Her mother shook her head. “You almost get blown up and you weren't going to tell me? I am your mother. You hid things from me once before and it almost got you killed, then. Never again, Kasey. That was our deal.”
Kasey raised her hands in mock surrender. “I wasn't hiding them from you, Mom. I just said they weren't the main reason I was here. I could have just told you all that on the phone. I wouldn't have put you in danger by coming here.”
Her mother balled her slender hands into fists, and Kasey could feel the arcane energy gathering around her. “You're not putting us in danger. You're exactly where you're supposed to be.”
When it came to protecting her family, Jane Stonemoore was a lioness, and she had a reputation of her own that seemed to follow her name like a storm cloud. Kasey didn't know exactly what her mother had done to earn such a formidable reputation, but it was clear that the name Stonemoore brought with it a weight that was not easily dismissed.
“I came because I need information, and you're the only one I know who might be able to help.” Kasey looked her mother in the eye. “Mom, I need to know about blood magic.”
A look flashed across her mother's face but was gone in an instant. She took a step back and sat down on a red leather sofa. “Why would you ask me that? What makes you think I know anything about it?”
Kasey folded her arms across her chest. “Almost a year ago, I was sent by my boss to do a private examination on a body. The family was wealthy, and the father had been killed by a member of his own household. I didn't know until I arrived that they were wizards. They swore me to secrecy and tried to extract a blood oath from me.”
Her mother's eyes grew wide. “Oh, dear.”
“Oh dear?” Kasey asked, her voice rising. “That's all you've got to say? It almost fried his hand to cinders.”
“Perhaps he should have kept them to himself,” her mother replied, no remorse evident in her voice.
Kasey fidgeted with the buttons on the arm of her suit coat. “He said that something had been done to me to protect me against such oaths. He suspected that we were druids.”
“Oh, there's no such thing as druids anymore, Kasey,” her mother replied, but there was something empty about her words. “And blood magic is frowned on by civilized society. You know that.”
“I know what I've been told. But now I want to know the truth. It's important.”
“Why?” her mother asked softly, her hands in her lap. “For you? Or for this case you're working? Because I don't owe the Arcane Council anything.”
“So, it's true,” Kasey replied, turning to look out the window. She didn't want to look at her mom right now. “You did something to me.”
Kasey wasn't sure if she meant it as a statement or a question. What had her parents done to her? Her whole life, Kasey had been treated like she was different, weird, an outcast. Had something her parents done caused her visions? Or had they simply been protecting her?
“We've never hidden this from you, dear,” Her mother said. “You just had so much on your plate as a child that we didn't want to burden you further. When you quit the Academy and pursued a normal life, we were happy for you. We didn't want to tell you and make you feel like you were obligated to follow our path. We wanted you to be free.”
“Free from what?”
“Free to choose what you wanted to do with your life. We didn’t want you to feel obligated by our history. I will ask you again, why do you want to know?”
Kasey couldn't lie to her mother. She wanted to know about her past, but she was still being driven by the pressing need to understand what was in the Libro Sanguis. There was a gifted individual somewhere in New York City running around with a book full of ancient blood magic rituals. A book dangerous enough that the Arcane Council had locked it away in the Repository for centuries.
“Mom, have you ever heard of a record called the Libro Sanguis?”
Her mother frowned. “Where did you hear that name?”
“From Casimir. It was the book that was stolen from his store this morning,” Kasey replied.
“Impossible. It was destroyed centuries ago.”
Kasey took out her phone, pulled up the video, and froze the footage when it came to the man in the cowl carrying the tome out of the store. The Libro Sanguis was tucked under his arm, its blood red runes glowing furiously.
“I don't understand,” her mother said. “It was destroyed with its author.”
“It has been in the council's Repository for centuries.” Kasey sat down next to her mother. “The master of the Shinigami impersonated the Arcane Chancellor and stole it. When he died, someone must have taken it from the Ainsley's home. Now it’s here, in the city, and we don't know what they want with it.”
“Damn Carys and his arrogance,” her mother said through clenched teeth. “He never should have written it in the first place.”
“Do you know what is inside?” Kasey asked her mother. “I'm trying to work out what that man might want with it, so I can stop him.”
Her mother looked at the ground, unable to meet Kasey’s gaze. “It contains all the secrets of our people, along with every ritual that Carys used to subvert our ways and corrupt our order. Its creation led to our decline.”
“How? I need something concrete. Something I can work with. Enough with the secrets, just tell me,” Kasey said, placing a hand on her mother's knee.
A tear rolled down her mother's cheek. “I want to, but I just don't know that I can. I don't know what you will think, and I can't stand the thought of losing you. You are my world, Kasey, and you cannot un-know what you want me to tell you.”
“Please,” Kasey asked, “just tell me. I want to know. I want to know everything.”
Her mother placed a hand on Kasey’s arm. “You think you do but this knowledge is a burden, one you cannot share with others.”
“Enough with the secrets!”
