“Oh my goddess I broke it,” I whispered, knowing I was going to be in so much trouble. “Mom–I’m sorry. I really didn’t-“
Light flared around the card, burning the vision into my mind before I could slam my eyes shut. A few moments later, the shocked cry coming from my aunt had me whirling in her direction.
Surprise rendered me dumb when my eyes landed on the woman on my couch. She hadn’t been there moments ago, and though I didn’t speak, I was just as nonplussed as my aunt. Had I done this? I watched wings form around the pale skinned woman, her face obscured by both those and the feathered headdress that seemed to be a part of her.
“Goddess bless,” Aunt Helene stepped closer, lips parted in amazement. “I’ll be damned. My niece. A summoner. Shit.” It was as if she didn’t know what to say.
That was fair. I didn’t either.
My mother looked between me and the woman on the couch as if in a daze, and didn’t speak right away.
“I don’t believe it,” Mom announced suddenly, falling back onto the uncomfortable reading chair behind her. “My daughter. A summoner.”
Chapter 1
It was a bitch to have no idea where I was or where I should be going.
Was there a better way to find Aveline than walking around in the dark? Probably. Was I wandering around the city of New Orleans like a tourist? Absolutely.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t really stop to ask someone if they’d seen an elemental witch being dragged around by a coven of angry women.
Or, I supposed I could, but I wasn’t sure I’d quite get the response I was hoping for.
And I needed to find my cousin Aveline now.
Aveline had been born unusual in our family as well, though she wasn’t a summoner like me. While once the Levasseur family could only seem to birth hedge witches after my great-great-grandmother, the last summoner of our family died, now both Aveline and I both were proof that the dry spell was over. Aveline’s elemental powers had awoken around the time I’d first summoned The Chariot into my living room eight years ago.
But something was wrong. A frantic message from Aveline had me throwing all my shit into my silver RAV4. Luckily, most of what I needed was still packed nice and neat, since I’d just moved out of my dorm room. I’d called Mom to let her know where I was going, so she hopefully wouldn’t worry. I’d also asked her not to tell my Aunt Delphine about the message.
Not yet, at least. She would freak out if she knew Aveline was missing, and I didn’t need that extra stress in my life right now.
Help me. New Orleans Coven won’t let me leave. Sombre Oak.
Hopefully, Aveline had just been drunk and messing with her magic. She’d sent me weird messages before that caused my candles to light up and notes to write themselves, but usually they were the ramblings of an intoxicated twenty-five year old, not the clear cut message I got this morning that continued to play over and over in my head.
I’d gotten the New Orleans part and had broken as many speed laws as was feasible, which had put me in the city just after full dark. Now I was wandering around by foot, with only the vaguest idea of where I should be based on the small tug of Aveline’s magic that I could feel like a string wrapped around my ribs.
I stopped, running my fingers through my long blonde and pink hair as I sighed in exhaustion. Me being this tired wasn’t helpful, but I couldn’t just stop looking and take a nap.
“Excuse me,” I looked up from my staring contest with the sidewalk, surprised to see a strikingly attractive man trying to pass me on the walkway
“Sorry.” Ingrained politeness won out over my anxiety and I stepped off of the sidewalk into the lush grass at my left. Two other men followed the first, who was only slightly taller than me and with blonde hair only a shade more golden.
One of the men behind him, his skin dark olive and his green eyes wicked, gave me a curling grin but didn’t slow down.
They obviously knew where they were headed by the way they strode confidently along the street.
Unlike me.
“Excuse me!” my common sense lost the battle with my urgency as I called out.
The last man, who trailed the beautiful blonde and his Cheshire Cat of a companion, turned to look at me with amber-orange eyes framed with long lashes. I’d thought his skin was the same tone as his smirking friend, but now I saw that he was darker complected, with a full mouth made for smiling.
“Can you help me?” I called, seeing that they had not stopped.
“We’re in a bit of a hurry,” the blonde called, not even glancing in my direction. Rude.
“Yeah. me too. I’m just–I’m looking for Sombre Oak.’”
Now they did stop.
“Can you just-could you just tell me what that is?” I stammered.
The orange-eyed man sniffed the air delicately in my direction. Incredibly rude. I’d figured him for something other than human, as no human I’d ever met had eyes that looked like dull, orange flames.
“She’s a witch,” he murmured quietly, looking at the blonde.
“You’re new here,” the blonde turned to me finally, an easy smile on his features and his red eyes jewel-bright.
Like a vampire’s.
I looked away immediately, chastising myself for picking the worst group for directions. “It’s fine. I’ll find it on my own-“
“We’re going there,” the still-grinning one in the middle spoke with an accent that I couldn’t begin to place. “You’re a witch; I know why you’re going. Sad that they’re bringing so much new blood for this.” He glanced at the blonde, who still watched me. “la nahtaj hdha.” The blonde didn’t respond, and he nudged his arm. “Cian?”
“Enough, Akiva. Come
