Of Witches and Warlocks: The Demon Kiss (12 page)

“Thank you, Daddy,” I said before turning to
hug my mom also.

“Welcome to the family, son,” my dad said as
he extended his hand out toward Vance.

“Thank you, sir,” Vance said, shaking his
hand vigorously, and I saw he was beaming also.

Dad nodded his head toward the glass door
which was separating us from those who were inside.

“Might as well go and break the news to
everyone else,” he said as he stood up, offering Mom a hand.

The four of us walked inside together, and
Mom went over to the kitchen counter, picked up a glass and began
tapping it with a spoon.

“Could I have everyone’s attention?” she
asked over the din.

Everyone stopped whatever they were doing and
turned to look at her with questioning eyes.

“Vance has something he wants to tell all of
you,” she said, and all eyes turned to look over at him.

He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed my
ring finger in front of everyone before he spoke.

“I have asked Portia to marry me, and she has
consented,” he said with a smile, as he stared into my eyes, never
looking away from me. “We are officially engaged now.”

Some people started clapping, and others let
out a happy cheer. Soon we were surrounded by well-wishers giving
us hugs and kisses.

It was a wonderful feeling, and I couldn’t
help letting out a girlish giggle in all the excitement.

“You’re my fiancée,” I whispered to him with
a smile, as I squeezed his hand in delight.

He pulled me close to him then and kissed me
proper, much to the joy of everyone else in the room.

I couldn’t stop smiling later that evening,
as we strolled along the beach hand in hand, Brad and Shelly
walking beside us doing the same.

We had decided to take a walk after Dad and
Grandma asked us to leave for a few minutes so they could meet
privately with the rest of the coven.

“This has been my favorite Christmas ever!” I
said with a smile.

“Why is that?” Vance asked as he gave my hand
a tender squeeze.

“Because I got you for Christmas,” I replied,
grinning from ear to ear, still unable to believe it was really
true.

“Well, I hope I’m a gift that you won’t ever
want to return,” he said, jokingly.

“Not a chance!” I said and threw my arms
around him and kissed him.

He responded by picking me up and twirling me
around in a circle, without breaking the kiss.

“Get a room!” Brad complained with a
laugh.

“No kidding!” Shelly laughed, too. “It’s like
being stuck in a romance novel or something.”

“Sorry.” I blushed, as Vance lowered me back
down until my feet were touching the sand, even though I wasn’t
sorry at all.

Vance graciously changed the subject.

“We’ve been out here for a while now. I’m
sure we could head back to the condo if you’d like,” he said as he
looked back down the beach in the direction that we had come.

“What do you think they’re talking about?”
Shelly asked.

“I have no idea,” I replied, shaking my head,
thinking it had indeed been a curious thing for them to ask us to
leave and to take Brad and Shelly with us.

Usually when the coven met together, everyone
was involved, especially lately as things were almost always
regarding Vance.

“Let’s go find out then,” Brad suggested, and
he started moving back in the direction of the condo.

We walked back up the beach to the grounds of
the resort, passed the sparkling swimming pools with Jacuzzis, and
through the breezeway to the elevator.

The coven was still seated together talking
when we re-entered the room.

“Come on in, kids!” My dad waved at us with a
smile. “We have some things to discuss with you.”

The four of us went and sat down,
cross-legged on the tile floor, next to the others who were
gathered.

“We have a proposition for you,” Grandma
said, looking specifically at Shelly and Brad. “We have discussed
this with everyone except for Vance and Portia, but they can feel
free to give any comments they have on the matter also.”

“All right,” Brad said, looking a little bit
apprehensive.

“We’d like to extend an official invitation
for the two of you to join our coven,” Grandma stated, looking
closely at both of them for their reaction.

There was complete silence in the room for a
moment.

“But we aren’t witches … or warlocks,” Shelly
said, looking over at Brad.

