I picked my fastest car and with Felix sitting next to me in front, I felt calmer knowing he was with me. Dina sat in the back with Peter.
“So,” Dina started, and I feared we were in for a long drive of questioning on what Felix and I had been up to. “Why are you and Astrea covenless?” Oh, so not a question about us after all, but actually a question I would love to know the answer to myself. I focused on the road and waited patiently for Felix to answer.
“Our mother died in a coven war,” he replied, looking out on the wildflowers we passed in a blur. I hated that Felix had lost his mother, too. The world could be a cruel place without a mothers love to help guide you.
“Oh, hon. I’m so sorry to hear that,” Dina said, her voice full of regret and affection.
“It was a petty war, too,” he continued. “The witch who started it was jealous that another witch had stolen her boyfriend. Twenty-three witches were killed because of it. The only reason we knew the cause was because my Gran was told about it.”
“What?” Peter asked, clearly just as confused as I was.
Felix turned to face Peter, “Jealousy,” he said, like that explained everything.
“It’s rather common for witches to start wars over petty stuff like that, always wanting to be the most powerful coven there is,” Dina explained. “Most city covens are like that, too far from nature to feel at peace, constantly battling for power. It’s like they’re searching for a meaning for their existence, if only they would listen to the rest of us.”
“That is just sad,” Peter said, and I nodded in agreement, not that they noticed.
“Astrea and I moved in with our Gran after that. She was in a coven and they were all lovely, but we decided not to join.”
I knew he had lost his grandma; he had told Joel as much. But it still hurt to hear how alone he and Astrea truly were, and to think a coven would exploit that.
“I think I would’ve done the same,” Dina replied after a few moments of silence. “I can’t even imagine how tough it must’ve been for you and Astrea.”
“Thank you,” Felix said, giving her a soft smile. I tried to focus on the road, but it was hard when Felix bared his soul for us. I wanted him to know I heard him. Grabbing his thigh with my right hand, I hoped my touch showed him what I couldn’t say at the moment.
His hand rested on top of mine, easing my frayed nerves and calming my heart.
We drove in silence for what felt like ten minutes before Dina spoke again. “If you ever want to join a coven, mine will welcome both of you with open arms. Even if you don’t want to join, but wish to learn more, we will be happy to help.”
“I need to ask Astrea what she wants to do first, but thank you.”
I smiled as I drove, happy that Dina could help Felix.
Chapter 15
Felix
Could I join a coven? I wanted to. After Astrea was cursed, I’d wanted nothing more than to have a coven behind me. But could I trust this coven? They were helping me get Astrea back, so it seemed like they were honorable witches. Maybe I should trust them. MaybeI already did.
Knowing Severin and I still hadn’t heard the game plan for how this whole thing was going down, I decided to ask Dina and Peter. “So, what is the plan?”
“Right!” Dina said, sitting straighter in her seat. “I completely forgot, sorry.” I waved it off. Severin and I had slept for longer than the others and had missed the “planning meeting”.
“I will go in first,” Peter interrupted. “We know the building, but not how many witches are inside. So, me in front, two witches behind me, and then Severin and you, Felix, then five witches behind you. The rest will keep watch and ward off any attacks while we are inside.”
Dina continued. “Peter will carry Astrea to our car and then we will drive back the five of us together. Severin needs his full focus to be on keeping you safe, so Peter is our best choice for getting her out.”
It all seemed fine to me, so I nodded. Dina and her coven were taking this seriously, which I appreciated. Every witch wore several crystals. Enough to ward off attacks and to protect them against different spells and attacks.
I could make most crystals myself with my magic, but I wasn’t a powerful witch when it came to infusing crystals with my magic. I was better at potions, but humans didn’t care much about howstrong the crystals they bought were, just that they worked. Funnily enough, witches were the most accepted supernatural beings by humans, and vampires the least accepted. After learning more about how much leeway the vampires had, I had to agree with the humans on that front. Not that Peter or Severin should be held accountable for how other vampires behaved, but I wasn’t naïve enough to think neither of them had been as good natured as they were now. But I wouldn’t punish them for their pasts. Times had changed, and so had they.
Witches back in the day weren’t saints either. The mass burnings weren’t because witches healed people, it was because they cursed them. We witches were a petty kind, not that I was happy about that, but most drama tended to happen around witches.
“Here,” Dina said, interrupting my thoughts. She held out a necklace filled with different crystals. “I want you to be protected.” I took the offered necklace and had to hold back tears. I hadn’t been given a necklace since my Gran was alive. This was something witches did for family members, or dear friends. Offering a necklace filled with crystals the witch had infused themselves was a sign of, well, love.
Unable to tell her how much this meant to me, I went with a simple, “Thank you.”
She smiled kindly. “Anytime.”
