Broomstick Breakdown

Chapter Five

Sophia paced her room. Her mind still spun as she waited for evening to fully fall before she descended and joined her coven sisters. She tried to regain her excitement over her first Halloween gathering as a witch. The exhilaration she’d basked in just days ago when the invitation arrived in the mail had vanished. Now, instead all she could think of was Aidan, his last look of pain carving a wound into her heart.

I knew him for only a day. Not even. How could I have come to care for him so much in such a short time? She kept wondering what she could have done differently. How she could have kept him with her? However, everything revolved back to one simple fact. He’s human, and I’m not anymore.

Sophia hadn’t even known of her witchy heritage until a few years back. Her parents had adopted her when she was still a baby, found supposedly abandoned. Her parents, her birth ones that is, remained to this day unknown to authorities.

She’d always know she wasn’t the same as others. Even as a young child, Sophia had wondered if something was wrong with her, because she’d always seen the world differently. This was a fact she learned to keep quiet about when her adopted mother dragged her to countless psychiatrists looking for a cure. She stopped telling people about how she could sometimes see colors swirling around her and touch those invisible streamers. She sealed her lips shut, not mentioning the ghosts she saw, along with other odd creatures like the gremlin that lived in her dad’s garage. Silence was preferable to the strange looks and drugs. At the late age of sixteen when she finally began her menses, her otherworldly sense went into overdrive. Sophia feigned ignorance even as her mother called in the priest to rid the house of the poltergeists-the only ghosts, though, were Sophia’s awakening power, which manifested itself in floating objects and odd incidents.

Desperate to understand what was wrong with her and reassure herself she wasn’t crazy, she went online, searching for her symptoms. She never found anything, but someone found her. Apparently, witches had embraced the technological age, because her searches sent a red flag to the mother house, and in the dark of night, Sophia suddenly found herself abducted and given a lengthy interrogation followed by a set of tasks where finally her special abilities came into play.

When they’d told her she was a full-blood witch, one whose special parents had perished, Sophia laughed. Once the shock-and mirth-wore off, she was pleased to know she was normal, for a witch at least.

Thus had begun her lessons. As an older student, she’d struggled and worked hard to catch up to those who’d grown up in the lore-the varied rules and protocols adopted to keep them safe from humans. The Salem trials, which had seen countless innocents killed, served as an example of intolerance, one which even today served as a brutal reminder that safety lay in secrecy, or so the coven thought. Personally, she thought the modern world could handle the idea of witches, but one junior witch wasn’t about to change hundreds of years of doctrine.

Along with history, spells, and witch law, another thing they’d taught her was while she could dally sexually with humans, she could never tell them what she was or think of a forever-after with one. Part of being a witch meant a longer lifespan-two hundred years or more wasn’t unheard of. Although it wasn’t exactly forbidden to intermarry, the warning was clear. The most a witch could hope for was 10 to 15 years before she had to disappear, for the lack of aging eventually became noticeable and raised questions. Witches who refused to leave ended up finding their partners and children gone one day. Talk about incentive to look at their kind first.

Knowing this made Sophia’s painful decision to let Aidan go seem noble, even if she didn’t understand why she wanted him so much. She did know she didn’t want to see Aidan hurt. He deserved a real life with a woman who could give him children and grow old with him. Not someone who would be forced to abandon him and their children within a decade or so.

But how she wished things were different. If only Aidan were one of the special folk allowed to know their secrets-elf, angel, demon, shifter, merman. So many species were allowed to know about her witch status, and although not approved of for marriage-not that it stopped some-sexual dalliances were not uncommon.

The time for introspection passed. As the midnight hour approached, Sophia composed herself and left her room in her flowing robe, joining a chattering stream of witches out into the night. Lanterns lit the night sky and hung on branches and poles, illuminating their way to the gathering spot.

The Covenhouse Inn sat on over a hundred acres, ensuring the witches’ coven privacy for ceremonies such as the one for Halloween. Most of the land was wooded, but as Sophia followed others of her kind through the meandering paths in the shadowy forest, it wasn’t long before they emerged in a clearing with trampled grass. In the center of the huge space a bonfire snapped and crackled, the flames licking up into the sky and popping with colors not usually seen-gold, red, purple, blue, and even some green. This close to the witching hour, power sizzled visibly all around her in a kaleidoscope of color. Excitement hummed in the air.

