The Witch: Book Two of The Sorceress Saga by Taliesin Govannon (important books to read .txt) 📕

                “Right, he had to sleep with Lilith.  Twice.”  Evelyn chimed in.

                “Remind me again why I keep you around?” Trevor rolled his eyes.

                "Probably because, without her, you really would have had to walk here." came Angelique's reply.

                “So, how's she doing?”  Evelyn asked, suddenly serious.

                “She's doing well.” Vincent said.  “Better than I'd hoped, actually.”

                “She's already more stable than Sarah Cooper.” Angelique added.

                “Yeah, well, that's good.” Trevor said next.  “Because the settling is the most dangerous time for these types, and certain people are nervous about entrusting things to you lot, especially after last time.”

                “We can handle her.” Vincent asserted.

                “Make sure you do.” Trevor said.  “After all...”

                He suddenly stopped talking and looked around.

                “What is it, Trev?” Evelyn asked.

                “Somebody's watching us.” Trevor said, and then reached behind him.

                “Trevor, wait...” Vincent started to say.

                Trevor, however, was too fast.  He whipped a large golden dagger around and pointed it right at me.

                “Banish!” he barked.

                Suddenly I was flying backwards through the air.  I hit something... hard... and sat up.

                I was in my bed, in my body.  A headache started forming at my temples, and I slumped back into my overstuffed mattress and into blissful slumber.

                                                                                                *                *                *

                The headache was a dull roar when I awoke the following morning.  At least I know it wasn't a dream I thought.  I opened my eyes to see Vincent sitting on the edge of the bed.

                “How are you feeling?” he asked.

                “Like a were-elephant sat on my head.”  I rubbed my eyes... the pain was coming back.

                “Here, drink this.”

                Vincent handed me a mug of brown water.  It smelled like...

                “Hot chocolate?”

                “You may not have tangled with a Dementor, but chocolate does have healing properties for psychic injuries.”

                I took the mug from him hungrily and sipped it.  The warm, creamy chocolate slid down my throat and warmed my stomach.  I noticed, however, a distinct under-flavor that was anything but cocoa based.

                “Is there weed in this?” I asked, pointing at the cup.

                Vincent grinned.  “Well, there are a collection of herbs steeped in the milk that will help undo the effects of slamming into your body with such force.  I just added a dollop of medicated cream to help things along.  That, and to counteract the taste of the valerian, which tastes like old sneakers when un-doctored.”

                "Thank you for that." I replied with a grin and sipped the steaming liquid again.  The headache was already receding, even though the weed hadn't kicked in yet.

                “So, how much did you hear?” he asked, somewhat more serious.

                I thought hard.  “I came in when Trevor was talking about sex with someone named Lilith.”

                “So you heard the bit about the settling.”

                “I did.  Care to fill me in?”

                “Okay, first, let me assure you that filling you in on everything was on the agenda for today.”  He reached out and took my hand.  “After the way we hid the truth about you being the Sorceress, and how well you took it... well, I swore to myself to never lie to you again, even by omission.  My love for you transcends time, and I don't want to dishonor that by playing stupid games in the present.”

                My eyes started welling up with tears, so I put the mug down to wipe them away.  I clasped his hand between mine and held it to my heart.  "I love you... so much!"

                “I love you too.”  He brought my hands to his lips and kissed them.  “And we're going to need that love during this next year, because everything says that the first year for a new Sorceress is the most dangerous time in her life.”

                “Tell me.” I said resolutely.

                “It's a time called 'the settling',” he began, “And it's when you're going to be acclimating to your new powers, and learning to use them responsibly.”

                “Which I've already started.”

                “And you're doing great at.” He smiled.  “Angelique and I have definite ideas on how to help you through this, based on years of solid research.”

                “What did Trevor mean when he said 'especially after last time'?”

                Vincent took a deep breath.  “You're not Angelique's first Sorceress.  She's known several, and...”

                "And what?"

                "The last one didn't go so well."

                                                                                                *                *                *

                When Vincent told me about the afternoon briefing that Trevor, Evelyn, and Angelique were giving, I resolved one thing: that I was going to take it seriously and not get high beforehand.  I did fairly well, only hitting Jack's blunt once after breakfast.

                He, of course, was baked, but that was his preferred state those days.  Everybody has their techniques for adapting to rapid change, and Jack chose cannabis.  He also provided an example to measure oneself by... if you were less stoned than Jack, you were probably still able to function.  I took one toke to his thirty, so I figured I was good.

                I forgot about the drink.

                The cannabis-infused cream that Vincent had put in my healing coco was made really strong.  The idea was to have to use very little to get an effect, and that's how it was usually employed.

                My shock at being slammed back into my body was so severe, Vincent added a little extra to my hot chocolate.

                A little being a lot.

                Edible marijuana always took forever to hit me.  While most people started feeling something thirty to forty-five minutes after eating... or drinking... it, I never felt the full force until hour number three.

                It had been three hours since I woke up.

                I had asked Vincent for some very strong coffee and sat cradling it in my hands as things started.  A map had been set up with a series of thirteen blue dots, with as many red dots placed on or near them.

                Before there were only six... I mused.