“He’s resting.” She sounded bitter. A forced smile touched her lips. “I’m sure you heard us arguing, but everything will be fine.”
Cassie cast a doubtful look at her catatonic father. “Can he hear me?”
Evelyn sighed. “Not at the moment. If he continues like this, he’ll either have a heart attack or an aneurism, and then where will we all be?” She glared at Charles, before sighing once more. “Oh, Charles.”
Taking that as her cue to leave, Cassie turned and headed for the kitchen. Since she was downstairs anyway, she might as well grab some organic peanut butter, and a few saltines.
Back in her room, she placed the tray with her snack onto the bed and recalled the spell book. She was nibbling on her biscuits when the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees, and she felt a presence behind her.
Turning quickly, she watched in mounting horror as an apparition, a woman with long black hair and startling green eyes, reached a hand to her. Except for the ancient aura surrounding her, the woman looked to be in her early twenties. A wind Cassie couldn’t feel blew about the woman, sending her pale blue gown swaying as her hair lifted off of her shoulders and flew behind her.
Cassie grabbed the book and prepared to flash herself into the living room where her far more powerful mother was. As she closed her eyes, the woman began to speak. The language was old as time itself, but for some reason, Cassie understood.
“Cassandre of the House of Selene,” she spoke slowly, her voice haunting and rich. “Help us. Resurrect us and we will ensure there is peace and harmony among the immortals.”
“Who are you?” Cassie almost kicked herself. She was talking to a ghost! Here she was talking to some creature who’d appeared out of thin air, as if she didn’t know the dangers in doing so. What she should be doing was flashing herself to the living room, or screaming for her mother.
“You are one of us, Cassandre, and we embrace you,” the woman said in that eerie but gentle voice. “Release us from captivity. Free us, Cassandre.”
She blinked and shook her head, edging off the bed. The woman moved slowly, watching her.
“You’re a druid?” she asked, waiting for the nod before she continued. “How are you here?” If she remembered correctly, they’d been locked away in a place that was neither accessible nor breachable.
“My time is short.” She moved closer and Cassie shivered when her icy cold hand brushed her cheek. “We are not the savages we are made out to be. Release us, Cassandre.”
Her image began to fade and Cassie took a step back. “Will you seek retribution on the witches?”
She shook her head slowly. “No retribution will be sought. My people have been punished thrice over for the crimes of few. Release us.” She faded until her presence was but a dim light. “Free us, Cassandre. Only you can free us….”
Her voice lingered even as she disappeared. Cassie erupted into movement, flashing herself into the living room. Evelyn jumped up immediately, scanning the area even as her powers leapt within her.
“I think I just saw a druid,” Cassie told her. Evelyn’s eyes turned as wide as her own before she urged her daughter to sit.
She fell to the couch. Cassandre started at the beginning, telling her mother about Alexander Petraeus, the book, and finally, the druid.
When she was finished, Evelyn nodded and asked one question. “He said that his name was Alexander Petraeus?”
Although she found it strange that through everything she’d told her mother, that one name had stuck with her, Cassandre nodded.
“Petraeus,” Evelyn said once more, as if testing the word on her tongue. Almost as an afterthought, she said, “Alexander.”
She waved a hand, and her very own spell book appeared. “Did I tell you my grandmother created this spell book for my mother? That my mother added her own spells and later passed it on to me?”
Cassie blinked. She’d just been visited by a druid and her mother was talking about their family history! Straightjackets, the lot of them.
“What does that have to do with anything?” Cassie asked, ignoring the fact that her question was a touch rude, given she was speaking to the woman who’d birthed her.
“My grandmother was a druid. This is a druid spell book.”
Nodding, Cassie continued to stare at her mother. Evelyn flipped it open to the first few pages, using her finger to navigate the list of names. Cassie leaned over and peered at some of the writing. Under the headline “House of Ares” were several names. Another headline followed, followed by another, and another. All were the names of Gods.