The Empire Witch

by Chandelle LaVaun

  “Shifters, right.”

  “No.” Silas shook his head. “Dragons. Koth wants them to attend school here until further notice, but they must remain a secret and no one can know they’re dragons besides you.”

  Wow. I nodded. “Not a problem. We’ll get them set up in a dorm then assign some classes and such. No big deal. Hello, gentlemen. I’m Deacon English.” I waved.

  Silas grabbed my left arm and pointed to my Mark. “Deacon is in The Coven. He is their Devil. His soulmate is the Empress. You will show good behavior and treat them with as much respect as you do me and your king. Do I make myself clear?”

  I gulped, even though he wasn’t talking to me and I wasn’t in trouble.

  The four boys nodded without hesitation.

  “Good.” Silas let go of my arm and glared at them. “You are not civilians. You were blessed with the dragon gene, and you will act as such. The Guard has a zero-tolerance policy, don’t make me come back here because of your bad behavior. Understand?”

  DAMN. He meant it, too. I was sure glad my boss only looked as menacing as Silas. Tennessee was terrifying, but he was a big old teddy bear to the people he cared about. Which fortunately, somehow, included me. But as they nodded, I took a second glance at these four boys and got the impression this toughness was necessary. They looked wild and hot tempered. I felt the fire in their lungs and the harshness of their desires. They were soldiers, and they were taking this very seriously.

  I cleared my throat. “We are honored to have you here. But I’d love to know your names…” I held my left hand out toward the first guy.

  “I’m Tor Gonzalez.” He gave me a small smile as he shook my hand, but I got the sense he was trying to look serious in front of Silas. This guy had style, too. His clothes were average, but it was the way he carried himself. He had swagger. His brown hair was wavy and long enough to fall over his forehead but still short enough to stay out of his eyes. He had soft hazel eyes that were kind. “I plan on telling people here that I’m a lion, because they will ask. Just so you know.”

  The guy next to him grumbled something in a language I didn’t recognize and Tor elbowed him in the ribs. The guy all the way at the end growled and snapped back in that same foreign language. The fourth guy’s eyes widened as he gave Silas a goofy smile.

  “Kiev,” Silas growled and the floor rumbled.

  Kiev sighed and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, then turned his blue-ish gray gaze to me and shook my hand. “I am Kiev Leggett, I will be telling people I am a tiger.” Then he pushed his red-wine-colored hair back and I noticed we had the same hairstyle.

  Different attitude problems, though. I pushed my magic toward him to see what was bugging this kid…and sighed. He didn’t want to be here. He wanted to be in Issale, preparing to join Koth’s Guard. I decided to let his grouchiness slide and moved to the guy beside him.

  And this one was grinning from ear-to-ear. His dark blue eyes were bright with excitement like a little kid in a toy store. His dark brown hair was curly and wild but it worked for him. He shook my hand while he did this excited little dance. “Hey man, I’m Steve—”

  “Steve?” I frowned and glanced around. “Did I hear that right?”

  Silas sighed and nodded.

  I scratched my jaw. “I thought you guys tended to have…more unique names?”

  “Oh, we do. Or should I say, they do.” Steve gave me two-thumbs up, although I wasn’t sure why. “My mom is a shifter who was born and raised on Issale. Never left, either. Until she saw some rando hot dude hiking up the mountain and she was like mine. You know? That was my dad. Normal human dude. So Mom ditched home country and became obsessed with humans, hence she gave me the totally normal human name of Steve. Steve Myers, to be exact.”

  Tor chuckled. “He was raised in a human city until he shifted for the first time. Now we don’t let him out much.”

  I glanced to Silas beside me but he was just shaking his head.

  I grinned. “All right, Steve. Thanks for the backstory.”

  “Anytime, bro. Anytime.”

  With a laugh, I turned to the last guy and held my hand out to him. “And who might you be? Full life story, if you’d like.”

  “I do not,” he said firmly, but without any attitude.

  It was a fine line he seemed to be skating. I immediately knew this guy was the leader of this little pack. It was evident in the way he kept glaring at them, and how he stood. He was actually quite large for a fourteen-year-old. I was six-foot-one, but he was just about there. And his shoulders were already bigger than mine. No doubt, this was gonna be a massive dude.

