Page 37 of Witch's Rite
I knew exactly who I was.
A fiery sigil hovered above the flames, the same one Sal drew when I first drank with the three of them at Triple Moon. The one tattooed on the left side of his body, the side of his heart. I now knew it wasmysigil and traced it with my fingers.
I said my name out loud, the first name I was ever given, and Ash's aura wrapped tightly around me again.
"Finish your rite, my love," he whispered. "I'll see you after it's done."
My breathing calmed just as a large snake slithered across my lap, its forked tongue tasting the air. I smiled and patted it affectionately.
"Thank you, Lord Lucifer, for helping me return to myself as well as my three eternal lovers, my Unholy Trinity."
Branches snapped as a ghostly figure in a long white robe approached me from the treeline.
"They're ready," Juno said with a wide grin as she held her hand out to me. "Come on, coven sister."
I took her hand and followed her through the trees, my smile just as big as hers. But she could not begin to understand my joy and my relief. Everything I ever lost had been returned to me.
She took me to a clearing where my future coven awaited. A large, white circle had been drawn on the ground in the middle. Laurel, the High Priestess stood in the center, wearing her ceremonial black robes with golden moons on them. All other coven members stayed outside the circle, standing around fires as they waited for the ceremony to begin.
Juno walked me to the edge of the circle, our arms linked together. I kept my eyes on Laurel but still noticed others in my peripheral vision. My grandmother stood beaming with tears in her eyes. Far away from everyone else stood Ash with a handsome man I'd never seen before, but the curling ram's horns growing from his forehead left few guesses as to his identity. No one else gave the impression that they could see either my demon or Lucifer himself.
"Who approaches this sacred space?" called Laurel in a booming voice that seemed to bounce off the surrounding hills.
"I bring you one who wishes to understand this coven, to honor the Goddess, the Horned God, Isis, Odin, and all of our sacred deities," Juno answered.
I stifled a smirk and kept my face neutral. How would any of them react if they knew Odin was just another one of Raum's identities?
"Seeker, by what name will you be known within this sacred circle?"
My original name played at my lips, but I answered with the one I was given in this lifetime.
"Deja."
"The gods have deemed you worthy," Laurel proclaimed. "Please enter the sacred circle and kneel in their presence."
Juno gave my hand a final squeeze as I stepped across the threshold. The air crackled and hummed with the coven's magic. I felt lightheaded as I kneeled, it was almost overwhelming.
"By joining this coven," Laurel said as she began walking a circle around me. "You become part of a greater spiritual family. As such, you are part of an endless circle of kinship and hospitality. Hail ye, Gods and Goddesses! Hail to kinsmen and clan, to the ancestors who watch over us, and to those who may follow. Here before you kneels Deja, the Seeker, soon to be a sworn part of this coven."
She walked around me counterclockwise three times, her fingers barely skimming over my shoulders, but the weight of her power was heavy and humbling.
"As a Dedicant of this coven, you will learn and grow and evolve every day. You will seek new knowledge, and attain it in direct proportion to your efforts. Let the Gods and the Ancient Ones guide you on your journey."
She stopped in front of me, tilting my chin to make eye contact with her. "Are you willing and able to uphold the values and principles of this coven?"
"Yes," I said as each of my three demons' faces cycled through my mind.
"Are you prepared, Deja, to be born anew, to begin this day a brand new journey, as part of your new spiritual family, and as a child of the Gods?"
"I am."
"Then rise, Deja, and emerge from the womb of darkness, and be welcomed into the light and love of the Gods. You are no longer a mere Seeker, but a Dedicant of this coven."
I stood to my feet while keeping my head bowed. Laurel placed a long chain over my head, on the end which hung a large, yellow moonstone pendant. The mineral of the Golden Moon Coven rested just below my sternum and seemed to vibrate with magic.
Laurel pulled me forward gently and kissed each of my cheeks.
"Welcome, Deja, to your new family," she beamed. "May you be blessed by the Gods."
