Free Sacred Circle by Rachel James Page A

pillows. Good Lord, he looked terrible. It was as if the current illness was being directed at him, as well as her mother. Seeing his head turn at her clumsy entrance, she moved to the bed. Once there, she dangled the Pentagram in front of him. She chanted softly.
    “I stand here in your guardian light; empower this amulet with all of your might. Dispensation of a day is all that we ask; please accept this request as the Council’s new task.” She lowered the Pentagram. “Hello, Papa.” She bent and wrapped her arms around his shoulders and gave his back a soothing pat. He returned the hug and then pushed her away, brushing his left cheek quickly.
    “Dispensation granted, daughter. Bless the Goddesses for bringing you here.” A sudden spasm of coughing derailed his greeting, and his hand shot to his mouth for cover. A minute later, his voice was quivering. “As you can hear, I’m in bad shape. It’s as if whatever happened to your mother has latched itself on to me.”
    Brianna shook his arm.
    “Devlin and I will pinpoint the problem for you.”
    His gaze shot to the doorway, and Brianna saw him smile. He held out his hand for Devlin, who moved and shook it firmly. With his free hand, he reached out for Brianna. “My two magic makers finally here. I can rest easy now.” His gaze swung to the chair across from the bed. “I know Sienna has a fighting chance now that Devlin and Brianna have come, Francis. They’ve only to examine the circle and tell us how to make things right.”
    Brianna looked at the lanky figure rising from a chair. Merciful heavens! Francis was still lurking in shadows and eavesdropping.
    “You’re full of surprises, Charles. I wish I didn’t have to put a damper on this homecoming, but as First Elder, I must. We cannot have outsiders dictating our destiny. It is against coven protocols.”
    “Throw me out. I dare you!” Brianna declared, recklessly.
    Devlin interrupted her impending tirade. He focused on Francis’s mulish expression.
    “Neither Brianna nor I have any intention of interfering with coven matters. We are here to give advice only. If Charles thinks we can be of help by taking a brief look at the circle, we will do it. So the question now becomes, what will you need from us in order to release the clearing back to the Council?”
    Brianna saw a surprised look cross Francis’s face, and his gaze shot to her father.
    “They don’t know?”
    “Know what?” Brianna asked, following Francis’ scrutiny of her father. A sudden prickling on the ridge of her neck had Brianna catching her breath. Bad news was coming. She could feel it.
    “I didn’t tell you everything when I called,” her father replied. “About your Mother, that is.”
    Brianna fumbled for a chair and sank down.
    “She’s not . . .”
    Her father’s hand reached out from the bed.
    “No, no. She’s alive . . .”
    “Thank goodness!” Her father fell back against the pillows and Brianna felt a brief touch on her shoulder. She nodded at Devlin. “No hysterics yet, I promise you.”
    “Good girl.”
    “She was Drawing down the Moon in a special binding ceremony,” her father rallied. “There had been a report of an un-Sacred Circle being created.”
    “My God, Papa! You let her go into the clearing knowing that? What were you thinking?”
    “That your mother could take care of herself; she always has.”
    “Are you sure she wasn’t conducting a protection ceremony? You don’t need to Draw down the Moon to bind a sinner.”
    “I can only assume that is what she was doing. She left the cottage without a word to me.”
    “Performing a ceremony without back-up was a risky thing for her to do under the circumstances,” Devlin said.
    A set of spasms contorted her father’s chest, cutting off any reply he would’ve liked to make. Alarmed, Brianna jumped from her chair and grabbed his fingers.
    “Enough talking. Francis can fill us in on the rest.”
    Her father shook his head, rallying his