I was very surprised by this request, but it
also seemed to make perfect sense to me, and I wondered why I had
never thought of it before.

“You’ve been offering your services to help
further the causes of this coven and the people involved in it,”
Grandma continued. “By inducting you as official members you’ll be
under the protection of the powers that are in this coven. If we’re
to be involved in some type of confrontation in the near future,
this will greatly enhance your chances of survival.

“Plus, there are a lot of things we can teach
you that would give you some magical benefits. For instance, making
healing medicines or even using some minor spells. You’d be able to
keep your magical talismans and learn how to use their powers to
strengthen yourselves in other areas. Basically, the power of the
coven would supply you with magic so to speak,” she explained as
she watched them both.

“You wouldn’t ever surpass the level of an
apprentice witch or warlock, however,” Dad said, letting them know
there would be limits to what they could actually do with their
borrowed powers.

“What do you think about it?” Brad asked,
turning to look to Vance for some advice.

“I think it’s a smart idea. I feel foolish
for not having thought of it myself,” he replied.

“What do you think, Portia?” Shelly asked
me.

“I agree with Vance,” I said. “Something like
this would’ve protected you from being susceptible to what you went
through before, when Vance’s mom placed the spell on you. Both of
you are very close to the coven, and you know all of our secrets.
Making you official members would not only protect each of you but
would protect the coven also.”

We all sat in anticipation as Shelly and Brad
thought things over carefully for a moment.

“I accept,” Shelly said, giving Brad’s hand a
squeeze and looking at him with a questioning gaze.

He nodded his head.

“I’ll do it, too,” he replied.

“Wonderful!” my dad said. “This will actually
give us the equivalent of having thirteen witches in the coven even
though we’ll actually be fourteen in number. It was a great
misfortune for us to lose Marsha.”

Everyone was silent for a moment as we all
recalled Marsha and her sweet disposition. I knew Vance would
always love her and be grateful for the help she had rendered
him.

“I propose we dedicate the rest of this
evening to Marsha’s memory and induct Brad and Shelly into the
coven tonight,” I suggested.

“That sounds like a perfect idea!” my dad
said. “Do we have all the magical items we need here to do that,
Mom?” he asked Grandma.

“Yes, we do. I brought everything I thought
we might possibly have need of,” she replied as she stood to leave
the room, my dad following after her.

We soon stood in a circle in the center of
the floor, all of us in our ceremonial robes, even Brad and Shelly,
which proved Grandma and Dad had indeed planned ahead for this very
thing.

The elements were called, and the circle was
cast. Brad and Shelly were officially introduced to each member of
the coven with a kiss and the Blessed Be incantation. Afterward
they were invited to stand together in the spot that had once been
Marsha’s place in the order. Then they were given a candle, which
they both held together, which was lit in her memory.

Vance then spoke of Marsha and of all the
good she had done in her lifetime.

Afterwards he thanked her, becoming a bit
emotional in the process, and his voice cracked slightly, over the
memories of an individual who had been like a mother to him. When
he was done speaking, he leaned over and blew out the candle to
signify setting her spirit free.

Dad then began explaining about the earth and
its creations, much as he had when I had been inducted into the
coven. Tonight, however, he spoke at length about the birth of the
Christ child and all the blessings that His life and death had
brought to all of mankind. It was a beautiful Christmas sermon.

When Dad was done speaking, Grandma presented
Brad and Shelly each with a beautiful round, smooth crystal, about
the size of golf ball. She said these also held magic in them and
she would show them how to use them properly. She explained that
between the power of the amulets they were wearing and their
crystals, they would probably be surprised by all the things they
would now be able to do.

She did caution them, however, that they
needed to take great care with keeping the crystals safe, as they
were something anyone could pick up and use. There was no fail-safe
charm on them like with the talismans. Also, if they were to get
damaged, it could affect the power in them.

We released the circle afterward, and Brad
leaned over to whisper something in Grandma’s ear. She smiled and
whispered something back to him, making a slight gesture with her
hand.

