by A. J. Macey
Shaking and spent, she collapsed back against the magical bed of grass, her breath coming out in pants as she came down from her climax.
“So beautiful, my Muse,” I husked, leaning down to kiss her softly as I lined myself up at her entrance, pushing inside in one smooth thrust. She felt amazing around me, her wet heat tight as I set a slow and sensual pace. I wanted her to know how much I loved and appreciated her, and from the blissed-out look on her face, I would say I'd hit my mark.
With each thrust, I whispered sweet words. How gorgeous her smile was. How much her laughter brightened my day. How proud I was of her. The list went on as she smiled up at me, my fingers dancing over her cheeks as I thrust one last time, my orgasm hitting me with a force that left me breathless and shaking as I pumped my release into her, marking her as mine. Collapsing next to her, I pulled her into my arms and held her close. After today, I felt closer to her than ever before.
“I love you, Picasso,” she said, her hands tracing over my jawline, the blissed-out smile on her face telling me she felt the shift in our relationship as well.
“I love you always, my Muse,” I promised, kissing her back. Out of all the artwork we’d seen today, she was still the most beautiful masterpiece I’d ever seen.
“Let’s go check that map over there and see what else we can go see!” Aris exclaimed, her steps nearly a skip as we started toward the large map secured behind a sheet of glass.
Today was only half over, and I had already started considering it one of my favorite days of all time. The fact Aris planned this trip to see Picasso and the art museum, during what could be the only time she’d get in Aureus, meant more to me than I would probably ever be able to put into words. Kissing her temple, I squeezed her hand as we stepped up to the board.
“Oh, my shoe came untied,” she noted, letting go of my hand to kneel down. As she worked on her laces, I scanned the map.
“What about the merry-go-round, Muse?” I asked, but when I looked down at her, she wasn't there. “Aris?” I called, my head whipping around. Adrenaline flooded me when I didn’t see her at first, but it pumped harder when I saw an Akasha enforcer appear further down the mall, Aris clutched in his arms before he disappeared again.
I ran, pushing myself faster and harder than ever before to catch up to the witch as he teleported further away. Aris screamed, elbowing him in the nose before he could teleport a third time and sprinted away. Unfortunately, there was a second guard who came running over, cutting off my route to Aris.
Lowering down at the last moment, I tackled the second guard, my shoulder jabbing into his stomach. I didn’t stop, scrambling back to my feet without hesitation and darting the direction I saw Aris run to. When I reached the corner, a flash of her now brunette hair whipped out of view at the other end of the block.
“Xan!” I heard her scream, the fear in her voice only fueling my own. I could barely breathe, each intake restricted as I ran, but I kept going.
Only it wasn’t fast enough.
Delilah had gotten to her first, shoving her into the back of a van before flashing a smirk in my direction. Her bloodred eyes glimmered brightly against her sunken features, pleased I couldn’t catch up as she climbed in, and they drove away.
A slow roll of nausea swept through my stomach, threatening to bring everything from breakfast back to the surface. I ran my hands through my hair as I frantically looked around in an attempt to figure out where I was. It only took a few moments to locate something that looked familiar, and as soon as I did, I started running once more. Humans yelled as I jumped around them, but I didn’t hear them. My only focus was on getting to the hotel as fast as possible.
“Whoa, Xan, what’s going—” Drayce started when I burst into the room.
“Aris has been taken.”
November 29th
Friday Afternoon
Aris
“Let’s go check that map over there and see what else we can go see!” I pointed, noticing the map of the rest of the area. Xan chuckled softly but obliged my excitement with a kiss and a gentle squeeze of my hand. We both wore matching goofy smiles after our amazing afternoon spent together. I loved how close I was getting to each of the guys.
When we reached the map, I felt my shoelace flopping around my ankle and knelt down to tie it, but before I could stand back up, meaty arms wrapped around my waist.
The movement was too fast for me to even make a noise. One moment I was looking at the sidewalk and my pink converse, the next, I was a couple hundred feet away from Xan. Glancing over my shoulder, my heart rattled painfully in my chest as the council enforcer teleported us further and further from Xan.
When he stopped for a split second, I let instinct take over. I moved, throwing an arm up and hitting him right in the jaw. As soon as his steel grip around my stomach loosened, I took off, putting everything I had into getting distance between us. At first, I ran toward Xan, but when a second enforcer coming toward me caught my eye, I weaved to the side.
Cars honked, the noise loud and startling, but my focus was on getting away. I wouldn’t—couldn’t—let the council get to me, so I pushed myself as hard as possible, absently glad I wore a dress I could move in instead of constricting jeans.
Turning the corner at the end of the alley, I ran full force into something solid. I stumbled and fell, skinning my palms on the cement and letting out a pained hiss. The already pulsing adrenaline through me flooded my body, my vision tunneling on who I ran into.
Delilah.
