“What?” Willow screeched. “No! No! This isn’t happening! This can’t be!”
She made a grab for the book, ripping it from Becca’s hands. It exploded into flames, burning her. She screamed, dropping the book but it vanished back into the hands of my father, completely untarnished.
“What’s going on? How can this be?” Nick hissed at Willow. “You said this would be easy. That we’d take her power.” Stunned and shocked looks from everyone were aimed at Nick as he spoke.
“Evil. The book only goes up in flames at the touch of evil.” Becca smirked. “You have been touched by evil, Nicholas Cromwell. May the Great Divine grant you peace.”
Nick looked panicked at that. He hadn’t thought about what might happen if he’d been wrong.
Willow's hands were black, bent like claws. She tilted her head to look at everyone, hissing as she did. Her eyes were red.
“Demon,” my mother rasped.
All the elders froze, stunned and obviously shaken. Some tried to cast, but nothing seemed to be working. In fact, magic seemed to be blocked entirely. My adrenaline spiked and I gulped, sweat beading my forehead. Willow’s father appeared out of thin air in the far corner of the garden. Perhaps he had, but I couldn’t even speak to shout a warning.
“It’s just a word,” the southern belle accent was gone now as she glanced at my mother and back to me. “You should have just lost control of your power. This could have been so much easier. Why did you have to go find your balance in the world? Of all the darn places, a weather witch here in Fall River and her balance not that far away. What are the chances?”
She cackled cruelly, her pretty girl facade fading as if it had never existed. She ran a hand over her blonde curls, the magic dissipating to show the real her, with long, black hair falling down her back. She grew taller almost as tall as Nick himself at six foot one, which gave even more proof that she was a demon. Even Nick seemed awestruck by the transformation.
“It was so easy to get close to you. I broke your heart and then you had to find him!” she screeched, pointing a claw in our direction. “Well then, this changes things.” She sighed dramatically, then snapped her fingers. The great coven book disappeared from my father’s hands and appeared in Nick’s. Willow smirked, grabbing Nick. “Now, if you want your book back or even this lovely boy …” She leaned closer to him, licking a line up his cheek.
He actually shuddered in revulsion. As soon as she released the magic holding her disguise, the power over him had snapped. It seemed like he had woken from a nightmare, and the look on his face promised he would be sick any moment.
“Sky,” he whispered to me, pleading.
“Then you will come to me and relinquish your powers. Easy peasy.” She smiled, revealing rows of tiny, razor-sharp teeth. “You have twenty-four hours. I’m being kind since it’s your birthday.”
A crack of thunder that hadn’t come from me split the air, a whirlwind of black smoke surrounding them.
“Sky! Sky help me!” Nick screamed. The man I had once loved was back. Or was he?
The black smoke enveloped them, and with a snap they vanished. So did her father. He had never said a word, but I knew he’d been responsible for holding the coven hostage and blocking any magic from being used.
“Nick!” Jordan and I both screamed.
I may not have loved him anymore, and I certainly had never wanted to see him again, but I wouldn’t have wished this on him. Being taken by a demon … I wouldn’t have wished that on even my worst enemy.
There was a flurry of movement, people running and screaming to get away. Demons were not something that witches dealt with, the last time so long ago nobody had been alive to remember what had happened. It was only written in the history books. Witches thought they were protected from evil, yet two beings had been within our midst for months, and they’d just held us all captive. Made us all defenseless against them.
“Please settle down,” a soft, melodic voice said above the chaos.
Everything slowed down. Everyone seemed to look drowsy and content.
The cherry tree was bursting with blooms and, amidst the swirl of petals, a feminine figure appeared.
“Divine,” almost every mouth whispered.
“Children, be at peace. All will be well.” A serene smile stretched over her lips.
She stepped in front of Braxton and me; reaching out she cupped both our cheeks in either of her hands.