Brad stepped forward and gave his ring a
slight twist, before he raised his arm into the air and spoke a
word I didn’t recognize, swinging his hand and the crystal in a
full swoop around his head.

Instantly large snowflakes began falling from
above, over our heads and drifting down, dissipating before they
hit the floor.

“Merry Christmas!” he smiled widely.

“Merry Christmas!” everyone replied, and we
all took turns hugging one another.

When we awakened the next morning, it was
back to business as usual for all of us. The warm and fuzzy holiday
memories in our heads were placed on the back burner as the coven
met together to form a plan with one another.

The first thing on the agenda was a complete
circle which was held over Vance. He was suffering from serious
withdrawal this morning that had everyone very concerned about his
wellbeing.

Grandma was working over him now as he lay on
his bed, curled up in a ball, dressed only in a pair of long gym
shorts, while he fought the spasms that were wracking his body. His
eyes seemed even more bloodshot than usual to me, as Grandma passed
smoking herbs up and down all over him, while reciting an
incantation.

When she was finished speaking, I quietly
brought my concern up.

“He seems much worse to me while we’re
performing these rituals over him,” I complained, feeling upset
about his reaction.

“The two kinds of magic are warring against
each other in his system,” Grandma explained softly. “Try not to
let it worry you. We need your positive energy right now to help
him.”

I wanted to beg her to stop, since it seemed
he was far worse than he had ever been before, but I also knew she
wouldn’t be doing anything intentionally to hurt him.

As it turned out, his withdrawal phase this
morning lasted a much shorter amount of time, though it was so much
more painful for him.

I hadn’t been able to help myself, crying
softly as I watched him. He hadn’t screamed out or even made a
sound, but I could hear the torture as it ran through his head, and
it had been excruciating for him.

When the worst of it had passed, the coven
released the circle and one by one the members slowly filtered out
of the room. After they were all gone, I closed the door behind
them and went to lie down next to him, wrapping my arms around
him.

He was damp with perspiration, as if he had
done a really hard work-out. He didn’t speak to me for a while, as
he just lay there and rested, but his eyes never left mine.

Lifting my hand, I moved to brush some of the
sweaty hair off his forehead, away from his face, letting my
fingers trail slowly down over his molded features after I was
finished.

“I’m okay,” he said finally, and I could hear
the exhaustion in his voice.

“I want this to be over,” I replied,
snuggling up closer next to him, nuzzling under his chin with my
nose. He lifted it a little, and I placed a kiss against his neck.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t like these ‘treatments.’”

“They’re helping to some extent,” he said, as
he traced a finger slowly in a small circle on my back. “I go
through it all a lot faster than usual.”

“It breaks my heart to watch it.”

“You don’t have to stay and watch if you
don’t want to,” he suggested. “Just wait outside until it’s
finished.”

“No,” I replied. “The coven’s magic is weaker
without me. Besides I want to be with you whenever you need
me.”

“Thanks,” he said with a small smile, before
reaching up to run a hand against my arm that was draped over him.
“I appreciate it.”

He rolled away from me then, over onto his
back, turning his head so he could look at me. I propped up on my
elbows, so I could lean over him, and gave him a tiny peck on the
lips. He smiled softly back at me, as he ran his hand over my
hair.

“I should probably go get in the shower now,”
he said, looking a little regretfully at me. “I don’t want to keep
everyone waiting on me.”

“All right,” I replied, taking my cue for
dismissal and rolling off the bed to walk toward the door. “Call me
if you need me.”

“I always need you,” he answered with a
slight laugh as he sat up on the edge of the bed.

“You know what I mean,” I said, smiling at
him as I slipped out the door, not missing the playful wink he sent
in my direction.

Breakfast was in full swing by the time Vance
got out of the shower. I told him to sit at the table, while I
served him a heaping plate of pancakes and sausage.