Ch.54

I sighed and told them. "I caught up to one of the witch hunters who were there that day at the fire and I learned what happened."

The entire group stilled and listened as k told them how Ethan Conant and Amelia Blake sold out John Blackwell as a dark witch and the circle tried to make peace with the witch hunters. I told them how they were betrayed and the witch hunters killed most of them before using a ritual to try and kill John Blackwell only for him to use the Balcoin medallion to turn their fire against them.

I showed them the medallion and told them how it had the power to channel the thousands of witches the Balcoin family stole the magic of since the founding of their line and dark magic. I put it away and told them how dangerous it was so I wouldn't be giving it to John's daughters only for it to end up in his hands. I told them that the dark witches would come for me instead of them once they know I have the skull and medallion so they'd be protected.

I finished by saying that my worst fear were true, the two other circles had been destroyed from the inside and the children of Blackwell had ended the other eight lines while they carry what remains of the last four. I turned to those that weren't Blackwell's children. "You need to warn the elders, tell them what's happened and flee as far and as fast as you can with them. When John Blackwell gets here he'll use the dark magic he has left to trick and worm his way into your heads until you give up my name and then he'll come for me since the only way to reform the circle is with all six of us now and the only way to reform the crystal skull is if the circle is whole. It was bound and destroyed by all six families working as a circle and the only way it can be restored is by the magic of all six families working as one which would break the circle and infect the crystal with Cassie and Diana's dark magic, allowing John Blackwell to use it to kill any witches not his blood all at once, all across the globe."

I turned to Cassie and told her I'd use magic to restore her grandmother's mind so she can begin there and flee. Diana asked about her father and I stopped before telling her. "Charles is safe from my wrath. You have Faye and Melissa to thank for that. They're all I have left after he murdered Nick and I can't lose them as well and not end up worse than Blackwell."

I turned to Faye. "Your mother-"

She touched my lips and I nodded before sighing and leaving with her, Melissa and Cassie. Fay had given me the dead crystal so I held them all and with my early graduation before I'd left, it was time we finished things. We went and visited Jane who'd come back barely and I repaired her mind and memories before Cassie told her everything and I filled in the blanks.

I told her I had the Balcoin medallion and the crystal skull that couldn't be reformed without a bound circle and since the elders were dying off, I had to go into hiding from Blackwell and his children. Jane mentioned the witches cruid and I checked it before telling her. "He's altered it. John must've been in this house a lot back then because he knew and he's turned it against you Jane. This is your cruid, not his."

I handed it to her and shook my head sadly as she broke it. "Take Cassie, run and never stop running. I can cloak you with sigil tattoos, but if he gets ahold of anything that belongs to either of you, he will be able to break them with the power of his four other brats and the bloodline they all share. You'll need to burn this house to the ground and leave no traces behind. It's the only way he can't come after you Jane. Trust me, I've delved into all the magic our families knew including the missing grimoires."

She nodded and asked what she needed to do and I sighed, taking out a dozen tattoo guns. "Strip down to your underwear and endure the pain. It'll be as quick as I can make it and I can heal you afterwards, but both of you will have to suffer a bit."

I turned to Faye and Melissa. "You two as well."

One my one each of them got the sigils and when it was over, I healed each as they finished. I wished Cassie and Jane luck before tossing Cassie a bracelet. "That'll prevent anymore dark magic outbursts. It can only be put on my you and only taken off by Jane."

I handed Jane a ring and told her what it did before leaving them there. We went to see Melissa's father and grandmother next. Melissa told them she was seventeen and coming with Faye and I, but that John Blackwell will likely kill anyone that remains so they'd need to scatter as well. They asked what we needed and I told them cash to start with until my inheritance kicks in from my parent's life insurance.

They gave us everything they could and I gave them the tattoos, telling them to leave no traces and burn anything they own but weren't taking with them. Next was Faye's mother and the least favorite stop of all of it. Even after all she'd done, Dawn wanted to take Faye and their family's crystal away with her. Faye told me not to give her the tattoos and leave her to Blackwell's tender mercies, but Dawn said she was pregnant with my child.

I checked and flinched, pulling my bloody hand from her stomach as if it were a viper. Faye glared at her mother and asked if it was intentional. Dawn said sex like that is never intentional. I gave her the tattoos, warned her to burn anything she didn't take with her and tossed her a ring, telling her she'd lose it's power when the child turns sixteen or if it's killed.

Faye told her she was running alone or dead at Blackwell's hands after he uses and destroys her to kill the child and try to find me with it's blood. She asked us to take her with us and I shook my head. "I don't trust you and you were obsessed with Blackwell back in the day. If it meant more power you'd sell me out in a heartbeat no matter whom you spread your legs for."

Faye got all her stuff in her ring and we stopped by Adam's place next. I gave Ethan a ring and told him how to destroy all that belonged to him and Adam. I suggested he and Janet meet up so Adam and Cassie could have their happily ever after, after all. I gave him the tattoos along with Adam before leaving. We stopped by Diana's place and saw her grandmother with her father.

Diana asked to come with us and Faye agreed so long as it was alone considering her grandmother tried to kill Cassie for her dark magic and might do the same to her while her father had murdered Amelia and Nick. I asked Diana if she'd rather leave with Adam and Cassie who were skipping town with Jane and Ethan. She shook her head and I gave her the bracelet and tattoos, warning her that only I could remove the bracelet to free her dark magic if she awakens it.

