Hooked [Complete]

71: Sacrifice and Blood Magic

Author's Note: What's Dru planning? She's planning to do what she always does...defer getting real with Sean and hide in her darkness. But she does have a good reason this time...we all want the Gods back, right?

Song for this Chapter: Trouble With Wanting by Joy Williams . This is Dru's song. There's a line at the end of the chorus that says, "The trouble with wanting is I want you all the time." That's where Dru is. She's accepted she will always love Sean, but she wants him all the time, and she's afraid she can't live with the sacrifices he thinks he has to make for the good of the Pantheon. Hmmm...sound familiar?

Dru blinked back her tears of joy as she watched Lord Finn deposit the new little bundled godling into his momma's arms for the first time. Lana pulled apart the blanket at once and inspected every inch of the babe, who had sandy blonde hair like his father but a golden aura, unlike either of his silver and black-tipped parents.

"He's perfect." Lana sobbed through her tears. The baby flailed his tiny limbs and screeched in fury at being freed from his comforting bundling.

"Yes. Perfect. And so like you," Finn laughed. It was true, the babe looked exactly likely a golden version of his raven haired mother. He helped Lana retuck the babe and Lana instinctively began to nurse him. Finn knelt beside the bed.

"Darlin', look at me," Finn said, his voice commanding, but reverent. Something in his tone made everyone in the room look at Lana, and they all saw her aura shift—the ever present, dark restless tendrils of her magic relaxing and curling around her to embrace her baby. The black faded away. Her new aura shone silver like Cerridwen's. The look of absolute love and surety she gave Finn in that moment held so much feeling that it bled over to all the other witches present. Even Sean made a small sound of blissful contentment as he felt the love.

She looked at the baby and then at Finn. "I thought my love would be...divided. But it's just...infinite, now." With the baby in her arms, she reached for Finn's sandy head and he smiled through her caress, never taking his eyes off her face.

Finn smiled. "So beautiful. So fierce. I love you, Allana."

"And the maiden takes a new aspect," Maeve says softly. For the first time since her daughter became a Goddess, she bade all the witches bow to the New Mother.

When Dru rose, she kissed Lana, embraced Finn and dropped a few tears on the new godling's downy head as she cupped it and cooed over him.. Then she gathered up the bowl that contained the remnants of the birth—and the baby's magically removed tail— and slipped quietly out the back into the night.

Sean found her in the skinning shed, scrubbing her hands in the sink by candlelight as she cried silent tears. He embraced her gently from behind and for once, their Greenspark did not fire, but simply flickered. He didn't offer her words of comfort, he just held her in silence, his chin resting lightly upon her shoulder. He imagined her emotions were a mix of joy over the baby and sorrow over her past-life son, so long lost to her. Sean suspected the tears were maybe also a little grief for the life they couldn't seem to build together.

He was right in comprehending all her feelings, but he was missing one. Her tears carried a different emotion, too, one that would either be fulfilled or put to rest to night. Fear. The witch Druantia feared, and she feared little without good cause.

When she didn't relax into his arms, Sean gently released her and reached for a towel to dry her hands. She took the towel from him quickly, but not before he saw.

"What's happened?" Sean said with concern, trying to draw her hand with the darkened, stiff finger into the candlelight.

"It looks worse than it is. Pinched it in a magical spell is all," she shrugged, turning away to the work table.