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The Age of Temptation	By : TCardan Category: 1 through F > Covenant, The Views: 14313 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: I do not own The Covenant and make no money from this fiction.

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A/N: Hi everyone! Thanks to everyone who responded to the last chapter. We’ll be getting Madison back to Ipswich soon.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Covenant and make no money from the writing of this fiction.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Raina was overwhelmed with mixed feelings when Madison introduced her to Ben’s ghostly form. Holding her friend’s hand, she could see and hear Ben as clearly as if he were standing there with them. She must have cried for twenty minutes straight at first - it was so good to see him again. They talked for hours the morning of the funeral. It was hard to believe he was actually dead.
It was a sort of therapy for the both of them. Having Ben there with them eased the pain of his passing and allowed them to face the funeral with the comforting knowledge that even after death a person continued on. It was difficult to mourn with the other funeral attendees because, as long as she held Madison’s hand, Ben was standing there with them making his amusing comments as usual.
It was a crazy existence she had stepped into lately. Finding out Madison was a witch and the warlocks she dealt with seemed surreal. A big part of her wanted to stay with Madison in Ipswich, because having Madi (and Ben) around would be much better than the loneliness she was doomed to face if she stayed in Boston.
But she had to admit to herself that she was a bit wary of dealing with that Caleb warlock. Though Madison insisted they were the good guys, she saw how Caleb had looked at her - approaching her as if she were his enemy. Madison had said that he was just caught off guard and that he was really a nice guy normally.
Normally? What was normal about any of this?
And now the funeral was over. Everyone was still standing around the gravesite, talking in hushed tones as they prepared to head over to Ben’s house for the wake. Raina stood watching Madison hug Ben’s mom and tell her what a good friend Ben had always been. Raina reached out, touching the back of Madison’s arm, so she could see Ben standing with them, listening.
“Hot guy alert,” Ben smiled, lifting his eyebrows.
Raina peered over her shoulder at the site of a four handsome guys dressed in black, standing next to the open door of a limousine. She recognized the blond guy, Reid, from last Thanksgiving. And the dark haired one, Caleb, was standing there, hands in the pockets of his long black trench coat as he leaned toward a guy with longer hair and spoke. The long haired one leaned against the limo, looking like he was very uncomfortable for some reason.
Raina guessed that the tall blue-eyed one was Tyler and he was making a beeline directly for her and Madison while the other’s stayed behind.
Raina pulled on Madison’s coat to get her attention. “Madi…”
Madison spun around, noticing the presence of the Sons for the first time before her eyes shifted to Tyler who was now in front of her.
Tyler forgot that he had been angry that Madison, who had basically ignored him these past few days. When she turned and looked in his eyes, he felt as if his heart was bursting. He stepped straight up to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his embrace. He felt her sigh as her whole body relaxed against his and her good arm wrapped around him as well.
“Tyler…,” she said in a breathy whisper. “Oh God, I missed you.”
And Tyler was lost. He had her in his arms and the world was right again.
He nuzzled her and kissed the top of her head. “I’m so sorry, baby. I’m so sorry for all that’s happened to you and your friends.” He squeezed her tighter, not wanting to let go ever again.
When he opened his eyes, a dark haired boy was standing behind Madison, grinning at him.
“Hi, I’m Ben, it‘s good to finally meet you.”
Ben… wasn’t that the name of the dead friend…
Tyler smiled over the top of Madison’s head as he looked at Ben curiously. “Oh, um, I thought…” He pulled his face back to look at Madison’s, but didn’t let her go. “Baby, who’s funeral is this?”
Madison sheepishly glanced over her shoulder at Ben’s apparition, but Ben answered before she could.
“It’s my funeral,” Ben replied. “Didn’t want to miss it.” Ben looked about at the people getting into their cars to go to his house. “I was surprised at how many people showed up. Touched, really. Lots of kids from school too. Who knew?”
“I did, Benny. Everyone loves you,” Madison said. Then she turned her face and grinned at Tyler’s confused expression. “He’s a ghost. You know… it’s one of my abilities. When you touch me, you’ll see what I can.”
