Shadows in Ravenwood (Daughters of the Circle)

SOPHIA

  Sophia led their little group, as they walked through the woods. She couldn’t believe how far she’d come in a few short weeks. She’d gone from refusing to deal with her mother’s people—to wanting to make them her own—and her daughter’s.

  And, now, here she stood, leading her friends as they stood in the Land of the Fae, talking to them about how to defeat the Warlock. A few months ago, she wouldn’t have been able to imagine this moment. Now, she lived it.

  Things felt wonderful here, helping both the Fae and her friends.

  Sophia led a small ceremony with her friends and the witches, lighting sage and passing it around the group, as they talked, as she spoke to her mother’s people about the effort they’d put into figuring out how to stop the Warlock, once and for all.

  The Fae world had as much invested in the Goddess’ return as they did. That hadn’t been something she’d considered before. She should have, she realized, but for some reason she hadn’t. Had she become so detached from her people that she failed to grasp how important this would be to them too?

  Her mother stood to relate the ingredients their ancestors had used before to take down Dante—all to no avail. They’d been ineffective against him.

  At that point, a member of the Elf spoke out, asking what Dante’s weaknesses were.

  Claire stood to answer him. “The Book of Shadows said that in all the time they dealt with him, he’d only grown stronger—and had shown no known weaknesses.

  The Elf elder shook his head. “Every magickal being has his weaknesses.” He held his hand up as his people stirred. When they quieted, he said, “You must learn his weakness.” He turned to a group of young warriors who stood to the side of where the elders sat. “Would any of you study the warlock—perhaps discover what he has learned to hide so well?”

  Several of the young men clamored for the opportunity to volunteer. If they succeeded, they would be known for all time.

  This would be a great feat.

  Claire and Morgan sat at a table off to the side. Tara sat with them. Sophia sat next to her mother, with the rest of her Faery Kin. She’d left her daughter with a young Faery girl to watch over her.

  She watched the proceedings with some interest. She wondered what it would be like to stand before the King and Queen, in one of the human countries who still held court. She wondered if it would be like this. She imagined it would. Except, the Fae held special magickal abilities, and the war they discussed dealt with a lot of power.

  Sophia wondered what it would be like if she took her daughter and returned home to her mother, and their people. Their people. She smiled. Yes—they were her people too. And that had a nice ring to it. She sighed—imagining it. Would she have to follow Faery laws? Would she choose her mate—or would one be chosen for her?

  She quickly realized she probably couldn’t live here—as much as she liked it. A human man had captured her attention after all. And she couldn’t imagine anyone making the choice of where her heart lay, for her.

  She glanced down and sighed. Her heart felt full. Joy held a heady, blissful feeling. Her heart belonged to Jake. Some things were better left to the human world, in the end. Keeping her choice in a mate happened to be one of them. Still, if there were a way for her to spend more time with her Faery Kin, here, she knew she’d find it.

  She lifted her gaze to the elders of the tribes. As she listened, they discussed Dante and how to be of help to the witches, for some time. By the time, they’d finished these discussions—at length—she realized she felt disappointed. She had a notion the sisters would be too.

  They hadn’t learned anything new to help them defeat him. There didn’t seem to be anything their parents—or their grandparents—nor even their ancestors—had missed. Well, they had hoped, but it seemed far-fetched to think that in several hundred years, no one had discovered a way to deal with him. What make them think that they would figure out anything they’d missed, now.

  Sophia glanced over at Claire. Claire returned her smile, even if it was a bit weak. Sophia could see they felt pretty defeated. She didn’t see any way around it. They had a warlock, who was always searching, looking for a way to get to them—and there didn’t seem to be a way to stop him.

  They left the court and returned to her mother’s cottage. Here, quiet replaced chatter, excitement, and anticipation.

  Sophia glanced around at her friends. “Come on you guys,” she encouraged. “We can’t give up. He hasn’t beaten us yet.”

  Morgan gave her a half-smile. “I know. But there doesn’t seem to be a way….”

  “Well,” Sophia said, with renewed determination, “we’ll have to find one.” She went to stand in the middle of her mother’s cute little cottage. “After all,” she said, “they did say that all magickal creatures had a weakness.” She turned to search the expressions each of her friends had on their faces. “Even him.”

  Claire smiled, sitting forward. “We’ve got to find it.”

  Morgan nodded.

  Sophia sighed, but also nodded, and the rest of them said, “Here, here.” Laughter filled the air.

  Well, it was better than admitting defeat.

  As they said their goodbyes and made their way back to the manor, Sophia noted her friends walked with a new alertness. Soon after she’d taken them back through the veil, she also noticed they became more subdued and hushed. They didn’t talk but, instead, paid attention to their surroundings.

  She figured the twins had taken up the rear, and Tara and Morgan seemed to keep watching up above in the trees. She also noticed Alex kept his gaze firmly on the forest around them, more so than he even did on where he stepped.

  Sophia seemed to be the only one who felt more relaxed, but that’s because she knew Thorick and his warriors, first hand. She realized, it might be time to introduce them to her friends. Maybe, then, they’d relax a bit.

  The way things were now, simply wouldn’t do, at all. Before long, they’d run themselves ragged, trying to keep watch over each other.

  Sophia made a mental note to talk to Thorick. She knew they couldn’t pull all the warriors keeping watch, just to introduce them, but they could start introducing them, as they came around.

  They’d have to be careful not to give Dante a heads-up.

  Her mind made up, Sophia edged closer to Claire to whisper her theory to her in low tones. And, before long, the two had a plan.