The Empire Witch Read online

  The back of our SUV opened. We gasped and spun around – but it was just Deacon and Aunt Heather. They reached in and grabbed us by the arms, yanking us out. I tried to look around at what was happening but they dragged us away until we were behind the big brown dragon.

  “Koth wants the kill,” the witch with brown curly hair shouted from the back of the white dragon.

  I didn’t know who she was, but she had a black 0 on her left arm – a Mark of The Coven. I peeked around the huge tail of the brown dragon to watch.

  Tennessee pulled out a glowing sword that was as tall as he was, the thing was so bright it hurt my eyes. “Just leave me one to test something,” he shouted back.

  Deacon grabbed me by the shoulders and yanked me back behind the dragon, then held me in place. Aunt Heather held Landy next to me. I started to try and fight his hold when red mist wrapped around me.

  I want to stay back here.

  I didn’t want that, but I knew Deacon’s magic was too strong to try and fight.

  Koth flew over our heads, but he blended into the night sky. Only the full moon highlighting his scales made him visible. And the fire pouring from his mouth. I heard screaming all around and I knew from the accents it was from the Duenill.

  Deacon shuddered. “Damn, he’s brutal. I love it.”

  I must’ve made a face, because he released his hold on me. I jumped up and looked around the brown dragon just as Koth took one of the Duenill into his mouth. The guy swung his arms and legs like he had a chance against the monster-sized teeth holding him down. Koth flew over and dropped the guy at Tennessee’s feet.

  Tennessee slammed his glowing sword into the ground in front of the Duenill’s face. Black smoke billowed from the ground. Tennessee cursed and sliced his glowing blade right through the guy’s body. The guy didn’t even have time to scream, his body melted away in a flash.

  Oh my Goddess.

  “Goddess, I love when he does that,” Deacon whispered.

  “Deacon,” Aunt Heather hissed.

  I looked around and found not a single Duenill standing. They’d killed them all.

  In a matter of seconds.

  “He wants to know what that means,” the Coven girl shouted as the white dragon flew over to Tennessee.

  “Who is that girl?” I heard myself ask.

  “Chutney Burroughs. Fool Card,” Deacon answered without taking his eyes off Tennessee. “Speaks to animals.”

  Tennessee shook his head, his face looked grim and terrifying as hell. “Lilith has infiltrated your enemy.”

  Koth and Silas shifted back to human form faster than I could blink.

  Koth looked down at the ground where the guy had been melted. “I won’t pretend to know how to handle this. She’s outside of our knowledge.”

  Tegan nodded and rainbow mist left her hands. “She’s in our wheelhouse. Tenn?”

  Tenn cursed. “Koth…you better get back to Issale, you have to assume she knows we’re helping you now and she won’t like that. Retaliation could be swift. Let us get them back to New York and update our Coven about this, then Tegan and I will come to Issale and make sure you’re as protected as possible.”

  “We need to update the civilians, let them know the danger threat is heightened,” Silas growled with his arms crossed over his chest,

  “Handle that.” Koth pushed his long hair off his face. “But don’t let Lilith be mentioned outside of this group. I will inform Elan, if he doesn’t already know.”

  Everyone else nodded.

  Then Koth turned to us…and his violet eyes glared at Landy. “And you.”

  Landy gasped and tears pooled in her eyes. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I know, it was stupid. I messed up. I’m sorry I ran away, please don’t send me back there. I just want to go home. Can I please go home?”

  Koth kneeled in front of her and sighed. “Landy, of course you can go home. Your parents may think SOMA is a good place for you, but it is not a requirement by me. If you don’t want to be there, then you don’t have to be. But you should have just told me, I would have brought you home with me after the ball.”

  Landy gasped. “Really?”

  Koth winked. “We’re family, kiddo. We’ve got to stick together. Come on, let’s get home.” Then he turned to The Coven members standing behind him. “Thank you for your help.”

  Tenn nodded and shook his hand. “That’s what friends are for. Go on and get home, we’ll clean this up. We’ll be in Issale before sunrise.”