I gave her father and grandmother the tattoos and told them what to do. Faye told them we wouldn't give them rings because they'd only try to use it to kill more innocent people. We left with Diana once she'd taken or destroyed everything that had her essence in it. I was quite thorough because she had dark magic as a child of Blackwell.

When we left, we headed to see my grandfather who agreed right away to destroy everything. Only he was nuts and when I told him about Jake's betrayal and what I'd done, he had us pack his car before he went inside and blew his brains out leaving a note that said what I was protecting was too important to be risked with him alive to be used to trace back to me.

Faye and Melissa held me and burned the place down when I left to stand by the car. They used magic and Diana held me while they made sure to destroy everything. We left town that night before John Blackwell ever got into town. There was a rash of fires all over town and all of the houses had been destroyed via magic.

I left a trail all the way to Florida a month ago and the police would call there to notify me of my grandfather's death. We left town and Diana drove while Faye and Melissa held me in the backseat. We spent the next year as ghosts and frequently we sensed John Blackwell trying to find us or Diana, but the protections held. We settled in Sleepy Hollow when I turned eighteen and bought an RV.

In that time Diana had become a lover of mine as well. She and Faye had butted heads on moral issues, but I differed to whichever one I thought was right at the time. They knew I decided things for us and only took their advice into account. I'd taught them all control to a phenomenal degree so they had a lot of access to their power without touching the dark magics.

We didn't have any issues with Sleepy Hollow until we heard rumors of Headless Horseman and on the blood moon, we felt a powerful dark witch out killing people. We found her in the sewers being led around after Ichabod Crane and Lieutenant Abigail Mills. We interfered and bound the dark witch when she took human form again. This confused the time traveling founding father.

Still, he and Abby as she liked to be called, adapted. I finished the spell and drove a pure iron stake through Serilda of Abaddon's feet, hands and heart. She still struggled until I spoke coldly. "We are the circle of hearts, our power is light and by our power we rid all darkness from this circle."

I drove the final iron spike through her forehead, making her scream and explode into darkness and fire. The iron circle around her glowed white and her power was forced into the earth, dispersed as purified magic through the ley lines. I closed the grimoire and made it vanish as the four of us looked at the two witnesses and they us. I broke the silence speaking. "So I guess this is where I say we come in peace or you'd be in pieces."

Diana snorted and told me not to be an ass. I shrugged and she introduced us as the world's most power good witch coven and allies to those who fight against evil. I looked Abbie over and Faye told me to stop thinking with my dick. I shook my head. "I'm not. She has magic. Old hoodon witch doctor magic if the taste of her essence is right."

I offered a hand and when Abbie took it, I moved and cut her finger, swiping a bit of her blood. I tasted it on my tongue and spit it out. "Yep, definitely witch doctor magic. And old school, like centuries old power. Though she's not a practicing witch doctor herself, she's something else entirely."

Melissa spoke up. "Forgive our caveman leader. He's a bit rude on account of always looking out for our survival. He doesn't mean any harm by it, he's just being cautious."

She healed Abby's finger and they asked what we did to Serilda of Abaddon. Faye told them. "We bound her dark magic and sacrificed her, driving her evil power back into the earth where it was cleansed through our spell and dispersed in the ley lines of the earth. No more dark witch bitch to kill any more innocent people. You're welcome."

Diana spoke to them softly. "Forgive Faye or not, she's just a bitch to most people who ask a lot of questions without answering any."

Ichabod caught himself and apologized before introducing himself. I took his hand and cut his finger tasting the blood and grimacing before spitting it out. "Dude, you taste like death and aged magic. What the fuck are you?"

He quirked his eyebrow and Abby suggested we take this conversation somewhere we could relax instead of surrounded by dead bodies. I shrugged saying I was relaxed because if need be they could be the next dead bodies if they were evil or witch hunters. Abigail put her hand on her gun and I pinned her to the ceiling with a look, making the gun fly out and switch the safety off as it was aimed at her forehead.

Diana told me to stop and I set Abigail down before taking her gun and telling her. "Never try that again. I have very little patience for those that threaten my women or myself."

Diana took the gun from me and handed it back to the police woman. She agreed that we should go somewhere else so we went to the old revolutionary armory. It was covered in dust and filled with old books, but we made due. Diana and Melissa shared our story and they shared theirs.

I frowned when Ichabod mentioned the horseman of death. I grunted when he finished. "Wherever you were standing must've been a convergence point of ley lines along with an extremely powerful magical artifact. Nothing short of that could possibly have connected you both in that way without killing you both with his power. Something old, older than the horseman and possibly celestial in origin."

Abby asked. "Stars?"

I shook my head. "Angels, gods and beings beyond mortal understanding. Whatever it is, it's older than mankind and more powerful and dangerous than the skull. These are forces I've not heard of or seen in a very long time."

Abby asked. "Get a lot of gods where you come from?"

I eyed her and Faye spoke. "Ryan is a reincarnation of a god amongst a lot of other things. Don't ask, we try not to think about it since it's in the past."

I sighed and told Abby and Ichabod. "I was divine in origin and a part of my soul still is, but that's neither here nor there. Just trust me when I say the object that bound the horseman and Ichabod had to be created by someone extremely powerful. Creatures like the horseman are virtually indestructible so whatever could negate it's power and bind them had to be far more powerful."

