Chapter 48
FORTY-EIGHT
Morana woke up cold. There was a cool breeze blowing through the open window, and Hades had gone. All that was left behind was a black feather next to her to show her that he’d been here.
Her eyes all puffy, she stared at her reflection in the mirror. She was a mess and it was all her own fault. Or was it? Who had written her name in the book?
She thought back to the worn pages and the aged ink.
As she splashed cold water onto her face and eyes, she felt something shift inside of her.
The guilt and grief over Addison would never leave her and she didn’t want it to.
But that book had been thrust into her hands when she hadn’t asked for it, and there were so many unanswered questions that had been left.
Who even was that Clara woman who had demanded she handed the book over to her?
She had been so relieved to be rid of it, she hadn’t questioned anything.
And was Lucine, the other name in the book, connected to Dora?
She must be as they share the same surname.
So many questions burning inside of her with so few answers.
Maybe there was something inside of that book that could help her put things right, bring Addison back.
Change the outcome. It had to be worth a try, didn’t it?
She couldn’t just go back to work at Nocturne and pretend everything was good and that the last few days were nothing but a nightmare.
She didn’t even know if she still had a job there.
She had treated Kim badly and needed to apologise to her for that and she would, too, as soon as she tried to put the mess she’d caused right.
That book – good or bad, and she was focusing on the bad side of it – belonged to her and she wanted it back. But how was she going to find Clara?
A voice whispered in her ear, ‘You know how, go find Dora.’
Morana couldn’t argue with it, as Dora was probably her best hope.
But how to find her? The only thing to do was to walk around, maybe ask after her, though she didn’t want to go asking about scary Clara and alert her to the fact that she was looking for her before she had chance to think about it.
She dressed, but not in her usual flowing gown attire and cape.
She tugged on black sweats and a hoody, and wrapped her thick, black curls into a messy bun on top of her head and slipped her feet into a comfy pair of Nikes that had seen better days.
She didn’t know how far she was going to have to walk, and she wanted to be comfortable.
No make-up, no signature deep red lips, just barefaced with her slightly swollen eyes.
She had to try and put things right no matter the cost to herself and she would, she was confident of that.
Out in the hall the smell of fresh paint filled the stairwell.
Contractors were already working on Mrs Danby’s apartment which meant the woman wasn’t coming back here when she was able to leave the hospital.
The door wide open, it was empty and a radio was blaring while they worked.
She should have felt happy about this, but instead Morana swallowed the lump in her throat and pushed open the door to outside, stepping into the cool, fresh autumn air.
* * *
Enchanted was still closed and she wondered if all else failed if Ethan could help her.
He seemed like an okay guy and knew his stuff too, but it wouldn’t be fair to drag him into this as she was terrified of hurting anyone else.
Dora, she thought, could probably handle herself; after all she was a witch, wasn’t she?
And as Hades had said, she was her sister.
Morana headed towards Essex Street, which was starting to fill with tourists.
Once it got in full swing, she wouldn’t be able to see anyone except maybe the street buskers.
She headed towards the scene of Addison’s accident, where that nice lady had tried to help her.
Dora had a look of her; they could be related.
She kept her head down and hurried towards the junction that was opposite the Witch House.
There was nothing to suggest that there had been a fatal accident there yesterday except for a dark stain on the tarmac and a bunch of flowers.
Morana stared. She hadn’t even brought flowers for her friend.
‘I’m really sorry about your friend.’
She turned around, shocked to see Dora standing behind her. She had gone out searching for the woman and it was she who had found her.
‘Thanks, it’s kind of hard to believe. I feel as if I’m living some kind of bad dream.’
‘Yeah, I know how that feels.’
‘Why? Did you have a friend get killed because you were thinking bad thoughts?’ Morana tried not to sound such a bitch, but it was hard.
‘She didn’t die, no, but my best friend, Katie, almost died because a very bad man who was looking for me beat the crap out of her, to get her to tell him where I was. Look, do you want to grab a coffee or something? Blackcraft is just down there.’
Morana shook her head violently. ‘Addi worked there.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry. What about Gulu-Gulu?’
Morana smiled. ‘You want to wait in line for a table?’
