The Secret Witch (The Coven: Academy Magic Book 5) Read online

  The Secret Witch

  The Coven: Academy Magic Book 5

  Chandelle LaVaun

  Contents

  THE COVEN READING ORDER

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Chapter 65

  About the Author

  This one is for Bettson.

  Because the wait for this was pure torture.

  THE COVEN READING ORDER

  The Chosen Witch

  The Lost Witch

  The Brave Witch

  The Rebel Witch

  The Broken Witch

  The Eternal Witch

  The Aether Witch

  The Fire Witch

  The Hidden Witch

  The Fallen Witch

  The City Witch

  The Wild Witch

  The Frozen Witch

  *The Secret Witch*

  Chapter One

  Jackson

  “Good. Because your soulmate just showed up.”

  “WHAT?” I screamed.

  “You heard me, Lancaster. She’s here finally. So, come home and see her.”

  I opened my mouth then shut it. My mind raced. My pulse hammered through my veins. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t breathe.

  “Lancaster? You okay over there?” Tegan said softly. “Breathe for me. Make a noise.”

  Some kind of strangled sound came out of me without my approval.

  Tegan chuckled. “All right, that’s sufficient, I suppose.”

  “Did you just— Did you— Did…say…” I groaned and slammed my mouth shut. Come on, brain. Pull it together, lad. “Did you say my soulmate? Is there?”

  “Yep. You heard me correctly. She’s here, right in front of me—”

  “Your brother—”

  “Lied, I know.” Tegan laughed. “I wasn’t sure he had it in him, either. So proud.”

  “PROUD? Why the hell did he send me away to some random girl?”

  Tegan sighed. “I’m not entirely sure, but I promise you it was important. Otherwise he wouldn’t have done that.”

  I growled and slammed my forehead into the steering wheel, then just stayed there. “You’re sure this time? You’re not lying to me, too? I can’t handle that again—”

  “I swear I’m not lying to you. She’s here. I’m looking at her glyph right now. It’s a pretty lavender color. Yours is lavender now, too, right?”

  My breath left me in a rush. I looked down at my chest, at the sparkling lavender crystal of my glyph. A million different emotions rushed through me. “Yeah. Yeah, it’s lavender.”

  “WHOA! INCOMING!” Easton yelled in the background.

  I gasped and sat up straight. “What’s going on?”

  “What is that? Another morpher?” Braison said in a rush.

  Deacon cursed. “How many demons does Joseph have in his pocket?”

  All of this I heard through the phone. My pulse skipped, then rushed into hyper speed. “Tegan, what’s happening?”

  “WAIT!” Chutney screamed. “It’s Lonan!”

  I heard my Coven-mates curse with relief, and it made my anxiety go nuts. Something had happened, just as I’d expected.

  I gripped my phone tighter. “Tegan.”

  She sighed, and then there was tense silence.

  “Tegan—”

  “We had a small, teeny-tiny, kinda scary incident with Joseph—”

  “WHAT?” Adrenaline rushed through me. “Is everyone okay? Is anyone hurt—”

  “We’re fine, we’re fine, just—” She sighed. “Shit, Jackson. I can’t leave right now, okay? We scared him off but—but he might come back. I can feel something coming. I don’t want to leave for even a second. He’s got demons now. How far are you?”

  I cursed. “Two hours and change.”

  “Oh, that’s close. Good. Okay, listen, I’m sorry— What? Tell Lonan I’m coming,” she yelled to someone on her side of the call. “Jackson?”

  “Yeah, it’s okay. Take care of Eden. I’m not far. It’s all right. I’ll just drive back.”

  She sighed. “Thanks. Be careful. Bettina pissed Joseph off something fierce tonight. If anything looks wrong, you call me back immediately, okay?”

  “Right. Lovely. Will do.”

  “See you soon.” Then she hung up and the call ended.

  My stomach tightened into knots. I took a deep breath and let it out shakily. Something bad had gone down at home while I was away. It must’ve been really terrifying if Tegan wasn’t willing to leave at all. I wished she would, but I wanted my Coven-mates safe more than anything.

  Bettina pissed Joseph off something fierce. My heart swelled with conflicting emotions that crashed against each other like tidal waves, and I was drowning in the middle. I had no idea what she’d done, but I was both proud of her and terrified for her.

  I need to get back. I looked down at my GPS and cursed. Two and a half hours. If I went the speed limit. Which I wasn’t planning on. Not anymore. Not now that Joseph had made another move. Not now that my soulmate had suddenly arrived in Eden. And that really blew my mind. All this time and now she showed up? I didn’t understand. Where had she been? What triggered her to come now? I had so many questions.

