by Chelsea Luna
I smiled at Neil’s concern, but the mentioning of Peter made me want to crumble in my chair. “He’s been busy.”
“You should bring someone with you next time.”
“I’ll try.”
“By the way, I like those fireflies. They’re kind of cool.”
I glanced at the side table. A few days ago, I went to the same pet store that sold Peter the aquarium of fireflies. I purchased a smaller version for Ethan’s hospital room. My family needed a little light in the darkness.
I tapped the glass case. “I was hoping they’d get a response out of my dad. According to a family member, fireflies were pretty special to my parents.”
“Don’t give up hope,” Neil said. “You never know what can happen.”
“Thanks.”
“Have a good night.”
“Night, Neil.”
Neil shut the door behind him.
I pulled the chair closer to my father’s bed. “Well, it’s just you, me and the fireflies.” I exhaled.
I really had to start paying closer attention to my nightmares. Ravens and fireflies. The nightmare wasn’t reoccurring, like the last one in the cemetery, but the raven dream warned me of what was coming. And I’d ignored it again.
Snow. Hawthorne Prep. A ringing bell. I should’ve known something horrible was going to happen in the Bell Tower. And the ravenous flock of red-eyed ravens? Bad omens. Didn’t Logan say that in American Literature class? Obviously, the red-eyed ravens represented the red-eyed spirits. Maybe it was even a nod at Liam. But it was all in the dream. A witchy premonition. A warning of what was to come. What actually came the night of the Winter Ball.
But what about the fireflies? Where was my light? Where was my help? My protection from the darkness?
I took my father’s hand and placed my head on the bed beside him, smothering my face in the blankets. The linen was scratchy against my skin, but it smelled of lavender. I inhaled deeply and then completely lost it.
Giant sobs erupted and the tears poured down my cheeks.
I’m not sure how much time passed, but eventually I wiped the tears away. Neil’s question about Peter was exactly what I didn’t need. I was under so much stress and pressure that I was bound to break at any moment.
Thankfully, Anne Marie was okay. She was in stable condition at the Hazel Cove Hospital under the direct care of Dr. Cooper. She suffered a broken leg, three broken vertebrae and several broken ribs. But she was lucky.
A four-story free fall should have ended her life. The hedges broke her fall and the impact wasn’t enough to kill her. If she would’ve landed another two feet to the side…well, it’s best not to think about that.
Peter hadn’t left Anne Marie’s side since the night of the Winter Ball. I visited the hospital every day. Peter didn’t blame me for what happened to Anne Marie. But he hadn’t looked at me the same since I made the decision to spare his life over his sister’s.
To make matters worse, Peter took the blame for the accident. He told police that he and Anne Marie were arguing in the Bell Tower over her relationship with Logan. She stormed off, stepped on a patch of ice and slid over the low half-wall, tumbling four stories to the ground below. Anne Marie confirmed the story. There wasn’t even an official investigation. Peter saved my ass again.
I squeezed Ethan’s hand. “I’ve made a mess of things again.”
Ethan’s face was calm. His butterscotch eyes stared at the tiled ceiling. Not a muscle moved in his body. It was like talking to a statue.
“Regardless of what Peter says, I know deep down he blames me for everything that happened to Anne Marie.”
My father’s monitors continued the regular beeping.
“What was I supposed to do? Listen to Peter and let him die? I couldn’t. It was never even a possibility. His life would be better without me in it, but I’m too selfish to let him go. Now all I can do is hope that once Anne Marie gets better and time passes, that things between us will return to the way they were.”
I stroked the back of my dad’s hand.
“Everything’s so screwed up. I still haven’t told Emma about you. She’s been at the hospital everyday with Mrs. LaViollette. I couldn’t bear to bring more bad news. That’s all I am - bad news. I hurt everyone around me.”
I grazed Ethan’s hand. My own fingertips fell in between his.
My life was such a mess. Not only did I have to worry about Gamma and Victor and other rouge witch hunters. But now I had to worry about Liam.
As sick and twisted as he was, Liam was right. I was weak. Even though I was months away from turning eighteen, I needed to be stronger. If I was stronger, then I could’ve saved both Peter and Anne Marie.
Liam would return to Hazel Cove. That was guaranteed. He would be back for me on Halloween. I was his prize sacrifice. I would extend his life by who knows how many years. I was also certain he’d check on me to make sure I was holding up my end of the bargain. To make sure I was facilitating all of my resources, especially the dark ones.
And what could I do? What options did I have against the most powerful witch in history? Not many. But there had to be something. Liam wasn’t immortal. He needed to sacrifice purebloods to extend his life. And if he wasn’t immortal, then he could die.
I told James all about Liam and his plans for me. I wished I was as optimistic as James was. James believed that Gamma had records on every witch. And if we dug around, then we could find information about how to defeat Liam.
Who knows? It was a possibility. A slim one, but it was worth a shot. And as soon as Anne Marie was better, we’d start. I needed a little bit of time before I plunged back into that world. I needed a break.
“I’m not sure I can do this anymore, dad. It’s too much. Witches and Gamma and Liam and Victor and magic and spells.”
Ethan’s eyelids dropped over his butterscotch eyes and opened back up.
A blink.
He hadn’t moved a muscle in front of me since the first day Peter and I visited. Just as it had before, the blink made my heart stop.
“Dad? Can you hear me?”
I stood up to see his face from a better angle, but I didn’t let go of his hand. Could he hear me? Was it a random blink? There was only one way to find out.
I repeated what I said right before he blinked. “Witches and Gamma and Liam and Victor and magic and spells.”
Ethan blinked again.
Holy cow.
A thrill of emotion rippled through me. I bounced on the balls of my feet. I stroked his hand again and that’s when I felt it.