“But… it’s so real looking… and sounding,” Tyler marveled. “It’s like he’s really here.”
“Hello,” Ben waved, “I am really here. Did you think you were really that bag of flesh you walk around in?”
“I don’t know what I believe anymore,” Tyler laughed. “Damn.”
But Madison was tugging him around to scared-looking dark haired girl standing next to her. “Tyler, this is Raina. Raina, Tyler.”
Tyler put his hand out. “Hey, nice to meet you, though I’m sorry it had to be under these circumstances.”
Raina took a breath before shaking Tyler’s hand. This one seemed friendly enough, she supposed. She could tell that Madison really liked him - or maybe it was that power attraction she had told her about.
Raina just nodded after dropping his hand, not knowing what to say.
“What are you guys doing here?” Madison asked, glancing at Reid as he stood talking to her father a short distance away.
“We were hoping we could give you a ride to the wake. We miss you and we thought you might be ready to talk,” Tyler explained.
Madison glanced at Pogue. “What’s wrong with him?”
Tyler turned his head to see who she was referring to. “Pogue?” Then his eyes slid to Raina, before he realized that the girl knew everything about them. “He’s getting close to turning eighteen. It’s affecting him.”
Pogue was now staring hard at Madison and she knew exactly what that look was. She had seen it on Caleb’s face when she first came to Ipswich.
Need.
“Isn’t it a bad idea to sit in the same car with him then?”
Tyler shrugged, holding onto her. “Nah, I think it might help having you near. It’s the power that comes off you. He’s been having withdrawals from that. I suppose we all have in our own ways. But he’s getting close to his ‘special day’, so it’s a bit more intense for him.”
Madison looked unsure.
“Don’t worry, Caleb will keep him under control. Please ride with us, Madi.”
“Let me talk to Raina for a minute.”
“All right, I’ll be by the car.” Tyler reluctantly let her go after kissing her cheek and made his way back to the limousine, scowling at Pogue. Madison could see him berating the older Son for making her feel uncomfortable.
“Well? What do you think?”
“If you want to ride with them, then do it,” Raina replied. “What happened to all your anger?”
Madison stared at her friend’s face before she blinked a few times. “You’re absolutely right, I was angry before, wasn’t I? Do you see, Raina? Do you see how they cloud my reason? When Tyler hugged me, it felt so warm and wonderful - like I never wanted to leave his arms. Oh my God, I’m lost, aren’t I? O.K. Rai, I need your help. You are the one who has to keep me grounded. You are the one who has to remind me to pull my head out of the fog.”
Raina sighed. “I’ll try. What do you want me to do?”
“Come with me in the limo. Make sure I tell Caleb the things I wanted to tell him. Remember those things we discussed?”
Raina nodded.
“Don’t let me leave that car without saying them, o.k.?”
“O.K.”
Reid had now left her dad and had come up to them. “Hey, Raina,” he smiled.
“Hi,” Raina replied.
His main goal was Madison, however, and he swept her up in his arms, hugging her. Madison could feel him breathing her in as his nose pressed against her neck. “How are you?” he asked, cuddling her close. He checked out her cast, running his fingers along it. “Hmmm… a blank canvas. Something has to be done about that. You coming?”
Raina watched her friend closely and the transformation was obvious. Madison turned from angry conviction to a mushy pile of feminine sweetness within seconds. There was definitely some type of dynamic going on between her and these warlocks. Raina wondered if Chase had used some sort of power over her as well. But then, she knew she would have been attracted to him anyway.
She followed behind them to the limo, a wary eye on Caleb. But she didn’t have to worry this time, as Caleb held out a hand and smiled apologetically to her. “Raina, I’m Caleb. I’m sorry about the other day. I was just surprised to see someone there. I reacted badly. I hope we can start over again.”
Raina raised a hand and shook his, nodding.
He flashed her his winning smile and said, “Good. I’d like to get to know you better. This is Pogue.”
“Hey, Raina,” he said, holding out his hand. “Nice to meet you.” But he barely looked at Raina as he shook her hand. His attention was on the auburn haired witch now standing before him. Raina stepped back and watched as he stood up from leaning on the car and shuffled closer to Madison, searching her eyes.
