Chapter 21 Tethered to the Past #2
Time passed, my precious Willa met Sam… a most kind-hearted warlock, your father.
For a time I was foolish enough to believe that the reprieve would last indefinitely.
When your parents conceived I had another vision.
I saw my grand-daughter for the first time.
Only, it wasn’t the first time I’d seen you—only the first time I knew who you were.
They were a comfort, at first. To know that my grand-daughter would find such a love match with my dearest friend was a delight.
Not long after they started though, they took a wicked turn.
Willa started getting them, too. Fate does not easily forgive, and if you were to find love with Cian and help him complete the ritual…
well, that was a snub that Fate could not abide.
Willa’s blood debt was to be called in before you were born, claiming you both.
It took almost a year of searching to find the string that allowed me to ‘save’ Cian, but Willa didn’t have that much time.
All three of us set to scrying, trying desperately to find a solution.
We finally found one, but it had a heavy price.
Your father didn’t hesitate to offer up his own life to extend Willa’s long enough for them to see you born, to have some time to know and love you.
We knew that it wouldn’t last forever, so we worked to make as many arrangements for your future as possible.
My coven sister and dear friend, Anne, helped to oversee the details for after we were all gone from this plane.
You may be wondering why I didn’t offer myself, in place of your father, and my simple answer is that I couldn’t.
My blood was already tied to a debt. Which brings us back to this chest. When I bound Cian to our bloodline I used a special key.
With it, not only will you be able to complete the ritual that will make him a full witch-bound phantom, but you will also be able to use it on this chest—to unlock a hidden compartment that will reveal a vial of elixir.
All you have to do to complete the ritual is use the key to draw your blood—Cian can show you how to do this—and then simply say, “I bind myself to thee, and thus our spirits too. An anchor sets you free, a blood debt paid, not due”.
That’s it. He’s already bound to the key and our bloodline, so once you give the conduit—the key—your blood, his transformation will be complete at long last. You will not be marked by this magic, as the blood price has already been paid.
Now… Cian will not age, but witches do. If you decide that you want to remain with him beyond your mortal days, drink the elixir. However, be sure. It cannot be undone.
Please tell Cian that I’m sorry as well, although I know that no amount of apologizing can make up for the pain that I’ve caused you both.
I can’t say for certain that I did the right thing.
I will be praying to all the gods of this world, that I did—though I fear not even they could say for sure.
If you truly find happiness with Cian, I can’t force myself to regret it, either.
With all my love,
Your Gran
Leona Wilde
My hands shake as I clutch the letter, tears running in hot tracks down my now blotchy cheeks.
I wonder at how many times someone’s entire world can shift before everything kind of just falls out of orbit.
I should be devastated, but really all I can think about is how relieved I am to know that my parents didn’t choose to leave me. They chose to save me.
Still, nausea roils in my stomach knowing that my family—my entire family sacrificed themselves for me, before I was even born.
I wait for the familiar weight of anxiety and warring emotions to crush me, but all I feel is a lingering ache in my heart.
My head is still spinning but I’m oddly calm.
I glance over at the trash bag half-full of musty dried herbs and wonder briefly if my gran put some kind of calming spell on this box, knowing how much of a bomb she’d be dropping on me here.
Then it hits me! My gran is the witch-bitch who fucked with my ghost’s soul!
Oh, gods! My head snaps toward Cian, and I freeze.
He’s facing me, only a few steps away. At some point he must have started walking toward me but stopped.
I cringe at the pinched look marring the perfection of his face.
His expression makes it look like he’s in pain, and I follow his gaze to the bag resting in my lap.
Fuck. My eyes drop to the picture he’s gripping with a white-knuckled hold. A picture of my mother, in Gran’s arms.
He lifts the picture, his eyes still trained on my lap. “Why do you have this? H-how… how do you know Leona?” His voice rings with a hollowness that threatens to break my heart and I bite my lip.
I’m unsure how to tell him everything, and terrified that he won’t take all this information as calmly as I have. With a still shaking hand I lift the letter above my head and lean forward. His eyes finally leave the bag to take in the papers still clutched lamely in my hands.