The witches stood shoulder widths apart and formed circles radiating outward from the fire. Sophia stood in one of the outer rings, her face tilted up to the sky staring at the fat, bright moon hanging over the assembly.

As if silenced by a spell, an instant quiet fell upon the clearing, and the chattering and rustling of hundreds of women was gone as expectancy hung heavy in the air.

Midnight hit unmistakably as the magical energy imbuing the world peaked. All Hallows Day had arrived, with the power of its arrival zipping through her body like a lightning bolt. As if the fire and magic called them, ghostly forms rose in a sinuous trail from the bright flames, weaving and bobbing over the congregation. Like a signal, the dance began.

Unlike the Wiccans with their earth-based magic, Sophia belonged to a darker sect, one that still worshipped the Lord of Hades-with powerful results. Over the centuries legends and rumors abounded about witches dancing naked around fires for Satan. Although never actually witnessed by human eyes, or at least no people who ever lived after seeing it, it was actually true. Liberating in so many ways, the dance brought them back to a primal time when witches were celebrated instead of persecuted. In a graceful move synchronized without practice, robes went flying off, which bared hundreds of females of all shapes and sizes. Male witches, also called warlocks, celebrated elsewhere in their own fashion.

Sophia vaguely felt the kiss of the cool night air on her naked skin, however, caught up in the building magic of the dance, she ignored it. Her body moved intuitively, weaving and swaying to an unheard rhythm, which made the gathered coven move in an undulating wave of bare skin and flying hair. Women of all ages and races spun faster and faster, their breath coming short, eyes gleaming, limbs flying.

Closing her eyes while opening her arms wide, Sophia basked in the power flowing throughout the clearing and felt her cares slip free. She lost herself in the wildness of the dance.

Aidan, in his wolf shape, sat on the edge of the clearing watching with yellow eyes as the witches poured into the open space. His eyes, though, remained trained on one body only-Sophia’s. She looked pensive compared to the other happy, chattering witches, and he wondered-hoped-it was because she thought of him.

He’d returned, and even though he’d wanted to charge in to find her and divulge the truth of what he was, he held back. The Halloween gathering of the witches was something even he’d heard of. He could wait until she’d completed the celebration, but that didn’t mean that he would leave her alone. A protective instinct forced him to follow her, not that he expected trouble, but he liked to be prepared.

Oddly enough, Aidan was not the only shifter in the woods. He could sense and smell other shapeshifters. Some wolves like himself, but other beasts as well-bear, panther, and even the rare musty scent of dragon. He didn’t ponder for long the presence of other shifters. His attention was caught by the sudden silence. The fur on his body stood on end as energy churned and boiled in the air, the result of having so many witches in one place and on such a powerful date. With an almost ecstatic burst, the magic overflowed to stroke everyone, including him, and to leave those in its wake feeling more alive than ever.

Aidan, who’d never heard of such a thing, howled in response, a sound repeated in different cadences all around the gathered women. He howled again when he saw Sophia shed her robe, her beautiful naked body moving sinuously as she and her sisters danced. Aidan in wolf form cried out again, unable to help himself as Sophia twirled faster and faster, perspiration gleaming on her bare skin, her hair twirling in a silken mess. After several revolutions around the clearing, her face finally broke into an exhilarated smile, and with his enhanced hearing he heard her joyous laughter, an emotion and sound repeated all over the place as the witches basked in the heady magic eddying around them.

The witches didn’t notice, but Aidan did as the fire in the center built up brighter and brighter the faster they danced. He kept one eye on it, the other on his pagan mate, whose enjoyment in the dance stirred his lust.

A figure arose from the flames, a naked, solidly built man. And at his appearance, the witches, like puppets, suddenly collapsed as if an unseen power had cut the strings that held them up. Kneeling on the ground, the witches swayed and hummed as they faced the man who still floated in the flames.

“My beautiful harem,” boomed the man Aidan somehow instinctively knew was Lucifer. “Happy Halloween!”

