Page 32 of Hallows End
“No.” He shakes his head. “That was the rumor they told to the townspeople so she wouldn’t be hunted and persecuted. She just went to Boston for a few years and then eventually came back here.”
“With Charles? Her husband?”
“Charles died of measles,” Xander says. “You never looked into all of this, even though you could move between worlds?”
I shake my head and drag my hand down my face in frustration. “The temptation to see them would have been too great, and they didn’t know me. It was too painful. And a bit of cowardice. The curse was never supposed to last this long, as I told you. I thought I’d be reunited with them after only a short time. And when it became obvious that it wasn’t going to happen, I had to cut the emotional ties as well as the physical because watching them all age and die and having them not know me was its own form of punishment.”
“Yes. I imagine it would be.” He sighs and looks down at the book. “I can tell you about their children and grandchildren, if you ever want to know about them.”
“Thank you. Perhaps once this is all over, we can have that conversation.” I return to the chair across from him and sit. “In the meantime, I’m sitting across from my seven-times-great-nephew.”
Xander’s eyes fill with humor. “Yes, you are. My mother and grandmother are both still living. They’re in Florida now, but I’m sure they’d like to meet you.”
“When this is all over,” I repeat. “I’d like to meet them, too. For now, I’d like to focus on lifting this curse, Xander.”
“Of course.” He turns his attention back to Katrina’s Book of Shadows. “She mentions the curse in here but states plainly that those of the Craft were always warned against using it because it was so unpredictable. She says, and I quote, ‘Hallows End could be lost forever.’”
“She knew what my plan was,” I say slowly. “So, she must have written that before I cast the spell. She warned me against it, but I didn’t think there was any other way.”
“We’re going to figure this out,” he assures me. “We’re going to harness the power of the Harvest Moon at the end of the month. It fallsonSamhain this year.”
“Will we be ready?”
“We have no choice,” he says simply.
“Xander, I have a question.”
He raises a brow.
“I feel the power in you. Just what is the extent of your magic?”
His lips turn up, and then, right before my eyes, he becomes a black cat.
I stand and back up, not sure I believe what I just saw.
“You’re kidding.”
“Meow.” He licks his paw and then becomes human once more.
“I’ve never seen that before.”
“Our bloodline has only grown more powerful through the ages,” he says with a satisfied grin. “Sit, and I’ll tell you more.”
ChapterEight
Lucy
Lorelei beat me to Breena’s house today. The three of us decided to gather and start getting some special things ready for our Samhain celebrations.
“I’ve missed doing this together,” I inform them as I walk inside and take my raincoat off, hanging it by the door before shucking my boots. I take a long, deep breath. Breena’s house always smells of baked goods and whatever incense she’s been burning. It’s comforting—like walking into a big hug. And her home is the epitome ofcottagecore, with homemade quilts thrown over the backs of her couch and chairs and other crafts she’s done herself set about. She has the fire burning and her cauldron set above it, bubbling away.
“You were gone too long, Lora.”
“I know,” she says with a heavy sigh as she sits back on the couch, her legs pulled up under her. “But it was good for me. I missed this, too. Samhain is my favorite holiday. And, of course, I love being with the two of you. I wassohomesick.”
“You could have come home at any time,” Breena reminds her as she stirs something into three mugs. “You’realwayswelcome here.”
“I know. I know I am. I just…couldn’t.I needed the time away to do a little soul searching. As I said before, I didn’t do much with the Craft while I was gone, but I did atonof meditation, some chakra work, and spoke a lot with my guides and ancestors.”