The Brave Witch
The Coven: Elemental Magic Book Two
Chandelle Lavaun
Wanderlost Publishing
For the people who always encouraged me to follow my dreams. My first fans. My permanent support team.
My Parents.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
About the Author
Chapter One
Tennessee
To say I’d had a rough week would be the mother of all understatements.
Actually, I wasn’t sure it had even been a full week. How could so many things happen within so few days? I wasn’t sure which was the worst part—the fact that Libby was clinging to life in our infirmary or how I’d lied to Tegan’s face after she specifically asked me not to. Libby’s injury was obviously the hardest and scariest. Hands down. But the mere fact Tegan was in the running suggested I was in for trouble. What would she say when she found out I’d lied to her face? What would she think of me then?
All of these thoughts interrupted my desperately needed REM cycle right around sunrise. I wasn’t even sure what time we arrived home the night before; couldn’t have been before midnight. I kept trying and pleading with my brain to fall back asleep yet it refused.
I took a deep breath and winced. The glyph on my chest seared in agony with every breath I took and every beat of my heart. I sat up and hissed.
Oh good. Everything hurts. Lovely.
I peeled the collar of my shirt down and inspected my glyph. There on my chest, directly over my heart, it looked like a crystal had been glued to my skin. It had edges that made it look three-dimensional. It vaguely held the shape of a heart, but it wasn’t precise. Unlike before, the glyph now had little vines stretching out from the crystal. Of course it grew. I knew it would grow. I’d seen Constance’s, which covered all the way down to her fingertips. I just hadn’t expected it to grow already. In a matter of days.
It looked like a plant had taken root in my chest and was growing out over my right pec and collarbone. Then again, the glyph was organic by definition, so I supposed the plant look made sense. I’d heard rumors that the vines would change color depending on my and my soulmate’s mood. There was one story I read where one soulmate knew her husband was in danger because her vines had turned black. Mine were dark red, like wine. I wasn’t sure if the color meant anything yet, and it killed me that I couldn’t even ask anyone. If I knew Tegan’s phone number, I could text her and see if she was okay.
Don’t even have my soulmate’s number. Nice.
The thing was, though, that I didn’t even mind that it happened. Tegan was everything I could ever dream of: smart, powerful, adventurous. No, the worst part was having to hide it. The torture of keeping it secret, of pretending she didn’t mean anything to me.
Glass shattered down the hall. I leapt to my feet, but a soft, feminine curse immediately followed.
I frowned. Who’s here? Was it Tegan? Did I want it to be?
“It’s all right, Devon,” my adoptive father, Kessler, said with a chuckle. “If I ever cooked, I would’ve broken it ages ago.”
Ah. Devon Howe Bishop. Not Tegan, but her mother. I sighed and rubbed at the glyph on my chest. Guess I did want it to be Tegan here.
“Mom, stop fussing around, please. You don’t have to make me breakfast,” Cooper said softly.
“Of course I do. I am your mother. Mothers make breakfast for their children.”
“Just let her, son,” a man’s voice I didn’t recognize said. Hunter. “Besides, she makes a killer omelet.”
My stomach growled. Ah yes, when is the last time I ate? I made my way out to the hallway. With every step, I realized how much abuse I’d gotten on the quest. Every single one of my bones screamed in protest as I limped toward the kitchen. Normally, I recovered faster. However, without proper sleep and food, I had no prayer. Maybe I’ll be able to sleep after I eat.
“Where’s Bentley this morning?” Cooper asked.
“Home sleeping, where an innocent nine-year-old should be.” I hadn’t met Hunter yet, but his voice sounded eerily similar to Kessler’s.
I paused at the opening of the kitchen. Wait, should I be here right now? Cooper rarely got to see his parents in the flesh, and their reunion was delayed by our quest. Perhaps they’d like alone time with him? They’d purposely left Bentley at home. Kessler had been raising Cooper as his own since Coop was three, so they wouldn’t mind him being present.
Maybe I’ll shower first, then eat. I turned to limp back to my room.
“Ah, Tennessee, you’re up,” Kessler yelled out. He was way too cheery for morning. “I thought you’d be sleeping all day after the week you’ve had.”
I spun around and smiled, though it probably looked more like a grimace. “That makes two of us. But then I heard ‘killer omelet’ and, well, here I am.”
“Come on and get some while it’s hot,” Cooper said with a big grin and a strip of bacon hanging out of his mouth. We may have had a rough quest, and a nasty gash on Coop’s forehead, but his green eyes were full of life and excitement.
“Ah, the infamous Tennessee Wildes.” A large man stepped out in front of me, derailing my thoughts. The guy had a deep scowl and gave me a hard once-over. He stood two inches taller than me and had at least thirty pounds over me. He had Cooper’s golden hair of sunshine and Emersyn’s champagne eyes. He held his hand out for me to shake. “I’m Hunter.”
