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

  Chutney pulled her hair to the side and began braiding it. “He’s gonna have some of the Old Lands animals try to intervene and block it, without being obvious that we sent them. The animals want Joseph gone, too. Lonan is also going to send messages to us through the animals—or to me—so we might have a little warning before an attack.”

  My eyes widened. “Right. That would be lovely.”

  Henley sat down next to Tegan and plucked the wooden chest off her lap. “Can someone explain this? I mean, we caught Trey digging it out from the ground. What is it?”

  “Wait, I thought Trey got that back?” Royce scratched his head. “I saw him snatch it from Bettina.”

  Everyone looked to me.

  I shrugged. “Tegan made a decoy, so I took that and ran. Trey knew I had it, and he never suspected a thing. So, he has the decoy, and he may or may not realize that yet. But I have no idea what it is.”

  Everyone turned to Tegan.

  She shook her head. “Neither do I.”

  “Nope. Nah. I don’t like that answer,” Deacon grumbled and shook his head. “If you have a secret scheme you don’t want to tell us, just tell us that at least.”

  “Agreed,” everyone said.

  Tegan grimaced. “From now on, I will do my best to let you know when I’m planning something…but this isn’t one of those moments. I have no idea what this is. The box is empty. There’s not a single ounce of magic in it, so it’s not like it was transformed into this.”

  I sighed. “Is it a clue?”

  Tegan shrugged. “I don’t know yet. But Trey thought this was something. Something important enough to start that fight tonight.”

  Devon jumped upright and frowned. “Excuse me.” Then she sprinted out the front door.

  Kessler and Hunter took off after her.

  “Why don’t you all take a good look at this box, see if you see a clue I’m missing.” Tegan stood and stretched her arms. “I’m gonna go portal Jackson back now.”

  I gasped. My heart fluttered, and butterflies danced in my stomach.

  The front door flew open, and Devon raced back inside. Her eyes were wide. “One of Bettina’s ice people just thawed out. He says he comes in peace.”

  Chapter Four

  Bettina

  We all rushed out the door and followed Devon across the lawn to where Hunter and Kessler stood. My stomach turned. I couldn’t imagine what this guy must’ve felt with these two massive men looming over him with their swords drawn and the tips of the blades an inch from his throat.

  The guy’s eyes widened as we approached, and then his body flickered to shadow. He grunted and shook his head, and then he was corporeal again. His gaze swept over us and then landed on Tennessee. He narrowed his eyes and looked down, then his head snapped up.

  He nodded once. “Emperor, are you Coven Leader?”

  Tenn stopped in front of him and crossed his arms over his chest. “I am. Who are you, and why should we believe that you come in peace?”

  “My name is Ellis Heath.”

  “Heath?” Constance frowned. “Why do I know that name?”

  Ellis gave a small smile. “You may remember my parents, John and Rebecca Heath.”

  The adults all gasped.

  Tennessee narrowed his eyes. “That makes you the nephew of—”

  “Julian Calloway, the former Emperor.” Ellis nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  I moved to stand right behind Tenn and glanced over his shoulder. The guy in question had broad shoulders and long hair that was only slightly wilder than Tennessee’s. He had bushier eyebrows and a scruffy, hipster-looking short beard. I frowned. He looked familiar. I’d definitely seen his face before.

  Then it hit me. I gasped. “You’re one of the people we hit with that potion the other night.”

  The guy smiled and nodded. “I am. Trey told Joseph what you were trying to do. I am sorry it did not work.”

  Light flashed in front of Tenn, and then Michael’s six-foot-long sword was in his grip. He cocked his head to the side. “Did Trey also tell you what this is?”

  He eyed the glowing heavenly blade. “The Archangel Michael’s sword, sir.”

  “Why do you keep calling me sir?”

  Ellis’s cheeks flushed, and then he faded back into shadow. He cursed and shook his body, and then he was corporeal again. “You are my Coven Leader, are you not? My parents told me to respect you and mind my manners when I met you.”

  Tenn glared and his power radiated out of him enough to blow Ellis’s hair back. “Interesting choice of words from a man who’s killed innocent people.” His voice was barely more than a growl.