  I threw my truck in drive and sped off down the highway with my thoughts on the one thing they shouldn’t have been.

  Bettina.

  Chapter Two

  Bettina

  “See you soon,” Tegan said softly into the phone then hung up. She shoved the phone in her leather jacket pocket then looked up at me and grimaced. “I’m sorry, B. I can’t risk leaving yet. If Joseph attacks, even in those few seconds—”

  “I know,” I whispered and smiled up at my best friend. “Just keep your phone on loud in case he gets in trouble, okay?”

  “I’m listening, I promise.” Her gaze snapped to something behind me. She stood then glanced down at me. “I gotta go talk to Lonan.”

  I nodded and started to get up to follow her when a large hand landed on my sho
ulder and pushed me back down. I frowned and looked up. “Let me up—”

  “Sorry, no.” Tennessee dropped his hand, then crouched down. He narrowed his mismatched eyes on me. His voice was low and stern. “I want you to sit here and not move until I say otherwise.”

  My pulse skipped. I licked my lips nervously. “Am…am I in trouble?”

  Tenn frowned and cocked his head to the side. “Goddess, no. You saved our asses tonight, in more ways than one.”

  My cheeks warmed. “Oh…I did?”

  He chuckled and shook his head. “Bettina, have you not seen what you did? Without getting up, turn around and look.”

  I frowned and glanced over my shoulder—and my breath left me in a rush. My jaw dropped. All I could do was stare. There was a wall of ice blocking Eden from the edge of the Old Lands…and between us and it were about two dozen ice sculptures. Of people.

  My stomach dropped. Oh my Goddess, I did that.

  Tenn laughed. “Yeah, you sure did. Freakin’ epic. You froze shadows. I don’t even know how.”

  “I just…I just…panicked. I don’t know how I did that.”

  “You’re stronger than you realize.”

  I turned back to face him. I must’ve made a weird face because he grinned.

  “You’ve had these powers for what, a week?” He shook his head again. “You’ll get comfortable with them, I promise. But for right now, I need you to not move.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re too much like Tegan, all guns blazing full throttle. I can feel your energy level and it’s low. Rightfully so, for what you just did.” He stood back to his full height. “This war is far from over, and we’re clearly going to need you. So I’m asking you to just sit. Rest. Let your energy replenish. Okay?”

  I didn’t want to sit here and do nothing. I wanted to go talk to everyone. Talk to Lonan. I wanted to inspect my damage. There were two dozen human ice sculptures I made, and I wanted to get a closer look.

  And I wanted to call Jackson. I wanted to hear his voice. I wanted to tell him it was me, since Tegan hadn’t.

  “Bettina?”

  I jumped and looked up at Tenn. “Yeah, what? Sorry.”

  He smiled. “I said okay? You’re gonna sit here?”

  My cheeks warmed. I nodded. “You’re my Coven Leader. I do as you say, boss.”

  He laughed and held his hand out. My sword flew into his palm. He flipped it around and gripped the blade, then held the hilt down to me. “Here.”

  “Thanks.” I grabbed the hilt and pulled my weapon into my lap as Tenn jogged off to catch up with the rest of our Coven-mates.

  “You okay?”

  I jumped and spun back around to find Cooper standing there.

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.” He crouched down beside me. “Tenn told you to not move, didn’t he?”

  I laughed and nodded. “Is my pouting that obvious?”

  He grinned and ran his hand through his short blond hair. “No, he is. He takes everyone’s health very seriously. He’s like a mother hen. If you get Witch’s Shock from that stunt you pulled tonight, he’ll blame himself.”

  I frowned. “That makes no sense.”

  He shrugged. “He’s the scariest-looking teddy bear you’ll ever see.”

  “You know, I wish I was scarier-looking.”

  Cooper threw his head back and laughed. “Oh, I think you’ll grow into that quickly. Shit, Tegan did. When she first got to Tampa, she was just intense, but now? Man, even I am afraid of her sometimes. I’m sure that’ll wear off on you.”

  I grinned. “I hope so.”

  His green eyes sparkled. He looked down at my chest then back up to meet my eyes. “I’m happy for you two.”

  My heart skipped. Warmth rushed through my veins. You two. Meaning Jackson. I cleared my throat and rubbed my fingers over my new glyph. “I’m still… I don’t know… I can’t quite believe it.”

  “Well, believe it.” He leaned closer, then whispered, “Bentley looks and seems young, which he is, but he holds ancient knowledge now. Our last Hierophant, Cassandra, was just like him. There’s always, always, a reason for why they do things. It may seem cruel, but there’s a reason. Whoever this girl is he sent Jackson to find must be important somehow.”