  Chapter Six

  Emersyn

  Tegan portaled us into the hallway right outside the Yule Ball, that was still going strong.

  Heather immediately turned on Amelia. “YOU.”

  Amelia paled and her eyes widened.

  But then Heather just sighed and shook her head. “Go back inside and play with your friends, but we’re going to have a long, long chat about this later.”

  “Okay,” Amelia said softly and nodded. She walked to the door to the dance, then glanced over her shoulder. “I really am sorry, everyone. But thank you for saving us.”

  Tennessee nodded his head once. “That’s our job, kiddo.”

  “But please don’t make us do it again tonight?” I smiled to soften the blow.

  She smiled then skipped back inside the dance.

  “Are you letting her have her sleepover tonight?” Deacon asked through clenched teeth.

  “I don’t know.” Heather squeezed her temples and closed her eyes. “I don’t want her to be rewarded for her behavior – or not punished. Then again, I can’t be too hard on her for trying to save her friend. I don’t know. Parenting is hard.”

  “I have a pretty solid grounding spell I used to use on Tegan every time she pulled a stunt,” my father said from behind us. He leaned against the door frame with a sideways grin. “Or at least every time she got caught.”

  Tegan’s jaw dropped. “You used magic on me?”

  His grin widened. “Have you met you?”

  Tegan chuckled. “That’s awesome.”

  I shook my head. “You’re such a weirdo.”

  Dad pushed off the wall and glanced inside the dance, he nodded toward us then strolled over. Before I could ask who he was talking to, the rest of our Coven-mates stepped into the hallway behind him. Along with Timothy, Katherine, Paulina, Mona, Daniel, Lennox, and Warner. They were like our honorary Coven members and I loved it.

  Bettina had her arm wrapped around her uncle’s and she kept peeking up at him and smiling. Now that her hair was black, I could see the family resemblance between them. I glanced over at Tenn and that menacing edge to his face softened at the sight of them.

  They all stopped in front of us and stared with expectant eyes and a little frustration.

  Heather glanced back and forth, then cleared her throat. “I think I’ll go speak with my husband about Amelia. Thanks for your assistance tonight.”

  Tennessee nodded. “Of course, happy to help.”

  Heather smiled, then turned and headed toward the dance. She stopped in front of my father. “And…I’d love to hear more about this grounding spell when you have a moment.”

  My father laughed and nodded. “I’ll find you in a bit.”

  As Heather disappeared back into the dance, I looked to my mother. “Did you ever use that on me?”

  “You? No.” She pursed her lips. “But once I did use a spell to inspire you to sneak out of the house past curfew.”

  Tegan threw her head back and cackled.

  Bettina snorted.

  I glanced up at Deacon expecting to find him chuckling, but his eyes were locked on the floor. His face was pale and tight. My heart sank for him. I tangled my fingers with his and I squeezed tight. I was worried about him. He’d been uncharacteristically quiet since he got Amelia’s text. I knew he was trying to pretend like nothing had happened, like his little cousin hadn’t almost been killed, but he was shaken up.

  “Soooo….” Royce pointed to Bentley. “He only told us y
ou left, not where you went or why.”

  Jackson arched one eyebrow. “Shocking, I know.”

  Bettina rolled her eyes at her soulmate, then turned to her brother. “What’s going on, Haven? Tegan?”

  Tenn glanced around then shook his head. “Well—”

  “Hello everyone!” Headmaster Muller’s voice rang through the speakers. “It’s time to announce the new Shifter Majors, voted by their peers.”

  Tenn sighed. “After.”

  Crap. We need to be up there for this. I grabbed D’s arm then dragged him inside the ballroom. Up ahead on the stage, Headmaster Muller stood at the microphone with Noah and Caroline standing behind her.

  We hurried through the crowd when suddenly white light flashed in front of us. Air hit my back and then we were sucked into the light. A second later, Deacon and I were up on the stage. I looked toward the back for my sister. She winked.

