Accepting Fate - (Slums to Riches, Book one)

Chapter 29

Angelique started with the Latin dictionary. She scanned every page to memory for when she needed it later. Next she pulled two shoe boxes closer. Cook had text books for Latin grammar, sentence construction, and tenses, but her handwritten notes in the shoe boxes would give her more clarity since Cook already simplified it all for her. Almost an hour later, she sat back and smiled. She still needed assistance with her pronunciations, but she could understand and write Latin.

As she came across a few words, a light went off in her mind. She recognized them as the words she used in her classes. One in particular made her laugh. She had wondered why kids suddenly requested her as a tutor. She cast an eye-opening spell, which allowed them to see the true nature of her nemesis.

Why she needed a protection spell in school, she did not know. Either she cast it over herself, or the student in her class. Since the mothers already told her she did no harm, she doubted they would elaborate as to why they made her cast it. She couldn't change it, so she pushed it aside and picked up the first of the three largest leather-bound tombs.

Apart from two-hundred basic spells, it explained the mothers' story in more detail. Angelique searched for paper, and finally found some with a pen clipped to it inside Cook's chest. She jotted a few questions she wanted to ask Cook, before moving on to the next tomb. Though Cook said she would return in an hour, Angelique set the third tomb on the pile before she appeared.

Her head bobbed like the bobble-head on Jamie's dashboard as she read the questions. Without a word, she opened the first tomb and pointed out the handwritten notes along the edges.

"I noticed them. So, you're not in agreement with the original rules and regulations either?"

"I would rather say, I do not agree with the person who wrote them. Why would the mothers insist we draw energy from the earth, only to give it back? If we have no energy to give, they will not expect us to drain ourselves. They said to give our excess energy to the earth at night. Excess being the operative word. As for drawing from the earth, I suggest you do so only if you are in dire need."

"Like when I healed Mickey. I needed a boost and asked for help. I don't know where it came from, but it helped me keep my promise to him and Logan. If it came from the earth, I'll gladly give it back. I have the answers to my other questions, except one. The book mentioned twenty original witches, but Ben only mentioned eighteen."

"Yes. Those books were written a thousand years before his birth. The stories changed over the years. Some say the vampires killed three witches and the tiger one. Others say one each. No one ever mentions the two who left before the mothers dished out their punishments. Isabel did not want to be part of the coven, and Tabitha left to live a normal life, or as normal as a witch could have."

"I am such an idiot. When Aunt Evelyn said they lost Isabel, I assumed she died. What happened to make her leave her sisters and brothers? Why did she leave, Cook?"

Cook's mouth pressed into a tight line before she turned to the door. "You need to release your energy. I could feel it pulsing from you in the kitchen. I shouldn't have left you this long, but I got distracted."

"You might as well tell me. I will find out even if I have to go up that mountain to ask Aunt Evelyn and risk running into the psycho, Luther."

"She turned evil!" Cook spun around and glared at her. "She turned to dark magic and would accept our help. Hope that you never meet her, Angelique. She would much sooner kill you than welcome you with open arms. Swear to me you will not go looking for her."

Angelique had thought perhaps an argument pushed her away, but nothing could prepare her for the truth. She nodded and said, "Thank you for telling me the truth. I promise I will not go looking for her, but now I will know what to expect if she comes calling. May I ask one more question?"