BREAKING SHADOWS (Shadows Book 1)

Chapter 21

It didn't take long for the mood to lift. Having honoured our dead, the coven unwound. A few had taken to dancing around the fire, jackets discarded, skirts twirling. Drink appeared at some point, courtesy of Jack and Jonah and the more everyone drank, the louder they got. Our Samhain celebrations were normally quieter than this.

Gran made her rounds, as usual, but she was acutely attentive today. Every so often, I caught her glance to where I sat alone on the damp grass on the village green. She offered me a wistful smile each time.

And each time I didn't return it.

You're lying to her.

Despite our talk, she was still keeping secrets, except now it seemed Rafe was too. It had taken Gran to utter those words for me to realise I trusted him implicitly. Beyond all reason. Now my stomach was in knots. Maybe I expected too much. Maybe it was just nature to lie and keep secrets, no matter what you were. After all, I'd done it too and he was my greatest secret.

Childish giggles drew me back as Fawn's brother and sister raced passed, fire-lit torches in each hand. Their sister wasn't far behind, eyes-wide and cheeks puffed.

"Put those down now!" Fawn looked around, frantic, possibly looking for her mother. Her father, the only nemocane in our coven, kept his distance and a suspicious eye on the proceedings.

Arden and Toby were together. The permanent blush on Toby's cheeks glowed like a beacon. The way their heads inclined towards each other, knuckles curled around glasses almost grazing but not quite made longing swell inside me.

I drew my knees up to my chest and rested my arms and chin on top.

"You could join them. You should be with them, enjoying Samhain. Even if it wasn't your birthday, it is your right." Gran lowered herself next to me, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear and folded the skirt of her long robe-like dress under her knees.

"The grass is damp."

She ignored me. "You look very beautiful, you are very beautiful. So much like your father. How does eighteen feel?"

"No different to seventeen," I answered honestly, keeping my eyes trained dead ahead.

"I see. I spoke with the coven today. We have agreed to let you access the Iron Moon archives."

"You have?" I tried to keep the air of triumph out of my voice, one of only a handful of victories. "What did they have to say?"

With a single finger, Gran pushed her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose. The flames from the bonfire reflected in the gleaming circles making it look like fire danced in her eyes. "That you are unprepared and mostly untrained, but you're also correct. For much too long, we have been silent and still while witches and humans alike die around us. So while I agree you are as unprepared as they say, you are also our best hope."

"I'm your only hope. No-one else can enter the Iron Moon archives."

"No," Gran swallowed. "No-one else."

I nodded my agreement. "When do I go?"

"We can not wait as long as I'd like. Sunset tomorrow. There are a few details I still need to work out but we should be ready by then. There's a plan in place, hence all this." She gestured to the scene in front of us. While Samhain was always a time of celebration for us, today, our more sombre tidings had given way to wild dancing and raucous laughter. Drink flowed as freely as their movements as if any gulp could be their last, as if each twirl or stumbled misstep would be the last one they would take.