“It is the legacy of our people. Once you hear it, you will understand,” her mother said. “Not doing so could bring so much more harm than good, as you will soon discover when Carys' tome is opened.”
In spite of the warmth of the lounge room, a chill ran down Kasey's spine.
Her mother took a deep breath. When she spoke, there was a note of power in her voice. “Hear the story of our people, child. It is your right to know what has come before you, for the deeds of your ancestors are made manifest in you.”
Kasey could hear each word, but the arcane power flowing from her mother seemed to sear them into her memory, engraving them on the fabric of her mind.
“The Druids of Wales were once revered as seers and prophets. Protectors of the ancient rites, they brought bountiful harvests and protected the land from the savage will of Mother Nature. Our secret rituals, the very celebrations that gave us our power, were held sacred and passed down from parent to child through the generations. It was forbidden to make a written record of our traditions. Doing so could allow them to fall into the hands of the unbelievers where such power might be used to destroy rather than create.”
“Carys,” Kasey whispered.
“One of his many crimes,” her mother replied. “He cast our knowledge before the common folk and they could not understand it. Blood magic they called it, and they hated our kind for it. Many of our people were killed and those who survived went into hiding. When Carys fell, the druids stayed in the shadows, carrying our rituals on in secret to avoid the superstitions of mankind.”
“What rituals?” Kasey asked. “What were they doing that was so despised?”
“People hate what they do not understand.” Her mother’s face creased in pain. “Carys tried to bring our ways into the light, but the commoners wanted to see for themselves. They spied upon our order during the summer solstice but they didn't understand what they saw. The villagers saw one of our people tied to an altar and instantly presumed the worst. They fled before we could explain ourselves and so the rumors began. Druids practicing human sacrifice, a lie
that has been perpetuated for more than a thousand years. The people turned against us. They sought Carys out but they had given him months to prepare.”
“The Libro Sanguis?” Kasey asked.
“Indeed. He took the greatest secrets of our people and twisted them into weapons of destruction. The rituals he wrought made the forest run with the blood of those who came for him. For weeks he held them at bay, untold hundreds dying as they pursued him. Then one day a silent hunter hiding in a stand of trees fired an arrow that struck him in the back. It pierced him through the heart, and he died. The villagers burnt the body and all evidence of him. His home and farm were razed to the ground and the earth salted so that no other would inhabit it. We believed his tome destroyed with him, but someone must have taken it.”
Kasey pushed a strand of hair back behind her ear. “If our people weren't practicing human sacrifice, what were they doing?”
“That is the greatest secret of our people. In the end, we let them believe the rumors as we figured that would scare them far less than the truth.”
“Which is…?” Kasey asked.
“The true nature of blood magic, at least that which is practiced by the Druids. It is not for the shedding of blood but the imbuing of it. Everything else is a perversion.”
Kasey wrung her wrists. “Imbuing? I don't understand. Imbuing with what?”
“Power.” Her mother looked Kasey in the eye. “Everybody knows that a witch or wizard's bloodline determines their arcane potential. It affects everything from the nature of their talents through to the strength of their power. Centuries ago, certain houses willfully restricted who they would allow their posterity to marry so as to not diminish the power of their bloodline. But none of them ever gave much thought as to what might strengthen it. Sure, some careful unions produced offspring of prodigious talent but only among the Druids was such the norm rather than the exception.”
Kasey began to see what her mother was saying. “Blood magic.”
“In its truest form,” her mother replied. “We built ancient circles at sites of power throughout the country. Always at ley lines and other confluences of great natural power. Then at times of the year which were particularly potent and auspicious occasions, we would gather to perform rituals where we would siphon that excess arcane energy into one of our people. Not to their destruction but to their edification. Magic can be bound in blood and those chosen for these rituals experienced dramatic increases in their abilities.”
“Genetic engineering,” Kasey said as the true import of what her mother was saying dawned on her. “You were able to supercharge your talents.”
“Arcane engineering, I suppose,” her mother replied. “But yes, that was its purpose. In siphoning the destructive energy building within the earth, we also ensured fewer natural disasters and calamities occurred. We were both protecting those around us and simultaneously growing our innate talents.”
Kasey couldn't sit still. She got up off the lounge and began pacing. “That's why you don't want anyone to know. If people realized the truth, they could grow more powerful.”
“Yes, and power corrupts, as we saw with Carys when he didn't get his way. The atrocities he wrought will never be forgotten. Not by us. He took the very greatest gifts of our people and used them to cause suffering in those we were meant to protect. It is unforgivable.”
“Why didn't the druids do something about him?” Kasey asked.
“He was one of our own. Not just one who had been imbued with great power, but he was also the product of generations of careful unions. His parents were members of two of the most ancient families of our order, both of whom had been imbued with power at the summer solstice, when the earth is at its zenith. It is the most potent ritual of our people. Carys was meant to be the greatest champion of our people but when our people were persecuted, it sickened his mind. The normals hunted him and our people let them, but they could not bring themselves to help. After all, he was a child of the order. His family was powerful and refused to set their hand against him. The normals created this problem, let them handle it, they said. And so it was. Carys perished and the order slipped into obscurity and secrecy.”
