Chapter 6 The Festering Boil
SIX
The Festering Boil
Faith looked like she was going to be sick.
“When they arrive,” I told her, “Mom will do all the talking. She’s the high priestess of this coven—”
“I don’t use that term, darling,” Mom said.
I shrugged a shoulder. “Whether you use it or not, that’s what you are.
They’ve been seeing you in Gran’s shadow for too long.
” I shook my head. “Some of these people seem to think of you as Gran’s secretary, rather than the magical powerhouse that you are.
You need to start showing them or they will try to steamroll over you.
You may not enjoy being the queen bitch, but that’s the only thing a lot of our relatives respect.
Or fear. It all amounts to the same. We are, as a family, too powerful not to be held in check.
If you ever doubt it’s what’s needed, remember what Colin has been doing while we were focused on a sorcerer. ”
Mom drummed her fingers on her knee. “Unfortunately, I know you’re right.
The destruction of the black grimoire will—Goddess help us—keep another sorcerer from emerging in the family.
It will not, however, keep some of us from scheming for more—more power, more money, more influence.
” She blew out a breath. “It’s always more. ”
Mom looked at Faith. “I wanted to give you time to get used to this new role, but it doesn’t look as though we’ll have that time. Are you okay with the family knowing about your gifts?”
Faith looked nervous, but she straightened her shoulders.
“Mom, Dad, Frank, and I discussed this before I accepted. It was scary, but Frank and I really enjoyed helping you hunt for Calliope. We were using our gifts for good.” She shook her head like she was trying to dislodge a dark thought.
“Dad was almost killed, but he doesn’t regret going with you into that evil house.
If we don’t stand up, evil reigns, and we can’t allow that.
” Her fists were balled in her lap. “So, yes, I’m ready for people to know. ”
“That’s exactly right,” Mom said. “Our work is not easy, but it is necessary. As Arwyn told you, you don’t need to say anything when they arrive. I’m the head of this family. I’ll tell them what the Council has decided.”
I took a bite of the salmon sandwich. “They’re going to drag their feet and probably arrive at fifty-nine minutes from the end of that call, so we might as well talk about the last two sections of the vision.”
“That was a straight-up horror movie.” Faith shivered. “They were doing black magic, weren’t they? Do we have black wicches in the family too?”
Mom leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes, murmuring, “I don’t think that was us.”
I shook my head, finishing the sandwich.
“I don’t think so either. Detective Hernández visited me this morning.
One of the addresses we located as a possibility for Cal’s lair was a normal house in a suburban neighborhood.
Orla, my owl shifter friend, said she felt dark magic there.
I gave the address to Hernández to check.
It’s owned by Catherine Swan, but her grandchildren Milo and Milena live there. ”
“Isn’t Milo Swan the one who poisoned your food?” Faith asked.
“That’s the one,” I replied.
“Does that mean they’re brewing a new curse?” she asked.
“Most likely.” I put my plate down. “Did anyone else hear whimpering in the vision?”
Mom sat forward again, her posture perfect. “This ties into the last part of the vision. I’m working on getting us reinstated into the Wicches’ Council. We need them to know about and censure the Swans. It can’t be us. We’re not the wicche police.”
I snorted a laugh. “We have no credibility when it comes to doing no harm in the craft.”
“Precisely,” Mom responded. “The Wicches’ Council needs to be made aware. You saw the three of us entering a meeting room. That means I’m going to get through to one of the Council members.” She gave a decisive nod. “Good.”
My hearing was better than most wicches, thanks to Dad’s fae DNA, so I heard the car pull into the courtyard out front. I checked the time on my phone. “Oh, you got them scared, Mom. They made it here in twenty-three minutes.”
Mom stood, waving her hand and making the food disappear. “Game faces, children.” She walked to the door and opened it as Uncle Joe raised his hand to knock.
I stepped around the coffee table and motioned for Faith to stand beside me, effectively blocking off the seating area. This wasn’t a social call. We were a wall of disapproval at Mom’s back.
“Joe. Colin. Come in,” she said.
Joe looked wary but didn’t seem to grasp why they’d been summoned. Colin gave me a shitty smirk before he remembered himself and my place on the Council.
“Sybil, what’s going on?” Uncle Joe looked between Mom, Faith, and me. He gestured to Faith. “Why is she here?”
“She has a name,” Mom said, her voice cold as ice. “I believe you know your niece’s name.”
“Sure. Faith.” He nodded at her, then turned back to Mom. “What’s going on? You said it was a Council meeting and we had to appear.”
“That’s right. The Council—myself, Arwyn, and Faith—are meeting and your son is the first order of business.”
