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Granted, it was not the smartest decision Niles had ever made.
And yet, he made it anyway.
“How’re things at the house?” Connor pipes up from his picking, grabbing another bag of dried ingredients and skimming for the next purchase.
“As good as good can be.” Niles cuts it short, picking out the last remaining pieces of his list and throwing it inside of his basket.
“How’re things with you and you-know-who?”
“That is none of your business.” He sharply hisses, grabbing a glass jar of shrew bones among other rodent skeletons. “I suggest you stop asking me every time you see me, brother.”
“I’m just worried! You said someone casted a dark spell and never elaborated!” Connor whines loudly.
Niles had invited his sibling to gather more items for spells, and trade spellbooks with one another. Being the older sibling, Connor got all the more complicated and intricate chapters while he was handed the child’s play. And in order to do as he pleased, he needed a spell from one of the family books. If Amanda saw him now he’s smug about what she’d dare to say.
“Because there is no need for me to tell you every little detail. Now, drop it.”
It wasn’t smart of Niles to get jealous, to ruin his relationship with Gavin and drive him away. It wasn’t smart of him to make such a giant blunder. And it certainly wasn’t fucking smart to have nearly gotten Gavin killed for his own sufferings.
While Niles had managed to undo the spell in time, it still had some after effects he just couldn’t get rid of. Like the soreness that confined Gavin mostly to the bed, or the dark inky black veins that crept along his arms and neck. They were beginning to grow and spread, curving along his hips and he noticed a few this morning inching along the familiar’s spine. The witch wasn’t positive on what that meant but understood that it wasn’t anything good.
This was all his fault and he was still trying to fix the mess he made.
“Always so stubborn.” Connor huffed and they both walked up to the register. The shorter twin threw a hex bag at the worker, who caught it and fell asleep as soon as the velvety bag touched his skin while Niles disarmed the cameras with a press of a button on the computer screen.
“Always so annoying.” He mused as they walked out.
The day was beautiful and Niles would have taken more time out of his day to appreciate the weather but was fresh out of that luxury. He had to get back to Gavin and he had to study his newly acquired spellbook.
“You should tell him about the invulnerability and the resurrection. Maybe just the longevity couldn’t hurt?” Connor supplied gently, already sensing the irritation setting in.
“You really want us to bare the truth of the old Coven?” Niles shoots his brother another pointed look, each being bound by the strings of the past. “Have you told Hank?”
“I’ve told enough, he understands pieces of what happened and what I am. He knows about us, about her- them.”
“You weren’t in the Witchcatcher, Connor.” Niles looks away, holding his head high as he feels his skin rub raw from the memory alone. The thought still makes his blood turn icey inside his veins and he shivers. “Nor under the spell as long as I. There are demons I am not ready to face.”
“Markus plans on using the Black Grimoire on us all, we’ll be limitless again.”
“I believe we’ve discussed things long enough, Con. I bid you well.” Niles called over his shoulder as he put distance between him and his sibling. While Connor had kind words and honeyed them well, he was not yet ready to relive the past and face the cold grips Amanda had put over them all.
Amanda had been the high priestess back then, in charge of the Grand CyberLife Coven. He and Connor had been her finest witches yet but she wanted control. Craved to be unchallenged and unthreatened, so when the brother’s natural born magic became too much for her, growing too fast and shifting into something stronger than her, she grew malicious. And she abused her position of power against them.
Niles had always been better than Connor, better at learning spells, casting them. He understood and picked up on languages older and more complex, memorized them far quicker and even came up with a few of his own. Frightened by his prowess, Amanda used the Black Grimoire- an old Gaelic dialect with Druidic glyphs and pictures- to heavily subdue his magical ability. After he was weakened against her, she laid the Witchcatcher upon him. A dirty hunter’s tool that appeared to be collar-like, always sitting rather high on his neck, that’s primarily used to catch a witch and force them to obey commands. Connor was put under the tranquility of an Attack Dog Spell, making him powerless to do anything but follow orders blindly after his own magic was locked away.
For a long, long time, they were complacent. Never disobeying, never going against an order and prolonging her Coven and name for centuries.
Until the Jericho Coven sprang up; composed of much more than just witches.
They welcomed vampires, ghouls, shifters, werewolves, demons, anything and everything that needed a place to go or somewhere to stay. They had witches of all natures and familiars to go along with them- and they were powerful in their numbers. Sneaky and refined. Their leader, a powerful caster by the name of Markus, stole the spellbook right from under Amanda’s nose and freed the twins from her clutches. Only- he wasn’t very practiced in reading the sigils and garbled script, deciphering what it said was tricky. Without her prized twins and book, she soon fell as a revolt was taken against her.