"Most magic works of science and nature. Give and take. Energy cannot be destroyed or erased, just converted. Thus whatever the artifact was had to have been able to not only negate the power of the horseman, but channel that power into linking them both."

I shrugged. "Perhaps the fully formed crystal skull could do that if directed by a powerful enough coven, but it would've gone dark from the power of the horseman so it's not the culprit."

Anyways, they knew enough about us that we'd have to run if Abby wasn't careful how she poked around. I warned her as much saying that the dark coven that would come would make Serilda look like a party favor. I told them what they'd intended with the skull and what would happen if they got ahold of Diana and the skull to boot with the Balcoin medallion. I held out the medallion and told her what it was and how much power it had when combined with the skull.

I warned her to be careful and that if she intentionally drew attention to us I'd kill them both regardless before we blew town to get away from Blackwell. I told them that I harbored them I Ill will, but I take every threat to the three people I care about in this world very seriously and I'd eliminate any threat to them regardless of who it was, including myself if need be. I left them to talk while I went outside for some air. Ichabod came to me and said he took no issue with my warnings because he too knew what it was like to be hunted at one time.

I grunted and told him. "Then you should know that I am a killer. I've murdered my own brother because he tried to kill my women and I when he joined with witch hunters."

He winced and I shrugged. "I remember my past lives, all of them, and knowing I've killed so many makes it seem like nothing to have killed my brother. Trust me, he wasn't worth your sympathy nor mine. He made his decision however misguided and chose to kill them and myself by burning us alive. I merely got the truth out of him before I killed him for his crimes. It was my duty as his only living relative that wasn't crazy at the time."

Ichabod sighed. "It doesn't make it any easier on the soul I'd imagine."

I shrugged. "It's all relative isn't it? What's one life of a man who betrayed us all because of lies witch hunters told him versus the lives of all that I held dear to me in this world? I barely knew my brother because he was wrapped up in his own guilt and self loathing when he abandoned us. Then he came back to kill us all when a demon possessed my twin brother and was killed."

I shook my head. "The soul is weighed down by conscience and guilt, but penance and forgiveness isn't the only way to absolve it. Letting go of the past is the hardest and most uplifting thing a person can do because it requires you to forgive yourself for your own sins."

I looked to Ichabod. "I will if you will."

He smiled wryly. "Touché, Mr.Armstrong."

I held out a hand. "Ryan, just Ryan."

He smiled and shook my hand. "Then you may call me Ichabod."

I nodded and heard the others accepting Abby's friendship as well. We went inside and I told Abby where we were staying and that I was looking into an old estate rooted in magic from the revolutionary times to buy and settle in only it was a bit of a bind because the original owner's descendant is a billionaire who is fighting tooth and nail to get it back and refurbish it. Abby suggested I speak with her then and I nodded saying I could probably sleep with her and get it from her that way.

Abby said she meant talk to her and I shrugged while Faye told her we all had our issues and I treated sex like a sport instead of an intimate act. She told them that even being a really old soul I was still an eighteen year old witch with dead parent issues and the loss of my entire family up to my grandfather who blew his own brains out so he wouldn't be a burden used by the Blackwell's to find us and the artifacts I carried. Diana said she could try to be a little more sensitive but Faye said I didn't do sensitive unless it was with a lover.

Faye sighed saying it was one of my issues and we could all give Rolling Stones a run for their money on that front. A few weeks later people were dying of a dream demon and the best we could do for the two witnesses was point them in the right direction because dream magic wasn't our forte. Instead I was busy getting the lesser key of Solomon, the piece of the philosopher's stone, the key to purgatory, Washington's map of purgatory, the grand grimoire (both pieces), some Jinkan venom, the sword of Methuselah (which was a bitch with the Gorgon guarding it, the turricula Ignis (weapon of the horseman of war) and the shard of Anubis I paid Abby's sister for.

Jenny Mills asked about it once I had it, wanting to know what it was. I grunted and told her. "It's an artifact made by a god and holds the power of one of the oldest gods on this earth. It's quite literally more valuable than anything on earth except my women."

She called me weird and said she'd should've charged more then. I chuckled and made it vanish as my ring ate it, evolving and absorbing the power in it. "Too late for that now, I just destroyed it."

Even the shard itself that held the binding stone was absorbed into the ring. My ring vanished after it was done and I told Jenny about what Abby and Ichabod were, about how they could stop the apocalypse and forestall it for another thousand years if they succeed and how failure meant more than dying, it meant all souls on earth were forfeited to hell. I shrugged. "Except mine of course. When I die no heaven or hell will be able to hold my soul. I'll slip through their fingers and be reborn in another reality, unaffected by how fucked you all are."

She raised an eyebrow and I shrugged saying it was a fact of my existence. I told her I'd save her a place in the pocket dimension world I own for immortal friends if she ever gets lonely and wants to fuck herself into immortality and tell the world to fuck off. I shrugged as I stood up saying I was great at sex and liked fit strong women. I flicked her a ring and told her to wear it and if she decides to join my livers and I when I die, I'd be more than happy to have her in the land of immortals.

I left the psych center and headed out, hearing from Diana that Ichabod and Abby were fine and the demon was defeated. I headed to Adam's Antiquities in town and bought the Thracian Phiale with Jenny's recommendation. I spent the rest of my time reading every book in the armory on the occult. A day later Jenny Mills escaped the asylum and a bartender died brutally.

