Beneath An Ivy Moon (Legacy Of Magick Series, Book 4) (24 page)

I gasped and almost fell on my butt when Victoria Crowly materialized directly behind her tombstone. Even semi transparent, it was obvious that she was not happy to see me.

“Witch!” she snarled, as the rain picked up. The wind seemed to howl over us, and one by one the quarter candles went out. “I burned one of your kind out of her home. I’ll do worse to you if you don’t stop this evil!”

“Keep going,” Nathan called over the wind. “Ivy keep going!”

I faced her down. “You nasty old hag,” I said. “Your sister would be ashamed of you for what you’ve done!”

“Ivy!” Cypress was suddenly beside me, appearing out of nowhere.

“Cy, what the hell are you doing here?” I said, shoving her behind me to keep her farther away from Victoria. We shuffled around and knocked over the salt. It poured out onto the grass. “Stop!” I squeezed her arm to get her attention. “What’d you do? Jump through the reluctance’s boundary,
and
the ritual circle?”

Cypress scowled at me. “You bet your ass I did.” Soaking wet, her curls sprang around her face. “I
knew
you’d try something stupid.”

“It’s not safe for you here...,” I tried to tell her, noticing that Victoria’s ghost seemed to grow larger as we bickered.

Cypress faced the ghost. “You lured Jessica out of her room, and caused the accident with the archeologist at the dig site!”

“You are beneath me, I do not answer to your kind.” Victoria sneered at Cypress.

“You bigoted old bitch!” Cypress gasped.

Victoria’s ghost seemed to smile. “That Thornton woman should have
stayed
buried,” she muttered.

Cypress reached down and chucked a handful of salt over the tombstone and at the spirit. Infuriated, Cypress hissed out something in French, and the ghost shrank back.

“Cypress!” Nathan called. “Don’t feed into her anger, it only gives the spirit more power.”

“Cypress, Cy!” I pleaded, yanking her back before she dove after the ghost. “I’ve got this. Trust me.” I tugged Cypress away by her blue raincoat. “Go. Help Nathan hold the boundaries of the circle.”

Cypress moved back a few steps, arranging herself centrally between Nathan and I. “Nathan?” she called over the storm. “Get ready!” I had a second to brace myself, and then she tossed her hands down. Thunder cracked, and a triangle of energy burned bright and white within the once barely visible circle.

I felt the infusion of power that Cypress added to the area. The three of us stood at the points of that energetic triangle, facing down the ghost— who suddenly seemed very corporeal— even as the storm intensified.

“You’re facing the three of us now,” I said to the ghost. I took a deep breath and started over again. “By the power of earth and with salt; I bind you forever to your grave, Victoria Crowly.”

“I bind you from causing harm, Victoria Crowly,” Cypress begin to spontaneously chant over and over, even as the storm raged.

“No!” Victoria shrieked. “No! You’ve barred me from my home, you won’t trap me here.”

I took out my athame and prepared to make another cut to my palm. The rain had washed my blood away from before. And I needed both blood
and
my will to finish the spell. “By the power of blood—” My words ended as I took an unexpected blow to the face. The force of the strike made my head snap to the side, and had my ears ringing.

“I will crush you!” Victoria raged.

“Ivy!” Cypress yelled.

“Bitch,” I said, as a copper taste filled my mouth. I shook my head to clear it, and spit out blood.

“Ivy, finish the ritual!” Nathan called.

I straightened and focused on the ghost.
Mind over matter.
I reminded myself.
I would do this thing.
I wiped the blood away with the palm of my hand, and then I swiped the flat of the athame’s blade over my hand and raised it high.

“By my blood I bind you from ever causing harm again, Victoria Crowly.” I flung the athame down, along with my power, and it stuck deep, vibrating into the ground directly in front of the tombstone. “By my
will
I bind you forever to your grave,” I said, and felt the spell come together and sink into the soil around me. “By salt, blood and will, you are bound. No escape will ever be found.”

If a ghost could appear horrified, this one did. “You can’t!” she said.

“I
have
.” I reached out for Cypress’ hand. “By the power of three times three; forever bound Victoria Crowly, you shall be.”

“Forever bound Victoria Crowly, you shall be,” Cypress said.

