Chapter 8
“I’m surprised your family wanted me along for this.” Lars watched as Salem slipped by the windows.
“Why is that?” Amanda stopped at an intersection and waited for her turn. “You were the one who figured out the issues with the ley lines in the first place.”
“Maybe so, but you seemed very concerned that another coven might be the issue. I don’t know anything about the politics of witches.”
Amanda laughed. “I like that. ‘The politics of witches.’ It’s pretty accurate, really. There are covens galore in Salem, as I’m sure you can imagine. Each one is a little different, but we all try to respect each other as much as possible. Mine’s the only one whose members are all shifters.”
When Amanda had picked up Lars at the clanhouse, though, he’d sensed there might be some tension there. “I take it that doesn’t always happen.”
She turned onto the next street. They were taking a much more direct route to the covenstead now that they knew exactly where they were going.
“The Crimson Veil is pretty new. Aunt Maeve and my mom have been running Artemis Eclipse for decades. They were part of the new wave of witches and covens that came back into this area and revived the witchy history behind it. Being one of the older covens, they’re held in pretty high regard.
“Aunt Maeve sent out a little welcome package when she heard about The Crimson Veil, but they snubbed her. They never replied. She probably hasn’t thought about it again until now, but she’s worried about what we might find there.”
“Does she have any idea how they could be causing such a drain on the ley lines?” Lars hadn’t been part of the discussion between the women beforehand, and he wanted to be prepared before they went in.
“They don’t know any more than we do.” Amanda slid to a stop, parking alongside the curb. “Here we are. And it looks like Mom and Aunt Maeve are right behind us.”
The two older women pulled up in a sedan right behind Amanda’s car. Maeve got out of the driver’s seat, and Lars hurried over to open the passenger door.
“Well, aren’t you a gentleman!” Lucille said, taking his hand as she got out. “It’s nice to meet you, Lars. Arthur and I had other plans or we would’ve been at the dinner party, as well. I’m sorry that we don’t have much time to talk right now.”
“I’m sure we’ll get another chance,” Lars replied politely.
Lucille had to be about seventy years old, but her skin was still smooth and soft.
She had her thick white hair cut at her chin and worn in a tousled style that made her look much less like a matronly librarian and more like a well-aged actress.
Maeve straightened out her dress as she came around the front of the car and looked up at the house. “Let’s hope this is all just a big misunderstanding.”
“Have you met any of this coven in person before?” Amanda asked.
“No, not at all.”
“Not even at a convention?”
Maeve shook her head, her mouth a thin line. “She didn’t show up.”
Amanda let the two older women go ahead on the narrow walkway and stayed next to Lars.
“The High Priestesses get together once a year,” she explained to him.
“It’s a social event more than anything, but it’s pretty strange for someone not to come.
A young Priestess, especially, should want to introduce herself and make some connections in the community. ”
“If the house itself is any indication, maybe they’re just not very friendly,” Lars commented. The overgrown bushes on either side of the walkway reached out and plucked at his clothes like tormented spirits.
“Or they’ve got a problem with gardeners.” Amanda plucked a branch off her coat, and then they stepped up onto the porch.
Maeve rang the bell. The tone echoed deep within the house, and for a long moment, there was no response.
Lars waited patiently next to Amanda, taking the moment to once again feel out the energy around the house. Though the ley lines that surrounded the covenstead were nearly empty, the house itself practically radiated with energy. Whatever was going on in there, it was something big.
A young woman with wide eyes and high cheekbones finally answered the door. “Hello,” she said sweetly. “Can I help you?”
“Yes. I’m Maeve Wright of the Artemis Eclipse Sisterhood.”
The name of the coven itself carried just as much weight as Amanda indicated it might, considering the way the young woman widened her eyes. “Oh! Were we expecting you? I wasn’t told.” She glanced uncertainly behind her, into the house.
“I hadn’t made arrangements with anyone, but I have been wanting to introduce myself. May we come in?” Maeve asked politely. To Lars, she was being far more diminutive and polite than she was when she was comfortable.
“Um, yes. I suppose.” The woman stepped back and held the door open as they stepped inside. “Please have a seat. My name is Lorelei, by the way. I’ll get Corinna right away.”
The living room they were in was spacious, but the low ceiling and dark décor made it feel much more closed in. Considering how much ley line power was gathered, it should’ve felt good simply to be there, but Lars immediately sensed that something wasn’t right.
Amanda was still next to him. “What is it?”
“I don’t know,” he replied quietly. “The energy feels…off. That shouldn’t be possible.
It’s not like some other energies, where it can be good or evil.
It just is, and when there’s a lot of it in one place, it feels special.
It’s why people are filled with such awe when they visit Stonehenge or Uluru. ”
“Could this be a site like that?” Lucille asked.
“No.” There was a lot Lars didn’t yet understand about what he was seeing and feeling, but this much he knew was true. “It feels different. I know that’s not very helpful or definitive, but it’s the best I can do right now.”
“That’s perfectly fine, dear,” Lucille assured him. “At least we’re finding out now, and hopefully that means we can do something about it.”
Just then, a woman appeared through one of the few arched doorways that led off into other parts of the house.
She was also young, perhaps in her mid-twenties.
Her almond-shaped eyes tipped up at the corners, framed by her sleek black hair.
Her cheeks and jaw were long and angular, and she looked at each of them as she swept into the room.
“Hello,” she said in a sultry voice. “Forgive me for taking so long. It was quite the surprise when Lorelei told me we had guests. My name is Corinna Blackthorne.” She extended one long-fingered hand.
Maeve shook it firmly and with a bit less elegance, which made Corinna’s bright red lips turn down a little at the corners. “I’m Maeve Wright, and this is my sister, Lucille. My niece, Amanda, and Lars.”