“My new chosen Elemental Royals,” she breathed, her magic rolling over us. It made us both shudder and sigh at the pleasurable feeling. “I am sorry this has happened this way. But since it has and everything needs to stay in balance, you must get the book back. You shall have to find the charms of the ancient royals to be able to defeat this demon-spawn and her father. Then and only then will you retrieve the book and get the young Nicholas Cromwell back.”
“In twenty-four hours? Can we do this? Is there enough time?" Braxton stammered.
The Divine patted his cheek. “There will always be time. It just runs differently.”
“What are the charms and how do we find them?” I asked through the haze of shock still gripping me.
“The charms change for each new couple. What you seek is here in Fall River, for the last destined weather witch lived here but did not have her balance and gave up her powers. Find where she left the charms and you will right this wrong. I have faith.” She turned to Becca.
“Great Divine.” Becca bowed her head.
“You will see that these two are trained properly. They are the next great elemental royals.”
“It will be done.”
“Brantlee and Wynter, you have an amazing daughter. You have done well by her. Just as your parents, Braxton, have tried to do well by you even when you thought they weren’t. Things are changing and will only get better. But the road to get there might not be so pleasant. Are you both willing to take this journey?” She faced Braxton and me again.
“Of course,” we answered in unison as if there couldn’t have been any other option.
“Then you have my blessings,” she said, and with a gust of wind the petals that formed to make her spread through the air.
“Well, this is worrisome. Some birthday. Do I still get cake?” I muttered, cuddling into Braxton as he held me close.
Sky hasn't even blown out the candles on her cake and has already dealt with more than a teen should, from demons, the Great Divine and been given a quest. Crowned the new Elemental Royals, Sky and Braxton have twenty-four hours to regain the great book of the covens, find the charms of a former weather witch to defeat the demons, and save Sky’s ex-boyfriend Nick.
Find out what happens to Sky and Braxton in the stunning conclusion, “Weather Witch Weapon,” part of Forgotten Magic, the next book in the Magic Underground trilogy of anthologies.
About the Author
International bestselling author, A. R. Johnston is just a small-town girl from Nova Scotia, Canada, looking to share her tales with others. She is known to write mostly urban fantasy, though she goes where the muses lead her and you never know where that may be. She is a lover of coffee, good TV shows, horror flicks, and a reader of good books. She pretends to be a writer when real life doesn’t get in the way. Pesky full-time job and adulting! Sign up for her newsletter at
arjohnstonauthor.wordpress.com.
Don’t forget to grab your copy of the next anthology in this amazing set, Forgotten Magic, now!
The Lair of the Red God
Majanka Verstraete
All mages of the Seven Kingdoms have been branded with a rune that makes it impossible for them to access their magic. Despite the mark, Saleyna Loxley, a sixteen-year-old girl from a small town, still has access to some of her powers. As an Empath, she can connect with other people and sense their emotions. Sometimes, she can even influence other people’s emotions. However, as the Red Priests are keen to destroy any magic-wielder, Saleyna must hide her magic at all costs.
&n
bsp; Majanka Verstraete
Saleyna Loxley was branded with the mark of the Red Priests, like all mages in the Seven Kingdoms. These marks should make it impossible for them to access their magic, but Saleyna’s powers refuse to be bound by the mark burned into her skin. As an Empath witch, she can sense other people’s emotions and intentions, and influence them, for good or for bad.
Now, Saleyna entered the lion’s den, the home of the Red Priests keen on destroying her kind. If Saleyna is to survive, she must hide her magic at all costs. But at night, she’s haunted by dreams about the mysterious Veritas, a stranger locked in an infernal cage, who tells her that her magic will only grow stronger and more uncontrollable. If she doesn’t learn to control her wayward magic, it will destroy her from the inside out.
But if she learns to control it, her magic could be strong enough to stop the Red Priests once and for all, and change the Seven Kingdoms forever…
Chapter One
My first day in the Red Keep wasn’t exactly going as I had expected. After Cullyn, the gruff Red Priest who had decided he hated me the moment he laid eyes upon me, woke me up early in the morning, he guided me through the labyrinth of corridors.
