She reached out and took my cousin’s hand again.“Nothing to fear,” she whispered.“We won’t let anything happen to you.”Lightning shot through the sky.Lydia smiled and gestured to the door into the restaurant, whispering, “Impressive,” to Faith.
When we stepped in, we saw most everyone had taken their seats again.I didn’t see any empty tables, but there was a line of four chairs against the window.They were apparently making sure we understood that we were not a part of their group.Ah, well.
Mom sat in the first chair, closest to the long table where the Panel of Five sat.Faith was next to Mom, then me, with Bracken in the last seat.Most of the thirty or so people in the room made a point of not looking in our direction.Others openly stared.
Although no one was making any noise, Lydia tapped on the table where she was sitting and said, “We’ll now move to new business.”
The Panel of Five was made up of four women and one man, who I assumed was the Howe man Mom had spoken with to secure the invitation.He sat at the far end, away from us.Catherine Swan sat beside him.A very old woman sat beside her.Lydia was next, and sitting closest to us was another Asian woman who looked to be Mom’s age.
Catherine stood.“Bracken Corey was summoned here to answer for the black magic he used against me.”
There were a few gasps of shock in the room, but most were silently disdainful of us.
Lydia glanced over at Catherine.“Yes.Thank you for reminding us.”She waited a moment.“You can have a seat, Catherine.Mr.Corey must have his say as well.”
Catherine gave Lydia a look that made me concerned for Lydia’s safety, though she did sit down.
Lydia gestured to an open space in the room, near where Mom was sitting.“If you could address these charges, please.”
Bracken stood and moved to the spot she’d indicated.“Of course.”He tapped his pockets, then rubbed his forehead.“Let me see.Where should I begin?I suppose I should explain who I am, as I’m afraid I’m new to this group.My name is Bracken Corey.I’m a historian of both human and supernatural history.I grew up in Monterey, which is where Catherine and I met.”
He shook his head and gave a quick, humorless laugh.“I’m afraid I’ve always been a bit odd, far more interested in books than normal childhood things.”
“Is that when you learned to practice black magic?”Catherine sneered.
“No,” he said, sounding more disappointed than defensive.“I did sometimes study grimoires, like the Corey family grimoire that you took from us when you were a child,” he responded.
“I never!”she shouted.
He waved his hand and winced, as though her shouting hurt his ears.“The time for that lie is long past.My sister Margaret finally confessed that she was the one who conspired with you, though both you and she told my mother it was me.I suppose a young and admittedly odd boy being shunned by his family for something you did probably didn’t seem terribly important.Speaking as that boy, it was quite devastating to have my entire family turn their backs on me because of something you and my sister cooked up.Still, that was a very, very long time ago.”
“You’re lying,” Catherine shouted.“You have no proof.”
In Bracken’s soft-spoken way, he was changing minds.They may not have trusted him yet, but there were more than a few who were looking at Catherine in a way that said they wouldn’t put it past her.
“I left town when I went to college,” he continued.“Because my family had no use for someone who would give away our centuries-old grimoire.Of course, I didn’t know then that was why my mother and grandmother had no use for me.I didn’t learn that until recently.I came home because my sister Mary called and asked me to help her with a problem.”
“Yet another Corey sorcerer!”Catherine cut in.The ugly hatred on her face was frightening to see.
Bracken nodded solemnly, patting his pockets.“That’s quite true, I’m afraid.”
Judging by the looks on some faces in the room, they’d thought Bracken was going to lie to cover it up.
“There is a troubling history of sorcery within the Corey coven.”Glancing at me, he said, “My great-niece and I were discussing this recently.I think because we are, for the most part, a powerful wicche family, those who have little magic resort to practices that are an affront to the gifts the Goddess has endowed us with in order to claim magic that isn’t their own.It’s vile and something thatshouldgo against our nature.”
A few of the wicches in the room nodded as Bracken continued in his thoughtful, measured speech.“It shames and horrifies us that we have family members who have chosen a path away from the light.”
“Like you,” Catherine said, though she’d lost her momentum.Even she seemed to have noticed that the people looking at Bracken were no longer doing so with disgust.
FORTY-ONE
Making Friends and Influencing People
“Ican tell you,” Bracken began but then stopped to look at Mom, as though checking if it was all right to tell everyone, underlining that she was the head of the family.
Mom nodded, though I doubt she knew what he was asking.Like me, she saw how he was changing the tone of the room.
“Centuries ago, a demonic grimoire was created and shared with a Corey, the first of our sorcerers.That demon trained a chosen wicche every generation or so, sharing the secrets of sorcery with them.”
