The Empire Witch

by Chandelle LaVaun

  “I promise, no more running from me,” Landy said firmly.

  “Which means I don’t need to run.”

  Deacon nodded. “Okay, then have fun and I’ll see you two later.”

  We both waved as he winked then turned and disappeared inside the lounge.

  I turned back to Landy and did a little happy dance. “Landy! Oh my Goddess, I am so happy you’re back! I missed you!”

  “I missed you, too,” she said and her cheeks reddened. “So, this is quite a party…”

  “Oh, girl, you have no idea—”

  “Landy!”

  We both jumped as a tall, teenage boy shouted her name from fifteen feet away. I looked over and my eyes widened. The guy was tall, at least a foot taller than me, and his shoulders were far too wide for a kid. Must be a shifter. He had black hair that was pushed back and the brightest blue eyes I’d ever seen. They popped against his dark tan skin and high cheekbones. He was beautiful, but everything about him was stern and mean-looking.

  “Landyyyyy,” that same male voice boomed and I realized it hadn’t come from the guy I was looking at. It came from a shorter guy, maybe five-foot-nine, with shaggy brown hair and a wild grin. He practically bounced over to us and immediately started tugging on Landy’s braids. “You’ve been hiding.”

  “Koth will love to know you’re already misbehaving,” the guy behind him growled. This one had wine-red hair, blue-ish, gray eyes, and a nasty snarl that hadn’t left his face yet. “Maybe we can be home before 2019 starts.”

  “Kiev,” a third teenage boy said and rolled his hazel eyes. “That’s not helpful.”

  “But he’s not wrong, either,” the pretty one I’d seen first snapped. He marched right up to Landy and got in her personal space, then leaned down and growled. “We had a deal. A plan. You already broke it.”

  “Maybe she forgot her phone in her other dress,” Kiev said in a low, dangerous voice.

  “It’s cold out here, where’s your coat?” The third one with hazel eyes frowned. “Why wouldn’t you bring it? This is New York, it’s single digits out.”

  “Relax, Tor. They’ve got magic controlled temperature up here.” The happy one shook his head. “Though I would love to know why you’re wearing shoes you most definitely can’t run in safely.”

  The pretty one with the blue eyes put his hands on his hips and glared at her. “Was this your idea of proving that you could be trusted?”

  Okay, that’s enough. Who are these guys? I cleared my throat and took a step toward my friend. “Um, can we help you?”

  The tallest one, Mr. Blue Eyes, turned his glare to me. “No, this is a private conversation.”

  “Oh, kinda like the one you interrupted when you barged in all high and mighty?” I arched one eyebrow at him and crossed my arms over my chest. “Unless you still need to be house-broken and don’t know what a conversation looks like?”

  He snarled. “Your conversation can wait.”

  “Until I shove my wand up your ass and shoot magic out your nostrils? Sure, let’s dance, asshole,” I pulled my wand out from my boot and pointed it at his face, then down to his hips. “Or maybe I should use the smaller hole so you learn your lesson faster?”

  He stepped toward me and heat radiated out of him. “Excuse me?”

  I had no idea what had come over me, but something about this guy’s whole presence just made me want to break stuff. I twirled my wand between my fingers and let a little silvery magic spill out. “Oh, I’ll excuse you back to the door so you can adjust your attitude and try again.”

  “Are you threatening me?” His voice was low and rough like burned wood.

  I arched one eyebrow. “Did. I. Stutter?”

  His nostrils flared. “Just who do you think you are?”

  “Your worst nightmare, apparently,” I said with a chipper voice and tight smile. “You can stop puffing your chest now, I’m not scared of you. And this whole macho bullshit you’re pulling ain’t gonna fly here so baby back the hell up.”

  The happy guy with the wild grin threw his hand over his mouth and snorted, laughter burst out of him. Beside him, the one called Tor looked at us with wide hazel eyes and a dropped jaw.

  Kiev, the one who’d flat out threatened to call Koth, pushed up next to Mr. Blue Eyes and snarled. “Do you know who he is?”

  “He’s not Koth or Silas, so I really couldn’t give a flying rat’s ass.”

  “Now, you listen here—”

  “No, YOU listen.” I put my hands on my hips and rode the angry wave rushing through my veins. “You do not get to walk up and start disrespecting her in front of her peers.”