Madi lifted her good hand and put it over his heart, the light touch jolting through his senses and his eyes darkened for a second as he tried to get himself under control. As much as he wanted her right now, her touch was just the elixir that would hold him over until he could really have what he needed - her very essence.
He closed his eyes, not wanting to scare Raina, who was watching them closely. He felt Madison kiss his lips softly and his arms automatically wrapped around her.
Madison felt Pogue shudder slightly as he held her and breathed her in just like Reid had done. They stood like this for a few minutes, absorbing one another. No words had to be said.
Madison felt no willingness to push any of the Sons away, so great was her own need and the need to sooth them in return.
“Let’s go in the car. It’s cold out here,” Caleb said softly next to her ear.
“Wait, I need to let my dad know…”
“Already taken care of,” Reid said, behind her.
They climbed into the back of the limousine, the driver greeting Madison as she went by. “Good to see you again, Miss Madi.”
Raina stayed close behind Madison, making sure to sit right next to her. On Madison’s other side sat Tyler, who immediately put his arm about her, and on Raina’s other side sat Reid, who smiled reassuringly at her. Raina then realized that she must have looked like a scared rabbit surrounded by warlocks. She then decided to focus on Ben, who had climbed in last and sat on Caleb’s lap.
Caleb was totally oblivious to the mischief of the ghost cuddling with him. Madison, Raina, Tyler and Reid, who were all touching as they sat together, were stifling laughter as they watched Ben’s antics.
“I’ve missed the joke,” Caleb said, looking at their faces. It seemed a bit inappropriate to be laughing after a funeral. He looked down at his suit, wondering if his fly was open or something.
“Ben, stop it,” Madison laughed.
Ben was now pretending to make out with Caleb as he straddled his lap, making Reid and Tyler howl with laughter. Reid reached over and grabbed Pogue’s forearm, so he could see what was going on too.
Pogue’s eyes opened wide and he exclaimed, “What the fuck?” before he, too, joined in the laughter.
Caleb observed them all touching and figured out that Madison was sharing a vision. He reached over and touched Tyler’s arm, startled to find a guy scrambling off his lap and onto the floor of the limousine. “Wha…?”
“Sorry, but you’re a hottie,” the guy replied, smiling flirtingly up at Caleb from the floor.
“Caleb, this is Ben… or what’s left of him, I should say,” Madison joked.
“Ha, ha, ha, very funny, Mads,” Ben said. He returned his gaze to Caleb. “She thinks she’s a comedian now.”
Caleb looked a bit put off, knowing this ghost had a thing for him. This was very strange. “Um… hello,” he said. “Sorry we never had a chance to meet in real life.”
“Not as sorry as I am,” Ben replied, making Caleb turn red. “But don’t worry about me stalking you. I was just having some fun, trying to lighten things up a bit. All of you seem so uptight right now.”
Caleb nodded. “Yeah, guess so. We’ve been worried.” He glanced at Madison who looked away from the concern in his eyes.
“Yeah, me too,” Ben replied. “Look, I need you to take care of my friends for me. And I’ll try to do what I can from my end. I can actually look in and see what Chase is up to, though he might be able to sense me if I got too close. Well, not him, but that demon inside of him can. At the least, I can tell you if he’s near or not, so you can be ready for him.”
“Seriously? That would help a lot. I can only tell where he is if he’s using his power in the vicinity.”
Ben nodded. “Yeah, I know. He’s up north right now, near Canada. I think he’s still planning his next move.”
“All right, thanks. This will help a lot, Ben. As soon as you see him heading this way again, could you let us know?”
“Sure thing,” Ben smiled. “I’m going to make sure Raina and Madi are safe before I leave for The Great Beyond.”
Caleb nodded. “I understand. That’s my goal too.”
Raina nudged Madison’s knee with hers, knocking Madison out of her Tyler stupor.
“Caleb, there are a few things I need if I’m going to go back to Ipswich,” she blurted out, making all heads turn to her.
“What do you mean… if?” Tyler asked pointedly.
Raina could feel Madison softening and she nudged her again.
“I’ve been thinking, and I don’t want to go back to the life I had unless there are a few changes.”