Brow furrowed, Joe seemed to be having a hard time processing all of that. “Wait. Since when is Faith on the Council? She’s a teenager and she doesn’t have that kind of power.” There it was. His arrogance had battled and subdued his fear.
Mom gave a little headshake that said she was indulging an emotional little brother. “Faith?”
Faith’s hand lifted toward the window. The sky went dark. Sheets of rain began lashing the glass as thunder shook the room. Both men’s eyes went wide. When she dropped her hand, the rain stopped and the dark clouds dissipated, leaving only a wet patio and droplets racing down the glass.
“An elemental?” Joe whispered. “Why weren’t we told we had an elemental?”
“I believe you both remember how my daughter was treated as a child. Right, Colin?” When he didn’t respond, Mom continued. “Elizabeth and Robert decided to do a better job of protecting their children than I did by keeping their gifts quiet.”
“Is Frank an elemental too?” Colin asked.
Faith shook her head but didn’t elaborate. We were remaining silent and allowing Mom to control this summons.
“This is between Colin and the Council,” Mom told her brother. “I invited you here, Joe, as a courtesy.”
He looked like he was thinking about arguing but he waited, still cautious.
Mom pinned Colin with a look that would have had me backing up. “You are a disgrace to the Corey name. You use the gifts the Goddess has blessed you with to cloud women’s minds and rape them.”
Colin shook his head. “I’ve never raped anyone.”
Uncle Joe jolted, like he was going to defend his son, but the petulant, guilty look on Colin’s face stopped him. His eyes closed as he turned away from his son.
“Are you under the impression that if they don’t fight you, it’s not rape?” Mom asked, her words sharp and cold. “But you take care of that, don’t you, Colin? You spell them to go blank, to go along. You use the magic we have been blessed with to assault women.”
“No.” His eyes were getting glassy. “Aunt Sybil, I’d never do that.”
“Don’t lie to me!” Mom’s words were like a slap, causing Colin to step back. “Your grandmother bound your magic to her until we had time to deal with you. When she was killed, your magic returned.”
Uncle Joe looked over his shoulder, surprised. Apparently, Colin hadn’t told him.
“And what is the first thing you do?” Mom continued. “You go to a bar, find a shy nineteen-year-old, one who says no, who tries to get away from you, and you spell her. You force her to go home with you.”
He was shaking his head, fear draining the color from his face. “No. That’s not—how would you know—” He turned to me, glaring, and spat, “You bitch!”
Mom grabbed his face and turned it back to her, stepping in to him so they were almost nose to nose.
“The Council has seen what you have done. I’d turn you over to the police right now, if I could count on the women to press charges against you.
You fixed that too, though, didn’t you? You made sure that horrible, sick, violated feeling they had remained too shadowy to name.
For the rest of their lives, they’ll feel unsafe, constantly checking locks and looking over their shoulders, finding it hard to trust anyone, while you, the sexual predator, move on to your next victim. ”
Colin had begun to tremble.
“Never again will you use your gifts to harm others. Colin Joseph Corey, I strip you of your magic.” She lifted her free hand into the air. “I call on the Goddess to work through me. Your magic will return to the source, never to be touched by you again.”
Magic sizzled through my veins. Faith must have felt it too because I heard a quiet gasp beside me. Colin flew through the room, hitting the wall before crumpling to the floor, his body curled in on itself, his hands cradling his groin. Apparently, the Goddess was as pissed off as we were.
Joe stood frozen, horrified.
Mom walked over to the heap by the front door. “Colin Joseph Corey, I banish you, away from the heart of the Corey coven. You are Corey no more. You will leave town today and I will never set eyes on you again. Do you understand me?”
“Sybil, please,” Uncle Joe pleaded. “Sarah will be heartbroken. You can’t banish our son.”
She turned on her brother. “I already have. If you wish to go with him, I give you leave to go, but he will not remain a part of this family.”
Joe went to Colin and helped him stand.
“Aunt Sybil—”
“I’m no longer your aunt. You’re nothing to me. You’re a festering boil that has been lanced from this family. You have until midnight to gather your belongings and leave the county, preferably the state. Don’t ever return.”
He opened his mouth to beg, but she put up a finger, shushing him. “Don’t try me, boy. You will stay away or we will know.” She opened the door and gestured for them to get out. “Go. We need to sage the house.”
Joe kept his eyes down, moving past Mom to collect his son. Once they were out the door, she slammed it, keeping her back stiff and her face turned away.
I went to her and took her hand in my gloved one, squeezing hard. “We had to do it, Mom.”
“I know. Thank you, darling.” Patting my hand, she turned to Faith. “We really do need to cleanse the house, though. Let’s get started on that.”