  Ellis’s amber eyes widened. He swallowed and his muscles tensed. He glanced down at the two swords grazing his throat, then back to Tenn. “I swear, I have not taken the life of any living creature.”

  Tenn sighed and slammed the tip of Michael’s sword into the dirt, and the ground rumbled. “Again, why should we believe that you come in peace? And I don’t suggest deflecting.”

  “I don’t mean to deflect.”

  Tegan, who was on the other side of Tenn, reached up and gripped her soulmate’s shoulder. She narrowed her eyes on Ellis and cocked her head to the side. Ellis, I’m sensing a hesitation to speak your truth. Is this correct? she said into our minds.

  Ellis stood up straight. He nodded once. “I am having a hard time keeping myself…together.”

  Tegan pursed her lips. Is this because you do not want to be heard by ears we cannot see?

  Ellis sighed. “If you give me a moment to regroup my energy.”

  Tenn growled. “Bring him inside by the fire.”

  Hunter and Kessler lowered their swords enough to let Ellis stand. The guy might have had big shoulders, but he was shorter and thinner than I expected. He looked like he’d skipped a few too many meals. Like a Great Dane puppy that hadn’t grown into his limbs yet.

  We stepped aside and let them escort Ellis across the lawn and through the front doors with an army of Devon surrounding them.

  “How you want to handle this, boss?” Royce asked.

  “Just be ready,” Tenn said then followed after them.

  My Coven-mates shrugged then hurried after, leaving me alone in the field. I glanced left and right, but my other frozen victims were still solid ice. It was eerie out here, knowing these ice figures were actual living people inside. I didn’t like to think they were suffering. I was going to have to ask Tenn to let me try and thaw them out.

  Bettina, for the love of Rivendell, Tegan said into my mind.

  There was a flash of light, and then I was on the front stoop beside her.

  She shook her head. “Don’t make me put a leash on you, woman.”

  “Sorry.” I grimaced then followed her through the doors.

  Inside, they had Ellis sitting on the hardwood floor against the far wall. My entire Coven stood in front of him like a firing squad. The amount of magic coursing through this small area was enough to make the hair on my arms stand tall.

  Emersyn’s bonfire roared as I walked around it.

  Tegan wiggled her fingers, and rainbow magic spilled from her hands then disappeared into the air. She strolled up to stand beside Tenn. “There’s a cloaking spell up. You are free to speak.”

  “Start talking, Ellis,” Tenn grumbled.

  Ellis nodded and took a deep breath. “Like I said, I have not hurt anyone. I am as innocent as I can be in this situation. I don’t want to be on Joseph’s team, but he is the only thing that keeps us alive and I am selfish enough to want to live.”

  “What does that mean exactly?” Tenn leaned against Michael’s sword. “And how old are you?”

  “I’m sixteen years old.” Ellis sighed. “I was only four when this all happened, the day Ruth and Micah did their spell that turned us into…into…monsters. I don’t really remember much from that day, just images of sorts. But my parents, who are still as alive as I am, have told me all about it. My mother and Ruth were good friends,
since Ruth used to date my uncle growing up. My mother was also good friends with Timothy, Ruth’s older brother.”

  My heart sank.

  Ellis lowered his eyes. “I am sorry about what happened to Timothy. I was there, but I did not expect Joseph to attack like that. He’d never done anything like it before.”

  “What were you doing at the Gathering site that day?” Kessler said softly but with sharp eyes. “Your mother was so protective of you.”

  “Apparently my mother was working that day, so I was with my father…and my father had taken me with him, not understanding what they were trying to do. I’m told that Timothy called my mother and asked her to try and stop Ruth, as she was closer than he was.” Ellis shuddered and his body flickered to shadow, then back again. “I do remember the look on my mother’s face when she saw my father and me there. She tried to stop Ruth, but it was too late.”

  Constance put her hand to her chest. “We went to your funeral, you know.”

  Ellis frowned. “So you really didn’t know we were alive still?”

  Everyone shook their heads.