I only heard about it since it had nothing to do with magic until some Hessian soldiers came looking for the lesser key of Solomon. The undead officer Andy led them from the abandoned church to my doorstep nearly. Wards and spells protected the area like no other and for a time they were lost in them until Abby, Jenny and Ichabod showed up. They fired at the hessians and the hessians raised their guns only to lower them again before they were wounded and taken alive.

I dropped the barrier and smiled, sitting on the bench with a beer in my hand. Faye, Diana and Melissa had wine glasses and Faye spoke. "Your new friends followed the undead one to our doorstep by tracking the lesser key of Solomon. A neat trick, but that won't happen again."

She handed me the book and it vanished into the immortal realm warehouse to be shelved with the trapped demons in books in the restricted section. Jenny asked what we wanted with a book that raises demons and I raised an eyebrow. "To lock it away where no one can ever use it. We have similar books with much worse demons that could come out of the seventh circle of hell. Hell, I have trinkets that could summon demon lords and even worse beings locked away."

I waved a hand dismissively. "I scoured this town for any unowned magical artifacts and books while Abby and Ichabod here were dealing with their sleep demon yesterday. I had to kill a Gorgon, the pied piper and an undead Sphinx warrior, but that's neither here nor there. Suffice it to say that every magical artifact that isn't owned by others is now in our hands safely locked away. Now that we know how the undead English patient was following us, it won't be so easy next time."

Jenny asked if their confused actions was our doing and Melissa told them it was hexes, wards and barriers I'd put up to hide us from evil. She told them that the undead cop freaked out when he felt the power it gave off from me and fled which is why the two Germans were caught in the illusions. Ichabod asked. "The four of you live here?"

I shrugged and Faye said it was much bigger on the inside like a moving mansion thanks to magic, but we were looking into that permanent estate. Abby asked if that was wise, making ourselves a target for demons when we're already on the run from dark witches. I shrugged. "Wise? Maybe not, but definitely safer than allowing magical nukes to float around and wait for some sucker to set one off. They're safe where they are now and untouchable by anyone except us. Leave it be or make a compelling argument for us to hand them over."

Ichabod suggested things were safe with us for now then and soon after that we helped Abby find Ichabod when he was taken by the men of letters. They found someone calling himself a sin eater to sanctify Ichabod and he broke the connection Ichabod had to the horseman of death. Still, we helped them trap the horseman and reinforced the masonic cell a thousand fold. I even created an a bracelet that I applied to the horseman to reveal his soul so they may speak.

Ichabod was shocked to see Abraham Van Brunt there, but I quickly grew bored and offered to kill him. Abraham said nothing could kill him and I took out the sword of Methuselah. "This can. This can kill anything or so the legends surrounding it say. The sword of Methuselah. A bitch to find, but even harder to acquire thanks to the Gorgon that guarded it. I had to fight the thing blind for nearly two hours before it stopped slithering around long enough to die."

I cut his chest and asked as he grimaced. "Still think you can't die?"

He wasn't happy about that and I just smirked while Ichabod asked for the sword. I told him only an immortal or one with an immortal soul can wield the blade against another or they'd die as their soul is the price for using it. He didn't want it much then. I put the blade away and told them I was going home since the cell was reinforced to the best of all my knowledge.

Hell, I'd added tech that included solar powered generators and a permanent sunlight spell that released no radiation thankfully. The horseman stayed in his cell even when dozens of hessians and the undead cop Andy Brooks came for him. Mostly because they couldn't even get close to it. I'd messed with their minds and sent them into the reaver pit where reavers died and hessians with them.

Even Andy was torn apart by reavers and stuck down there undead and being eaten alive as it were. Most of the tunnels were spelled and runed all across the town underneath it. Evil could find it's way in, but the reaver pit was where they'd end up regardless. When John Blackwell showed up in town, I knew Moloch and the Hessians had contacted him and his coven of four bastards.

We'd been in the armory with Abby, Ichabod and the police captain, Irving, talking about a possessing demon he was dealing with when I felt them enter town. I stopped mid sentence and turned to Irving. "Burn the possessed, drown them or use magic, that's the only way to force it out and back to hell. The crystals I have can force it out and destroy it or you can use this."

I took out a sixteenth century French lantern and gave it to him. "It'll force the demon out if they're in anyone in the same room as it, sending it back to hell. Simply light it and watch it work."

I set it on the desk and turned to the door. "You all need to hide now. John Blackwell and his dark witch children are here and coming this way. They want the crystal skull and the Balcoin medallion almost as much as they want Diana here."

Abby and Irving grabbed their guns and I shook my head. "Those won't do anything to a dark witch of their power. You need pure iron or something with iron in it. Maybe tranq darts from hidden distance like a sniper would do, but it's too late for that. Go out the tunnels and run quickly or they'll make finger paste out of your pretty insides."

Ichabod and Abby took Irving with the lantern and fled. I turned to the women beside me and they nodded so I grimaced and looked to the door as they arrived. The door opened and John Blackwell came inside first, followed by four others and surprisingly, Cassie. I narrowed my eyes seeing Cassie filled with dark magic and yet still hidden.

John spoke, saying Moloch had the resources to find his wayward children. He turned to Diana and said he'd found the Meades before Moloch found him and led him to Cassie. He said Jane was kind enough to remove the bracelet from her after Adam and Ethan died so Cassie could try and fight the demon he put in Jane. My gaze narrowed and I growled. "You put demons in all your kids just so you can control them?"

