The Rebel Witch

by Chandelle LaVaun

  The Rebel Witch

  The Coven: Elemental Magic Book Three

  Chandelle Lavaun

  Wanderlost Publishing

  For Jerry and Daltrey,

  One of you stuck a hose in my diaper, the other ate all my food, but you’re still the best brothers I could ask for. Thanks for all the great material, my characters wouldn’t be the same without your inspirational shenanigans...

  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

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Emersyn

  “Remind me what we’re looking for.” I craned my neck back to look up at the fountain in front of me.

  Somehow in the two days since Tegan had blown it up, the cement-fairy monstrosity had been magically reconstructed already. The polished surface shimmered under the falling water.

  When my sister didn’t respond to me, I glanced over my shoulder and spotted her glaring into the distance. “Tegan? I said, remind me what we’re looking for.”

  Her dark hair blended in with the black sky above. “What are we doing here?”

  “No, I know what we’re doing here. I said what are we looking for.”

  I knew exactly what we were doing there, and I knew whose fault it was. Mine. The prophecy on Bentley’s arm had warned us to be ready for a lie, for a trick, and yet two days ago, I’d fallen for it. Sure, it wasn’t my fault Henley had been possessed…but it was my fault that the Gap was opened for a greater demon to come in. My fault that my friend was now trapped in her own body in another realm. No one wanted to admit that realm was probably Hell. So yeah, I knew what my twin and I were doing. We were looking for answers. For clues. For anything.

  Except, now that we’d arrived at Hidden Kingdom, I wasn’t sure what that might be.

  Tegan’s pale green eyes met mine, and the fire in them almost made me take a step back. Almost. She was my twin, my best friend. I knew she was on my side. Still, with every passing day, her power grew stronger and more intimidating. Every day she stood a little taller, her eyes shined a little brighter, and her aura grew a little more terrifying.

  “A clue that might tell us what kind of demon this was.” She narrowed her eyes and glared into the distance again. Her long black hair was braided to one side, and it made my heart hurt. She’d been wearing it like that to honor Libby. “I think she was possessed here at the park.”

  I followed her stare, but I saw nothing. Just the cobblestone path that led to the castle and the forest surrounding the courtyard. I pushed my magic out, the way Uncle Kessler had trained me, to see if there were things my eyes missed. Except I still saw nothing. “What makes you so sure?”

  She wiggled her fingers, and her magic spilled into the air in a shimmering rainbow mist. “Do you remember the night the shadow monster arrived and attacked them here at the park? Royce told us how Henley had been fighting it until it just vanished.”

  I shivered and turned back to the fountain. My gaze traveled down to the pool at its base…to the last place I’d seen Henley. “They thought they killed it.”

  “Not dead,” a soft female voice said from above me.

  “Saffie!” Tegan ran up beside me with a big grin on her face. “I was hoping we’d run into you tonight.”

  Saffie’s fiery red hair blew across her face, so she tucked it back behind her pointed ears. Her lavender eyes looked kind of gray in the orange glow from the lanterns around the courtyard. She cocked her head to the side. “You wanted to see me?”

  “Of course. We’re friends.”

  “Friends.” Saffie smiled and her eyes twinkled like the stars above her. She flew down until her eyes were level with ours then hovered in the air, her translucent pink wings fluttering behind her back. “I was worried about you, after you blew up the fountain. But no one has come by since.”

  I frowned. There was something off about my twin’s fairy friend. Sometimes she spoke almost like a toddler, and in third person, yet other times, she spoke the same as we did. And why didn’t she ever leave the theme park?

  Don’t ask what you’re thinking, twin. Not yet.

  I smirked and rolled my eyes. Tegan’s telepathic gift was just not fair. Wait. How did she know what I was thinking? Was I that obvious? What did my face look like? I rubbed my face with my hand, and when I pulled it away, I made sure to smile.

  “I’m sorry no one told you I was okay, Saffie. I assumed Tennessee came by since.” Tegan sat down on the ledge of the pool. She spun sideways and let one foot drop into the water.

  Saffie sighed and plopped down beside my twin. She shook her head. “No one has come. Not even my friend Tennessee. You’re not hurt though?”

  Tegan shook her head and smiled. “I’m not hurt.”

  “Good.” She glanced up to me with wide eyes. “Are you my friend?”

  I frowned. “Of course I’m your friend.” I hated that she even had to ask.

  She clapped her hands and squealed. “Now I have three friends.”

  My stomach dropped. Who was this little fairy and why was she so alone?

  Seriously, Em. Control your face. We’re not digging into that yet.

  I groaned and sat down on the other side of Saffie. Apparently I had problems with my face and how easily my emotions showed. How was one to fix that, anyway?

  Saffie gasped and grabbed Tegan’s hand. She pulled it up to her face and stared at the gold wave ring with wide eyes. She glanced back and forth between Tegan and Tegan’s ring. “Keltie?”