Scrambling to my feet, I loosed a wave of power, vines wrapping around her tightly, but with a whispered incantation, she shredded the bindings. Her eyes swirled with magic, barely resembling the girl I used to know. It was like the magic was consuming her from the inside out, twisting her into this shell of a witch who thrived on my pain and fear.
“Let’s go, Aris,” she hummed gleefully, the happy note manic, yet somehow ice cold.
“Xan!” I screamed as loud as I could when she slapped something around my wrist. My powers shut down on contact, no longer working as she practically carried me to the waiting car, her blood magic, giving her unnatural strength and speed.
Xan’s wide eyes and his scared expression was the last thing I saw before Delilah crawled in and slammed the door. She opened her mouth to say something, but all that escaped was a screech because I kicked out, hitting her in the knee.
“We’re not fucking doing this the entire trip,” a man in the front ground out, blowing a cloud of gray-blue dust toward me. The dust wafting over my face and the tingling from the particles clued me into exactly what he’d just given me—drownstool dust. Everything got hazy, my body slowly growing heavier with each passing moment until I couldn’t keep from succumbing to the darkness that pressed down on me.
A horrid stench filled my nose, the smell giving me an instant headache, and a sleep-rasped groan escaped me. Cracking open my eyes, I found a scarred hand holding a smelling herb vial under my nose. I pulled my head back as fast as my stiff neck would allow so I could get away from the nasty sulfur smell. Why the hellsticks are these witches always knocking me out?!
“Ah, good. You’re awake,” a familiar voice called out. Looking over, I found myself lying on the stone floor in the council chambers, the men looking down at me from their pompous thrones. Councilman Altermin was the only one smiling, but it wasn’t a happy grin. Instead, it was filled with venom.
They were the predators, and I was the prey.
“What do you want from me?” I snapped, done with niceties, rolling onto my hands and knees so I could stand. The world tilting as I moved onto my shaky legs, I used deep breaths to stop the nausea rolling through my stomach though vomiting on the shiny council hall floor might make me feel better.
As soon as I was steady, I pushed up to my feet, eyeing the power dampening handcuffs that encircled my wrists.
“You are a witch under our command, Miss Calisto, meaning you are required to do what we say,” Councilma
n Altermin explained as if it was the simplest thing in the world. As if I was just supposed to accept being at their beck and call because of what I could do… because of who I was. It was only when I scoffed and scanned the men seated behind the table, I realized Xan’s dad and the prime minister were missing. “If you don’t, there are some hefty consequences.”
“I’m not a tool to be utilized,” I countered with an eye roll, my patience officially having run out after the last few weeks on the run. I wasn’t the same girl I used to be, timid under my family’s scrutiny. Time at Aether and discovering who I really was had given me unshakable confidence. It didn't hurt that I had the guys and an entire community of followers behind me. They wouldn’t just let my absence go.
Maybe I should have been afraid about what they would do, but I couldn’t seem to find the energy. My guys and our familiars were safe in Aureus, and Olive was safe at school. They didn’t have anything they could do to me that would make me bend.
“I’m not the council’s lap dog. I’m not as easy to manipulate as Delilah over here,” I called, glancing over triumphantly at the now seething witch. Her rage was practically rolling off her in waves.
It had the effect I was anticipating, the chaotic witch storming over and punching me in the gut. The pain radiated through my stomach, my breath knocked from my lungs, but all I did was chuckle darkly.
“You hit like a dud potion.”
“Enough!” Councilman Altermin barked. Delilah immediately stopped, trying to add insult to injury by spitting at me. Ugh, gross, I thought, wiping it from my cheek.
“Council lap dog,” I sang under my breath. Delilah growled, lunging forward but didn’t make it far, an enforcer dragged back to the edge of the room.
“Delilah is working with us as penance for her previous crimes. She does her sentence, then she’ll be released with a full pardon,” another councilman explained, his nasal voice filling the space. I rolled my eyes, recognizing the jargon and run-around councilmen were so good at giving. I knew the truth, though; Delilah would always be under the thumb of the council. Well... at least until they were through with her.
“Well, that’s all fine and dandy for crazy over here,” I huffed in irritation. My shoulders squared as I stared at them, letting every ounce of my confidence show. “But you don’t have anything you could take from me or my family to make me jump when you say so.”
“Tsk, tsk, Miss Calisto, I’m sure you’ll find we have lots to take from you,” another councilman chided, his tone grating on my already thin patience. I didn’t say anything, worried about what would come out. As much as I would love to continue to be a badass witch, my facade was quickly starting to crumble when one of the enforcers came forward.
“We’ll talk to you soon, Miss Calisto,” Councilman Altermin called out as I was escorted out of the room. “And hopefully, you use this time to think about your next move.”
The ominous tone in his voice mixed with the barely concealed threat washed over me. A flare of goosebumps pebbled my skin as I was taken down to the basement, the chill in the air making me shiver. The walk was slow, leaving me to my swirling thoughts.