He shook his head. "No, but then Cassie's always been especially stubborn, just like her mother."

They raised their hands and we raised ours, defending from their magics as our rings equalled us in power except John who was still weakened. I managed to over power him to his surprise and I slammed the Balcoin medallion against his chest as I stabbed him in the heart, draining his dark power into the medallion. He smirked. "You can't use that medallion without repercussions. You may have killed me, but you'll become just like me sooner or later."

I grimaced and helped the others overpower all except Cassie who tried to flee only for Irving to come in and use the lantern on her. The demon in her hissed and roared before it was ejected from her. I was panting as I pulled the blade from my side that the luckiest of them managed to nail me with. Faye, Melissa and Diana ran to me and Cassieas I stumbled and cursed. "Fuck."

My eyes went dark and my hair turned black for a moment. I took out a bracelet and told Faye to do the spell I'd taught her. She did and I put the bracelet on. I felt instantly better, though I was still bleeding pretty badly.

I ripped my shirt off and heated up my sword before applying it to the wound. The sizzle of burning skin sounded while I did a healing spell with Faye and Melissa's help. When the wound was closed up, I wrapped it with my torn shirt and turned my attention to the weeping Cassie. I gave her a bracelet and she didn't hesitate to put it on, causing her a bit of discomfort as her dark magic was sealed away.

I turned to Irving. "We need ash wood and iron sulfide with as much pure iron as you can get before sundown. The dark witches need burned and dissolved into the earth or Moloch can raise them again as servants and I don't have enough magic left in me to light a candle right now."

The destroyed front area of the armory attested to how bad the battle had been. He nodded and asked if the new girl was a threat. I shook my head. "She's a friend and was possessed. No more guilty than any of your would be body hopping victims. Just get the supplies and send them to Abby. We can handle the rest while you deal with the demon coming after your daughter. Get Jenny Mills to help you if you need it. I've read in Corbin's files that she was possessed by a similar demon, if not the exact same one."

He nodded and I asked Abby and Crane to carry the bodies through the tunnels to where Serilda was dealt with while we recover and help Cassie. They agreed and I gingerly sat beside Cassie, telling her that it wasn't her fault and we can't change the past, all we can do is make sure nothing happens to anyone else in the future. I told her that the demon Moloch was responsible and that the Hessian soldiers that served it had been key to finding them.

I rubbed my face and told her that I'd incited the demon into joining Blackwell in the hunt and he'd come for us. I told her that if she wants to blame someone, she should blame me instead of herself because I'd made the decision to act here in Sleepy Hollow. Cassie cried into my chest and told me she'd killed Jane before hunting down and killing the Glasers and Dawn who'd been pregnant.

I frowned and asked when it was. She said it was months ago and they'd been hunting us while Moloch couldn't find us until now when he led them straight here since they'd been in some form of sleep. I grimaced and asked if Dawn made it away. She shook her head and said her body disappeared after John slit her throat.

I closed my eyes and told them after a minute. "Dawn and the baby are alive somewhere safe. I hadn't checked until now, but she's in a special place."

I told her off the painted world and how it was a dangerous thing to know because beings like Moloch could take it from me if they knew how it was bound to me which is why I never mentioned it as a safe place until now. I told her as I held Melissa who'd lost her father and grandmother. "You can stay here or go into the painted world where we'll end up eventually. I personally fully intend to stay long enough to kill Moloch in person for what he's done."

Cassie said she'd stay and help us so we had almost a full circle now. All of our parents and families had been wiped out except Dawn and the baby so we had nothing holding us to this world except vengeance now. The demon possessing Irving's daughter was driven back to hell without actually having killed anyone so when Irving returned he thanked me. I shrugged as I'd just finished burning and dispersing the energies of the dead witches. "Thank the militia group I stole it from a couple weeks ago."

He grimaced and said he was going to pretend he didn't hear that. I smirked and went home where Cassie was given a room in the magical RV mansion. Several days later Abbie and Ichabod showed up at our door asking if it was possible George Washington rose from the dead for four days to draw a map of purgatory. I grunted. "It is and what's more, we have the map and key."

Abby told me to hand it over and I raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me? Don't you mean please may we use it or something along those lines?"

She said she didn't have time for all that and I flicked a finger, knocking her out of the wards and onto her car hood. I told her she'd best remember we're allies and equals, not servants. I told her I don't owe her shit and so long as she was going to try and order me about, she wasn't getting anything from me regardless of her urgencies. Ichabod smoothed things over and said that perhaps she was being hasty in assuming we were disciples of the witnesses.

I snorted and told him coldly. "I ain't a fucking disciple or a follower. I do as I damned well please and be it God or the devil himself, I'd bend them over a throne of fire, blood and bone for some feathery ass before I take orders from anyone I ain't already fucking. I don't give a damn what side of the war they're on."

I turned to Abby. "So you can ask nicely and be fucking respectful like I've been to you or you can get fucked for all I care."

I sat down and lit a joint while Diana told them we'd just lost all we'd known and cared about besides Faye's mother and my daughter so we weren't in the greatest moods lately. She told Ichabod when he asked for our help to save his wife that we'd do it. I asked him what she looked like and when he answered, I took out the map and key. "I'll go in and get her. If Moloch tries to come out or stop us I'll use the sword of Methuselah and kill the fucker for good."