I shook his hand and swallowed down a rush of nerves. My heart rate skyrocketed. This is Tegan’s father. The glyph on my chest intensified, like it took humor in torturing me. Hunter was a massive man, strapped with muscles I didn’t even know the names of and probably wouldn’t ever have. In the back of my mind, I knew Hunter was shorter than his older brother Kessler. But the main part of my brain recounted all the different times I’d kissed his daughter.
Just chill, dude. No one knows about the glyph. No one besides Tegan knows about the kiss, or kisses. He can’t possibly know. So why, then, was he staring at me?
“Are you hurt?” Hunter finally asked. “You’re a mess. Is that your blood all over you?”
I had no idea whose blood was on me. Probably mine.
“Tennessee likes to shower the morning after,” Cooper said, drawing his father’s attention away from me.
I shrugged and casually ran my hand over my chest to make sure all the necessary parts were covered. “I usually pass out before I make it to the shower.”
“But you’re not injured, are you?” Kessler asked, his hazel eyes dark with worry.
“Uh…I haven’t actually checked. Definitely sore, though.”
“You’re probably starving,” Devon said as she walked around the counter. She wrapped me in a big bear hu
g then stepped back with a smile. “Come now. Have a seat and I’ll feed you.”
I knew she’d spoken to me, but all of my thoughts vanished. I stared at Devon. “How has she not realized?” I whispered before I could stop myself.
“Who has not realized what?” Hunter asked.
“Tegan. She looks exactly like you, Devon. How has she not realized you’re her mother?” It was uncanny. Devon’s eyes were the exact pale green as her daughter’s. I’d know. I’d stared at Tegan’s enough. Sure, they didn’t hold the same sparkle, but Devon had a whole lot more stress on her mind.
Devon’s smile faltered, and pain flashed through her eyes. “I don’t know.”
“I apologize. That was rude. I know this has to be torture for you.” I ran my hand through my hair. Idiot. “I just didn’t expect you to look so much like her.”
“Neither did we.” Hunter stepped up to his wife and kissed her temple. “They were both bald and hazel-eyed when we separated them. Had we known, we might’ve taken the other.”
“Emersyn looks as much like Dad as Tegan does Mom,” Cooper pointed out.
I cocked my head to the side and inspected the two of them. “Question is, will it work in our favor or against it?”
“How do you figure?” Hunter asked.
I took the barstool beside Cooper. “I don’t think it will take Tegan long to see what I see, now that she’s back from this quest and knows who and what she is. Your daughter is incredibly intelligent and quick, not to mention observant. She’s going to figure out Devon is her mother, and Emersyn is her biological sister. Then the twins part will fall into place fast since they’re the same age. Question is…”
“What will be the ramifications when she does?” Hunter finished for me. He leaned against the kitchen counter sipping from a coffee mug with his shoulders hunched forward.
I nodded and smiled at Devon as she placed a plate of bacon in front of me. “Personally, I think sooner the better.”
“How did they handle everything once you left the beach?” Kessler asked.
“Emersyn freaked out a bit, but held strong when it counted.” I paused to take a bite of bacon. “God, she makes good bacon. Tegan was ecstatic to learn she’s a witch.”
Hunter chuckled and nodded. “I expected as much.”
“They’re powerful, immensely so. And they don’t even know how to use it.” I shook my head, remembering the feat Tegan had pulled off with the hippocampus. “They’ll be spectacular when they do.”
“And dangerous,” Hunter added.
“They’re more dangerous now, untrained.” I shoved pieces of bacon in my mouth.
“Tennessee is right,” Cooper said with food in his mouth. “You didn’t see them in action. We did. They have to be trained.”
“So, we’re all in favor of training them?” Devon asked, carrying omelets over.
When everyone nodded, Hunter cleared his throat. “Okay, Kessler. This is your area of expertise. How do you want to proceed?”
Kessler scowled and rubbed the back of his neck while he thought. Kessler was in charge of all the non-adult Cards. Which was pretty much the entire Coven. “Well, I don’t think it’s a great idea to have the three of you involved. Hunter and Devon, you especially need to lie low until they figure it out. Cooper, we need to limit your interactions with them as well.”
Cooper nodded. “Understood.”
“I’m going to train them myself to start off. Once I assess where they’re at, I’ll see who will be best for teaching them.” Kessler sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. “But right now, we need everyone focused on figuring out who our Hierophant is. That’s priority number one.”
Chapter Two
Tennessee
To any human passerby, the building in front of me would look like a regular house with a normal American family living inside. The colonial-style home had gray wooden siding that sparkled like silver in the sunlight. The midday sun made the white roof seem like fresh fallen snow. If you looked close enough, you’d see a pentagram etched into each of the black wooden shutters lining the nine French windows on the front of the house. I often wondered what the Sapiens thought of the massive pentagram made of twigs hanging on the black front door.