  Ellis blinked and his eyes seemed to stare into the distance. “I wish Joseph knew that.”

  Tenn eyed him carefully. “We did not know you all lived, and we still don’t know how you’re still living.”

  “I don’t quite understand the how of it myself, but we have to steal energy and magic from other living creatures in order to become corporeal. In order to live. But we don’t have to kill anyone to do that, or at least, that’s what some of us say.”

  “Some of us?”

  Ellis grimaced. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Not all of us want to be at war with you. My parents and myself, along with some others… We’ve tried to break free from him, but we can’t. We don’t have the strength. But we are not on his side. We simply cannot physically leave his side.”

  Tenn sighed. “I don’t know how you expect us to believe this story.”

  “You have a Card that can sense the truth. My mother told me. Get him, have him see I’m not lying. I want to help you kill joseph. I want to help you save all of us, who like me, want nothing but our lives back and this spell reversed.”

  Tegan narrowed her eyes. “How do you know that Card is a he?”

  Ellis glanced around. “My mother said it was a woman named Evaline May, but Trey informed Joseph that there was a new Card in her place. A guy, a British guy named Jackson Lancaster.”

  Tenn and Tegan exchanged glances.

  Ellis leaned forward. “Please. Is he here? If so, he can see the truth in my words.”

  Tenn stared at him for a moment. “Jackson is not here at the moment, and I don’t know if we can trust you enough to keep you around until he is. You can’t even stay corporeal while talking. You could slip away and back to Joseph or hurt one of us—”

  “Please.” Ellis raised his hands in the air. “Please. I beg you. I am telling you the truth. Throw me in your dungeon, chain me down. Anything. I just want to be free of this. I want Joseph dead as much as you do. I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

  Tenn shook his head.

  Ellis gasped. “I can tell you how to force us to be corporeal,” he said in a rush.

  Everyone froze then glanced at each other. This was a huge piece of information. If we knew how to do that, our fight against Joseph would be much easier. I wanted to ask him myself, but I knew better than to overstep Tenn’s leadership.

  Finally, after a long moment, Tenn’s shoulders dropped. “Okay, Ellis. How?”

  Ellis’s cheeks flushed with excitement. “All right, my mother told me to tell you to have the Empress, Emperor, and High Priestess combine fire, water, and earth—”

  “Why those three?” Emersyn scowled. “Why us three?”

  “Because they are air and spirit. Together, that would combine the five elements.” Tegan moved closer to Ellis then leaned down. “And us three because we’re the strongest elemental powers.”

  “Hold on,” I said, and everyone turned to me. “How the hell did you thaw yourself out, but the others are still frozen out there?”

  Tenn raised both eyebrows. “Shit. What she asked.”

  Ellis smiled. “That potion you threw on me the other night. Of those of us you froze, I was the only one who got that potion. Ever since then, it’s been a lot easier for me to stay…corporeal, as you called it.”

  “I knew it should have worked. We were just missing something.” Tegan rubbed her hands together. “All right, Tenn, you’re the boss. You want us to try his trick or toss him in the flames?”

  Ellis’s eyes widened. “Please. No.”

  Tenn flexed his hand, and Michael’s sword vanished. “Tegan and Em, come up here. Everyone else, back away.”

  Em moved to his side. She rolled her wrists. “I’ve got the fire.”

  The front door behind us flew open and slammed into the wall. A wave of dirt rushed across the room and to Tenn’s hand. “I’ve got earth. Tegan?”

  She backed up to stand between her soulmate and twin. Then she lifted her hands, and two balls of water rolled between her fingers. The water balls floated into the air then joined together to make one. “Add your fire and earth to mine.”

  Without hesitation, they threw their elements into her water ball. It flashed with light. All three of their bodies glowed like a full moon. The rest of us watched in riveted silence. But my magic coiled in my hands just in case.

  Ellis took a deep breath, and he slipped into shadow form. Only his amber eyes shone.

  Tegan, Tenn, and Emersyn threw their arms forward, and the orb of their elements slammed right into Ellis’s chest. He gasped and staggered back into the wall. The second the magic hit him, the shadow turned solid and he was corporeal again. Ellis grinned and patted his body. My breath left me in a rush.