I took the image of Katrina Crane from Ichabod's mind and told him I'd be back in a bit. I entered purgatory alone at the convergence point of ley lines the map had noted. Almost immediately I was caught in an illusion brought on by purgatory's energies. I dispelled it with relative ease before doing a locator spell that led me to a church like place.

There I found Katrina Crane mourning the loss of her child, Jeremy Crane. I put a hand on her shoulder and got her attention, sighing. "Ichabod sent me to get you out of here."

She looked to me and called me a liar saying Ichabod would've come himself before calling a servant of Moloch. I touched her skin and let her feel the magic in me which jolted her like sticking a finger in a socket to a nuclear reactor. I snorted lightly with a smirk. "I serve no one but my own self interests and if you want to stay here mopping about, fine then. I'll just tell Ichabod you weren't in the mood to be free from this place."

I turned to leave and she asked me to wait. She went on to ask me which coven I belong to and I smiled. "We call ourselves the circle of the heart. It is a metaphor for the unity of our strongest power and I'm not talking about magic. My lovers and I are working to help the witnesses."

I stopped and tilted my head. "When they're polite enough to ask for help instead of demanding things. Now come if you're coming or stay here and pray I have the patience to return for you some other day."

She came with me and I led her to where the doorway would appear. I held up the Gehenna key and the doorway appeared just as we heard Moloch coming. He must've sensed our departure so once the door was open we ran through just in time for Moloch to be stuck on the other side while I held the sword of Methuselah ready for him if he made it. The enochian runes on the blade glowed, but when the doorway shut and he was trapped, I stored the sword and sighed. "A pity. I'd hoped he'd make it so I could destroy him with the sword of Methuselah."

I turned to Katrina who looked at me oddly and asked just who I was to have such a thing while having so much immense power. I told her that I am a true born witch like herself only I come a different bloodline. I told her of the eighteen families and the destruction of twelve by the Balcoins. She winced saying she'd heard of the Balcoin bloodline if nothing else.

I nodded and told her that my coven had five witches in it, all with their family grimoires and all the knowledge of magic I have from my reincarnations. We walked to my truck and I helped her in before driving us to my place. When we got there, there was a sign waiting for us from Faye that said the old Fredricks manor was infested with a demon and they were going to save someone while hopefully getting the manor for us finally.

I drove us there and found them burning the demon in the middle of the dried up fountain while Ichabod cut the roots in the basement of the manor. He came out covered in bloody sap and the terrified owner, Lena Gilbert, agreed to give the place to us. Katrina and Ichabod had their reunion and I helped the coven burn out the evil and cleanse the grounds. When that was done, the cops retrieved the body of Lena's bodyguard and took statements.

With Abby there, they didn't exactly ask much thanks to Irving. All I told him was 'tree demon' and left it at that. Once the deed was in my name, I began cleansing the entire place, returning the manor to it's original looks only with far better tech and a hell of a lot more wards, hexes, sigils and runes. It would be easier to break into the painted world than it would to break into the manor once I was done.

With the courtyard cleaned, the fountain going and fresh green grass all over with flower beds full of flowers, the house itself had been turned around from antique health hazard into a home once more. The girls had repainted and with Katrina and Ichabod moving in, albeit arguing over their son, it was a relatively cheerful place to be. Cassie wasn't so mopey, I was less angry and even Melissa was enjoying herself most of the time despite her loss. Katrina saw us practicing spells and magics one evening and asked to join us.

I had to make it clear that we don't allow dark magic in our coven even with two Balcoin descendants so if she joined our coven she'd have to swear not to touch the darkest aspects of being a witch. She agreed easily enough and I held out a bracelet. I told her that it would only activate in case of dark magic and suppress it. Cassie, Diana and I held up our bracelets and she accepted it before I asked them as I put it to a vote, to bind the circle.

Faye was against it until I told her that once bound we could reforge the crystal skull and that would unbind the circle. They all had to consider it and Katrina asked about the crystal skull. Melissa told her about it and I tossed Katrina a ring, telling her what it did. I told her that copies of the six family grimoires were inside so she had a lot to learn as each one had thousands of spells.

We soon heard about Jeremy Crane or Henry Parrish as he demanded to be called. He'd been trying to find and free the horseman of death and wreaking mayhem with a suit of armor. Katrina asked us to help so we did. We bound the armor of war using the terricula Ignis as a foci and I stripped Henry of the infestation that was the horseman of war.

He'd tried to fight and he was damned powerful, but we'd already bound the circle and unbound it by forming the crystal skull. With it he was as meek as a kitten before a tsunami of power. Even with the horseman's added strength he only lasted for a few moments before I'd stripped him of it. Without it, he was just one powerful dark witch so we gave him a choice.

We could bind his magic and erase his memory or he could take the bracelet we offered and never be able to use dark magic again. He was quite angry, but he took the bracelet and put it on, saying Moloch shall rise and we would pay for our actions against him. I shrugged and told him he was still the frightened child fearing the pain of being lashed. Smirking, I told him I looked forward to the rise of his so called god because I'd killed plenty of gods back when I was one and it really had been too long.

He frowned and fled after the bracelet was on and I let him go. I turned to Katrina and shook my head. "Just as you've asked, he's no longer the horseman of war. Even if Moloch wanted to, he can't turn anyone into that horseman anymore without the gun I used to bind and seal away the armor. As for it, it's been locked away where no one can reach it."