  “You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Mr. Blue Eyes spat.

  “Don’t I, though?” I arched both eyebrows and eyed the four of them. “Pretty sure it was me who went after her. Me who notified The Coven of the situation, and ultimately me whose presence enabled us to be found. Don’t come at me like I’m some ignorant Barbie Doll. And more importantly, if you wanted to have a talk with Landy then you should have been polite enough to pull her aside and speak privately. But apparently evolution hasn’t finished its job on you yet though it’s nice to see you’ve progressed to walking on two legs.”

  The happy one clapped his hands and threw his head back. He cursed. “I like this one.”

  Tor’s jaw dropped.

  Mr. Blue Eyes opened his mouth and I braced myself, because the look in his eyes was downright lethal. Good. Come at me bruh.

  Landy jumped in front of me and threw her hand up into his chest. “Maddox. Stop.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest, mostly to try and conceal the fact that they were shaking. I’d never yelled at someone like this before. I had no idea why this guy had set me off so much. Sure, he was being an asshole but I’d never said that to someone’s face before. Heat rushed through my body. If he wanted to fight then he was gonna get one.

  Landy sighed and shook her head. “All of you, stop. Please.”

  “Do you know these guys, Landy?”

  She nodded. “Unfortunately.”

  “Hey,” the happy one cried.

  Landy smirked. “Okay, unfortunately I know half of them. These two are okay. This happy cat is Steve, and his silent friend is Tor.”

  Steve gave me two thumbs up. Tor nodded but he was smirking.

  “This walking attitude problem is Kiev.” She pointed to the guy with wine-red hair who threatened to call Koth.

  “And the hellhound?” I nodded my head toward Mr. Blue Eyes. “Whose junkyard did you steal him from?”

  Landy sighed. “My parents, actually. This is my brother Maddox.”

  Brother.

  Right.

  Now that attitude makes sense.

  “Oh, well, glad to see your parents worked out all the kinks on the first kid so they’d get a better product on round two.”

  Maddox shook his head and growled. “You’re a real piece of work—”

  “Pot calling the kettle black, pumpkin?” I shrugged one shoulder. “At least I use my attitude to defend my friends instead of attacking my little sister in front of her friends to purposely make her look bad. Unless, of course, you were genuinely that unobservant or that self-centered. Oh, and Kiev? Stop throwing Koth’s name around—”

  “He’s my king—”

  “And yet he didn’t mention you even once.” I pursed my lips. “Not at the Yule Ball when I hung out with him for well over an hour. Not after when he rescued us with my Coven—”

  “Are you really trying to act like you have some great friendship with our king?”

  I rolled my eyes. “No, you pompous fool. But if you’re going to throw out trump cards make sure you’re holding the biggest one.”

  “You little—”

  “Kiev, stop.” Landy shoved his shoulder, he didn’t budge but it broke his stare. “Maybe my friend here wouldn’t have felt the need to defend me so much if you hadn’t threatened me. And while we’re at it, go ahead. Ca
ll Koth. I’ll explain to him how Silas sent me home with Deacon to get moved in to my new room – and then how Deacon and Emersyn escorted me here. I’m sure he’d love to hear about all of this.”

  Maddox opened his mouth.

  But Landy wasn’t done. “Dearest brother, back off. I made a mistake once, and maybe if you hadn’t pushed mom and dad into sending me here against my will in the first place maybe I would’ve handled things better. So unless you’d like me to start airing your long list of mistakes then back off.”

  “By the way, since you so politely asked, my name is Amelia, but you can call me Miss English.”

  Landy grabbed my elbow and dragged me off. We made it maybe twenty feet away before we burst into laughter. I glanced over my shoulder and found all four of them watching us storm off. Maddox was downright violent looking. Steve on the other hand was crying he was laughing so hard.

  “Girl, what was that?” Landy said between laughs.

  I sighed. “I have no idea. I just snapped. But he deserved it. That’s your brother? Really?”

  She groaned. “Yes. He means well, honest. He’s just a tad smothering and my running away made it worse.”

  “Well…I’m not sorry.”

  She scoffed. “Don’t be. That was the best moment of my life. Little fiery blonde twelve year old put him in his place.”

  “I’m really happy you’re back, though.”

  She grinned up at me. “Me too. Me too.”

  I glanced back over my shoulder but the guys had vanished. “So, what do they shift into?”