What could they possibly have that would make me bend? They can hurt me, sure, but that’s not really what the council does. They’d rather bribe you with freedom than lift a finger in violence.
It wasn’t until the door to the dungeons opened, I realized what they meant.
Behind several barred cages, I saw Xan and Kye’s parents, dirty with dust and dirt coating their skin, hair tangled together. Sitting on the floor, they was curled in pairs, shivering against the cold air. It took a moment to process what I was seeing, but when I did, I loosed a sigh. Xan’s dad wasn’t a part of the council, and his mom was alive. It was a shock, but the breath of relief it gave was short-lived as the enforcer locked me in a cage of my own across from them.
They were the leverage.
Hells bells and tarot tells, this just got much more complicated.
November 29th
Friday Night
Headmaster Tallis
The fire raged in my fireplace, blue flames lighting up the space with a flickering glow. My eyes continued to scan the page of the book I was currently reading, but all it was serving to do was make me more irritated. No books I had scoured held much information on conduits, and Professor Bellario had only been able to scrounge up a few bits and pieces. I need to know more, I nearly growled, slamming the book down. As soon as the pages were closed, a tinkling sound filled the air, signifying a holo-message was coming in on my Witches Glass.
“Councilman,” I greeted politely, unaware if he was alone or not.
“Tallis,” he stated with a nod. Councilman Altermin looked pleased, a gleeful glint filling his gaze as he looked at me. “We can cut the pretenses, it’s just me and Sircey.”
“Hello, sis,” I called out so she could hear. “Good news, I hope?”
“Good and bad, I’m afraid,” Raymond relayed. “Bad news is this Witches Bitch Vlog has grown increasingly annoying. Several sources we have located have determined it’s coming from either Aether Academy or Crystal Borough.”
“I assume you would like me to locate and put a stop to this ‘Indigo’?”
“Locate whoever the witch is and report back to us before you do anything, but yes, that is the ultimate goal. The witch is going to ruin some very big plans if she tips off the prime minister,” Sircey stated. Her tinkling voice filled my office as her face appeared in the Witches Glass. “Would you like your good news, little brother?”
“I wait with bated breath,” I cooed, trying to keep the urge to snap at bay. Raymond and Sircey would keep any and all news to themselves if they felt slighted.
“We have your precious little pink witch.” At Raymond’s statement, a smile curled my lip, and my heart started to pound. “As well as leverage to do as we want, seeing as how her men are still in Aureus, no doubt floundering on how to get her back. As a reward for alerting us to her power, we will allow you to come visit her.”
“Only once?” I asked, my mind whirling with the possibilities.
“If you would like to continue to do so or even to keep her as long as we have access to her powers at all times, you must locate this ‘Indigo.’ Do we have an agreement?” Councilman Altermin questioned, his tone hard and sharp.
Smirking, I stared at him and my sister on the Glass.
“Absolutely.”
Witches Be Crazy
Book 3 of the Not Your Basic Witch Series
Coming June 20, 2020
Preorder your copy here
Nothing in Aris Calisto’s life has ever been basic, and after a cauldron full of unexpected events, she finds herself a fugitive. Going on the run should have been the biggest challenge of her life, but after being separated from her tethers, she’s faced with an impossible choice--submit or run.
With time ticking down, Aris and her ragtag band of witches have to risk it all. Despite the odds, her coven manages to find their way back to each other, and Aris quickly realizes they have more allies than they thought. Revolution is coming to Akasha, but it won’t be an easy ‘potion to brew’ with-
new powers to master,
a collection of hexing hellions intent to use her for themselves,
an anonymous admirer,
and the unexpected burden of becoming a leader.
With her capricious coven behind her, can Aris use her i’magic’nation to hit the council where it hurts? Or will she find out payback’s a real witch?
Book 3 of the Not Your Basic Witch Series
Legends of Asteria Trilogy 1
The Not Your Basic Witch is a WhyChoose/Reverse Harem trilogy featuring MMFMMM meaning there is M/M content, and the female main character doesn't have to choose between her love interests. This trilogy is the first in a series collection consisting of six trilogies titled Legends of Asteria. Each trilogy should be read in order.
This book contains references i
nvolving violence and other themes that some readers may find triggering.
Acknowledgments
Our husbands and families who supported us and cheered us on even when we were doubting our work!
Our PA Elizabeth for keeping us on task when everything went sideways!
Our alpha/beta readers—you guys are awesome!
Ash for dealing with our crazy and reading all of our stuff!
Finally, for all of our readers, this wouldn’t be possible without you.
Also by A.J. Macey
Best Wishes Series:
Book 1: Smoke and Wishes
Book 2: Smoke and Survival
Book 3: Smoke and Mistletoe
Book 4: Smoke and Betrayal (coming summer 2020)
FSID Agents Series:
Book 1: Whisper of Spirits
Book 2: Whisper of Pasts (coming summer 2020)
High School Clowns & Coffee Grounds
Book 1: Lads & Lattes
Book 2: Misters & Mochas