  He didn’t smile, but his overall face was friendly enough. He shook my hand, strong and firmly. “I am Maddox Caroline-Unnerstall, and should it be asked, I am stating I’m a wolf.”

  “Did you say your middle name is Caroline?” I asked, though only because I was hoping someone else besides my parents had given their son a girl’s name for a middle name.

  “No. My last name is Caroline-Unnerstall. It’s hyphenated.”

  “Mom refused to give up her maiden name so she made Dad take hers, too.” Landy smiled. “I think it’s awesome.”

  I frowned and glanced back and forth between Landy and Maddox. Then I saw the resemblance. They had different color eyes – Landy’s were a golden-orange color and Maddox’s were bright blue – but everything else about them was the same. Their pin-straight black hair, deep tan complexion, high as hell cheekbones.

  Maddox sighed. “Landy, we don’t need to tell everyone our family business.”

  She rolled her eyes at him. “Relax, brother mine. It’s just Deacon.”

  I chuckled. “Brother and sister, I take it?”

  They both glared at each other and nodded. It was the most sibling thing I’d ever seen. Not that I knew from experience. But if Maddox was Landy’s older brother, then that meant he was also cousin to the king. Which explained everything about him right there.

  “OH!” Steve snapped his fingers a dozen times in a row. “Forgot to say, I’m going to tell people I’m a panda.”

  I covered my mouth and laughed. “A panda?”

  Tor, Kiev, and Maddox closed their eyes and shook their heads.

  “Yeah man, they’re the coolest. Super fun bros right there. Always eating and having a good time.”

  “Why do I feel like you’re going to be our biggest problem here?”

  “He will be,” Silas growled.

  Steve scoffed. “This is New York, Silas. I’ve been here before like a million times. Dad lives in Greenwich. I’m just gonna get fat on pizza until Koth makes us go home.”

  I threw my head back and laughed. “My kind of guy right there.”

  Steve gave me a high-five. “See Silas? We’re all good. Besides, Comic-con already went down here this year, so I’m all yours.”

  Silas turned to me. “Keep an eye on him.”

  “Will do.” I chuckled. “Now, tell me, Miss Landy, what are you doing back here?”

  “Yes, do tell, Landy,” Maddox growled.

  Landy’s cheeks flushed. She ignored her brother and kept her eyes on me. “I think I was just overwhelmed and scared. When I got home, I missed New York and the school and I realized I wanted to be here. And then I realized I needed to be here so I can learn how to defend myself against those monsters.”

  “Yeah, that was scary. Amelia is trying to learn martial arts now, too.” I shuddered at the thought of what could have been. “But I’m glad to have you back.”

  Maddox snarled. But he did it out of love, I felt that much. He just wanted her safe. I got the suspicion Landy was coddled a lot, and not because she wanted to be.

  Landy grinned. “Thank you.”

  Silas turned his yellow gaze to me. “Koth is concerned about Landy in the dorms by herself, even though her brother will be nearby.”

  “I can watch her,” Maddox said with fear and concern in his eyes,

  “That is not your job here.�
� Silas arched one eyebrow at him, then turned back to me. “We were wondering about Marcy, perhaps Landy could room with her?”

  “I have a better idea. Let me call my mother.” I held one finger up as I dialed my mother’s number. I hit speakerphone and the ringing filled the air. When she answered, her voice was chipper. “Hi Mom, listen, long story but…Landy has returned to New York to attend school again. However, Koth doesn’t want her in the dorms. So I was wondering if Landy could move into our place?”

  “Oh my God, of course! I’d love to have her. Come on over to the house anytime and we’ll get her moved in.”

  I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Thanks, Mom. I’ll tell Silas and Koth.”

  The second the phone clicked, Silas had his phone ringing on speakerphone. When Koth answered, Silas filled in the details of my idea quickly.

  “Really?” Koth’s voice was sharp. “Like live in her house with Amelia?”

  I nodded then remembered he couldn’t see me. “Yes.”

