Page 42 of Dragon's Golden Mate
“Yeah,” Chain nodded. “She was going to get us a lot of gigs. Where did she go? Wasn’t she just here?”
“You won’t be hearing from her ever again,” Maeve promised them. Seeing the slightly bewildered looks on their faces, she truly felt sorry for the boys. They’d not only fallen under Cassandra’s literal spell, but they’d also fallen for the lies she’d told them. They thought their band had been on the verge of making it big.
“Damn, okay.” Leather Jacket scuffed his feet on the carpet. Then he stuck out his hand. “I really am sorry.”
She shook it, and then she held it in both of hers. “You are absolutely forgiven, even though you have nothing to be forgiven for. Please, what’s your name?”
“Walt,” he replied.
Definitely much tamer than the moniker she’d given him in her mind. Maeve turned to the one with the shaved head and reached her hands out toward him. “And you?”
“Cornelius,” he replied, a slight flush of pink coming to his cheek. “But everyone calls me Chain.”
“It’s nice to officially meet you. Maybe we should have you over for dinner sometime.” They were young men who wanted to look harsh and scary to the rest of the world, but Maeve could see in their faces that they were really just little boys.
“Yeah, that’d be great!” Chain rubbed his belly.
“Gavin, too, right?” Walt asked, not leaving out his friend.
“Of course.” Maeve moved over to where Gavin and Nia were sitting together. Their arms were wrapped around each other, and they looked completely distraught as they lifted their eyes to her.
“Oh, Maeve,” Nia sniffed. “I’m so sorry. I only remember bits and pieces. It’s like my body was just acting all on its own.”
“Me, too,” Gavin added, still clinging tightly to Nia. “Don’t be mad at her for what I did. I asked her to come to the concert. I—I don’t really know how, but I know something happened there, and that’s why we’re here.”
Calmly, gently, Maeve once again explained how Cassandra had taken over their minds. “She was already very smart, and she made herself powerful on top of that. It sounds good, but she didn’t know how to use it without taking advantage of other people.”
“But, but she made us—” Nia was cut off by her own tears. “I didn’t want to fight you!”
“I know, dear. Hush. It’s all right.” Maeve put her arms around Nia. She wasn’t her daughter, but she easily could’ve been. She was a young woman in need of guidance and love, and Maeve was honored that she got to bring some of that into her life. “Everything is going to be okay now, I promise.”
Nia lifted her shirt and wiped her nose on it, not having anything else at hand. “I don’t get it, though. I don’t have that kind of power.”
“Maybe we do.” Colette had her back against thepulpit. She opened her hand, easily casting a bright white sphere. Everyone flinched slightly as she bounced it up into the air, but Colette was confident. A band of light kept the sphere attached to her palm, and it brought the orb back down with the tiniest jerk of her hand. She kept bouncing it up and back, like a magical game of paddleball.
“Yeah, that’s what I wanted you to see,” Amanda said quietly. “There’s a chance they might all still have whatever powers Cassandra had given them.”
“Even without the portal? And without her?” Maeve couldn’t believe what she was seeing. As young as Colette was, she shouldn’t be showing this much talent. Some of the older witches were able to tap into alternative talents, like Lucille’s ability to launch those blobs of goo.
She gestured for Colette to get up. “If you’re not too tired, maybe you can show me what you can do.”
“I’m exhausted,” Colette admitted with a grin. “I’m too jazzed up to do anything about it, though.” Getting to her feet, Colette looked around. “I’m not sure what I should do.”
“Let’s see.” They’d already destroyed enough of the church, and she wouldn’t do any more of that on purpose. A splinter of lathe was sticking out of thewall, though, a piece that was already loose. “Aim for that.”
“Okay.”
The others moved out of the way. Colette no longer moved with the hard, stiff gestures she had when under Cassandra’s control. She was more comfortable in her body as she pulled her hand back and then threw it forward. The sphere sped up toward the little piece of wood. It strained against the energy leash that held it to Colette’s hand, slowing down until it just kissed the lathe and sent it tumbling down to the floor. The ball slapped back into Colette’s hand. She stumbled backward, but she was still smiling. “That was cool!”
“What about the rest of you?” Maeve asked.
“Mom, maybe we should all just go home and get a bite to eat,” Tina advised.
“We will,” Maeve promised her, “but I think this is worth exploring right away. I want to make sure the girls are in control of any residual powers left inside them. My guess is that Cassandra unknowingly unlocked a whole new level of magic that they wouldn’t have reached for years otherwise.”
“So these talents were hiding inside of us?” Zoe asked, studying her palms.
“Possibly,” Lucille agreed. “Maeve is right, though. If the onset had to do with Cassandra, then it makes sense to make sure you don’t have anything controlling you. We don’t know enough about that portal to truly know what’s happening here.”
