When she pulled up at The Herbery the rain had settled down a bit, letting her walk from her car and up to the shop door without drowning. Peering through the shop windows didn’t give any clues as to what was in there as it was too dark inside. Brenna hoped she hadn’t missed the meeting. She caught her image in the glass and immediately brought a hand up to her wet stringy hair and tried to fluff it up it or tamp it down. Something to make her look less like a drowned hedgehog. Wet locks still clung to her face, making her shiver in the cool night air. Oh well. Just when she was about to knock on the front door a light floated into the front of the shop making Brenna jump like a rabbit spotted by an eagle. The light floated all the way up to the front door. The door opened. Brenna’s heart pounded.
Brenna stepped back from the door, fearing the worst until she realized it was just somebody holding a candle wearing a black hooded cloak. With one hand the person flicked the hood off revealing an excited round face.
It was Celestine. “Brenna! So glad you came!”
“Oh, me too,” Brenna whispered, willing her pulse to return to normal.
“Come in out of the cold.” Celestine grabbed Brenna’s arm and pulled her inside. The warmth inside surprised her. It felt like an oven in the dark shop.
“Come this way.” Celestine held the candle out, lighting the way. Brenna followed closely behind her until they came to a closed door. Celestine put out a plump hand and turned the doorknob. Light flooded out of the room from hundreds of candles sitting in big clusters around the massive room.
“Wow.” Brenna took in the room, her mouth agape. The size of a small hall; it had floor to ceiling windows covered by thick burgundy velvet curtains. Three tables were spread around the room all covered with table cloths matching the curtains. Candles of all sizes and colors shone brightly on the tops of the tables, casting a warm flickering light. The warm glow illuminated the faces of what Brenna assumed were the coven members. Standing on a large silver pentacle painted on the floor in a circle, they all wore black cloaks but their hoods were down enabling Brenna to see a small crowd of friendly faces. She attempted a quick headcount but Celestine cleared her throat, interrupting her. “This is Brenna Ravenwood.”
An excited chatter moved through the crowd. Celestine raised one hand, cutting out the noise. “I know we all have plenty of questions for Brenna, but first let her tell us what has happened so we are all on the same page. We can have proper introductions after.”
“Uh, hello, everyone. Nice to meet you all… Well, where do I start…?” Brenna scratched her head. Every eye in the room trained in on her. She filled them in with most of what had happened since she arrived. “And now I’m here, hoping like hell you guys can help me. I’m lost.”
A young woman who couldn’t have been more than twenty with big hazel eyes raised a hand. “Why was Maggie taken and you weren’t?”
“Good question!” somebody else piped up.
“Well, I don’t know.”
“If the protection charm you anointed kept you safe, surely it should have worked for her too?” the girl with the hazel eyes said.
Celestine looked to be deep in thought. “It wasn’t the protection spell.” Everybody looked at her, waiting. “It was the necklace.” Celestine nodded toward Brenna’s neck. “Are you wearing it now?
Brenna’s hand shot up to the stone around her neck. Ice spread throughout her insides. If she hadn’t been wearing the moonstone, she wouldn’t be here now. “Oh, my Goddess.”
“Oh my Goddess is right,” somebody said.
Murmurs in the crowd.
“When I got ahead of Maggie, she wasn’t protected anymore. It’s my fault she’s gone.” Brenna felt empty. The coven crowded around her.
They patted her on the back and shushed her. “Nonsense,” somebody whispered. By now she’d counted thirteen coven members.
“Can we see it?”
Brenna nodded and lifted the pendant out from under her blouse. The stone pulsed as though alive.
Celestine stepped forward. “It’s beautiful. More than that, I can feel its power. That stone is the only reason you were able to escape,” said Celestine. “If you’d left the stone at home, I suspect you wouldn’t be standing here right now.”
Brenna shuddered at the thought. “Now I need to find out the identity of the judge. If I’m right, and he’s the soul behind the dark entity.”
Celestine was nodding. “I think there’s a good chance you’re right about that. I mean, it sounds plausible. I just can’t believe that book has been in the library this whole time, and I never knew.” She shook her head in disgust.
Brenna couldn’t help a chuckle. “To be fair, I only found it because I had a little help.”
Hazel Eyes sighed. “I wish I had powerful ancestors sending me on thrilling journeys.”
“It isn’t as fun as it seems,” Brenna said, thinking of Maggie.
“I know, sorry.”
“It’s fine. Anyway, the problem is, the book didn’t mention the name of the judge anywhere. Would that sort of information be kept on file?”
Celestine made a thinking face. “Yeah but whether or not the records survived this long, who knows? I’ll look into it.”
“Thank you. Failing that, I think Ronan will be able to find out.”
“Oh he’s gorgeous!” somebody called out.
Brenna blinked, then she remembered they have been having the same dreams as her, so they know what he looks like. “Well, he certainly isn’t ugly,” Brenna said, barely containing a blush.
“You could say he’s downright dreamy!” Hazel Eyes said. The rest of the coven laughed. “But wait, how will you ask him?”
“He’s in town.” Brenna shut her eyes and waited for excited screams.
“He’s what?”
“How?”
“Where?”
“He was outside the library,” Brenna said, laughing with the giddy ladies.
“He was outside my library?” Celestine said, eyes huge.
“Yes. I’m seeing him again tomorrow night. I’m hoping he will be able to tell me the name of the judge.”
“Is that all you’re hoping for?” a nosy girl asked with a giant smile.
“Uh, yes.” Brenna laughed, gently shaking her head.
Celestine walked into the middle of the painted pentacle where there was a table set up as an altar. On the altar was a miniature pentacle, white candles, jasmine flowers, acorns, pumpkins, crisp golden leaves, salt, a container of water, an ornate pewter chalice decorated with trees and full of red wine, and a round Goddess figure, sat proudly on the table. Brenna smiled at the sight of the statue that looked like a chubby faceless baby and was small enough to fit in her hand. Her grandmother always used to say she and the statue shared the same shape, always making Brenna laugh.
Celestine motioned for Brenna to enter the circle of the pentacle and, raising her hands toward the ceiling, she started to whisper. Brenna made her way into the circle, feeling an incredible warmth envelop her. It was like coming in from the cold.
Celestine raised her voice. “We ask the elements of earth, air, fire, and water to join our circle in peace and love. We ask the Goddess to give us protection during our ritual.” Celestine lit some incense and put it next to two white candles. Smoke floated from the incense, filling the air with a sweet lavender scent. The coven linked hands and started to chant with Brenna standing in the middle of the circle. She hadn’t been to a coven meeting before, so had never witnessed a ritual so large.