  “Oh, perfect timing. Empress, would you like to do the honors?” Headmaster Muller smiled back at me. She held a white folded piece of paper out to me.

  I forced a smile and took the paper from her, then stepped up to the microphone. The crowd was quiet and all of their eyes were on me. It made my skin crawl and I just wanted to get this over with.

  “All right, let’s see who you’ve picked.” I took a deep breath and opened the folded paper. The two names written were no surprise to me. I smiled. “Your new Shifter Majors are Marcy Marino and Christian Harbor. Come on up so everyone knows who you are.”

  The crowd erupted with cheers and hoots and hollers. Marcy and Christian – who were standing next to each other on the dance floor – gasped. Like they somehow hadn’t foreseen this happening. Marcy stared at the stage with wide eyes, but Christian grinned and clapped his hands. He started for the stage, then noticed Marcy was still frozen in place. He laughed and wrapped his arm around her waist and lifted her off her feet. Everyone burst into laughter.

  Meet me in the hallway after this, Tegan told us telepathically.

  As the newly elected school Majors climbed the steps to the stage, I watched my Coven-mates slowly slip out the front doors unnoticed. Marcy and Christian jumped up on the stage and waved to everyone. They both said a quick thank you into the microphone, but I wasn’t really listening. I knew the moment I met Marcy at lunch that she’d end up Major. And Chris was class president and captain of three different sports teams at our old school – he was a natural leader. I just wanted to meet with my Coven-mates and tell them what had happened.

  Deacon stepped up to the microphone. “All right, all right! Congrats to Marcy and Christian on joining Noah and Caroline as SOMA Majors! Now, the winter solstice is the longest night of the year which means this better damn well be the longest party.”

  The crowd went nuts.

  Deacon grinned and waved as he backed away. When he turned, he took my hand and led me toward the stairs. Then he gestured for the four Majors to follow us. They followed without hesitation or concern.

  When we got off the stage, Deacon pulled us all to the side. He smiled, even though I knew he was not feeling it. “Marcy and Christian, congrats on winning the vote.”

  Marcy blushed. “Thank you.”

  “Yeah, that’s pretty cool.” Christian grinned. “But what do we have to do?”

  “That’s why I pulled you aside just now.” Deacon turned to his childhood friends. “Noah and Caroline here are the other two school Majors. Guys, can you help them adjust to their new position and show them the ropes?”

  Noah nodded and held two thumbs up. “We’re already bros.”

  Caroline shook her head. “That means yes. We’d love to.”

  I chuckled. I was about to say goodbye, when tonight’s situation flashed through my mind. “And just a side note, going forward, I want to make sure all of our students know they don’t have to be here. If they decide they want to return home, they can at any time. Just tell them to let the school know and we’ll arrange for their safe return.”

  Deacon squeezed my hand.

  The four Majors nodded.

  “Great.” I smiled. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have something to tend to.”

  They waved as we turned and headed for the door. When we finally made it to the hallway, the rest of our gang was already waiting. Tegan scanned the group, then white light flashed all around us.

  And then we were back on the snow-covered roof.

  “All right, spill,” Timothy said with his rough voice.

  As Tenn and Tegan relayed what had happened in vivid detail, I felt Deacon’s mood darken more and more. He wasn’t going to talk about it in front of everyone, so I was going to have to try when we got home. He needed to stop beating himself up about this. It had been avoidable, yes, but it was over.

  “Bloody hell.” Jackson shook his head. “I was not expecting that.”

  “He ripped the car roof off with his teeth?” Easton whistled. “Damn, I woulda loved to see that.”

  Lily rolled her eyes. “Focus, loverboy.”

  “Not that I don’t believe you…” Cooper frowned. “But you’re sure Lilith is involved?”

  “Yes,” Tegan answered immediately. “Not as much as with Joseph, but I suspect that will change in the near future. Something we need to keep a close eye on.”

  Henley shuddered. “They’re not equipped for that battle. She’s painting with new colors this time around.”

  Braison raised his hand. “So what do we do now? Is there anything we can do for them?”