  I sighed. “I understand. I do. I just…need to see it with my own eyes. Feel it, you know?”

  “Yo, Coop!” Tenn shouted from over by Lonan. He waved his arm.

  Cooper stood and nodded to him, then looked back to me. “Just don’t call him.”

  “What? Why not?”

  “The dude is already gonna be flying down the highway, but if he knew it was you?” Cooper shook his head. “We want him to actually arrive here.”

  My heart sank. I sat there now alone, while everyone else was inspecting my handiwork or talking to Lonan. Tenn was right. I needed to conserve my energy, but it was hard. Because Cooper was also right. Calling and telling Jackson the truth would make him drive more recklessly. I could wait. I could be patient. Everyone was assuring me Jackson was my soulmate. I trusted them. Tegan might have kept the truth from me, but she would never lie right to my face.

  I exhaled and scrubbed my face with my hands. I needed to see his face. I needed to see the proof that our glyphs matched. The hope in my heart was almost too much to bear. I pulled out my phone and set the timer for two hours. Then I watched the seconds tick by with my heart in my throat.

  Chapter Three

  Bettina

  We were inside the main building of the school, not wanting to venture too far from my frozen victims but too cold to stay outside. Well, they were too cold. I was immune to it now. Emersyn had a bonfire going right in the middle of the hallway, and we were all huddled by it.

  Devon had sent an army of her projections outside to keep an eye on things.

  Everyone kept checking on me, making sure I wasn’t slipping into Witch’s Shock.

  “Guys, I swear, I feel fine.” I held my hands up and made ice cover my skin. “See? Still got it. I’m just lying low, as y’all asked. Repeatedly.”

  Hunter chuckled and shook his head.

  “Will someone please tell me what Lonan said, since Tenn put me in time-out and I couldn’t hear for myself.”

  Tenn grinned, completely unfazed by my comment. “Hey, everyone wanted me to be Leader.”

  I rolled my eyes, but a smile pulled at my lips. “I didn’t vote you in. I was still in handcuffs.”

  “I didn’t vote for me either.”

  Easton threw his hand up in the air. “Oh, Tenn, after we kill Joseph, can you put me and Lily in time-out?”

  “So you can get her pregnant?” Tenn shook his head. “Nope. Definitely not.”

  Lily narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend. “I will cut it off if you even think of getting me pregnant.”

  Hunter snapped his fingers then pointed to Tenn. “What she said.”

  Tegan shuddered and gagged. “Ew. Children. Hard pass.”

  Tenn pointed to his soulmate with a pained-looking frown. “What she said.”

  “Good. We all agree on that.” Cooper put two thumbs up. “Nobody wants kids.”

  “I do. I love children,” Emersyn said with a sweet grin.

  Deacon leapt away from her and threw his hands up. “I haven’t touched her.”

  Everyone threw their heads back and laughed.

  “Who would’ve thought the Devil would be the most behaved of your daughters’ boyfriends?” Devon wagged her eyebrows.

  Hunter frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. “Jackson’s a stand-up guy. I can rely on him.”

  I grinned so wide my jaw popped. I always considered Hunter a second father, but it was nice to hear that feeling was mutual. Not that I didn’t love my own parents, but the Bishops had always been family to me.

  And then their words clicked. Jackson. Daughters’ boyfriends.

  Because Jackson is my soulmate.

  My cheeks warmed, and I prayed no one was loo
king at me.

  “So, anyways, about Lonan…” Chutney cleared her throat and scooted closer to the flames. “He said there’s a spot, a single spot, in the Old Lands that demons can sneak through. Albeit not easily or frequently.”

  That warm, fuzzy feeling inside me vanished. “What?”

  Chutney nodded. “I know. Apparently Joseph found this spot and has been helping demons get through.”

  “He also said after Bettina’s ice show Joseph went nuts and went straight for this spot. Lonan is pretty convinced we’ll have demons on our doorstep soon.” Tegan sighed and gripped the crystal necklace hanging around her neck—the one that was actually the Book of Shadows. “I’ll have to do some research on this spot, see what we can do to close it.”

  “Same.” Bentley nodded, but his gaze was on his Hierophant’s locket. “There’s some comments in here about it, but I’ll need to sort through them.”

  Tenn leaned against the wall behind Tegan. “I told Lonan not to engage. There’s no way he can take on Joseph’s creepers all by himself, and I don’t want to endanger him.”

  I exhaled. “I don’t either but…damn. Is there nothing to be done in the meantime?”