  Tegan’s lips curled into a mischievous smirk. She nodded. With the hand Saffie wasn’t holding, she pushed her black hair behind her ears, revealing the gold earrings the siren had given her. They wrapped all the way up her ear in little gold cuff hoops, and some had etchings and crystals. One was the same wave shape as on her hand.

  “Keltie and I had a conversation,” Tegan said.

  Saffie leaned forward and ran her thin fingers over the golden cuffs on Tegan’s ears. She glanced over her shoulder at me, like she wanted to be sure I saw them too. Her lavender eyes filled with tears. She looked back to Tegan. The two of them seemed to be communicating silently. Well actually, with Tegan’s telepathy, they could’ve been doing exactly that.

  I cleared my throat to remind them I was still there. “Those rings have fairy magic, right?”

  Saffie shook her head, and her red hair flew around. “No, no. This is much older magic. This is ocean magic.”

  “Ocean magic? I don’t know what that is.” Which wasn’t precisely a new thing. Most of the time, I didn’t know what was going on. I hated that. I told myself I’d do better.

  Tegan frowned and cocked her head to the side. She pursed her lips and narrowed her pale green eyes. Finally, she shook her head. “I don’t either.”

  “You will, Tegan. The ocean’s jewels can only be worn by someone who has t
he soul of the sea inside them.” Saffie pointed to Tegan’s chest. “Keltie felt the ocean in you.”

  “Keltie said—”

  Saffie gasped and dove forward, covering Tegan’s mouth with her thin hands. “You must not tell me anything! Keltie will tell us when.”

  Tegan blinked a few times then nodded.

  That’s it? I didn’t understand how she could be so calm about all of this. Like it was no big deal. I was taking mental notes, trying to put it all together. Leyka knew the Crones, and somehow they connected to Saffie. Apparently, Keltie knew Saffie. Whatever was said in the aquarium tank to Tegan, Saffie was part of it. I wanted desperately to know what it was.

  She held Tegan’s finger with the wave ring up to her ear and sighed. It was the first time I saw her relax a little. After a long minute, she dropped Tegan’s hand. “Don’t lose these. They will protect you.”

  I narrowed my eyes. She knows stuff. “Saffie, do you know anything about Henley getting possessed?”

  She closed her eyes and nodded. “When it vanished, it took her.”

  My heart sank. It happened right in front of Royce, and he didn’t even know it. For days our friend was possessed and living among us without us knowing.

  “Do you know anything else?” I asked.

  Saffie grabbed both our hands then flew into the air, pulling us along with her. She guided us closer to the edge of the courtyard, near the forest. “This is where it happened. The Cards will tell you more here.”

  “We are the Cards, Saffie. We don’t know.”

  “She means I need to read the Tarot deck right here.” Tegan spun in a slow circle, eyeing the ground. “Don’t you, Saffie?”

  “Yup. Yup. Yup.”

  A wild sparkle twinkled in Tegan’s eyes, and my stomach dropped. In the few weeks I’d known her, I’d already learned to be nervous of that look. I didn’t know what she was thinking, but I suddenly regretted not bringing backup.

  “Um, Tegan?” I tucked my hair behind my ears and looked around. “Maybe we should call the others before you start? Like maybe Tennessee at least?”

  She cringed and shook her head. “I can’t…with him…can’t… We can’t… No.” She sighed.

  The only thing more unsettling than Tegan’s wild side was her stuttering side. She was confident and sure of herself in a way I’d probably never be. So when she got nervous or panicked, I wanted nothing to do with the cause. Not that Tennessee would hurt her, or me. But she told me about the ridiculous law forbidding the three of us from dating anyone until we were middle-aged—or else be stripped of our magic. Not a consequence worth testing. I couldn’t imagine what it felt like for my sister…to fall in love with a guy, then have that door be closed, locked, and vacuum-sealed shut.

  “I’m just going to read the Tarot. Henley did it without being attacked, so we should be fine. Besides, there are three of us.”

  Saffie nodded and waved her skinny pointer finger in the air. A large white crystal sparkled like glass on her finger. “Tennessee moves fast, too.”

  Good point. If something went wrong, I’d call Tennessee, and he’d be here within minutes. The three of us could hold anything off until then. “Okay, just be careful. And fast.”

  Tegan reached into the back pocket of her black jeans and pulled the stack of cards out. The Tarot, given to The Coven by the Goddess herself. A tool to be used by the High Priestess.

  “You carry them on you?”

  Tegan shrugged and sat down on the cobblestone ground. “Henley said in times like these, I needed to always be ready. So yes, I carry them. I need you to be ready, too. Watch our backs.”

  “This doesn’t make me feel better.”

  She placed the deck of cards facedown on the ground. With her hands hovering in the air above them, she whispered a few words in our ancient language. “Uncle Kessler said for the High Priestess, reading the Tarot can sometimes blind me of my surroundings until the ritual is over.”

  “Fantastic.”

  She rolled her pretty, pale green eyes. “You’re the Empress. You got this.”

  I opened my mouth to say…nothing. I had absolutely nothing to say back to that. She was right. Of course she was. I didn’t know what my problem was. I knew I had powerful magic. I knew my gifts were strong. I just never knew what to do with it. In the heat of the moment, I tended to panic. That was the difference between me and my sister. When I froze, she acted.