My nerves increased with every passing second.
I was in the lion’s den. In the very place where my existence was frowned upon, occupied by people who wanted nothing more than to hurt my kind and ban us from using our magic forever. People who despised magic so much they were willing to kill for it.
Cullyn led me to an area outside, away from the main courtyard, through an archway built into the building on the east side. The sun was rising from behind the building, casting its golden rays over us . It enveloped me with a glow that helped warm the chill that had settled in my bones from spending the night in a room that could barely be considered more than a cell.
At the end of the graveled path sprouting from the stone archway, stood an enormous greenhouse. It stretched at least twenty meters in length, and was easily six meters high, a spectacle of glass with a dome on top reminding me of a lighthouse.
Cullyn and I walked inside through tall glass doors that squeaked when Cullyn pushed them open.
“Marletta,” Cullyn said as he addressed the woman standing in the back of the greenhouse. “This is the new acolyte, Saleyna.” He said my name in the same tone someone would talk about disgusting food.
The woman turned toward us, the sunlight hitting her freckled face. She wore the same red robes as the other Priests, but hers were covered in dirt stains. A twig was nestled in her ginger, curly hair and as she walked toward us; I could spot filth under her nails too.
“Nice to meet you, Saleyna.” Marletta bowed her head slightly, smiling at me. She didn’t seem deterred by the mark on my head, and she looked friendly enough. Her friendly manner was a stark contrast from the way Altheia and Cullyn had treated me. “I’m the Head Herbalist. I teach acolytes all there is to know about herbs. We have a whole garden here designed to help people combat illnesses, heal diseases.”
All the things people asked mages’ help for, before magic was banned. We too relied on herbs for healing, only tapping into our magic when there was no other option to heal someone’s wounds or cure someone’s illness.
“The other acolytes will join us soon,” Marletta said while she rubbed her hands clean on her apron. The apron had once been white, but it now looked like a mix of grey and brown. “You don’t have to worry if you’re not that familiar with herbalism. My motto is: what you don’t know, you can learn.”
I liked Marletta’s straightforward approach. So far, she was the only one in the Red Keep who didn’t treat me like a leper because of the brand on my forehead.
“If she’s anything like her kind, that won’t be an issue,” Cullyn muttered below his breath, but loud enough for me to hear. Coming from anyone else, it might’ve sounded like a compliment, but from Cullyn’s mouth, it was obviously an insult.
I balled my hands into fists. Of course, the moment my mood improved, Cullyn had to ruin it, as if he had made it his personal mission to thwart me every chance he got.
“Cullyn, the acolyte is in good hands,” Marletta said while she put a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sure you have other duties to attend to now.”
It sounded like a command more than a remark, and it made me smile.
Cullyn sulked, but he turned on his heel and stalked out of the greenhouse, leaving Marletta and I alone.
I swirled around, taking in my surroundings. The greenhouse was gigantic. A spiral staircase led to the upstairs floor, where a steel balcony circled the entire roof, offering a three-hundred sixty degrees view of the outside. The downstairs area was divided in four areas by a hexagon-shaped terrace in the middle of the greenhouse. One wooden table stood behind Marletta, like a teacher’s desk, whereas behind me, eight similar tables were lined up—for the acolytes, a title which now included me.
In each of the areas grew a variety of plants, from trees to herbs and practically everything in between.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Marletta asked, chuckling at my awestruck expression. “It took years to get it into this shape. When I first came here, it was barely more than a ruin, and all the plants had died. Rebuilding it took forever.”
“Why was it in such a horrible condition?” I asked, dumbfounded by how the Red Priests could let something this beautiful go to waste.
“Most of the Red Keep was,” Marletta explained. “Twenty-or-so years ago, when I joined the order of the Red Priests, it was nowhere near as popular as it is now. We lacked the funding to maintain the upkeep of the stronghold. I made it my personal mission to restore the greenhouse.”
