Page 9 of January Blues
“Hey, Pops. You look great. Congratulations on the little one.”
“Liar, but thank you. You’re so sweet.” She patted the seat next to her. “Come sit and you can hold her.”
I could almost feel the intakes of breath around me as I took what was a coveted role. Being blessed by the High Witch, shown such favor, to be the first in the gathering to hold her was a huge deal. Maybe Damon’s friendship was working on my confidence, because I relaxed and smiled at our High Witch, thanking her for the honor she was bestowing on me as a part of her family. I sat carefully and took the precious bundle, cuddling her close and inhaling that new baby scent. She had a shock of dark hair and a button nose in a scrunched up sleeping face. I wondered what she was dreaming about.
It was my turn to gasp as I felt her vast well of power. As a baby, she was open, trusting, and hadn’t gained that instinctive hold on her magic. Soon she would learn, though her mothers would help when her emotions overwhelmed her. “Wow!”
“Right?” Zinna, Poppy, and Oak all said together. They shared an amused glance.
“Pops, Cody got a present for us.”
“Cody!” Poppy admonished. “You didn’t have to.” Zinna smiled.
“I know. I wanted to. This baby girl needs to be spoiled, and I want to be part of that.”
Poppy leaned over and kissed my cheek. “Would you hand her to Z, please? We should do the naming.” I did as asked, handing baby Sage off to her other mommy. “Come up with us,” Poppy ordered as she walked to a raised platform at the back of the room.
“Poppy, no. Thanks, but–.” It felt like a step too far.
“Cody, please. I don’t have much family left.” Poppy’s mom had died in childbirth after several losses only a few years ago. Sometimes our longer lives were a curse as well as a blessing. Her father had left the coven, too distraught to stay where everything reminded him of his wife. Zinna’s family had refused to join the Northarbor Coven, disliking the closeness we had with the shifter packs in the area. Seeing how upset she was, I relented.
We stood together as Poppy quickly and efficiently ran through the ritual to welcome a new child to the coven. Then she moved onto the blessing. “We, the Northarbor Coven, thank thee, our goddess, the maiden, the mother, and the crone, for the blessing you have bestowed by granting a precious child to us. May you always watch over Sage as we raise her in the ways of the witches, upholding the laws you have taught us. I thank you for the transition from maiden to mother as I guide our coven into a new era with closer ties to our friends, your shifters. Your blessings are great.”
“Your blessings are great,” we all repeated together.
Slowly Sage was passed around the room, each adult witch placing a blessing, a tiny wisp of magic, onto her forehead. A whispered, “welcome,” moved with her.
Eventually, it was my turn, and I looked deep into myself for that spark of magic as I took her back into my arms. I noticed Zinna was there, hovering. “I’ll help,” she whispered, ready to step in and help me if needed, but the blessing came easily. We looked at each other in shock as the wisp circled my finger and landed easily on Sage’s forehead. “Welcome,” I said in a shaky voice, utterly stunned by what had happened.
Poppy watched the entire thing with a considering look on her face before she brushed it off. “Later. That’s a job for later.”
Why did I suddenly have a lot more magic?
January 12th
Cody
“CodyValentine!Donotmake me leave you another voicemail! Come to the coven house as soon as possible. We need to see what this is.” Poppy’s sweet voice was filled with tension and I felt horrible for making her feel that way. I sighed as I powered down my phone.
Was it so bad that I just wanted to accept this for the gift that it was and ignore everything else? Probably was. Hence why Poppy had been calling me for days, begging me to come to the coven house or go to The Spell Shop, her magic store, for some advice. The witches that worked there, alongside some knowledgeable humans, would know of something to suggest a reason for my sudden swell of magic.
It was not going away. So far, I’d lit my apartment with little witch lights, changed my hair and eye color several times and played with the elements. Not only was the magic perfect, it was coming to me easier each time that I used it.
All was not perfect elsewhere in my life, though. Things were still going wrong everywhere, and sleeping was a genuine issue. I put down the shadows that I kept seeing to exhaustion, but I couldn’t blame that after the great sleep I’d just had. I’d performed a sleep spell on myself before I’d drifted off.
The day after I discovered my growing magic, I consulted several grimoires at the library. The spell books had come from covens that had since died out, many before the big reveal of the supernatural centuries ago, so they could be trusted. Just in case, I’d tried a nap with Damon close by, ready to call for help since he had no power of his own. When that had worked and I’d slept without nightmares, I’d attempted an entire night.
Waking up well rested for the first time this year had been amazing! It had changed my whole day. I’d felt up to volunteering, having called out the week before. Seeing things around already troubled people was not a good idea. I needed all my focus to be on the children and the unhoused, not on my small problems.
I hadn’t realized how affected I’d been by the dreams and shadows. I’d been jumping at everything, dropping things, making my bad luck worse. It had been the lowest I’d felt in years. I’d seriously contemplated speaking to my therapist about going back onto the meds, but first I’d tried to figure out the cause.
It hadn’t been easy, but eventually I’d figured out a way to check if I was under the influence of some magic. The spell I’d performed, with Damon close by again, had gone off the scale at demon magic. Damon had encouraged me to go to the coven about it. I just hadn’t wanted to trouble a new mom over something I was handling. I’d already known that someone had it out for me, so it wasn’t all that shocking that they were using demon magic to get to me now.
Damon couldn’t find out who had arranged the hit on me. He had a handler, like most hitmen did. The handler, Parker, did the bookings, and they acted as the go between. Damon, unable to handle knowing there was a hit out on someone completely innocent, had checked with Parker long before this magical issue for information. It had never felt right to him, knowing that there was someone out to get me. He had wanted to get revenge, but that had been thwarted when Parker hadn’t given him what he’d needed. Parker had been super vague until Damon had visited them in person. Of course, Damon had found out why when he had seen Parker. They had tried to speak, but found themselves forcibly muted with magic. When they had tried to write the name down, their fingers had seized. Their computer turned itself off when they had attempted to type the words.
A witch contract was the only conclusion that Damon had come to, though neither of us knew why a fellow witch would target me. Until this week, I’d had no power of my own. I lived a frugal life, so maybe it was for my money, but they hadn’t tried conventional means to get to me. If they had asked me, I’d have likely handed it over, depending on who it was.
It just didn’t make sense.