Caleb could see the strain she was under, trying to be strong against the needs of the Sons around her. “What do you need, Madi?” he asked calmly, trying not to look like his stunned brothers. Not having Madison in their lives was not an option.
“First of all, I need you to get Raina into Spencer. I won’t leave her unprotected here in Boston.”
“Done,” Caleb replied. “What else do you need?”
Madison had to do a double take. He agreed with her? Just like that? No questions? No hesitation?
“What? Really?” Madi marveled.
Caleb nodded. “I agree with you. She belongs in Ipswich now.”
Something about the way he said that gave Madison pause, but she continued on, glad there was no argument on that issue.
Madison took a deep breath. “All right, good. The other thing is… I want to be able to decide my own future. I know the families took part in getting me to Ipswich, but I‘ll be damned if I let them control my whole life. If I want a career, then I‘m going to have one!”
Tyler looked outraged, while Reid looked irritated. Pogue stifled a laugh over the expression on Tyler’s face.
Caleb broke the silence after observing them all. “Who gave you the idea that you couldn’t have a career, Madi?”
Madison’s mouth fell open as she looked from Tyler to Reid, who did not look apologetic in the least. So, not all of them were as backwards as these two, that was good to know.
“That’s not the way we roll, Caleb, you know that!” Tyler gripped. “The families…”
“The families need to evolve with the times,” Caleb replied, interrupting Tyler’s rant.
Tyler turned to Pogue for support. Surely Pogue would see the genius in preserving the way they had always lived. But he was disappointed to see the second oldest shrug noncommittally.
“Madi can do what she wants,” Pogue added. “Why wouldn’t you want her to be happy, man?”
“Working her ass off and being away from her kids will make her happy?” Tyler fumed.
“Kids? Geez, Tyler, thinking ahead a little too far, aren’t you?” Madison grumped. “Look, all I’m trying to say is I don’t know what I want to do. Maybe I want to have a career, or maybe I’ll decide to be a stay-at-home mom - someday. But, I want it to be my decision and not anyone else’s. I want to have a say in my own life.”
Caleb nodded. “Sounds reasonable.” He glanced at Tyler’s outraged face and added, “But we hope you plan on making Ipswich your permanent home, no matter what you decide to do with your time.”
Madison felt a big relief that she would have Caleb, and possibly Pogue, on her side. But Caleb’s support was the most important, as he was head of their coven. She nodded, understanding his concern. “Yeah, I know what’s at stake - for all of us.
Caleb knew Tyler was angry with him, but he would just have to accept that Madison Marish was not destined to be ’the wife’ of a Son. He hadn’t told Tyler about the conversation with his mother yet, but he had done a lot of thinking about the structures of the families. They had to keep in mind that the Marish line was matriarchal, while the Son’s lines were patriarchal. Madison would rule her own roost, and her children would take the name of Marish and not her future husband’s.
That was another subject Caleb did not want to broach. The mothers wanted to choose a husband for Madi from extended family lines, but Caleb knew Madison would not go for it. It had to be her choice, or she would end up resenting the families, Ipswich, her husband, and possibly them. Looking at Madison sitting across from him, and the struggles she was going through to maintain her own identity, Caleb decided he’d let her make her own choices - as long as they didn’t take her away from Ipswich.
Caleb watched as Tyler gave him the dirtiest look he could muster before turning his head away to sulk. Caleb had also come to another decision lately, and Tyler was not going to like that one as well.
OOOOOO
After they had dropped Madison and Raina off at the wake, the Sons headed back to the hotel, seemingly pacified after being in Madison’s company again. Caleb had told the others to head home for Christmas and decided he’d stay to keep watch over Madi until she came back to Ipswich. Even though they now had the benefit of Ben’s early warning if Chase should head back toward Boston, Caleb could not break another promise to Madison. Besides, there was nothing the others could do against Chase. He was the only one who could fight him and have a chance of winning.
As the other Sons were packing up and getting ready to head home, Caleb called Tyler into his room to speak privately. He knew this would not be an easy conversation. Tyler was still mad at him for contradicting him in front of Madison.
“What do you want?” Tyler frowned.