I sighed. "Jeremy'a dark magic is sealed and he's alive. All I can suggest to you is to be careful and go slow. Dark magic is a seductive drug that poisons the mind. It takes time to recover from drug abuse and it'll take time for him to recover from dark magic, especially after having been a sin eater for a time."

She thanked us and I shook my head telling her she was apart of our coven and it is what we should do. I passed her a vial and told her. "It'll cleanse the memories and evil from him, purging his soul. Be extremely careful because that's all even I had. I didn't make that in this lifetime and I can't make more now without a god or a celestial. You'll have to get him to trust you for it to work and that's only after Moloch is dead and Jeremy's soul is no longer beholden to the demon. Beyond that it's up to you how you help your son."

She nodded and asked. "What is it?"

I grimaced. "Divine essence of purity. It was made from the goddess of healing I'd had as a lover so many years ago. It can heal any wound, expel any poison and even reverse the aging process to that of a child. It all hinges on the intent of the one being trusted, but it can't be used to kill or for evil so it is limited in it's power. It cannot even purge dark magic from someone as all magic in it's many forms are apart of nature and the human soul is a reflection of that. It is quite literally the most precious item I own and all of it at that."

Katrina nodded and put it in her ring before thanking me again. I waved her off saying it was a gift both given to me and now to her. I told her that we needed her as much as she needed us if not more because she completed our coven and with her we were at our strongest. I warned her to be careful because the divine healing essence can erase memories.

I told her. "It's all in the intent of the trusted one so the more detailed your intent, the more it would do."

We left her there and headed home to wait for what came next. It didn't take long it seems because while we were in purgatory and fighting tree demons, Henry had been dismantling the wards under the town all the way to the masonic cell. After our encounter with his dark magic and horseman bound, he was able to go in and free the horseman of death. They worked together to take Katrina who asked us to stay away when we contacted her telepathically.

I passed the message on to Ichabod and Abby, telling them how she was trying to earn Henry's trust and save him from the inside. When a Judas coin appeared to cause trouble in town, we met Nick Hawley, a rare artifact hunter and I managed to get the coin before him. I put it in a stained glass box and told him that not everything was as it appeared to be.

He asked how and I smiled telling him and the witnesses with Jenny. "Judas thirty pieces of silver were originally reforged from a silver stalactite Caine used to kill Abel. Hence the homicide factor that goes with the betrayal. The world's first known murder weapon if you don't count God being a dick and angels being feathered dicks, demons and…you get my point."

I made the box vanish and Hawley asked how I did that. I shrugged and showed him my ring. I told him about it and he asked what one would run him. I sighed and asked what he had to trade for one since it was genuine magic that could be bound to only work for him.

We went to his floating boat home and he showed me his magic weapons collection. From Blackbeard's flintlocks to the Jokoto Katana and Van Helsing's crossbow. I held my hand over each one and frowned. "They have power, but they're weak and faint. I could reinforce them and breathe life into their enchantments again though."

I turned to Nick. "These three items and the rest of Judas's coin set. I know you're planning on hunting them down to sell, but trade them for a ring you can have now and you'll earn my hood will as well. I'm the leader of a coven of witches and having our backing can be beneficial in your line of work."

He thought it over before asking. "Witches, really?"

I raised an eyebrow and pinned him to the ceiling of his house boat. He said he believed me and I set him down before he nodded. "Alright, you have yourself a deal."

I nodded and took out a ring, speaking to it in elvish as it grew vines on it's side and bloomed a sapphire. The vines stayed and held to jewel in place. I tossed it to Nick. "The sapphire is a spell that will warn and protect you from most traps. Trust it's guidance and no matter the situation you'll find the safest path through it alive. Curses of low quality will fail against it and most poisons, diseases and the like will be brushed aside, fleeing the wearer's body. Congratulations Mr.Hawley, you've made a wise decision today."

He put it on and asked how it was supposed to bind to him. I smirked as he cursed and shook his hand. "By blood. Don't worry, it heals the wounds it inflicts as well as does all I've stated. That was the most I could put on it since you aren't a witch. Do be warned though, my magic made it and should you attack or betray me it will break."

I waved a hand and took the three weapons, leaving him there with both a happy and weird expression on his face. Jenny told him that it was the best he could hope for at this point when dealing with witches. The next big thing was a weeping lady out to kill any female that it saw with Ichabod and considering it started with Faye, it failed very quickly. When that happened, I captured the errant soul with the Carolina's grasp spell, making it go absolutely bonkers.

Ichabod talked me into freeing the bitch and he talked to her, finding out it was Katrina who lied to him about Mary. When she found out Katrina was alive, she disappeared into a puddle before I could capture her again. We raised against time to find and save Katrina which was to varying success considering how she and Ichabod argued after I dispelled Mary's soul and told them it was Jeremy's magic that summoned her from the grave.

Melissa asked if it was dark magic and I shook my head. "No, calling a soul trapped in the veil isn't dark magic. Most use it to calm the soul and settle disputes or grievances so that it may move on in peace. Jeremy or Henry as he goes by, must've intended it as a distraction, but for what purpose I've no idea beyond driving a wedge in his parent's trust in each other."

We watched the once happy couple argue and I shook my head, telling them we were leaving now. The headless horseman came and I brought out Methuselah's sword, ready to fight. Katrina told him what happened and asked to be taken back to the cottage. Abraham glared at Ichabod before glancing at me wearily.

