The crowd was glued to his every word.
“That demon was destroyed,” he told them.
“By Uncle Bracken,” Mom added.
He bowed his head in acknowledgment before continuing.“Unfortunately, my great-niece Calliope, the last Corey sorcerer, obtained a new demon, who was again destroyed.”
“By my daughter,” Mom added.
It was my turn to nod in acknowledgment.
“And the demonic grimoire was destroyed,” Bracken told the group.“Not hidden, not passed down.Destroyed.”He glanced at Mom, Faith, and me.“We pray that puts an end to our family’s involvement with sorcery.”
I didn’t know if others noticed, but I saw the shattered look on Catherine’s face when Bracken said the grimoire was destroyed.
“I hope this puts your minds at ease,” he said, meeting eyes around the room.
“What about the black magic?”Catherine insisted.
I was pleased to see other members of the Panel of Five giving Catherine looks of annoyance at her constant interruptions.
“Ah, yes,” he said, shaking his head a bit.“Sometimes I ramble, though I do believe I shared news that you’d all find important to know.”
That got quite a few heads nodding.
“As to the charge of black magic, I must protest my innocence.I have never in my life resorted to pain and torture to power a spell.”He shrugged, looking uncomfortable.“Not to put too fine a point on it, I don’t have to.On the day in question, Catherine was threatening my great-niece Arwyn here.”
He gestured to me as Catherine shouted, “I did no such thing.”
He continued, “This was the first time I’d seen Catherine in many decades and the first time I’d seen her since I’d learned she’d lied about me to my family about that stolen grimoire.”
“Lies,” she shouted.
He nodded again.“Precisely.Lies.I’m afraid my anger got the best of me, so when I heard her lying to my great-niece, a young woman who has been more family to me than anyone else, I used a truth spell on her.”He shrugged.“I wasn’t aware this was a spell she couldn’t do and therefore thought was black magic.”He looked around the room again.“I couldn’t stand for those ugly lies to touch Arwyn.”
Lydia stood.“Your defense is that this is a spell your own innate magic is able to produce?”
He nodded.“Of course.”
“Then you could duplicate it now?”Lydia asked.
“Yes.”
The old woman sitting next to Catherine smirked.“Go ahead then,” she said.“Try it on me.”
I could tell by the way she spoke, she believed there was no chance Bracken was a stronger wicche than she was.
Bracken gave a short bow.“As you wish.”The fingers of one hand flicked at his side.“Tell me, if you can.I don’t recall ever meeting you before.Why do you look at me with such hatred in your eyes?”
The old woman glared for one moment and said, “Because you’re a Corey.I hate Coreys.You’re some of the most powerful wicches in the world and you scare me.”
He tilted his head, listening.
“Catherine’s been telling us stories for more years than I can count about all the evil you people do.That kind of power can blacken hearts, but I wish I had it.I wish I was that powerful.”
Bracken flicked his fingers again.“I think we should stop there.”
The woman’s eyes went wide when she realized everything she’d said out loud.