“Have a seat,” Caleb started, trying to find the right way to say what had to be said.
Tyler flopped down in an armchair, looking defiant. “What?”
“I need to ask a big favor from you, and I know you are not going to like it.”
“What? Are you going to ask me not to tell Madi what to do? Thanks for making me look like an ass in front of her, by the way.”
Caleb shook his head. “Sorry, Ty, that wasn’t my intention. I didn’t know you filled her head with all that stuff about Ipswich wives.”
“So what if I did. It’s the truth. It’s how it’s always been. Why do you try to change things that have worked for us for centuries?”
“Tyler, you have no idea how the female lines of witches lived. None of us do. We can’t assume they were dominated by the warlocks. We have to tread carefully here. Madison is not just a normal girl you can marry someday. In fact, we can’t marry her.”
Tyler sprung up from the chair. “Fuck you, Caleb.”
Caleb’s eyes flashed, pushing Tyler back in his seat with his power and keeping him there.
“I need you to listen right now, Tyler. I know this stuff won’t be easy to hear, but it has to be said. We are all in love with Madison because that is the nature of our power and hers. But she can’t bear our sons because she needs to have daughters. You need to think ahead, baby boy. Who will your son go to? His own sister?”
“I fucking hate you right now, Caleb. Why are you telling me this shit?”
“Because you are planning Madi’s future and you have no right to. And if you are thinking of the long term, which it has been obvious that you are, then you need to know this.”
“Maybe I don’t care. I just want her…” Tyler stated, putting his forehead down into his palm. “I love her.”
“I know,” Caleb replied, softly. “It’s o.k. to love her. Love is good. We’ll always love her, no matter who she marries.”
Tyler’s eyes flashed dangerously at Caleb. “I don’t want some outsider with her!”
“That’s not up to us.”
“Are we done now? I need to get out of here,” Tyler groused.
“Actually, I haven’t gotten to the favor yet.”
“What the fuck is it then?”
“You know Pogue is close to ascending.”
“Yeah.”
“He’s really needy right now. And he’s never went long without a girlfriend. You know how he is. And after he ascends, he’s going to have used a lot of power…”
“I know what you are fucking going to say, Caleb, and the answer is NO, I will not give him Madi. Just because he dumps Kate and needs a new girlfriend, doesn’t mean he gets to take mine away. Let him find another. It never takes him long to find another one anyway.”
“He’s suffering, Ty, and any old girl will not do. Madi is the only one who can help with his power surges. You have no idea how painful ascension is, but you will.”
“He already gets time with her. I haven’t interfered with any of you having Madi when you needed her.”
“He needs to be around her even more right now. Can’t you do this for your brother?”
“What? Break up with Madison so she can be his girlfriend? So I can watch them be all over one another all the time while everyone looks at me as the cuckolded one? Yeah, sounds great.”
“See, you’re doing the over-possessive stuff too much. I think it would be healthy for you to let go of her for a bit - get some space and some perspective. It’s not like you wouldn’t get to be with her during private time. Pogue knows the score.”
“Pogue’s just as jealous as I am. You know that. He would be a greedy fuck if he had Madi to himself. You‘d probably get hardly any time too.”
Caleb shook his head. “We’ve all had to accept sharing Madison. You think you’re the only one who’s in love with her? Hell, even Reid is crazy for her, though he tries his hardest to cover it up.”
“I can’t believe you’re asking me to do this.”
“It’s only temporary. Let them be together publicly… until summer. Then Pogue and I are off to Harvard and Madi is yours again for your Senior year and college too, if you want.”
“How are you two going to handle being away from her for a year?”
“We’ll probably come home to visit two weekends a month,” Caleb shrugged.
“Yeah, well, you better kill Chase before you run off to Harvard then.”
Caleb nodded and sighed. Yes, that problem would have to be taken care of first.
OOOOOOO
A/N: And there you have it - another chapter. Hope you are still enjoying it. We will have some hot, sizzling time between Madi and Pogue coming up, his ascension, and other drama on the way. I’m really looking forward to writing the next parts of this story.
Please review and let me know you are still there. Thank you so much.
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The Age of Temptation