“She was my grandmother.” I watch, nerves swirling in my stomach as his eyebrows shoot toward his hairline.
We stare at each other for a few tense moments, hurt and curiosity shinning in his eyes before he reaches for the letter.
I watch him closely as he reads, desperately searching for any clue as to what he’s feeling.
Please, don’t let this be the thing that ruins this for me.
And wouldn’t that be just my luck—to find a letter from my magical fortune telling grandmother endorsing our love match—which she paid for with the blood of my family—only for that same letter to be the thing that shoots it to the ground like some sort of love killing reverse cupid.
“Trissa…” his voice is pained as he sinks to the ground just out of reach. His throat works a few times before he whispers, “I’m so sorry.”
I breathe out in a whoosh and draw in a breath of relief.
I don’t know what he’s sorry for, but at least he’s not mad!
“What are you sorry for? My Gran trapped you here. She didn’t die…
granted, something terrible did happen… but—but she should have come back and at least explained.
” Out of everything in that letter, the thing that angers me the most is the fact that she just left him hanging.
Maybe that’s fucked up because of everything with my family, but abandoning Cian without a word was the one thing she did that wasn’t in reaction to something else.
She had time, plenty of it, to make it right.
I can’t pretend to understand her feelings, and despite some fond memories, Gran and I weren’t super close.
Perhaps because she didn’t want to get too close, knowing what she did about the future.
I close my eyes against the sting of tears and sigh.
“While I agree that part does still chafe a bit…” I open my eyes at the gentle tone of his voice, cloaked in melancholy but still so damn soothing.
He smiles reassuringly when I meet his eyes before continuing, “Leona is the reason I’ve got you…
and I can’t be mad at that. I’d wait so much longer than half a century for you, my love. You will always be worth it.”
Everything looks blurry as tears threaten to spill down my face, which is slightly itchy from the partially dried tear tracks from earlier.
I huff and reach into the trash bag for a handful of dried herbs and stick them under my nose, inhaling deeply to try and get back some of that fleeting overwhelming calm.
Cian quirks a brow and turns his head to the side, looking vaguely avian as one corner of his mouth curls into a smirk. “Not exactly the reaction I was hoping for.”
I take another deep sniff before chuckling, “I think these have some kind of calming spell on them or something. Like my gran knew I’d need it.”
His smirk turns into a full-blown smile and he ducks his head, shoulders shaking.
I frown and scoot closer, dropping the stuff in my hands and lap to the floor as I close the distance between us.
My hand finds his firm jaw and I tilt his face up, taking in the tears leaking from the corners of his eyes…
but he’s not crying—he’s laughing. He’s laughing his paranormal ass off.
I scowl and drop his jaw, “Mind sharing with the class what’s so funny?” He shakes his head wildly and I sulk. “That’s not fair.”
Cian wipes his eyes and takes a deep breath, “I’m sorry. It’s just—I don’t doubt that Leona would have the forethought for something like that… but that,” he points to the herbs I’d been sniffing, which are now all over the floor and not neatly tucked in the damn trash bag.
“That’s just lemon balm. She used it to keep away bugs.” He rolls his lips in and bites down to keep from laughing further at my stunned expression.
“Well, fuck me.” I scratch my head and smile, “It didn’t smell anything like a lemon. Pretty sure this makes me like, the worst witch ever.”
“I don’t know about the worst one. I think you’re absolutely enchanting. And I know quite a few things you do that feel like very potent magic.” His eyes drop to my lips and I grin.
“Hmm, is that so?” He nods quickly and my heart soars with happiness and the liberation of finally knowing deep down in my soul that I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.
I don’t have to wonder if my family would have approved, or if this—this relationship with Cian is crazy.
It may still fully be crazy to someone on the outside looking in, but my family died for me to have a chance at this craziness.
I’m damn sure gonna take it and ride him into the sunset. It. I mean it. “Break time?”
He stands and reaches a hand down to help me rise. “Finally.”
I laugh as he pulls me up, but the sound catches in my throat and I let out a breathy moan as I feel the cool embrace of multiple tentacles wrapping around my body. Oh my lanta! Nevermind—definitely riding him.