The Empire Witch

by Chandelle LaVaun

  I looked around the room in awe of what he’d done. It was breathtakingly beautiful. Except not a single candle was lit.

  “Thought you might like to do the honors.”

  I bit my lip and nodded, then raised my hands up by my hips…orange flickering flames bloomed to life on every candle.

  “Wow,” Amelia whispered.

  “This is…perfect.” I grinned.

  “I am feeling self-conscious about the setting for ours now…” Tenn whispered.

  Tegan grinned and wrapped her arms around Tenn’s waist. “Demon blood and danger are our mojo, babe. Wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

  “Who knew Deacon was so extra?” Cooper whispered.

  “I did,” Bentley whispered back with a mischievous grin.

  “Children,” Mom hissed.

  “How do we do this soulmate thingy?” Amelia asked.

  Tegan held her hand up and a folded-up piece of white paper appeared between her fingers. “Like this.” She wiggled her fingers and the paper floated right to Deacon.

  He took it and nodded to her. “Thank you.”

  I’d watched two of these ceremonies now, so I knew how they went. But it still made my heart race with excitement to see it finally happening for me. Bentley walked around the room, casting the circle in salt– although I didn’t actually know what he was doing besides that.

  Deacon met my gaze, then lifted his right hand. I smiled and raised mine. Together, we pressed our palms to each other’s chests, right over our matching lavender crystal hearts. My hands weren’t shaking. I wasn’t nervous. I’d been through hell and back with Deacon, I knew without a shadow of a doubt he was what I wanted even without a soulmate glyph to tell me.

  To my surprise, I didn’t feel awkward about where his hand was touching me in front of our families. This was a special, ceremonial moment. I had a lot of worries, concerns, and doubts in this life we lived, but Deacon was not one of them.

  The warmth of his skin and the heat coming off the candles settled my pulse like the sweetest lullaby. His violet eyes shined under the flickering flames. He glanced quickly over my shoulder and then I felt Bentley’s magic closing the circle behind me.

  The second we were closed in together the air around us changed, it pulsed with electricity. A gust of wind whipped around the circle. Energy seeped up from the ground and into my feet. Noises, lights, smells…all of our surroundings vanished.

  This is it. Finally.

  Deacon met my eyes and I felt that deep connection between us like it was a physical rope tying us to each other. He smiled. “We call our Goddess here and now, bless us with this special vow, to bind two souls as forever one, please show us how this can be done.”

  Energy pulsed out of his chest, tingling against my palm. Black mist poured out from under my hand, and for the first time the color of my magic didn’t scare me. His red magic billowed up and over my face. The air crackled and popped, little flashes of light sparkled together until words appeared written in the sky in teeny tiny flames.

  My breath left me in a rush.

  “The words you seek lie within, For your love is far from thin,” I heard myself say. “A spell for the dark heart of fire, To bind a Devil’s tempted choir, Two souls forever shall never tire.”

  Bright white light pierced through the back of my hand. I saw the same flash shining up from my chest. My pulse skyrocketed. My whole body tingled. The black lines of the glyph covering my hand and fingers twinkled like stars in the night sky then glowed a bright gold. Inch by inch, the glyph vines changed from black to gold.

  My palm grew hot and tight. The white light got so bright I had to squint. I was about to look away when light erupted in the air between our bodies. The wind in the circle vanished. The cold slammed back into my bare skin. That pulsing energy disappeared. Instead I felt each and every one of our family’s magic nearby.

  As I looked down at my hand, still pressed to his chest, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief. Like that lavender crystal on the back of my hand now meant that I’d never have to worry about anything at all ever again. I felt whole. Complete. Like anything could come at us and we’d be okay…because we had each other.

  Chapter Eleven

  Emersyn

  “Emersyn, we have enough food here to feed a small army – which, I suppose we technically are.”

  I stared at my father. “Dad, this is our first Christmas together as a proper family. It has to be perfect. We have to have all the foods everyone likes.”

