Page 67 of The 13th Daughter

"You'll be eighteen at midnight, Cassie Jayne. There's nothing I can do then."

"Maybe you're not supposed to do anything, Dad. Maybe I have to be the one to figure this out. Born to be the Coven leader, remember?"

He gasped. I'd shocked him. "How do you know that?"

"Jeff told me. He explained that all the stuff I can do is a sign of a true Coven leader."

"Is that what you want, CJ?"

"Hell no. I don't want any part of it, but maybe it'll help me get through this."

"Not if you don't know what you're doing," he sighed. "I'll help you."

"Already covered, Dad. Jeff's been helping me get caught up on basic magic and spelling for the last couple weeks."

"Jeff?"

I nodded. "He's been a really good friend through all this and the only one I really trust. He's the only person who hasn't lied to me about something."

"Why couldn't she have picked him for a boyfriend?" he grumbled under his breath.

I wish I knew, I thought silently. I wish I knew.

"Dad, can I ask you something?"

"I'll tell you anything you want to know, pumpkin."

"In the dream, they were burned, but every other accused witch hanged. Why the difference?"

"The Coven made sure the accused were burned. You understand, CJ, that we practice witchcraft and not Wicca, yes?"

"Wicca is more of a religion with gods and goddesses. Witchcraft is different in that it's pure magic, manipulating the Elements. We don't need to pray to a god or goddess, but can if we need more...umph?"

"That's a good way to put it. We do sometimes seek the aid of a deity, but normally we don't. We don't need to. True magic..."

"...is neither good nor bad, but a culmination of the two," I finished for him. I'd read it in the first book I'd picked up on the subject. Wiccans were all about good magic for the most part. There weren't any clear lines in witchcraft. Witches had no qualms about using black magic.

"The only true way to kill a witch, CJ, is to burn them. Even then, the ashes must be scattered. If they had hanged the witches, their spirits could have remained in their bodies and sought revenge. By burning them, there was no vessel for their spirits to return to. The ashes are scattered so that they cannot be used to give them a form to come back to. Their spirit can never be reborn to pass on the knowledge they possess either."

"They turned them over to witch hunters and then made sure they couldn't come back. No wonder they were all pissed."

"Pissed?"

"In the dream, everyone was angry. They couldn't believe the Coven would burn them. Now I understand why."

"You've already seen it, Cassie Jayne. Let me tell you the rest."

"No."

"I will save you even if means giving up my life to do it."

And I knew, looking into his eyes, that he would tell me. The determination to save my life at the cost of his own was written in his golden eyes.

"I bind thee, Roger Michael Bishop, from doing harm unto yourself,

You shall never speak nor write nor convey in any way the curse unto me.

Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, come unto me now.