Realization crashes over me like a wave, and a shiver trips up my spine. Could the cards really be this accurate? “Elder Keating put up a barrier spell, but it’s only big enough to keep the Hunters out of Salem. When I go to Brooklyn, I’ll be outside its protection.”
Morgan sits up and actuallyclosesher book. “They put up a barrier?” She scowls when I nod. “Of course no one bothered to ask my parents for help.”
When Gemma and I stare blankly at her, Morgan explains. “Remember the runes you found at the Witch Museum over the summer? If the Council let us, we could lock down the town in a matter of hours.”
New hope sparks within me, bright and alive. Maybe Morgan’s parents can protect all the witches who will be in the courthouse. Maybe they can keep the Hunters away. But then my rational mind takes over. If their barrier repelled Hunters, it would still create the same risk of non-witches seeing the magic in effect.
Gemma’s hand stalls over the third card. “Why don’t they let you help?”
“Because we’re Blood Witches. Because they think we’re creepy or monsters or goddess knows what.” Morgan flops back onto the bed and drapes an arm across her face. “I’m so sick of everyone hating us.”
“I don’t hate you,” Gemma and I say at the same time. We share a smile, but Morgan lets out an unintelligible grunt of a response.
“You’ve noticed it, haven’t you?” Morgan peeks at us around her arm. “The way they keep to themselves? Each Clan may have representation on the Council, but they almost never work together. Cal and Archer are both Casters. The Elder who visited is a Caster, too.”
Gemma abandons the final unturned card and swivels in her chair to face the bed. “But they recruited Hannah, and she’s an Elemental.”
“Only because they wanted something from her.” Morgan’s tone settles over my skin like frost. “There aren’t any Casters with a story like hers. If there were, I’d bet anything they’d use the Caster Witch instead. Their Elder certainly didn’t want my help, despite Alice and I being in the same Clan.”
There’s something bitter and hurt in her voice, and it pulls at my heart. “Do you want to help?”
“Do I want to help my girlfriend recruit another Blood Witch?” Morgan turns the intensity of her blue gaze on me. “Of course I do.”
Gemma glances between Morgan and me, confused. “Why would they ignore perfectly good magic?”
Morgan waves a hand in my general direction. “You tell her.I need more of my boys, and I’m ninety percent sure the one guy is bi, which you know I love.” She reopens her book, but there’s tension around her jaw as she reads now instead of the carefree expression she had before.
“It’s kind of a long story, but I can give you the highlights.” I glance anxiously at Morgan, but she’s focused on her book. “Have I explained where witches come from yet?”
“I know how babies are made, Han.”
“Where ourmagiccomes from.” I roll my eyes at Gemma, but I know she’s only teasing. Probably to deflect from how desperately she wants to know about everything. “The Mother Goddess who guided the creation of this world has three daughters, known as the Sister Goddesses. Once humanity was well on its way, the Mother Goddess disappeared to tend to other realms and left her daughters in charge. After a few thousand years, they grew restless in their task and started issuing each other dares.”
“Dares?” Gemma raises a brow at me.
“That’s how my parents explained it to me. Though I was only eight at the time.” I shrug. “Anyway, the Eldest Sister created the Caster Witches, and when it was the Middle Sister’s turn, she wanted to create aflashiermagic. So, she covered the world with storms. Those who danced in the rains became Elementals.” I grin. “That’s why we tend to see rainy days as good luck.”
“Weirdos,” Morgan mutters affectionately under her breath, but I’m not entirely sure if she’s talking about my Clan or the guys in her book.
“So, then the last one made the Blood Witches?” Gemma guesses.
“Yes. Except the Youngest Sister wasn’t strong enough to make witches on her own, so she had to break into the Mother’sgarden. But when she stole a rose of immortality, she pricked her finger on a thorn. She lost her immortality trying to create Morgan’s Clan. When the Mother Goddess found out what happened to her youngest daughter, she punished all three sisters and banished them from Earth.”
Gemma’s brow furrows. “You hate Blood Witches because of a celestial game of truth or dare?”
“Not exactly.”
Morgan huffs out a breath. “Close enough. And the Youngest Sister didn’t accidentally touch the thorn. She meant to give up her immortality to bless us. She wanted her witches to be safe from the ones the other goddesses made.”
“That’s not the way Lady Ariana taught the story.”
My girlfriend closes her book again. “Lady Ariana isn’t a Blood Witch.”
Heat blossoms in my cheeks. “Fair. But then why did the early Blood Witches use their magic to turn people into puppets?”And not just the early ones, either...But I don’t mention the one who took control of my body. Morgan already knows the basics of what happened, and I’m not exactly eager to go through it all again.
Morgan sits up and swings her legs over the edge of the bed. “Your goddess had time to teach your ancestors what to do with their magic. The banishment happened before mine had a chance to learn anything. We had to figure it all out on our own.” She crosses the room to us, draping her arms around my shoulders. “We figured it out eventually.”
The warmth of her power hums through me, and I let my magic dance and play with the air, swirling Morgan’s loose curls back behind her shoulders. I wish it could always be like this, soeasy and free. But when Morgan stands, she cuts off her flow of magic and I drop mine, too.