“How very nice to meet you all.” Corinna openly ran her eyes down Lars’s body and then back up to his face. “Very nice, indeed.”
Lars could feel Amanda’s energy seething next to him.
“I had tried to reach out to you last year when I heard that The Crimson Veil had been formed,” Maeve told her. “I never heard anything back, and I haven’t seen you at the convention, either.”
Corinna perched herself on the edge of a chair, crossing her legs and placing her hands on top of her knees. She reminded Lars of a wildcat waiting patiently for the perfect moment to strike. “I’ve been very busy, Maude.”
“Maeve,” she corrected.
“Hm, yes. Well, it’s quite a bit of work to get a coven up and running, as you well know. Although perhaps it’s been long enough that you don’t quite remember anymore.” She gave the two older women a haughty smile.
Maeve returned it with a steady gaze. Lars got the impression that Maeve didn’t put up with any bullshit, and she’d only engaged in this polite small talk because she’d felt she had to.
Corinna, however, had pushed her past that.
Maeve slapped her hands down on her knees.
“I’m going to get right to the point. We believe that something odd is going on with the ley lines under Salem, and it all points back to this house. ”
Corinna slowly tipped her head to the side. “Why would you believe that?”
“I’ll let Lars explain it to you. He has a lot more experience with this.” Maeve gestured for him to go ahead.
“I noticed that there was essentially a shortage of power,” he began, deciding it was best not to say anything about the dragons.
Just as the energy in the room felt wrong, there was something about Corinna that he simply couldn’t trust. “It’s very unusual, so I—well, Amanda and I—traced that energy drain back to this house. ”
Amanda lifted her chin and straightened up a little. Her boiling anger died down a little.
Corinna’s dark eyes snapped to Amanda for only a brief moment before returning to Lars. “My goodness! What an accent you have! It’s just lovely.”
That was enough to make Amanda boil again. Lars was beginning to feel her emotions more and more, a signal of how their bond was growing.
“We’d really like to figure out what’s happening here,” Lucille said, trying to redirect the conversation.
But Corinna was still focused on Lars. She now braced her elbow on her knee and her chin on her hand as she looked at him. “And I’d like to figure out how you uncovered this. I mean, we haven’t had anyone else come to us about this.”
Lars glanced at Maeve, who nodded. “I’m from Longyearbyen, in Norway. My family has been guarding the polar node for generations, so we’re very sensitive to the ley line energy.”
“Interesting,” she purred. “An expert on ley lines, right in our midst!”
“Corinna, we need to understand what’s going on here. Is this something you’re doing?” Maeve asked pointedly.
“Well, of course!” Corinna tipped her head back and laughed. “You don’t think I’d have such a thing going on right underneath my own covenstead and not know about it, do you? I may be young, Ms. White—”
“Wright,” Maeve growled.
“Right. I may be young, but I’m not stupid. My coven is indeed harnessing the ley energy. In fact, we’re working on developing a way to store it.”
Lars’s polar bear revolted at the thought. “Store it? Why would you do something like that?” The power was something that moved continuously through the earth, and it was readily available for whoever needed to tap into it. Pulling it out of the ley line system didn’t make any sense.
She waved her fingers and gave a little shrug. “It’s just a little project we’re working on.”
“And what is this project?” Maeve pushed.
Corinna stood and walked to the door. “Every coven has its secrets. I wouldn’t dare ask you about every spell you’re trying to perfect.”
Maeve’s jaw was tight, but she forced another smile. “Perhaps it’s something we can help with. We’ve been around for a long time, and we know a thing or two.”
But Corinna opened the front door. “Things have changed. We don’t need dusty old books or the supposed experience of older witches. We’re doing just fine on our own.”
“If you change your mind, get a hold of me.” Maeve produced a small card from her sleeve and handed it to Corinna as she passed by on her way through the door. “I hope that you will before it’s too late.”
Lucille was next, and Lars hung back to allow Amanda to go in front of him.
Corinna touched his arm as he tried to go past. “I don’t know what your attachment to that dusty old coven is, but I’m very interested in talking to you.
It sounds like you really know your stuff, and we could use your help.
I’d be happy to reward you handsomely.” She braced the tip of her tongue against the underside of her front teeth.
Lars stepped to the side, shaking her fingers off. “I’ve spent my whole life working in harmony with ley lines, and I’m not interested in any project that does otherwise.”
The four of them headed back toward the cars.
Maeve was already ranting as she slapped aside the branches that hung over the walkway.
“That little snit called me old! Telling me that things have changed and they don’t need dusty old books!
As a librarian, you should be personally offended at that, Lucille! ”
“I am,” her sister replied calmly.
“Whatever happened to having respect for your elders?” Maeve went on when they reached the sidewalk.
“I’ve never been one to insist on social conventions, but this is ridiculous!
I have a feeling that little twit is doing something incredibly stupid, and she’ll come crawling to us when it gets out of hand. ”
“I’ll see you guys later,” Amanda called out, getting a nod from Lucille.
They got into her car, and she started the engine. “Aunt Maeve is really worried.”
“She didn’t sound worried,” Lars noted.
“When she gets really pissy like that, it’s a sure sign that she’s worried. She’d just rather show it as anger than anything else.” Amanda pulled away from the curb.
“I’m worried, too,” Lars admitted. “I don’t have any idea how they could store the ley energy. You can’t just put it into a battery and hold onto it. It’s not the same as electricity. Even if Corinna does find a way, I’m concerned about what effects it will have elsewhere.”
“It’s too bad she wouldn’t talk to us.” Amanda wound through traffic. “I’m sorry that we wasted your time.”
“I got to spend it with you, so it wasn’t wasted at all. Lars picked up her hand where it rested on the gear shifter and kissed the back of it. “Maybe we could find more ways to waste it.”