  Koth cleared his throat. “Wow. That is very kind. Thank you so much. Landy, what do you think?”

  Landy grinned and nodded vigorously. “I would like that a lot.”

  I chuckled. “It’s settled then.”

  “Thank you, Deacon. We’ll talk again soon.” Then Koth hung up.

  I took a deep breath and glanced down at my watch. Time was ticking and I had to get home to Em. “Now, why don’t we get these boys settled in, then I’ll take Landy home to get changed.”

  Landy frowned at me. “Changed?”

  I grinned “It’s New Year’s Eve. There’s a big party here so we need to get you settled and back over here. Plus, I know a certain Amelia who will be thrilled to see you.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Amelia

  I stepped out of the elevator and into the brand-new rooftop lounge...and my jaw dropped. Megan slammed into the back of me because apparently, I’d stopped walking.

  “Dude,” she hissed.

  “Sorry, sorry.” I walked forward in kind of a daze as I took everything in.

  Nicole squealed behind me. “Oh my God, this is amazing.”

  “Who did all this?” Brooke spun in a circle, her blue eyes wide as saucers. “Because they need to decorate my dorm for me.”

  I giggled. “Caroline Davenport has skills. And I’m positive you could hire her and she’d do it for free.”

  Brooke whistled softly. “Sold.”

  “Yeah, me too,” Nicole said with a sigh.

  Yeah, maybe me too. I hadn’t been up here yet myself, but Caroline had told me all about it. It was her big surprise for all the students for our first ever New Year’s Eve party. And she did not disappoint. This rooftop lounge was incredible.

  The space was huge, too. Like it ran the entire width of the building. And it was warm, but not so much that I was melting in my fluffy sweater and thigh-high boots. It was comfortable. In more ways than one, too. There were students lounging all around – perched on high-top chairs eating snacks, sprawled on big leather couches, and a ton over in the far left corner huddled around a couple pool tables. I couldn’t be sure, but I was fairly positive I saw dart boards behind them. It was our own little hang out, just for the students of SOMA. Sure, there were a few adult chaperones here somewhere, but this was a safe space for us to be ourselves and relax.

  And thanks to magic, and Caroline’s brilliance, every TV screen was floating in the air and visible from either side. Ryan Seacrest’s face filled each screen, with the Times Square ball drop behind him. The camera panned up and I saw the 2019 ready for midnight to strike.

  But the best part was the view. Three of the four walls were made of glass, so New York City was in full view around us. Even though I’d lived here full time for years already, it still took my breath away. City lights flashed from down below while the golden lights pouring from all the windows in surrounding buildings twinkled like stars.

  Nicole gasped. “Wait, there’s an outside too?”

  “Yep. Caroline said —”

  “Oh my GOD, let’s go!” Nicole grabbed my hand and dragged me toward the glass doors on the opposite side of the room.

  I chuckled and let her lead the way, with Brooke and Megan right behind me.

  The first thing I saw when we got out to the massive rooftop terrace were the floating, glowing orbs. They were filled with soft, flickering golden lights. I looked around and a smile spread across my face. This was the coolest, most adult place I had ever been. In the middle of the terrace was a big square dance floor and flashing neon lights. Music pumped from speakers that seemed to be in the floor. Against the back railing was one long table that ran end-to-end and was covered in every kind of food you could imagine. The rest of the space had couches, love seats, fuzzy benches, and faux fur area rugs. There were little fire pits strategically placed throughout even though I didn’t feel cold at all.

  All around us the city carried on with its life.

  Especially Times Square.

  Wait. How can I see Times Square from here? I frowned and stepped around a group of boys – and my jaw dropped. Times Square was gone. Huh? Did I just make that up?

  “Amelia, where you going?” Megan shouted and threw her arms up.

  I shook my head and scurried back over to where my friends stood. “Sorry, I thought I saw Times Square from here and I got confused.”

  Brooke frowned then looked over my shoulder. “You can. See?”

  I spun around and my breath left me in a rush. “I knew I wasn’t crazy.”

  From where we stood we had a perfect, unblocked view of the ball drop. And then I saw it. The soft glow of magic that only covered a section of air. This was magic. Caroline had done something so that everyone here could see what was going on down there. So we could be a part of it. And if that wasn’t the most thoughtful, sweetest thing I didn’t know what was.