“Perhaps a good thing,” Kasey replied. “The last thing we need are witches and wizards running around mad with power. Probably a good thing the order stopped dabbling with those rituals.”
Her mother’s eyes followed Kasey as she walked back and forth. “I didn't say that. I simply said they were quieter about it than they once were. We grew better at being discreet. The order functions even now, Kasey, though our numbers aren't what they once were. Many have forsaken the old ways and are content with whatever gifts the creator has given them.”
“So, they are still out there? Imbuing themselves with power?”
Her mother nodded.
“Why would they do something so foolish? Haven't they learned their lesson?”
“No, we haven't. We learned the danger of being discovered. Carys was a good boy and a fine druid before the world turned on him. “
“How do you know all this?” Kasey asked.
“Because the tale has been passed parent to child. As it always was.”
“But the story of his death,” Kasey said. “If the normals burnt his body, how did they know he was shot in the heart?”
“It was witnessed by his son, Emyr Anglesey. Before he was Carys Bloodborne, he was Carys Anglesey. Emyr included the account of his father's death in his oral record so that we might learn from the mistakes of our past.”
“But if you know it, that means…” Kasey began.
“That Carys Anglesey was my ancestor,” her mother replied. “Yours too.”
Kasey stopped in her tracks. Not only was her ancestor a mass murderer, but it was his life's work that was now loose in the city. “This day just keeps getting better and better.”
“I'm not finished, Kasey.”
Kasey looked at her mother. “What else could there possibly be?”
“I told you that I would tell you everything, and I meant it. Carys' birth was the result of the union of two great houses. The Anglesey's, my father's family, and another family—the Stonemoores.”
“Yes, dear. Your father's family, or at least another branch of it. They are the two oldest Druidic lines.”
“And you and Dad thought it would be a great idea to get together, and recreate history?” Kasey asked. “Are you crazy?”
Kasey's mother ignored the question, seemingly intent on yanking off the Band-Aid in a single motion. “Your father and I were both imbued with the blessing of our people at different sites of power. Our union made sense on so many levels. Even as the order wanes in strength, our marriage provided the opportunity to correct the sins of our ancestors and make the world a better place.”
“Or destroy it entirely,” Kasey replied. “How could you be so arrogant? Oh, my goodness, Sarah—does she even know?”
Her older sister could be wandering around Manhattan, utterly oblivious to the potential power within her.
“Sarah is fine. She is a witch, a gifted and kind one who is raising a wonderful family. But she was never imbued with power like Carys was.”
“Mum? Why are you looking at me like that. You're not saying…? Surely I would remember,” Kasey stammered as the full import of what her mother was saying began to crush her soul.
“Your father and I decided we would avoid the mistakes of the past by ensuring you were born with your talents. So, once we were sure that we were both suitable…”
“You mean after you had Sarah and knew you were fertile?” Kasey asked.
Her mother nodded. “We travelled home. It wasn't just any summer. We'd picked it carefully. The full moon in June might be known as the strawberry moon to normals, but to our order it is the blood moon. That year the blood moon occurred the night before the summer solstice. It was the culmination of two significant events
, when the earth's power was at its zenith. Kasey, you were conceived that day, during the ritual.”
Kasey put her head in her hands. “Ew, Mom, gross. That is not an image I ever wanted to have.”
Everything started to fall into place.
“You mean, you made me to be like him. Carys,” Kasey said.
Jane stood up. “No, dear. We wanted you to be so much more than he ever was. Haven't you ever wondered why you have so much power? Even without unlocking your true potential, you have more power in your pinky than some wizards have in their entire being. It isn't an accident. It is the culmination of generations of sacrifice.”
“My powers, my prescience. You always pretended like you didn't know where it came from, but you lied. You knew, didn't you?”
“Many of the ancient Druids had prophetic powers,” her mother replied, smoothing the legs of her pants. “It was more than we had ever hoped for.”
“And I was bullied mercilessly for it.” Tears welled up in Kasey’s eyes. “My childhood, the Academy, everything that happened to me is your fault. You and Dad did this to me.”
“For you, Kasey,” her mother said, reaching for Kasey's shoulder. “You can see the future. What a marvelous gift.”
“Not anymore.” Kasey brushed away her hand.
Her mother’s face fell. “What do you mean?”
Kasey couldn't take it anymore. Everything she had ever believed about herself was a lie. One told by those she had trusted the most. Her mother had effectively told her she was an arcane experiment.
Now Kasey had lost her gift. Something she had done had tainted her soul and inhibited her ability to use her prescience. Generations of sacrifice and arranged marriages all to bring her into the world and she had ruined it before she even knew what she was.
She didn’t want to answer her mother. After everything they had kept from her, why should she tell them what had happened? Wiping the tears from her cheeks, she ran for the door.