed because her mother wouldn't acknowledge her even if she did. Something snapped in the woman's mind when Angel was a child, and she never recovered.

Malvolia had stepped in until Angel was old enough to take care of herself, but then left to complete her own trial. When she returned, Angel was already used to doing everything on her own. Malvolia was too pregnant now, so she hadn't convinced her to take her to Carthage, but she and her husband did agree to at least drive her to the bus terminal two towns over.

Angel often wondered how Volia found a man to saddle, but she seemed happier, and Patrick even seemed content with his lot in this world. But then, he would. All of Malvolia's natural, Goddess given gifts were tied to him, enriching him.