Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
She leans in. “You’re definitely a Blackwood.” Her full lips pull into a smile and sunlight dances in her dark brown eyes. “They defied their Grand Coven a time or two by going after demons.”
“They were hunters? And that’s…that’s bad?”
“Not in the sense you were. You don’t know much about your heritage, do you?”
“No,” I say honestly.
“Makes sense if the Order took you as a baby. You never got the chance to learn or even get to know who you are.” She leans back, looking at me curiously, yet I don’t feel like an animal in the zoo. She is curious but who can blame her? “I would be lost if I didn’t know where my roots came from. Knowing our history is important, and your line goes back to the early days here in America. The Blackwoods were some of the first witches and warlocks to settle here.”
“I had no idea.”
“I’m guessing there’s a lot you don’t know.”
“I’m guessing you’re right.”
She smiles again. “And I’m guessing you’re sitting there trying to figure out if you should trust me or not.”
“To be fair, I wonder about everyone I meet.” I push my hair back, peeling it from my sweaty neck. “I don’t quite get why you’re here. You said you saw me in a dream.”
“Ah, right. I am getting quite ahead of myself. I saw you in my dream and the universe told me to come here, that you needed guidance. Turns out I was right.”
Inside, I’m torn. This woman is a witch, one who knows her heritage and is familiar with my family as well. I can sense the power coming off of her.
“Why would the universe want you to guide me?”
“That part hasn’t been revealed yet as a test to my faith.”
“Sounds like a bullshit reply instead of saying you have no fucking idea what you’re doing,” I say bluntly and Marie laughs out loud.
“A lot of the universe’s signs can be deduced to bullshit if you have that mindset.” She sighs and the humor leaves her face. “Something big is coming. I don’t know what. I don’t know when.”
I push down the lump in my throat. Is this something big the demon that was just brought forth?
“And witches, we stick together…we are all sisters in some sense. Besides, you cannot argue you are not in need of guidance.”
“I mean…I think I’m okay.”
She gives me a dubious look. “You’re okay in a lot of ways, but your aura is pure chaos. You don’t always have to feel unsettled, Florence.”
“I don’t,” I say, lying through my teeth. I’ve felt unsettled and unwelcome my whole life. I dreamed of finding other witches who would rescue me when I was a kid, and then when I realized that wasn’t going to happen, I tried to force myself into an Order-shaped hole I never fit in.
I was too different, too dangerous, too much.
Then I met Xavier and things changed. It wasn’t the plan but he fell in love with me and I with him and he accepts me for exactly who I am.
“Witches are meant to belong to a coven,” Marie goes on. “Your soul craves to be near the similar souls of your sisters.”
“I’ve never met another witch,” I confess.
“We tend to avoid the Order of the Mystic Realm. My coven in particular has a particularly jaded history with the southern chapter of the Order.”
“Where are you from? I can’t quite place your accent.”
“New Orleans,” she says and I nod. We’ve never once been assigned to anything remotely nearby, much to my brother’s dismay. “There are a lot of us there.”
And now it makes sense why the Order wouldn’t send us.
“You can come to our coven anytime. There are several of us who would be happy to welcome you in and teach you.”
My lips part and I want to immediately accept because isn’t this what I’ve always wanted? But when things sound too good to be true, they usually are.
“Think about it,” she goes on. “There is no pressure on my end.”
“Thanks. I have like a million questions.” I lean back, taking solace in the breeze for a short moment. I use my left hand to push my hair back into place. I’m really regretting not putting my hair up on a day like today.
Marie’s eyes go from the huge rock on my finger to the bandage, but she doesn’t ask about it. Instead, she moves her long braids over one shoulder and watches two birds land on the ground nearby, eating the crumbs of someone’s discarded sandwich next to a metal garbage can.
“It was a curious choice to see Xavier Malus marry a human,” she starts. “It’s even more curious now that I know you are a witch.”
“I am pretty awesome,” I say seriously enough for her to get my sarcasm.