Nathan stepped in and took Cy’s other hand. “Forever bound Victoria Crowly, you shall be.” At the third repetition, the ghost seemed to dissolve.

I heard the crack and, without looking, I
knew
what was happening. I shoved Cypress hard to the right, tackling her to the ground. A horrible rushing sound came from above and behind us as a tree started to fall. Nathan dove on top of Cypress and I, and the tree went down— just to the left of us. With a deafening
boom
, the ground shook. An energetic ripple rolled out and then dissipated.

For a few seconds the three of us stayed down. “Nathan?” I asked. “Cy, are you okay?”

“I am,” Nathan said, starting to shift. “How about you?”

“I’m okay.” I sat up slowly.

“You guys are squashing me!” Cypress complained, shoving free.

“Sorry,” Nathan said, and the three of us stayed where we were, sitting in the rain, and staring in amazement. The crown of the tree was several yards away, but one side of the metal fencing was smashed. The massive trunk had come down
very
close to us.

I gulped. “Oh my Goddess.” The trunk of the tree was less than six feet away, and right along the outside of the triangle of power Cypress had thrown down. That triangle pulsed once and began to fade.

“Wow,” Cypress said.

“It’s over,” I said, lifting my face to the rain. “Can you feel it? The whole atmosphere is different.” Relieved, I started to smile.

Nathan stood and pulled Cypress and me up. “I’ll say this, you William’s Ford Witches know how to show a guy a good time.”

I snorted out a laugh and took a half hearted swipe at him. “Jeez, Pogue.”

“Come here,” he said, tugging me to him. I stood on my tiptoes and met him half way for his kiss.

“Umm hmm, I thought so,” Cypress said as the kiss continued. “You two squabbled way too much for there
not
to be some chemistry brewing.”

I pulled slightly away from Nathan and grinned at Cypress. “Come here, you.” I grabbed the sleeve of her raincoat, and pulled her close. After a moment, I held out an arm to Nathan.

“Wow, ultimate guy fantasy,” Nathan joked, and joined the group hug.

I reached up and yanked on his hair in retaliation for the comment. “Dream on, Pogue,” I said, laughing.

For a moment the three of us stood holding each other, then something else caught my eye. “Look at that,” I said, pointing to the pink granite marker.

Nathan turned for a closer inspection. “The top corner of Victoria Crowly’s headstone has been broken off.”

I sniffed. “It’s what she gets for trying to crush me and my BFF.”

“Karmic justice,” Cypress said, firmly. “She deserved it.”

Before I could respond to Cypress, a new spirit shimmered to life in front of us. I gawked at the image of a pretty young woman who hummed a lullaby to a baby in her arms.

I knew who this was.
“You’re Melinda, aren’t you?” I said.

She nodded. “I am. Thank you for helping her. She’s been lost for so long.”

“Are you talking about Victoria or Prudence?” Cypress asked her.

“Both.” The spirit moved to the right and hovered over the one stone crypt in the cemetery. “Now my sister
and
my friend can be at peace.” She nodded once and seemed to fade back into the top of the crypt.

The three of us stood for a few moments, waiting and watching. But all remained quiet and the rain was slowing.

“We should go,” Nathan said finally. “Someone will notice the tree and the damage to the family plot.”

“Okay,” I said. “Maybe we can go back to your place and clean up and dry out a bit,” I suggested.

“Give me a second, here,” Nathan said. He quickly released the elements, thanked the gods, and opened the circle, letting the reluctance magick disperse.

Cypress knelt down and grounded her triangle of power into the earth. She stood, brushed off her hands, gathered the candles and gave them to Nathan. While he finished up, I picked up the empty carton of salt and tugged my athame free from the ground. I wiped it off on my rain-soaked jeans and put it back in the sheath at my waist.

I slid the backpack over my shoulder, took Nathan’s hand, looped my other arm through Cy’s and grinned at them. “We kicked ass.”

“You did,” Cypress corrected.

“Told you, you could do it,” Nathan said to me.

“I could really use a beer,” Cypress said seriously.

“Well sure,” I said, and felt a silly grin form on my face. “Save the campus from the malevolent ghost of the school’s founder, and we didn’t get maimed or killed... I say we deserve to party.”