  “It worked.” I smiled.

  “Yeah, it did,” Tenn said with intrigue in his voice. He looked to the twins then back to Ellis. Then he turned to me. “You think you can thaw the others out so we can test this?”

  I licked my lips and nodded. “Definitely.”

  Chapter Five

  Bettina

  Tenn touched the golden bands on his arm, and Michael’s sword appeared out of thin air. He gripped the hilt and held it like it weighed no more than a feather. He walked up to the first of two dozen frozen men, then glanced back at the rest of us. “Ellis, none of these guys are good ones?”

  Ellis, who was knelt on the ground with Kessler holding him down, shook his head. “Nah, the rest of our good guys stay back. These are nothing but murderers.”

  Tenn pursed his lips and nodded. “Okay. I want most of you to stay back, but be ready just in case. Em, give me a ring of fire around us. Let’s make it hard for them. Babe, we’ll throw you our magic, and you hit ‘em with it, okay?”

  Tegan rolled her wrists. “Ready.”

  “As soon as Bettina thaws them, you hit ‘em. I want to see if they attack first or surrender.” Tenn glared at the ice. “If they attack—”

  “You’re gonna be all kinds of not human, right, boss?” Royce said with a chuckle.

  Tenn glanced over his shoulder and grinned. “Damn right.”

  “Yesssss,” Royce whispered and hopped up and down.

  “All right, Bettina, melt ‘em.”

  I opened my mouth then shut it. Shit. Now that I was out here and ready to do this, I wasn’t exactly sure how. I wasn’t even sure how I froze them in the first place. I knew how to summon my ice from inside me and throw it out, but I hadn’t ever tried to pull ice back. At least not off living people.

  You can do this. You’ve pulled ice back before. Should be the same, right?

  Raw, hot energy slammed into my side. I glanced up just as Tenn strolled over to me.

  He ducked to meet my eyes. “You all right?”

  I nodded. Then shook my head. “Just trying to, ya’ know, figure out how to do this. Off people.”

  He smiled an
d moved closer. “It’s the same as pulling it off non-living things. Just push your magic out until you feel your own power. Grab ahold of it with your mind, then pull it back.”

  “What if it hurts them?”

  Tenn shrugged. “Let’s be honest, I’m most likely about to have to kill them anyway. Don’t worry about them. They’re not worthy of your concern.”

  I nodded and rubbed my hands together. “Right. Got it. Just be ready, okay?”

  He smirked and dirt rose up off the ground all around him. It hovered by our hips then floated over to Tegan, all without Tenn even moving. I exhaled and shook my head. The guy had a scary amount of power, but he said I did, too. After all, I’d done this.

  I braced myself and held my hands up. Tegan summoned a giant orb of rushing water from her hands. Orange flames shot over to it and sank between the waves splashing around. The dirt soared into it then disappeared. The three of them began to glow, and their magic brushed over me. Tegan looked over her shoulder at me then nodded.

  Okay. Showtime.

  I closed my eyes and pushed my magic out of me. Cold energy tingled against my fingertips. Adrenaline rushed through my veins. I felt little sparks out in front of me. Though my eyes were closed, I saw each and every one of my frozen victims like stars in the black sky. I took a deep breath then forced my magic to tighten on each of those spots. Then I opened my eyes.

  Tenn was watching me.

  I nodded.

  He swung Michael’s sword around in his hand and turned his attention to the frozen people. I took a deep breath then flexed my fingers out wide. I pulled my magic toward me. At first, it felt like playing tug-of-war with Kessler. But I dug my heels in and pulled harder. My arms trembled. The ice began to shake and crumble. Massive cracks spread through the ice sculptures. I growled deep in my throat and curled my fingers in.

  Ice chipped off of the top of their heads. Strands of hair poked out in the darkness. I gasped and a rush of energy spread through me. I gritted my teeth and pulled my arms back to my sides. The ice fell from the victims like an avalanche. Inch by inch, my magic dropped from their bodies in a landslide.