Both brothers still felt the old witch’s magic within them to this day, somewhere deep inside the bindings, so they refused to be within the same place as the book only fearing the worst. To become a mindless puppet again wasn’t on either’s agenda. And that fear hadn’t died down the following decades but they learned to cope and move on. Each twin was careful in the spells they used, mindful of the magic they exerted not just because of the hunters, but terrified of summoning her influence into them again.
Everyone agreed to never mention her. Some scared by thinking of her or even mentioning her name might bring forth all sorts of damnation while others wanted to forget all together.
The CyberLife Coven had a new high priest. Elijah Kamski, one of the original founders before he stepped away and let Amanda rule. At his side was a lovely shapeshifter, twin to a witch named Chloe that was in love with Gavin’s very own Tina. And so far, life was good.
Or, was.
Until Nines had made his mistake and Gavin spent majority of the day because of a borrower witch.
They took from the book of the Damned, corrupted by its power and clinically driven mad by the darkness inside the pages. The nature of that book was horrid and could make even the holiest man a vile bastard. Niles was tasked with getting it back when he had been inside that park, and as he found himself backed into a metaphorical corner Gavin had charged in like he always did to save his sorry ass. And it had almost cost him his life.
Niles had never been so smitten with someone before, had never given everything to see them well before, but it was an airy feeling. A light, warmed hand lifting him up from the pit he had found himself in and God be damned if he wasn’t going to try and get it back. To fight to keep it.
The walks he took to and from his home were lonely without Gavin there, silent and deafening, and this one was no different.
As he entered, Niles shucked off his coat and took his newly bought herbs and packed them away before opening up the spellbook. He searched through each spell and tried to find one that could possibly worked and each time he failed, the more his dread grew.
Because if the spell he was looking for wasn’t in any of the books he possessed, it was inside the Black Grimoire.
After hours of fruitless searching, Niles picked a spell and set to work on translating the incantation. He could mix it with a potion, maybe even throw in a hex bag. White magic was not his strong suit but he wasn’t terrible at it. He could create his own new variation and maybe it would work. He could only hope.
When he pushed open the bedroom door and found Gavin sleeping soundly, he approached.
His hair curled whenever it wasn’t pushed back by gel and Niles’ heart soared at how precious his familiar was. It reminded him of the days when things were better, when they were okay. When Niles would wake up to Gavin kissing him awake or him nudging the grumpy familiar up with the promise of caffeine. The mornings were the best part of his day; spotting Gavin right beside him and being reminded he had someone to love, to care for, and in return have that same affection be shown back ten fold.
With a hesitant hand, the witch played with the other man’s hair and whispered a dead man’s lexicon to him. Pleased, Niles watched as the black cropping up high on Gavin’s shoulders receded to his bicep and faded towards the ends.
There must’ve been more kick to the spell because soon the familiar stirred, batting open blearily beautiful green eyes and staring straight into Niles’ own. The witch still found his heart thundering loudly whenever those gorgeous eyes met his, the glimmer in them, the shine, the hues. It was perfect and he regrets ever making them look so hurt in the first place.
“...Niles?”
“No need to be alarmed.” He quickly soothes, shushing the whines Gavin gives when he tries to sit up only to fail. “Just relax, I got you.”
With a heavy frown, he watched the inky black start to climb back up on the olive complexion and he knew he’s exhausted all options left.
He needs the Black Grimoire.
“How do you feel?” Niles shifts on the bed, helping Gavin settle comfortably into the sheets. His chest is tight as he hears the labored breathing and the hiccuped hisses. The casting spell was heavier and much worse than he thought, he hadn’t accounted for the castor to be so trained and powerful.
“Bad.” Is what Gavin mumbles, eyes already slipping closed as his voice goes soft.
“I’m sorry,” And he is. Because this pain eats at him, devours him alive with guilt, shame, regret, and anger so red hot he’s surprised he hasn’t taken a life yet. “I can fix this, Gavin, you’ll be fine.”
He fears Amanda and what she has done, what she might do. But this is something bigger than his silly frights. This is something important- someone important. Someone who means more than his freedom, more than his life and will.
He’s already messed up once, and he promises he won’t mess up again.
Niles sings softly to his familiar, coaxes him back into a peaceful slumber and does what he can to lessen the pain he knows Gavin is in. But he’d made up his mind.
He’s getting that book, Amanda be damned.