Scorched Heart (The Firebrand Series Book 4) by Helen Harper (top non fiction books of all time .txt) 📗

You asked yesterday if I was a supe.’ She raised her eyebrows at Lukas. ‘I’m sure he can confirm that I am not.’

I didn’t need to look at Lukas to know she was speaking the truth.

‘However,’ Miranda continued, ‘I am not without some power.’

Indeed. I bet this power had a whole lot more to it than tarot cards and crystals and dancing in a forest in the moonlight. ‘Go on.’

She lifted up her chin. ‘I am a druid.’

I started. ‘As in flowing capes and dancing round Stonehenge at the solstice?’

‘Hardly. As in venerating nature and appreciating Mother Earth for what she has done for us all.’

Lukas leaned in, his shoulder brushing against mine. ‘Are you talking about magic?’

‘Magic doesn’t exist,’ I said without thinking.

Miranda snorted. ‘Of course it exists. If you can’t see the magic inherent in this world, then you’re a fool. You’re more steeped in it than most, so you have more reason to believe in it than most.’ She nodded at Lukas. ‘So does he. Where do vampires come from if not from magic? You might not use that specific word but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.’

Okay, perhaps she had a point. ‘And the phoenix?’ I asked. ‘Is that magic? Am I?’

She met my eyes. ‘You know you are.’ She drew in a breath. ‘Everything in this world is connected. Our ties to Mother Nature and her magic are far stronger than most people realise. But that doesn’t mean such magic doesn’t have a cost. Vampires gain strength and greater longevity, but the pay-off is that they have to drink blood to survive. And,’ she added with a knowing glint in her eyes, ‘they are feared and despised more than they are admired and respected.

‘Wielding strong magic as a druid brings on bouts of sickness. I dabbled too much when I invoked the power that helped you. As a result, I have to suffer the consequences. I pay homage to nature to stave off the worst of the effects.’ Her expression grew stony. ‘Do not misunderstand me. It was a bargain I made freely and would make again, given the chance.’

‘If druids exist,’ Lukas asked, ‘why don’t we know more about them?’

‘You’d be surprised at what’s out there that you’re unaware of,’ she said enigmatically. Then she gave herself a tiny shake as if she’d already said too much. ‘As druids, we rarely speak of our powers. Our kind will not be trapped in a city like yours has been.’ She shuddered at the thought. ‘There are not many of us, and we protect ourselves by appearing to be harmless and eccentric. If some people wish to call us crazy, that is up to them. There are far worse things than whispers and name-calling.’ She smiled faintly. ‘It helps that the magic we invoke tends to be small scale.’ She looked at me. ‘But not always.’

‘Tell me,’ I said. ‘Tell me what happened.’

Miranda didn’t insult me by pretending she didn’t know what I meant. ‘Sammy was in London visiting friends. Your parents invited me round for a drink. Patrick came with me to their house because he was supposed to be fixing something in the kitchen for your dad. Instead of Bloody Marys in the garden, however, all we found was blood. Real blood.’ She paused. ‘And three dead bodies.’

Lukas jerked but I was perfectly still. ‘When?’ I asked. ‘What time? And what day?’

‘Just before eight o’clock on the evening of August 23rd, 1995. You were still warm.’ Her voice took on a distant note. ‘It must have only just happened. If we’d been slightly earlier…’ She shook her head.

‘Why didn’t you call the police?’

‘Because you would have stayed dead,’ she answered. She pushed back her chair and the legs scraped along the floor. She stood up and walked to the window. ‘You have to understand that I was young. I didn’t fully appreciate that magic is all about give and take.’ She gave a quiet, musical laugh. ‘I knew there were consequences, but I didn’t understand what they could be. I was young and ambitious and thought I could change the world. And,’ she whispered, ‘there was so much blood. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I was egotistical enough to think I could help you all.’

Underneath the table, Lukas entwined his fingers with mine.

‘What did you do?’ I asked. My voice trembled.

She turned to me. ‘I persuaded Patrick to delay calling the police and help me collect the herbs I needed. I think the poor man was in shock, but he went along with me. We got fresh sage for mental clarity, protection and immortality, mugwort to ward off evil, and witch hazel for cleansing. The sage and witch hazel were easy to get hold of but the mugwort was more complicated. There was only one place I knew of where it grew, and Patrick would never have found it on his own. We left the cottage together to gather it from a clearing in the woods to the west.

‘By the time we were on our way back to the cottage, Sammy had got off the bus from London and seen us. Back then, he listened to more village gossip than he should have done and he probably thought that Patrick and I were up to no good. He should have trusted me and gone home, but instead he followed us almost all the way to your parents’ cottage before I realised he was there. When I noticed him, I told him to go. I knew he wouldn’t cope with seeing what had happened to you and your family – he was too sensitive. So I hugged him and I told him to leave.’ She sighed. ‘That hug was his undoing.’

‘The blood,’ I said suddenly. ‘You had my parents’ blood on your clothes.’

Miranda nodded. ‘Not a lot, and it was so dark that Sammy didn’t notice the stains but, yes, there was blood on me. And on Patrick. We burned our clothes