  “Sweetheart—”

  “Father.”

  He sighed then chuckled. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and his golden magic spilled over me. “Breathe. Everyone is happy, we’re all together. It is already perfect. And you’ve got everything everyone eats. However, let’s go through the list to double check, okay?”

  A checklist. Yes, yes I can do that. I licked my lips and tucked my hair behind my ears. His magic was already calming me down. “Okay. Right. Checklist. ‘Kay.”

  Dad and I stood in the middle of the kitchen in Coven Headquarters in Eden. Everyone else was getting the tree set up –somehow we’d forgotten to get it before today.

  And we had quite the full house. Yesterday at Deacon’s house, I thought our family had gotten huge but then I got here today and realized it was even bigger than I remembered. Bettina was basically a member of the Bishop family already, so that meant Jackson was now, too. And since Tenn and Bettina were here, Timothy was as well. Plus Mona, Uncle Kessler’s soulmate. And then Tenn had invited Bettina’s adoptive parents for the holiday, which I thought was super sweet.

  I’d volunteered to handle cooking because I loved it. Dad offered to help, and I was trying to pretend it didn’t make me really happy. He and I didn’t get much alone time to bond when our family rejoined.

  And this kitchen had four ovens and eight burners on the stove. It was the perfect kitchen for feast preparation.

  “All right…we have the turkey and stuffing.” I pointed to the next oven. “The lasagna and chicken parmesan.”

  “The meatballs and smothered pork chops are cooking.” Dad rubbed his hands together. “As is the green bean casserole.”

  I nodded. “We made the biscuits—”

  “But those go in the oven last.” He nodded then pointed to a small pot on the stove. “Gravy is ready. Macaroni and cheese is delicious, I’ve already tasted it. Twice.”

  “Dad.”

  “Okay, maybe three times.” He shrugged then snagged a deviled egg off the platter and popped it into his mouth. “And these are—”

  “You eat one more deviled egg and I will burn your fingers,” I growled and slapped his hand as he tried to snag his sixth deviled egg.

  He laughed and stirred the giant pot on the stove. Then he scooped a big spoonful and held it out to me. “Here, try the gumbo.”

  I tried to resist, tried to behave but it smelled so good. I grabbed the spoon and poured the stew into my mouth. Flavor exploded and I groaned. “Dad. Oh my God. That’s so good. How did you learn to make this?”

  He scoffed. “I’m from New Orleans, pumpkin, we grow up knowing. Just like you and fried chicken.”

  “Can you take us there sometime?”

  “I’d like that. I’m sure your uncle would love to as well.” Dad smiled wistfully. “We can go to Café Du Monde and stuff our faces with beignets.”

  “I wanna try one of those so bad— oh my god! The pies!” I smacked my forehead as panic unleashed. “We forgot to make the pies!”

  But Dad just chuckled and shook his head. “I made the pies, sweetheart. Pecan and apple. They’re sitting on the counter next to the sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes – and yes, they’ll be hot and fresh when dinner is ready. I’ve got spells for that kind of sorcery.” He winked.

  I sighed. Then I walked over to the farthest oven and peeked inside. There were two trays of chocolate chip cookies and two trays of cupcakes. “The sugar cookies are already made, right?�
�

  “Um, let me check…”

  When I turned, I found him stuffing an entire cookie in his mouth.

  “DAD!” I grabbed a hand towel and threw it at him. “You’re as bad as Tegan, sometimes. No wonder she can’t be tamed.”

  “They’re really good,” he said through the cookie in his mouth, while still laughing.

  I dove forward and grabbed one off the tray and stuffed it in my mouth. It was sweet and warm and just downright heavenly. Dad made faces at me, so I reached into the bag of flour then tossed some right at his face. He gasped and ducked out of the way while shooting me with chocolate chips. I giggled and dodged his bullets.

  “How’s it looking in there, chefs?” Tenn shouted from the living room.

  Dad spun toward the living room and held two thumbs up. “This is gonna be delicious!”