A warm hand gripped my shoulder. I spun and kicked my leg, sweeping the person’s feet out from under them. My attacker’s back slammed into the sidewalk with a thud. I dropped my knee to their chest and gripped the front of their shirt. My gaze locked onto a pair of golden eyes.
I cursed and released my hold on my brother’s shirt. “Sorry, Coop.”
Cooper raised both palms in the air and smirked. “No, that’s on me.”
I pulled him back to his feet and fixed his shirt. “Sorry, I guess I’m on edge.”
“And stalling.”
Me? Stalling?
“Yeah, you. Stalling.”
I’ve got to stop thinking out loud.
I sighed and tried to shake the tension from my arms. We stood on the sidewalk under a massive oak tree about three steps away from the brick walkway up to the front door. The only thing between us and the door was a white picket fence and about four dozen different protective charms. For a witch, the infirmary was the safest place we could possibly be outside of Eden.
“Tenn.” Cooper shook me. “Standing out here isn’t going to help Libby heal, nor will it change the fact that she’s in there.”
I swallowed down a rush of emotion and kept my gaze locked on the infirmary. “I can’t do this again, Coop,” I whispered.
Cooper sighed. “I know. Trust me, I know. But she’s still here, so don’t think like that.”
Easier said than done. Except he was right. I took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s go.”
I let Cooper lead me through all four dozen charm boundaries and over the threshold. Our heavy footsteps were hushed by the plush white carpet under our feet. When I entered the room, my friends stood and greeted me with hugs and one completely inappropriate slap from Easton. Henley and Royce sat on a bench on the far side of the room. They had matching bloodshot sapphire eyes and disheveled black hair. Beside them, Emersyn ran her fingers through her long blonde hair. She smiled and waved at me.
Tegan was the only person in the room who hadn’t noticed my arrival, and it shouldn’t have bothered me so much. Her pale, gemstone green eyes were locked on her cell phone. Her thumb dashed across her keyboard.
Who is she texting?
A smile spread across her face, and it made my stomach tighten into knots. Raw, hot jealousy rushed through me. The glyph on my chest ignited like someone held a flame directly to my skin.
Tegan’s thumb froze, and her eyes snapped up.
She felt that too. My pulse quickened. It almost made me smile, knowing the matching glyph buried beneath another Star Wars shirt affected her the same way.
I forced myself to look away from her and cleared my throat. But then my gaze landed on Libby’s pale face, and my stomach dropped. I’d hoped with our healing ritual the night before and the healers in the infirmary that she’d be doing better, or at least looking better. I didn’t want to admit it, but she looked worse. Her lips had the faintest hint of blue, and her eyes were squeezed shut, like she suffered even in her sleep. The wound across her throat was covered with medicated cloth. I licked my dry lips and moved to take the seat next to Cooper.
Cooper cursed and dropped his forehead onto Libby’s bed. “I still don’t understand how this happened. I was right there, and I missed it.”
I frowned as the realization dawned on me a few hours too late. Cooper blamed himself for this. I shook my head. “This is not your fault, my brother.”
“Stingray.”
I jumped at the sound of Tegan’s voice. When I looked over at her, her gaze was locked on Libby. Why won’t she look at me? Stop it. This is what you wanted.
I scratched my jaw. “Stingray?”
Tegan nodded and licked her lips like she enjoyed torturing me. “The healer…
I think her name was Katherine? She…uh…said the wound is from the barb of a stingray. It went right through her throat.”
My jaw dropped. WHAT? Libby was dying from a stingray? It was such a Sapien problem. Witches didn’t die from regular animals of the human world. We died from demons and monsters, the occasional spirit gone crazy.
“Katherine said…” Henley shook her head. Tears dropped onto her porcelain cheek. “She said if Libby had been a human, she would’ve died within seconds.”
“She’s alive,” Royce said with a voice lower than I’d ever heard from him. “Only because she’s a witch.”
“Actually, Katherine said it’s likely because she’s a Card that she’s still with us.” Emersyn sighed and pulled her knees up to her chest. “She said they’ve had to contact someone in Eden to get advice on how to further treat her.”
I cursed and hung my head. “Has Libby spoken to anyone?”
“She kinda smiled when we first got here, but then she fell asleep again,” Paulina said in her soft accent from the back of the room. Being the Death Card, she knew she made sick people uncomfortable. “Katherine says she can hear us though.”
The room fell silent, and I knew everyone was waiting for me to say something. Their stares burned like lasers on my back. I just didn’t know what to say to them. I didn’t know how to comfort them, or how to give them hope. I couldn’t even give it to myself.
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