It was the time of morning when Penny woke up, her head felt heavy and so did her body when she tried to sit up on the bed. Damien who had been in the room came to her aid to feel her head which was hot.
She had caught a fever. Fluffing the pillow behind her, he helped in letting her lean back against the headboard.
The memory after seeing Helen die was hazy that she didn’t remember how she ended up here. She had forgotten riding in the carriage along with Lord Nicholas and Jera and that included her memory of taking a bath and falling on the bed which was very faint in her mind.
Damien leaned over the wall, ringing the bell for the butler to arrive at the door after a few seconds.
“A bowl of soup for the lady and also warm water,” he added in the end. The old man who was a vampire bowed his head and then left to get it prepared, “You should rest more.”
“But-”
“If it’s the church girl, she’s resting in the bed and so should you,” said Damien not wanting her to stress out and make the fever worse.
Penny was happy to see Damien here. With the hectic and crazy night, she had come to pass through, she was glad to see him and she leaned over, opening her arms where Damien pulled her close to him so that he could hug her. She wanted to stay close to him right now, to affirm herself that he was here with her.
Damien let her stay like that for as long as she wanted until she herself pulled back from him.
“My head hurts,” she finally complained and he offered her a smile.
“You have a fever. Did you eat anything?” he inquired to see her shake her head.
“I don’t know if two fruits add itself to be called a meal,” Penny muttered because to her it did not, “It rained too much yesterday. First in the afternoon and then the night. When did you arrive here?”
“Hours ago. Nicholas sent a letter to the mansion so that I would know about your whereabouts,” he informed her. How kind, thought Penny to herself.
“Helen was involved,” Penny dropped the word and Damien gave her a stare, “She was involved with the Artemis. Saying she was one of the orphaned children who they had taken in knowing she was a-”
“White witch,” Damien completed her sentence as he began to link Helen with the late Artemis who had been killed, “Nicholas spoke about ritual,” and he saw Penny nod her head.
“They were trying to break the next spell to have the locked magic. They needed a vampire, a human, and a white witch whose one parent was supposed to be a black witch. Along with a golden moon.”
“Hmm, how specific,” commented Damien.
“All the black witches wanted to do was to complete the ritual and there was one person from the church similar to me. They knew the council would do something to counter-attack their presence and they took the advantage to exploit it,” Penny could only wonder how far did the black witches plan and think about these things, “They knew we would take these steps and had expected it.”
“They didn’t expect you though,” Damien placed his hand over her cheek and she leaned to feel the warmth of his hand, “Did you kill her?” he meant Helen.
Penny gave him a nod, “It was strange to see her die. The first time I met her, she was this girl who was spoilt. She still was but…I would have never guessed that she is a white witch. I think the pets who were getting killed and torn. It was her doing,” it was speculation but it was possible as she was now connected to Mr. and Mrs. Artemis.
“She was a pest. Good riddance,” Penny wondered if it was alright to smile at Damien’s words.
The butler arrived back in the room, knocking the door which was already open to step in and bring the tray of food to place on the side of the bed. Damien picked up the bowl of soup in his hand, taking a spoonful, he blew air on it so that it could cool down and then brought his hand towards Penny’s lips.
Parting her lips, Penny sipped on the soup and drank it in until the entire bowl was empty. She took the medicine that was given to her before gulping down the water.
“Let’s get you back in,” Damien said, noticing how her eyes had started to feel tired even though she had woken up less than an hour ago.
Helping her back and tucking her, he heard her say, “Won’t you be joining in?”
Damien didn’t know which man could resist such a tempting invitation. Not bothering to remove the shoes, he came to sleep next to her but without sharing the blanket, “I will be right here, waiting for you.”
She smiled over his words, “How did your work go in Wovile?”
“Much better than I thought. The white witches are being assigned to the church so that they don’t turn to the other side for help. This way people will hopefully come to trust them which might take another half a century,” he said looking at her.
“If there’s progress the wait might be worth it,” she whispered softly as her lashes touched her cheek before looking back at him. It was good that the council was finally taking up the initiative to help the white witches.
When Penny’s brows furrowed, Damien asked her, “What happened?”
“Helen and some other witch knew my mother. When I asked where she was, the black witch said she was somewhere near the border of Bonelake,” her eyes darted to look at the button of his shirt, “Voodoo magic cannot affect with long distance.”
Damien stared into her green eyes when she looked up to meet his gaze, he then said,
“If it wasn’t your mother, someone else performed the voodoo magic then…” and she slowly nodded her head.