  I giggled then skipped into the living room, so no one would notice the food fight we’d just started. “Dinner will be ready in an hour.”

  Tenn nodded. “That’s a perfect amount of time.”

  Bettina narrowed her eyes. “For what? Decorating the tree?”

  “No, we’ll do that after.” Tenn winked at her. “You’ll see. Tegan, we ready?”

  Tegan nodded and snapped her fingers. A portal opened up in front of the fireplace. “Ready.”

  Right. It’s time. My sister and Tenn had a plan for today, a really awesome plan that I’d accidentally overhead them discussing and then got invited in on the secret.

  “All right, everyone. Let’s go.”

  Everyone was super thrown off by this. They were asking a ton of confused questions all at the same time, none of which Tenn was listening to. Not that I blamed them, Tenn wasn’t usually secretive.

  Wait, we’re going NOW? I frowned and hurried over to my sister. We couldn’t all leave now. The food was cooking, lots of food. Four ovens full. We could set the house on fire. I’d thought we were doing this after dinner – although, he’d been pretty clear so I didn’t know why or how I got so confused.

  “Guys, we can’t all go…there’s food. We could start a fire.”

  Trust me, Em. It’s gonna be okay. You’re not going to the same place we are, remember? Tegan said into my mind.

  OH. Right. I remember now.

  Finally, everyone stopped fighting Tennessee and walked into the portal. I waited as everyone went through until it was just Tegan and me.

  She flicked her wrists and another portal opened behind me. “Remember the plan now?”

  I nodded, then she vanished into the other one. I glanced back at the kitchen and pointed my finger at it. “Stay.”

  Then I jumped into the portal she’d made just for me.

  When I came out the other side, I was in the lobby of the hotel…and I was surrounded by people. Even though I knew they’d be there, it still took me by surprise. Especially as they all jumped up and looked directly at me.

  “Oh, hello everyone.” I cleared my throat. “I’m Emersyn, the Empress.”

  A teenage boy at the front of the group narrowed his eyes on my body. I glanced down then cursed. I still had my apron on from cooking. But I had to go with it, so I brushed it off a bit and smiled at the not-so-small crowd.

  “Pardon me, miss Empress,” a woman off to the side said as she stepped forward and raised her hand. “Can you tell us what this event is?”

  “Yeah, the Emperor just said it was a special invite-only event.” A middle-aged man gestured around. “None of us have any more details than that.”

  “And I thank you for trusting Tennessee and The Coven by coming here anyways.” I rubbed my hands together and my pulse skipped beats. “This is a very special event. But unfortunately, I cannot give you any more details than that.”

  Just then a white portal box opened behind me.

  Okay, good to move, Em, Tegan said into my mind.

  I pointed to my sister’s creation. “However, if you’ll just trust us a little bit longer and walk through this portal, I promise your questions will be answered.”

  The group frowned and glanced around at each other.

  The teen at the front shook his head. “Guys, we all came here by portal. Don’t freak out.”

  I chuckled. “Thank you. Please, it’s safe. We’re staying in Eden. Just walk right through.”

  This crowd must’ve been curious as hell because they practically ran through the portal.

  But when I walked through and came out inside the Great Hall, my steps faltered. The entire group had stopped and turned toward the portal, waiting for me to come out of it.

  “No offense, Empress, but what is going on here?” That middle-aged man from before all but growled. He gestured around us. “Is this our super special event?”

  I bit my lip and glanced around the Great Hall. The empty Great Hall. Edenburg had been evacuated like two weeks ago, before anyone had decorated for Yule and Christmas, so it was completely bare looking. I didn’t know what to say, and honestly, I didn’t trust myself to say anything. Tennessee and Tegan had worked so hard to make this happen and I wasn’t going to spoil the surprise right before it went down.

  But this crowd was watching me with identical wary expressions.

  I sighed and held my hands up. “I understand your confusion, but I promise Tennessee has something special planned for you. So, if you will, just have a seat and trust us for a few more minutes.”