“Lord of Darkness. Father of Sin. Satan love us. Lucifer bless us.”

The pagan chant shocked Aidan. Figures my true mate would be a dark witch instead of a Wiccan. Not that he actually cared. Actions meant more than who you owed allegiance to. As a wolf, he and his pack worshipped no deity, even if they were aware and had a healthy respect for the super powers known as God and the Devil.

Respect or not, Satan’s next words made Aidan’s vision turn red, and he growled.

“Who will serve their master tonight?” Lucifer dropped his hand to an engorging cock that put every mortal man to shame. “I have a mighty need to bless my flock.”

Aidan went to lunge forward when he saw Sophia stand, but a firm grasp on his wolf’s nape held him back. He turned his head as he snarled and bit.

“Quiet wolf,” said a voice low in timbre but resonant with power.

Aidan inhaled the scent of dragon and quieted. How the hell did he sneak up on me? Surely, I wasn’t that distracted? Evidently not.

A voice chuckled in the darkness. “A wise decision. Not so smart, though, would be to interrupt what goes on in the field. I take it this is your first All Hallows ceremony with your witch?”

Unable to reply in beast form, Aidan shifted back, uncaring of his nakedness, a trait common among shifters who often found themselves without clothes. “She’s not my mate yet.”

“Aah, just found her, did you?” Again a chuckle floated from the darkness, and try as Aidan might with his enhanced eyesight, he could not see the shifter who spoke to him even if his sensitive nose caught whiffs of his scent. “Fear not, your lady has chosen to abstain from the festivities. Most witches who’ve found their mate do.”

Indeed, Aidan, who’d never completely lost track of Sophia, saw her pick up a robe off the ground and shrug it on before leaving with others. Several handfuls of witches stayed behind in a naked orgy that Aidan found acrobatically impressive. Satan certainly was a skilled lover judging by the blurring motions and moans of the ladies as he managed to pleasure the large group left behind.

The dragon spoke and drew his attention away from the naked fest in the clearing. “Have you spoken to your pack leader about taking the witch as your mate?”

“There’s been no time. I know it’s not common, but I don’t see why there would be an issue. She’s my true mate.”

“True mate or not, acceptance of a witch as your mate really depends on your pack alpha. Some welcome witches as mates. They actually make valuable additions to the pack, but others are obsessed with purity of the line.”

“Who the fuck are you, and why are you telling me all this? Why do you care?”

“My name is Dracin, and let’s just say I’ve lived long enough to see the interspecies mating thing be an issue. Take my advice or leave it. I don’t really care. I just thought you might like a head’s-up.”

Aidan could sense no deception in his words, but he still didn’t completely trust him. He had, however, raised questions. It had never occurred to Aidan to wonder how his alpha would react. He’d found his mate, and, apart from convincing her, he’d never thought farther ahead. “I’m sure everything will be fine.” Aidan couldn’t hide his sudden doubt completely.

“Fine or not, should you find yourself cast out of the pack, tell your female to contact a witch called Clarabelle. She can give you directions to a pack that welcomes mixed pairings. I’ve more to tell you, but I must rejoin my mate now. I will contact you again shortly.”

The stranger melted into the forest as mysteriously as he’d arrived, which left Aidan with a mouthful of questions. Would his pack leader, a gruff, no-nonsense man, accept his pairing with a witch? Aidan had never heard of an actual ban on such matings, but, then again, he’d never noticed one in his pack either. Coincidence or intentional?

His musings would have to wait. He didn’t want to lose Sophia, who’d left the clearing already. There were lots of brooms around here, and although he assumed she’d spend the night before heading out, he just couldn’t be one hundred percent sure. He changed back to his wolf form, then flitted through the trees, coming as close as he dared to the path, his keen nose picking up the unmistakably sweet scent of his soon-to-be mate.

And, even better, she was alone.

It occurred to him for a few seconds to keep his shifter side secret for a while longer, but she needed to know, and people always said there was no time like the present. He trotted out onto the path a few paces ahead of her and turned to face her.

He had a moment to see her eyes widen before she let out a piercing shriek.

Oops. Maybe not such a good idea.