Coven Of Catastrophe: Book 3 in the Lorna Maximoff Series

Brother From Another Mother

I sat on a rock nearby teen- no Billy, who lay in a heap on the ground. I felt sick, the glowing crown on my head had slowly disappeared but that didn't make things any better. I thought of my mother...of what she'd become after a similar crown had appeared on her head. I couldn't end up that way too.
Nausea came over me in waves.
I'd just attacked my own brother, if that was even possible. Did it mean Tommy was alive too in someone else's body?
My mind was swarming with questions. None of them answered.
I had to find Agatha and the others.
But how could I leave him now.
And what about Rio, she had seemingly disappeared after the trial. I had my own suspicions on who she was...
I got up, and paced, glancing to the spot where Agatha and the others had sunk into the earth. They had to be okay...right.
Maybe I could go in after them.
I wasn't sure why but something told me wherever they went wasn't the end.
I knew somehow that they were alive.
I went over to teen...or billy, or whatever he was.
"Billy wake up!" I said, and shook him.
He came too looking bewildered. I was glad I hadn't hurt him to bad...
I looked at him seriously, "Do you remember what happened?" I asked him.
He paled... "No...oh no, what have I done."
I didn't know how to answer him.
"I don't know...but it's gonna be okay. I'll fix this, I promise."
We shared a knowing look.
"Billy..." it was strange staying his name after all this time.
"Billy how...."
Silence...
It was a lot for us both to digest. So I tried to say something, anything else.
"I don't think the road would just kill them like that," I said, "I think maybe the quicksand swamp stuff leads to somewhere else...this is gonna sound crazy but I think we should follow them.
"What?!"
"We have too, no matter what Agatha's done, we're a coven, we need to stick together."
Billy, or teen, or whatever I was supposed to call him now shifted nervously.
I wondered if he'd known who he was this whole time...if he'd been playing us.
But that wasn't important right now.
"We need to..." I said
He sighed and glanced around "What happened to Rio?"
"I dunno, she never exited with us after the trial, to be honest I have a feeling she's not just a green witch."
He nodded.
"Come on, we should get going."
I took his hand to help him up, "Sorry, I didn't mean to blast you like that, I just sorta lost control."
He chuckled slightly, "Yeah, well I could say the same. You saw what I did to the others..."
I eyed him. I hated mind control, always had. I knew I could do it, but I refrained whenever possible. Of all the things my mother was capable off, all the things I was capable of, I hated that power the most.
"I'm not sure Agatha meant to kill Alice you know... I think, I think maybe she really couldn't control it."
I was the last person to defend Agatha typically but I was starting to understand that magic wasn't always easy to control. Even when you were a centuries old witch.
"You really believe that?" He asked.
I sighed, "Honestly I don't know, and I feel terrible...for Alice, but, I've known Agatha for a while now, I can usually tell when she's lying."

"And the things she said? She was taunting you! Taunting us both."
I nodded, but part of me thought maybe that was just what Agatha resorted to when she was feeling vulnerable.
"Yeah well...maybe she wasn't entirely wrong."
Still, the distain in the way she'd said "you are so much like your mother." Stuck with me.
It hurt, because I knew Agatha hated her, because a small part of me hated her for what she had become...but that hate wasn't stronger than my love for her.
Even if I wasn't good enough...
"And what happened to Alice...it should have been me." I said
"What?"
"I should have blasted Agatha not her, I've survived having my power siphoned before...by my mother briefly, but she couldn't take it. It should have been me."
"Lorna..."
I didn't want to talk about that anymore, so I changed the subject again.
"You need to tell me everything." I said, "Billy please...how are you here?"

He sighed and then began.
"Three years ago I had an accident." Billy told me,
"When the hex came down, everyone from east view was evacuated. It was my... well William kaplans Bar-Mitzvah
But it was chaos, and my family...our car crashed."
He paused for a second.
"When I woke up I wasn't me anymore. I mean I was but...I coulnt remember being William Kaplan. What I did remember you and Tommy and then.... It was like I woken up in someone else's body, someone else's life! Im not...whoever I was, not entirely. And I'm not saying I'm entirely your Billy, but...I have memories, flashes sometimes of our life ...I'm sorry I didn't tell you Lorna...I wanted to tell you, I was just afraid if I did Agatha wouldn't let us on the road. And also there was the sigil, but it's broken now."