  Because Aunt Heather and Uncle Sebastien wouldn’t let me go down there. Deacon and Emersyn were down there on 7th Avenue somewhere. But I was assured that once I was a bit older and had substantial magic to defend myself, I’d be allowed to go down there with my friends. For now, I had to be patient. Thanks to this rooftop, that suddenly wasn’t a problem.

  “Come on, let’s get snacks before they’re gone!” Megan tugged on my sweater then bounced off.

  I followed them over to the table of food…and went right for the cookies. There were no parents here, and this was a party. That meant dessert first. Everyone knew this was a rule. I grabbed a chocolate chip cookie and shoved half of it in my mouth. They were so fresh the chocolate was still warm.

  Nicole’s eyes flashed with excitement as she looked over my shoulder. “Oh, Amelia, your hot brother is here.”

  I frowned and licked chocolate off my fingers.

  Megan rolled her eyes. “Deacon is her cousin, not her brother.”

  “But he is hot.” Brooke grinned.

  “So is his soulmate.”

  “Megan, I’m twelve. I’d have no shot even if he didn’t have a soulmate.” Brooke shook her head. “But who’s that with him?”

  Wait, what is Deacon doing here? He was supposed to be in Times Square. I spun around and instantly spotted my cousin. He stuck out like the North Star, and not only because he was beautiful – even though he was. But it was mostly because of his magic that radiated out of him — WAIT.

  LANDY?!

  I blinked and walked forward, then froze. It was Landy. She stood beside my cousin, looking like a million bucks and rocking that white lace dress I’d convinced her to buy before Yule. Her hair was braided on both sides down to her hips and she was definitely wearing my glitter flats, but they looked great on her.

  Amelia, come to the lounge.

  I felt Deacon’s magic so strong I almost heard it. My feet moved before I consciously told them to. And then Deacon’s gaze landed on me. His violet eyes, that were identical to my own, sparkled – and his magic vanished. My legs were my own to control agai
n. I shook them out real quick then sprinted for them. Landy did a double take then her tawny eyes widened. A smile spread across her face.

  I tackled her in a hug. “LANDY!”

  She giggled in my ear. “Hi Amelia!”

  “You’re back?” I pulled away, grinning like the Cheshire cat. I glanced between her and Deacon. “What? How? When? What’s going on? Deacon, where’s Emersyn?”

  “Whoa there, killer.” Deacon chuckled and shook his head. “Landy has decided to return to SOMA for school—”

  I gasped.

  “— and she’s going to be living with you—”

  “Shut up.” My jaw dropped. “WHAT.”

  Deacon ruffled my hair. “How much sugar have you consumed already?”

  “Stop it. Don’t play with me.”

  “He’s not. It’s true.”

  Deacon grinned. “Yup. Silas just dropped her off a bit ago but King Kothari doesn’t want her living in the dorms so mom offered for her to move in our place—”

  The squeal that came out of me made the teenage boys nearby jump. I didn’t care. This was the best news I’d heard in a long time. I hadn’t known Landy that long, but she’d felt more like a best friend than any other friend I’d ever had. Her leaving had hurt. “Shut. Up. Really? You’re living with me now? Like for real?”

  “For real. Deacon just brought me over so I could drop my stuff and change for this party.” Landy’s cheeks flushed. She tugged on her braids. “Lucky me you made my buy this or I’d be in jeans right now.”

  I gasped and threw my arms around her. When I pulled back, I had to reign in my emotions because I suddenly was so happy I could cry. “This is amazing. Roomies!”

  Deacon sighed and shook his head. “My mother has no idea what she’s done. Okay, you two, I have to go. Emersyn is downstairs in the car with Stedman and we’re a bit late for our party.”

  Landy grinned up at him. “Thanks for your help, Deacon.”

  “Yes, thank you!!” I bounced up and down. I couldn’t help it.

  He gripped both of our shoulders and turned us to face him. “Don’t even think about running off again, okay? You need anything at all you give us a call. I don’t care what it is.”