He nodded and pointed his axe at Ichabod saying there would be no more cells and prisons. I snorted and told him to run along before I drop his ass in a black hole beyond even Moloch's reach. He glared at me and I raised an eyebrow before Katrina asked him to take her away. He put the axe away and they left so I put the sword away and did the same.

Soon enough Joe Corbin, the son of the late sheriff Corbin, came back to town as a wendigo. He failed to find the Jinkan venom I'd taken, but when he, Henry and a group of Hessians showed up ready to rumble at the armory, Henry told me. "Spells take time to cast. Are you really willing to watch your women die over a bottle of Asian worms."

I growled and told him. "Let them go and you have my word the venom is yours, an oath on my magic."

He looked at me seriously and nodded. "Let them go."

Faye and the others moved away and got behind me as I took out the bottle of venom. I set it on the table and glared at him. "Know that your tactic won't work a second time."

He nodded seriously. "I highly expect it won't, but then it only had to work once."

He picked up the jar and the heads of all his hessians exploded like watermelons on a twenty story drop. He flinched and I held up a hand. "Leave. For Katrina's sake you've won your deal and remain alive. The venom is yours and my oath is kept."

He sneered and called me gracious and I shook my head. "Trust me Jeremy, I'm more of a monster than you'll ever be. That pain you feel, the hatred, all of it can go away because you have your parents alive. It may not be ideal, but they love you unconditionally, more than any demon could because demons can't love, it isn't in their nature. Moloch may have been an angel once, but he's never once been a real god. As a former god myself, trust me, they aren't kind and fluffy and neither are demons."

He frowned. "You were a god?"

I nodded slowly. "Long ago. Gods are cold, selfish and whimsical beings. They can no more care for you than a hurricane cares for the destruction in it's wake. They are there nature and only gods of love feel more than their own desires. Trust me, Moloch is no god of love. He doesn't know the feeling. You're no more than a pawn just like Abraham and your dead friends here. He will use you like them and discard you once your use has run out."

I shook my head and sighed. "Do what you want, my words mean nothing to you, just know that I do know your pain of being abandoned and raised by cruel assholes. Not all of my reincarnations have had it as easy as I had in this life and considering all my family is dead, that should tell you something."

I turned and walked away with the women while the evidence of blatant murder vanished entirely. Three days later we gathered to help Katrina who was pregnant with a reborn Moloch. We slowed the rapid pregnancy down and bought Ichabod and Abby time to find a solution. They brought down the Hellfire club in town and got the prism stone needed before we banished Moloch from her.

Soon a succubus was on the loose and we stopped the lifeforce stealer when it came for me. Being a reincarnated powerful male witch, it sought me out when I arrived. The coven stopped it's heart when she fed on me. Sadly the lifeforce I'd lost went missing as it's potency was quite powerful.

I was a bit tired, but no real harm done since it hadn't barely scratched the surface. Soon it all came to a head and I gave Henry the sword of Methuselah to his and everyone's surprise. I told him. "Now is your moment to find out exactly what kind of would be god you follow. Strike me down and prove to them that you're irredeemable or see for yourself if Moloch is worth such devotion. No tricks here, just our surrender and your chance to solidify your faith in him or see the truth that your own pain and rage masks before your eyes."

He put the sword to my throat and I gripped the blade, bleeding as it glowed. I stared into his eyes and told him. "I've never feared dying Henry, but like you I fear being abandoned and alone in the dark. I've seen horrors that would terrify even Moloch. I've been and done many of them and I've never claimed to be a saint or anyone good. You and I are more alike than I care to admit most days, but unlike you, I'm no longer blind to the faults of myself and others so each life I do my damnedest to live how I want while helping others out of that darkness we both fear."

I put the tip of the blade to my heart and told him. "I will not hold it against you if you kill me and I won't care if I'm never reborn again because the sword extinguishes my soul. But I do ask that you open your eyes to the truth of what is happening and what only Katrina can offer you now, a second chance. Free of the pain and memories that haunt you. A chance to be as innocent as a babe and to grow up knowing the love of a mother who would do anything to protect you. The love of a father who would die for you and more importantly, protect you both from the darkness that haunts us."

He growled and ripped the blade free of my grip, drawing more blood as he nearly sliced my fingers off. I didn't even look at them while I stared at him without judgement nor malice. He told us to walk as his prisoners, binding us and our magics entirely with a spell. I didn't comment or flinch as my hands were bound.

I merely watched as we were tied to stakes. When Moloch told him to kill Katrina and sacrifice her hold over him, he argued and was struck before being told to kill her or die with her. Henry swung his blade and swung true, killing Moloch in a blast. He vanished without the sword as it vanished into my ring like I'd spelled it to.

Our magics were unbound by Katrina and we freed ourselves before Jenny asked how I knew that would work. I sighed. "Jeremy loved Moloch like a father and thought Moloch loved him. Their relationship was based on that lie and since demons can't truly love, it was easy to see Moloch would fail. Though Jeremy's actions were his own and came from courage and hope as much as pain and sadness. He is his parent's child in the end. Moloch was merely a placeholder who manipulated Jeremy into joining his cause by preying on his need never to be alone. Like I said, we're more alike than I care to admit most days."

I healed my bleeding hand and Katrina asked where he went. I smiled wryly. "To try and clear his head and find himself so he doesn't rely on the lies of others if I'm right. He needs to know he isn't trusting any more lies so he'll seek peace and quiet amongst random humans so he can sort his shit out. It's what I'd do and did anyways."