  “There are spells that can be done—”

  “And I plan on doing them,” Tegan cut Henley off. “But I wanted to discuss it in detail with y’all first.”

  Tenn rolled his neck. “Obviously, we had to return here to talk to you all, but we sent the dragons back to Issale. Tegan and I are going there before sunrise to do whatever we can to protect them.”

  Bentley cleared his throat and gripped his Hierophant’s locket. “May I come with you? I’d like to talk to the Shaman.”

  “Yeah, I’m definitely coming so don’t even think about leaving without me.” Chutney crossed her arms over her chest and held her chin high.

  Tennessee smirked. “I love when you guys demand to do things I thought I was gonna have to make you do. Makes my job so much easier.”

  Constance grinned. “I like that you’re in charge now and I don’t have to make these decisions. I’ve been sleeping so much better.”

  Everyone laughed.

  But then our laughter died off as everyone seemed to realize at the same time that Timothy used to be Coven Leader. We all must’ve been making faces because Timothy shook his head.

  “Y’all are cute when you’re flustered.” He laughed. “I couldn’t wait until he took over.”

  “What?” Royce screeched.

  Timothy winked at Tenn. “Doing great, son. Right Kessler?”

  Kessler smiled and wrapped his arm around Mona’s shoulders. “Fantastic job. I also have a lot less work and thinking to do. All around a win-win.”

  Tennessee scowled and pointed at himself. “Yeah. This is the face of a winner.”

  Jackson raised his hand and cleared his throat. “So…what do we do now? I know where you lot are headed, but what do you want of us?”

  Tenn sighed and put his hands on his hips. “It’s Christmas. Go home. Spend time with your family, because I have a feeling we’re headed right back into trouble. Relax while you can, keep your phones on you just in case. Call me on the twenty-sixth and we’ll regroup.”

  “Right, because I can relax now.”

  Tenn grimaced. “Keep your eyes open and let me know if you see anything off. Lilith is out there and she will try to get at us any way she can.”

  Chapter Seven

  Emersyn

  I’d known Deacon was in a dark place, but as I stood there unzipping my own dress without a single offer from him to help I knew we were in trouble. Deacon respected me, however he was flirty as hell. Normally. But right now,
he was lying in his bed staring right past me.

  I kicked my boots off, then slid my sequin dress down my body until I stood there in only my lacey underwear at the foot of the bed.

  Still nothing.

  I reached out and pulled his shoes off…then peeled both socks off his feet. When he didn’t react in any way shape or form, I walked to the side of the bed and unbuckled his belt. When he still didn’t react, I yanked his belt off of him then tossed it on the floor.

  Nothing.

  The goal wasn’t to actually use my body to make him feel better, just to test the level of his current awareness. Which he failed miserably. My chest tightened. He was hurting and I didn’t know what to do for him. I walked into the closet and grabbed one of his soft t-shirts and slipped it on. If I’d thought he’d move while I was in there, I would’ve been wrong. He hadn’t.

  I went back to the bed and climbed in behind him. His body dipped with the bed but he didn’t move otherwise. I slid under the blankets and curled myself around him, clinging to his back like a spider monkey. His body was warm and cozy, like a heated blanket. For a few minutes, I lay there in silence just holding him.

  But if I didn’t get him talking now, he’d be a mess all weekend – if not longer.

  I put my hand on his shoulder and shook him gently. “Deacon?”

  “Hmmm?” he mumbled back much quicker than I thought he would.

  This is a good sign.

  “Hey you.” I rubbed my hand up and down his arm. “Talk to me.”

  He took a deep breath then exhaled long and slow. “I’m okay.”

  “Really?” I rested my chin on his shoulder. “Because I just undressed in front of you, then stood there in only my underwear—”

  He jumped into a seated position with a scowl. Then he glanced around the room – to where our shoes and my dress lay on the floor – then he looked down at me. He stared at my body, covered in his shirt, for a second then groaned and threw himself on top of me. He buried his face in my chest. “Dammmmit.”