Cate Tiernan - Black Magick

Now I have been given my first task. There is a man in Cornwell who is accused of causing his neighbor's milk cows to sicken and die. I'm going down there today to investigate.

Athar has offered to come with me. I didn't tell her how glad I was of her offer, but I could see that she understood nonetheless. She is a good friend to me.

— Giomanach

Sky was perched on a snow-covered log about fifteen feet away from me. Her eyes were almond-shaped pools of black. She looked pale with cold and very still, as if she had been waiting a long time. Kicking in after the fact, my senses picked up on her presence.

She casually brushed off one knee, then clasped her gloved hands together.

"Who are you?" she said conversationally, her English accent as crisp and cool as the snow around us.

"Morgan," I was startled into replying.

"No. Who are you?" she repeated. "You're the most powerful witch I've ever seen. You're not some uninitiated student. You're a true power conduit. So who are you, and why are you here? And can you help me and my cousin?"

Suddenly I was chilled. Steam was coming off me in visible waves. My skin was damp and now turning clammy with sweat, and I felt vulnerable, naked beneath my robe.

Keeping one eye on Sky, I dismantled my circle swiftly and packed away my tools. Then I sat on the boulder and dressed, trying to act casual, as if getting dressed in front of a relative stranger in the woods was an everyday thing. Sky waited, her gaze focused on me. I folded Maeve's robe and put it back in my box, and then I turned to face Sky again.

"What do you want?" I demanded. "How long have you been spying on me?"

"Long enough to wonder who the hell you are," she said. "Are you really the daughter of Maeve of Belwicket?"

I met her eyes without responding.

"How old are you?"

A harmless question. "I just turned seventeen."

"Who have you been studying with?"

"You know who. Cal."

Her eyes narrowed. "Who else? Who before Cal?"

"No one," I said in surprise. "I only started learning about Wicca three months ago."

"This is impossible," she muttered. "How can you call on the Power? How can you use those tools without being destroyed?"

Suddenly I wanted to answer her, wanted to share with her what I had just experienced. "I just—the Power just comes to me. It wants to come to me. And the tools… are mine. They're for me to use. They want me to use them. They beckon me."

Sky sighed.

"Who are you?" I asked, thinking it was time she answered some questions herself. "I know you're Sky Eventide, you're from England, you're Hunter's cousin, and he calls you Athar." I thought back to what I had learned during the tath thing with Hunter. "You grew up together."

"Yes."

"What are you doing with Bree and Raven?" I demanded.

After a pause she said, "I don't trust you. I don't want to tell you things only to have you tell Cal and his mother."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Why are you even here? How did you know where to find me? Why do you and Hunter keep spying on me?"

Conflicting emotions crossed Sky's face.

"I felt a big power draw," she said. "I came to see what it was. I was in my car, heading north, and suddenly I felt it."

"I don't trust you, either," I said flatly.

We looked at each other for long minutes, there in the woods. Sometimes I heard clumps of snow falling off branches or heard the quick flap of a bird's wings. But we were in our own private world, Sky and I, and I knew that whatever happened here would have far-reaching consequences.

"I'm teaching Bree, Raven, Thalia, and the others basic Wiccan tenets," Sky said stiffly. "If I've told them about the dark side, it was only for their protection."

"Why are you in America?"

She sighed again. "Hunter had to come here on council business. He told you he's been doing research about the dark wave, right? He's combining his research with his duties as a Seeker. I get worried about him—all our family does. He's treading on dangerous ground, and we didn't want something bad to happen to him. So I offered to keep him company."

Remembering what Hunter's council duties were, I felt my fists clench. "Why is he investigating Cal and Selene?"

Sky regarded me evenly. "The council suspects they've been misusing their powers."

"In what way?" I cried.

Her dark eyes gazed deeply into mine. "I can't tell you," she whispered. "Hunter believes you're not knowingly involved with their plan. He saw that when you two were in tath meanma. But I'm not so sure. Maybe you're so powerful that you can hide your mind from others."

"You can't believe that," I said.

"I don't know what to believe. I do know that I don't trust Cal and Selene, and I fear they're capable of more evil than you can imagine."

"Okay, you're pissing me off," I said.

"You need to face the facts. So we need to figure out the facts first. Hunter thinks Selene has a big plan that you're a key element of. What do you think they'll do to you if you don't want to be part of it?"

"Nothing. Cal loves me."

"Maybe he does," Sky said. "But he loves living more. And Selene would stop at nothing to have you— not even her own son."

I shook my head. "You're crazy."

"What does your heart tell you?" she asked softly. "What does your mind tell you?"

"That Cal loves me and accepts me and has made me happy," I said. "That I love him and would never help you hurt him."

She nodded thoughtfully. "I wish you could scry," she said. "If you could see them.."

"Scry?" I repeated.

"Yes. It's a somewhat precarious method of divination," Sky explained.

I nodded impatiently. "I know what it is. I scry with fire."

Her eyes opened so wide, I could see the whites around her black irises. "You don't." I just looked at her. Disbelieving, she said, "Not with fire." Not answering, I shrugged.

"Have you scryed to see what's happening in the present?"

I shook my head. "I just let the images come. It seems to be mostly the past, and sometimes I see possible futures."

"You can guide scrying, you know. You focus your energy on what you want to see. With water you'll see whatever your mind wants to see. A stone is the best, most accurate, but it offers less information. Do you think you could control scrying with fire?"

"I don't know," I said slowly, my mind already leaping with possibilities.

Ten minutes later I found myself in a situation I never could have dreamed up. Sky and I sat cross-legged, our knees touching, our hands on each other's shoulders. A small fire burned on a flat stone I had unearthed in the snow. It crackled and spat as the snow in the cracks of the burning branches boiled. I'd lit it with my mind, and had felt a stealthy surge of pride at the way Sky's eyes widened in shock.

Our foreheads touched; our faces were turned to the fire. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and let myself drift into meditation. I tuned out the fact that my jeans were get-ting wet and my butt would probably never thaw again. I had never scryed while doing the Vulcan mind meld, but I was into trying it.

Gradually my breathing deepened and slowed, and sometime later I sensed that Sky and I were breathing in unison. Without opening my eyes I reached out to touch her mind, finding the same suspicious brick wall that I had with Hunter. I pushed against it, and I felt her reluctance and then her slow acceptance. Cautiously she let me into her mind, and I went slowly, ready to pull out if this was a trap, if she tried to attack. She was feeling the same fear, and we paused instinctively until we both decided to let down our guards.

It wasn't easy. She had always rubbed me the wrong way, and she just about hated me. Surprisingly, it hurt to see the depth of her dislike for me, the rage she felt over what I had done to Hunter, her suspicion of my powers and their possible sources. I didn't realize witches could transfer their powers to another until I saw her worry that Selene had done this to me.