“Well, you should be proud of the result. It’s magnificent.”
Marletta blushed. “Thank you. Now if you don’t mind, could you help me carry those pots over there?” She gestured at eight stone pots standing to the side of the hexagon terrace. “Please put one on every table.”
“Sure.” I walked after her and grabbed one of the pots. It was a lot heavier than I had expected so I groaned while I carried it toward a table.
“What are these plants?” I asked while I dropped down the pot with a dull thud. The plant had greenish-yellow flowers, dark green leaves, and a slightly darker-colored circle in the middle of the flowers. It looked vaguely familiar, and I was pretty sure I had seen it before as a climbing plant in hedgerows and woodlands.
“You might recognize them,” Marletta answered. “It’s a good season for white bryony.”
She shot me a curious look and I was wondering if she was trying to figure out if I recognized the name of the plant or not. Bryonia Alba, as it was also called, was an inexpensive surrogate for Mandrake and had a lot of medicinal properties ascribed to it, but that was about where my knowledge ended. Mother had stopped teaching me about herbs and their healing qualities when I got branded and my magic disappeared. In fact, when I thought about it, she stopped teaching Sebastian and me pretty much everything since then.
The first few years after the Red Priests marked me, I blamed my mother for not stopping them. She was the one who had held back my arms while they put that branding iron on my forehead.
But then, as the years went on and I saw the toll it was taking on her, with her own magic trying to kill her from the inside out, I knew that all along she had just been trying to protect me. If I believed Sebastian’s stories, the powerful Wizards from the days of old sometimes got destroyed by their own wayward magic as well, when it became so powerful that their veins turned black and their eyes spit fire. No matter from what side you looked at it, it seemed like magic was more of a curse than a blessing.
The double glass doors of the greenhouse opened, and a small army walked in, all of them clad in similar grey robes as mine. The other acolytes were talking to each other when they strolled in, but the noise stopped abruptly when they noticed me.
“Ah! Welcome,” Marletta said, clapping her hands. “Can each of you please find
a spot behind one of the tables? Oh, and this is our newest member Sarleyna,” she briefly introduced me. “I will not bother reciting all your names to her since I'm sure you can all introduce yourselves after class.”
Despite her friendliness, Marletta had a no-nonsense attitude. She jumped right into the topic she wanted to teach us about, without going on for too long about my status as a newcomer. I kind of liked that, though—being the center of attention had never been something I particularly enjoyed.
I waited until the other students had each occupied a table and then went to the remaining one, moving behind it.
“Today I will teach you about white bryony,” Marletta said. “White bryony is said to have enormous healing qualities. It can heal everything from malaria to indigestion, even pains in the chest and headaches. According to one of the oldest legends surrounding white bryony, if you dig up the plant it will shriek horrendously, which supposedly causes people to die from the obnoxious sound.”
One of the students in the back of the room, a girl with curly red hair tied back in a ponytail, gasped. “Is that true?” she asked the teacher.
Marletta chuckled. “It’s true that people think that, yes. But I can assure you it’s just a legend. While the sound a white bryony makes when you dig it up isn’t particularly pleasant, it doesn’t sound like a shriek, and it certainly won’t kill you.”
“Mistress Marletta,” a young girl with blonde, straight hair asked from two rows in front of me. “Is it true that this also heals gout?”
“Yes,” Marletta answered with a smile. “Now, while the plant certainly has healing qualities and digging it up won’t kill you, keep in mind that the root is poisonous. It’s often used as a substitute for another, rarer and more expensive type of plant. Can anyone tell me which one?”
She looked around the room expectantly. I followed her gaze, staring at the other students. Some avoided looking at her, keeping their heads down, while others shook their head, indicating they had no idea.
Magic Underground: The Complete Collection (Magic Underground Anthologies Book 4) Page 92