  They glanced at each other, then nodded and finally spread out. Some sat down. Some were looking around the hall and I wondered if they’d been students here once.

  There was a flash of white light. I turned just as Tennessee and Tegan stepped through another portal up at the front of the Great Hall, followed by my large extended family members. I glanced at the group I’d brought over. They all looked up with curious expressions.

  And then the good shadows – who were no longer shadows at all – walked through the portal.

  The people with me gasped and sat up straighter. I held my breath and waited for them to realize what was happening.

  “DAD?” The teenage boy cried out.

  Someone let out a strangled gasp behind Bettina. “Robby?”

  The boy, Robby, sprinted forward and tackled the man behind Bettina. He squeezed the teen tight and cried.

  The other people in the Hall jumped to their feet. There was a beat of silence and then the room filled with gasps and happy screams. People raced by me and tackled others. I glanced left and right, eyeing the crowd as they embraced each other aggressively. They cried and gripped onto one another.

  My eyes burned and tears I hadn’t meant to cry spilled onto my cheeks. There were embraces everywhere. People sobbing as the lost were reunited with their families. I was supposed to get back to the house to make sure it wasn’t burning down, but I was frozen. Captivated by the pure, innocent love overflowing this room.

  I sighed. This was worth everything we went through with Joseph. This moment. This reunion of people who never thought they’d see each other again. The poor people I’d brought over from the hotel who’d been told their loved ones were killed – because that was what they thought.

  It was several teary-eyed minutes later when Tenn stepped forward and cleared his throat. “Hello everyone.”

  The reunited turned and shouted it back.

  Tegan snapped her fingers and a twenty-foot Christmas tree appeared at the far end of the Hall fully decorated and sparkling with lights.

  I sighed and turned to my sister. When she met my gaze, I arched one eyebrow and nodded toward Headquarters. She nodded and then a portal opened up next to me. I took one final glance around the room of weeping, happy souls and smiled.

  Merry Christmas, everyone.

  Then I jumped through the portal and landed right back in the kitchen. It wasn’t on fire, which shouldn’t have been a surprise. We hadn’t been gone but ten minutes. I sighed with relief then rewarded myself with another cookie.

  The floor creaked in the living room, so I t
ossed my cookie on the counter and spun around, expecting it to be my family.

  But it was not.

  The person stood in front of the fireplace in a long white cloak with the hood pulled over their head. I felt magic rolling off of them, but it wasn’t anyone in The Coven. I would’ve recognized it in an instant. This was…different.

  “Excuse me?” I walked toward them, my flames already flickering around my wrists. “Who are you and why are you here?”

  White light flashed and I felt Deacon’s presence even before he stepped out of the portal. The person in the cloak turned and moved to stand in front of the Christmas tree.

  Deacon stepped through the portal and froze in place, his smile vanished. Jackson and Cooper stopped right beside him. Bettina wasn’t looking and slammed into Deacon’s back.

  The person pulled their hood off to reveal long, wild red hair that was tangled and sticking out in several directions. Now that I was closer, I noticed her long white cloak was tattered at the edges and stained. Her skin shimmered like it was a different color yet still looked Caucasian. It didn’t matter that I couldn’t see her face, or that her appearance was different than normal. I’d recognized her in an instant.

  I gasped. “You…”

  Tenn and Tegan pushed through the little group to the front – then froze. I ran over to stand beside Deacon and my sister.

  Tenn’s face paled.

  Tegan licked her lips. “Keltie?”

  Chapter Twelve

  Emersyn

  “Keltie?”

  My pulse quickened and sent adrenaline rushing through my body. Keltie was here. She never came unless she had a very good, specific reason. We weren’t in trouble, so she wasn’t coming to our aid…which meant there was trouble elsewhere. I was afraid to ask where.

  Keltie turned to face us and my stomach dropped. There was something about the stricken look in her bright violet eyes that sent a chill down my spine. Something was wrong.