  The truth was…it scared me.

  A warm breeze slammed into my face. My hair flew over my shoulders like a kite in a hurricane. I squinted and refocused on my sister sitting on the ground. Rainbow mist and white lightning circled around her in a tornado of magic. The lights in the courtyard flickered.

  “Oops,” Saffie whispered.

  “Oops? Oops what?” I peeled my eyes off Tegan’s magic swirl and spun toward Saffie. Why did she say— I gasped and stumbled back a few steps. “Why?!”

  “Oops. Oops.” Saffie flew behind me and gripped my shoulder. “Uh-oh. Too fast. Too fast.”

  My pulse quickened and my palms grew sweaty. Those ghost-fairies were back. About a dozen were perched on the newly-rebuilt fountain…just watching us.

  “Why did they come?” I whispered. “She just started!”

  Saffie mumbled a string of words in a language I didn’t recognize. “Too much magic, too fast. They come. They come.”

  I swallowed through a lump of fear. “Will they attack us?”

  “Yes,” Saffie whispered back without hesitation. “Now, Empress. Now.”

  I shook my head and took a few steps back. My heart pounded in my ears, drowning out whatever Saffie was saying to me. Tegan was there, but she wasn’t there. This meant Saffie and I were on our own, and I wasn’t entirely sure what my living fairy friend could do. The ghost-fairies jumped off their perches and flew in circles over my head like vultures.

  “Ready now. Ready. Now. We fight them.” Saffie fidgeted with her dress. “They come.”

  I need a weapon. Why didn’t I keep Mom’s dagger?

  Think, Emersyn. Think.

  I tried to summon some fire or smoke, but my magic just crackled around my fingers. My hands trembled. Why couldn’t I do this? I’d done it before. I glanced around me, searching for something I could use as a weapon. All I needed to do was stall. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and hit the home button to unlock it.

  It vibrated in my hand. Try Again. I readjusted my finger placement. Try Again.

  “Oh, c’mon!” I groaned. “Hey, Siri, call Tennessee.”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t get that.”

  The ghost-fairies froze. Their eyes aimed lasers at me. Their wings fluttered.

  “Hey, Siri, call Tennessee.”

  “The capital of Tennessee is Nashville,” Siri answered.

  “Are you kidding me right now?” I shouted at my phone.

  The ghost-fairies screeched and flew toward me. I gasped and threw my hands up. I pushed all of my energy out. Red-hot energy prickled against my fingertips. I had no idea what it was, but I grabbed ahold of the lifeline and channeled all of my magic into it. The ghost-fairies slammed into me. Their hands were ice against my bare skin. But that magic was still waiting for me. I curled my fingers around it and pulled. The ghost-fairies shrieked in a high pitch that pierced my ears.

  “YES!” Saffie shouted, startling me. “More, Empress! MORE!”

  What did I do? When I spotted Saffie, she hovered nearby with a long crystal wand, pointing and gesturing. I followed her hands and saw little round discs of bronze and silver soaring through the air. My eyes widened. Oh my, what have I done? The pennies and nickels from the fountain’s pool flew around the fountain like an asteroid field. My jaw dropped. How...?

  The fairies ducked and tried to dodge the metal discs. I glanced behind me to Tegan to ask how she’d done that, except I found her still locked inside her own magic, completely unaware.

  “EMPRESS! More!”

  My heart skipped a beat.
Adrenaline rushed through my veins. Somehow I’d done that. I had no idea how. But it didn’t even matter. I raised my hands and pushed my magic. The coins swerved under my command. Dozens of tiny purple eyes narrowed on me. I clenched my teeth and sent the change charging after the ghost-fairies like a swarm of killer bees. They hissed and shrieked in pain. Yes! I narrowed my eyes and focused my energy on one ghost-fairy at a time. One by one, I plucked them out of the sky like I was at a shooting range until all of them were gone.

  “Holy shit,” Tegan whispered.

  I jumped at the sound of her voice. When I glanced over my shoulder, she was on her feet with the Tarot clutched in one hand and her jaw hanging wide open. I stood there panting.

  “That was so dark and twisted!” She bent over and laughed. “With pennies!”

  “Well…” I threw my hands in the air. “You weren’t here!”

  She clapped her hands together. “You see?! I told you. Amazing.”

  Saffie flew over to us, waving her hands frantically. “Not done. Not done. More.”

  I frowned and turned back to the fountain in time to see ghost-fairies pouring out of the fountain like a fireman’s hose. Within thirty seconds, we were surrounding by dozens and dozens of them. My stomach dropped. Sweat dripped down my spine.

  “Okay…maybe my decision-making skills were slightly altered recently,” Tegan mumbled under her breath. She took a few steps forward then bent down and pulled our mother’s white-hilted dagger from her boot. The Tarot deck poked out the top of her pants pocket. She glanced over her shoulder at me with that wild grin. “I want you to repeat that like it’s your favorite song, girl. You got it?”