Cypress and Nathan laughed at that, and we walked away from the cemetery.

We’d only traveled a few yards when I kicked something in the grass. Curious, I stopped and bent over to pick it up.

It was one perfect yellow apple.

“Where’d that come from?” Cypress asked. “There aren’t any apple trees around here.”

“I don’t think it came from a tree,” I said carefully. “I think it’s a thank you gift, and maybe a reminder from Prudence.”

“A reminder?” Cypress asked.

“Yeah,” I said, tucking the apple in my jacket pocket. “It’s a reminder that we still have something left to take care of.”

“She wants her name restored,” Nathan said, as we stood in the thinning rain. “She wants her story told.”

“We’ll find a way,” I said, pulling both Cypress and Nathan closer. “The Witches of William’s Ford stand together.”

EPILOGUE

In the days that followed, the damage to the Harris/ Crowly family plot was blamed on the thunderstorm. The general consensus was that the tree that had fallen was previously damaged from September’s tornado, thus making it vulnerable to storm winds. The chip off the corner of Victoria Crowly’s pink headstone was re-attached, and the fence was repaired and put back into place.

Samhain came and went. Nathan celebrated with the family at the manor. I think he got a real kick out of seeing all of the neighborhood kids trick-or-treating. I know I enjoyed it. As of Samhain night, Nathan and I were officially dating. — I still haven’t seen his tattoo. But there’s plenty of time for that. I have a hunch when I do... it will be worth the wait.

Construction was restarted on the museum expansion. Since the foundation of the cottage was not classified as being historically significant; it was documented, but eventually filled in and built over.

The suits on the University Board of Governors met and actually decided to do the right thing. Dr. Wallis and Dr. Meyer were instrumental in influencing the final decision. They’d each spoken to the board, proposing that Prudence Thornton and her land were important parts of the campus history, and therefore deserved to be acknowledged. I’d also heard from Bran that the Doctors threatened to contact the local media if the Board of Governors were unreasonable.

Finally it all came down to a vote, and in an interesting turn of events, it was Thomas Drake who tipped the vote over to our side.

So it took a few more weeks, but Prudence’s remains were finally laid to rest. In a pretty spot at the far western edge of where the Thornton property had once been, a gravesite was selected. The Witches of William’s Ford pitched in and purchased a modest granite headstone. The stone simply read: Prudence Thornton. Born 1849- Died 1878. Midwife and Wise Woman.

The board members of the local history museum led by Dr. Meyers, and the Drake family, took it a step further. They held a fundraiser, arranging for an ornate iron fence to be built around the gravesite and a historical marker to be added to denote where the Thornton property and orchard had once stood.

On a sunny and mild morning in late November, Nathan and I visited the gravesite and planted a pair of small apple trees on either side of the fenced area. After we finished, the two of us joined hands and blessed the new trees so they would flourish and grow strong and true.

I knew that Prudence would have approved.

***

Turn the page for a preview of
Under The Holly Moon
.

Book Five in the Legacy Of Magick series!

Under The Holly Moon

I stood on the front porch of the manor, my suitcases at my side. The Yuletide decorations were up, and the holiday lights glowed in bright festive colors across the porch railings. A huge fresh pine wreath hung on the front door as if to say ‘welcome’. I started to open the door, and thought better of it.

I hadn’t been home in over two years. Would I even be welcomed?

I’d probably forfeited the right to just waltz back in to the family’s house as if only a few days had passed since I’d last been home. I stalled, and called myself a coward. I could see my own reflection in the stain glass of the manor door. My eyes looked tired, my face was pale, and my hair was— as usual— sticking up all over the place. I brushed an annoying curl away from my eyes and tried to smooth my long hair back into place. I took a deep breath and told myself to be brave. The air was sharp and clear, and my breath made little white clouds against it.

While I stood shivering in my pale blue coat, I gathered my courage. Packing and loading up my car on my own and the four hour drive had been
easy
compared to what I was about to do. I’d rehearsed this reunion scene in my mind over and over as I’d driven east. Off to my right a pretty, waxing crescent moon was hanging low in the western sky. That was a good sign. A waxing crescent. A symbol for new beginnings, abundance— and also our family’s magickal crest.