‘I’m not doing anything else, are you?’
‘I guess not.’
They turned and walked back down to the square where the Samantha from Bewitched statue was and joined the queue for the café, which wasn’t very long.
There were only two people in front of them, and before she knew it, they were being shown to a table in the corner by the window that looked out onto the street.
When the waitress brought their coffees, Dora asked Morana, ‘Did you wonder why your name was in that book, or do you know?’
Morana stirred her cappuccino slowly. ‘I have no idea. Why, do you?’
‘I have thoughts.’
‘Do you want to share them?’ Morana smiled at her and Dora grinned back.
‘I will, but they sound crazy and I need you to know that I am not as mad as what I’m about to tell you sounds.
Don’t get me wrong, one lifetime it sent me completely insane and, apparently, I got put into a mental asylum in Edinburgh that my aunt Lenny had to break me out of, so yeah, I’ve been through it. Not this lifetime though and not yet.’
Morana’s jaw was slack. She had her cup in her hand, but it was frozen mid-air as she stared at Dora. She put the cup down. ‘Excuse me? You said, “this lifetime”. What do you mean?’
Dora stared out of the window and smiled. Morana looked too and saw a black crow hopping around on the ledge. ‘Is that…?’
‘Yes, he is so nosy. I’m surprised he hasn’t come inside.’
Morana laughed. ‘I like him though. He’s a good bird. God, I can’t believe I’m saying that. Now who sounds crazy?’
‘Both of us. Yes, so here goes, don’t judge me until you’ve heard the full story, okay?’
‘I’ll try.’
Dora sipped her latte before starting to speak, her voice barely a whisper. ‘I am a bloodline witch, I come from a family of witches, and we were first killed in 1692.’
Morana’s eyes narrowed. ‘You’re screwing with me, the witch trials were in 1692, but no witches were ever hanged.’
‘That’s right, all those accused were totally innocent and definitely not witches, it was all a pack of lies made up by those wicked girls for entertainment..
Maybe except for when it came to us English women, we didn’t know back then that we were witches, it’s complicated.
We were healers, my mom got herself into trouble with a guy who gave her a magical spell book that changed everything, but we still didn’t know just how much back then.
When we were hanged it was because the sheriff – Corwin – had a crush on my aunt Lenny and she wasn’t impressed and a little, actually a lot, outspoken for the Puritans. ’
Morana was shaking her head.
‘I’m not lying, it’s a lot and I know that, but you need to hear me out.’
‘Okay.’
‘Well, The Book of Black Magic, the one you had, it was also ours. It belonged to my mom too.’
‘Lucine English is your mom?’
Dora nodded.
‘I barely knew her this lifetime though and it breaks my heart.’ Dora began to play with the gold band that Ambrose had given to her, nervously twisting it round and round her finger.
‘Well then, can we just go ask her why my name is written in her book of black magic and find out what the hell is going on?’
‘I truly wish that we could but we can’t, as she died a couple of weeks ago.’
‘Fuck.’ Morana’s expression was one of pure horror. Dora felt bad for the mess they were both in.
‘I know, it’s a mess. I’m still so confused myself, so I kind of know what you’re feeling and it’s not much help but I do get it.’
‘I’m sorry, I had no idea. Damn this is nuts, like totally.’
‘It’s okay, why would you? And, for what it’s worth, I think you’re a bloodline witch too, and you must have lived many lifetimes just like me for your magic to be this powerful after only a couple of spells.’
Morana leaned onto the table and buried her head in her hands, and when she finally looked up, she said, ‘I keep getting flashbacks of living in a tiny cottage near some woods, stuff like that.’
‘Yep, you’re a bloodline witch.’
‘Why didn’t I know that this time?’
‘I didn’t know either; in fact I had no idea until I came here to meet my mom and Aunt Sephy for the first time and it all came rushing back, eventually.’
‘This is so weird.’
‘Isn’t it?’ Dora snorted with laughter.
‘What’s so funny?’
‘Us, I mean we’re both descendants of witches yet neither of us even knew.’
‘I don’t think it’s funny.’
‘Me either.’
Then Dora began to laugh even louder.
Morana couldn’t help it and joined in.