Chapter 20

September 7th, 1672.

It pains me to admit it, but I admire Morfran's tenacity. I've never known someone to persist in courting an uninterested woman for over a decade, yet here he remains.

It's never ending. The stares when he thinks I don't see him in the corner of a room. The anonymous gifts left on the porch at least thrice per month. The lingering touches too intimate for a mere greeting. I see each as a warning.

He tells me he worships me the way sailors do the sun after a storm. He even started calling me that a few years ago; the town's sun. A brightness shining down upon the coven. Providing warmth, hope, and life to the land. An entity shining so brightly, no night could ever last forever upon the earth.

Well, if I am the sun, he is a shadow, threatening to eclipse me from my people and leave Spells Hollow in eternal darkness. He does not worship me. He obsesses over the power I hold, the magic I share between my lovers, and yearns for it.

I've rejected his proposals time after time. It isn't a matter of my refusal to take another lover. In fact, if I met someone with whom I shared the same connection as my others, I would accept them immediately. However, Morfran and I don't share the connection he believes we do. He uses his magic recklessly, with no thought to the balance of the land. Over the years, his power has become rooted in something sinister.

My grandmother created Spells Hollow as a sanctuary for magic and those who wield it, and I have upheld the tradition by allowing Morfran to live with us. However, I had to deny him access to the Nightshade coven for fear of his magic spreading its darkness throughout. He's lived with these restrictions quietly, but I've sensed how dangerous he's become over the years.

It is not the rituals of the coven he seeks; he's never been interested in being part of that side of the community in any capacity greater than he is now. What he desires is the power in leading the coven. The things he has said about the colonies growing over this new land lead me to believe he sees my people as an army. He admonishes my men for not doing more outside of our town, but that is not where our concern lies.

The way he looks at my children, the future of this coven, leaves me fearful. His stare is both covetous and full of revulsion. I do not know whether he dreams of being their father or destroying them entirely. Both thoughts make me sick.

We've already begun training my eldest to inherit my position someday. I thought it prudent to start much earlier than my own training did, in case something should happen. Donahue believes I worry for nothing, that he and the others would ensure I live long beyond my mother. It is not that I doubt him. I simply need the reassurance that the magic of this coven will live on without me.

But as the days go on, my fears only grow. Morfran's actions consistently become more erratic, and I know there will soon be a breaking point. For now, I can only continue to prepare for that day.

I am no sun. Nightshade witches are born of the blood moon, and to protect my town, I am not afraid to feed the moon as much blood as it desires.

Those who would do us harm, beware.