It was very tiny. Less than a quarter of an inch. If the average person touched it, they’d have no idea what it was. Perhaps they would call it a skin imperfection. I traced my hand over the tiny spiral imprint in between Ethan’s middle and ring finger on his right hand. There was no mistaken it.
My breathing slowed as I remembered what Aunt Vanessa told me that day in Grandma Claudia’s sunroom.
“When you spell someone - not just this spell, but any spell at all that has a specific impact on a person - a mark appears on the body for as long as the spell is intact.”
“What kind of mark?”
“A small spiral indentation on the skin only a few centimeters wide. It’s very discreet. And it can appear in different places - hidden, but not completely - behind the ear, between two toes, places like that. That’s how you can tell if someone has been spelled.”
I ran my hand over the tiny spiral mark in between my father’s fingers.
That’s what was wrong with Ethan. Why the team of high priced doctors couldn’t figure out what was ailing him. Of course not. They wouldn’t know what to look for. They didn’t deal in magic.
Someone spelled Ethan into a coma.
The fireflies hummed in the glass bowl. I glanced at the dozen or so insects rapidly blinking their lights on and off.
Light in the darkness.
My father. That was it. It was a symbol. A sign. What the firefli
es in my dream represented. Help. Protection. Ethan. I needed my father.
I leaned over Ethan’s unmoving face. Willing him to give me a sign. Something. I had to know what happened. I had to be able to fix it. “Who did it?”
No response.
Who could have done this to him? Why would anyone want to do that to him? I racked my brain for someone, anyone, that could be guilty of this horrible crime.
Liam? No. Why would he? My dad didn’t matter to him, he was only a half-blood. Besides, Ethan saved my life and my living until my eighteenth birthday was in Liam’s best interest.
Emma? No, she couldn’t do magic. And she’d never hurt Ethan in a million years - she was madly in love with him.
Grandma Claudia? No, from the brief time she spoke of Ethan, she appeared to adore him.
Then I remembered my first day at the Ipswich Mental Hospital with Peter. The lady at the front desk told us we had to sign the patient book before we could visit Ethan. Grandma Longfellow’s signatures filled page after page of the book, but there was another name, too. Signed three weeks before our visit.
The initials V.R.
I had immediately assumed it was Victor. Victor Ramsey. But I made a terrible mistake. Victor wasn’t a Ramsey, he was a Van Curen. He had no reason to visit Ethan. He didn’t even know Ethan was alive. He was as surprised as William was when they discovered the empty coffin.
V.R.
But another person with those same initials was in Massachusetts during that time. She was in Hazel Cove seventeen years ago. And she definitely possessed the ability to spell someone.
The blood in my veins turned to ice.
“Vanessa Ross,” I whispered, choking over my aunt’s name.
Ethan’s butterscotch eyes disappeared as he blinked at me once again.
END OF BOOK TWO
Wicked Betrayal (Book 3, New England Witch Chronicles Series)
Now Available!
The clock is ticking. Alex’s time is running out.
Spring has hit Hazel Cove and with it, the pressure of Alex’s impending fate as Liam’s sacrifice is weighing upon her every thought. There’s so much to do and so little time. How do you stop an ancient pure blooded witch?
But Liam isn’t Alex’s only problem. She must focus on what she can fix in the little time she has left. She must confront the past and the horrible betrayal Ethan suffered at the hands of a once trusted ally. Alex will do anything necessary to save Ethan. Even brave a trip to the supernatural capital of the world - New Orleans.
Voodoo, Hoodoo, witches and spirits are nothing compared to the evil Alex will face in the backwoods of the Louisiana bayou. Will Alex’s desperation to save her family and friends pull her closer to the darkness? Who can Alex trust? Will James’ connections as a witch hunter help or hurt her? Can she fix her relationship with Peter? Or will the deep seeds of betrayal shatter Alex’s life?
Acknowledgments
I want to thank my brother, Chano, graciously edited and gave me valuable suggestions.
My dad, Ruben, encouraged me to get through the rough patches of the long writing process.
I’m obsessed with the Conjured cover and that’s all thanks to Rahul Philip, my talented graphic artist, who created the artwork. I gave him a general idea of what I wanted and he created the piece directly out of my mind! Please visit his website at http://www.rahulphilip.com to see more of his incredible work.
Finally, I want to thank my mom, Lisa. She is and always has been most enthusiastic supporter in everything that I do. Without her editing, input, research and feedback, there wouldn’t be a Conjured!
For more information on Conjured (Book 2, New England Witch Chronicles Series) and Wicked Betrayal (Book 3, New England Witch Chronicles Series), please visit the following websites:
For more information, please visit: http://www.chelsealunaauthor.com
http://www.facebook.com/ChelseaLuna.Author
Follow me on Twitter: @Chelsea_Luna_
BOOKS by
Chelsea Luna
The New England Witch Chronicles Series (Young Adult)
New England Witch Chronicles (Book 1)
Conjured (Book 2)
Wicked Betrayal (Book 3)
All Hallows Eve (Book 4)
Zombie Apocalypse Trilogy (Young Adult)
Love & the Zombie Apocalypse (Book 1)
Death & the Zombie Apocalypse (Book 2)
Revenge & the Zombie Apocalypse (Book 3) – Coming Spring 2015
Angels & Sinners Novella Series (Young Adult)
Torment of Shadows (Novella 1)
Mortal Sin (Novella 2) – Coming 2015
Middle Grade Series:
Monster Club: Case of the Ivy Hollow Werewolf (Book 1)
About the Author
Chelsea Luna is the author of the best selling young adult series, New England Witch Chronicles. Chelsea received a Juris Doctorate from New York Law School in New York, New York in 2007, and a B.A. in Sociology, with a concentration in Criminal Justice, from the University of Tennessee in 2004. She lives in Tennessee.