  She frowned. “Um…mountain cats and a wolf.”

  Maddox was definitely the wolf. I didn’t even need to ask. He just carried that I’m-an-alpha-hear-me-roar kind of complex. It didn’t matter if he was pretty. In fact, that made it worse. Like him being drop dead gorgeous gave him the added clout. I expected Landy to say he was a high horse that he rode himself in on.

  I sighed and shook my arms out. “Okay. I need a cookie. And a cupcake.”

  Megan gasped. “LANDY!”

  My three friends pounced on her, but in the exact opposite way as her brother and crew. They complimented her dress and showed excitement of her return. As I reached out and plucked a cookie off the table I realized my mouth was super dry from all the yelling I’d just done. I glanced around only to discover the drinks were all the way at the other end of the table.

  I tapped Landy’s shoulder. “I’ll be right back, grabbing drinks!”

  Then I turned and skipped down the length of the building until I got to the drink station. There was a few girls in front of me, so I took the moment to peruse my beverage options. On top of the table, there were five punch bowls with different colored drinks inside each. The girls in front of me were giggling and trying to decide which to try. Which made me nervous. Caroline told me all about witch parties and their magical cocktails…I wasn’t sure what they’d provide to students at school but I wasn’t in the mood to try anything. Not after my little confrontation with Maddox.

  “Amelia.”

  Speak of the damn devil, man. I took a deep breath to try and calm myself, but the second his stupid pretty face came into view it was like a flip had been switched. Something about this guy just made me anxious and uncomfortable, like I wanted to throw my gloves to the ice and brawl.

  The girls in front of me batted their eyelashes at him and giggled.

  I threw up in my mouth a little.

  Maddox glared at them then turned his attention back to me. I couldn’t decide if this made me more or less angry. I felt something brewing in my veins but I couldn’t tell which.

  “Amelia.”

  I sighed. “Yes, your highness?”

  He scowled. “I am no prince.”

  “What? With that dashing personality?”

  “Listen, I just want to talk—”

  “Well that makes one of us.” I grabbed two cans of Coca Cola out of the bin beside the table and spun away before my mouth had another opportunity to act out.

  “Thank you.”

  I froze then spun back around. “Excuse me?”

  He licked his perfect lips. “Thank you for going after my sister. For saving her. I am more grateful than you could know…”

  I arched one eyebrow at him. There was a but coming, I knew it.

  He sighed and shook his head. “But you need to not encourage her.”

  There it is. I opened my mouth then closed it. I shook my head as that volcano inside of me spurred to life. The nerve of this this guy. Words I knew I shouldn’t say rushed to the surface but I swallowed them down. Fighting with him was just going to ruin my mood and my night. I had Landy back. I wanted to be happy about that.

  “Yeah, I’m not doing this.” I spun around to storm off.

  He jumped forward and grabbed my elbow.

  Pain exploded from my ribs. I gasped and staggered back. Black dots danced in my vision. It burned like a raging wildfire. Like gasoline on a flame. Each breath I sucked in scorched through my body like swallowing acid. A strangled kind of noise left my mouth.

  “What did you…” I gripped my side and spun around. “You attacked me?!”

  His bright blue eyes were wide with horror. He shook his head.

  The pain doubled and I bent over. I gasped and my eyes watered. “What did you do?”

  “Nothing,” he breathed.

  “Oh my Goddess, am I bleeding?” I shoved my hand up under my sweater and pressed it to my hot skin then yanked it out.

  But there was no blood on my fingers. Each breath I took sent a new wave of blinding pain through my stomach. I stumbled a few steps and then something caught me. I clenched my teeth together and hissed through the pain. Heat wrapped around my elbow – and then I was being dragged across the rooftop.

  I glanced up at Maddox’s sharp jawline and wanted to scream.

  Cool air brushed over my face yet somehow it made the pain worse. Sharp bolts shot down my arms and legs. My toes tingled and went numb. Oh God. Did he stab me? Is he taking me somewhere to finish killing me? I tried to call out for help to any of the dozens of students lying around the lounge but no one seemed to notice I was being dragged away and my mouth wasn’t working.

  A door in front of us opened and then I was shoved inside.

  Maddox slammed it shut behind us and locked the bolt.

  My heart fluttered then kicked into hyper speed. I scrambled to get as far away from him as possible but my back hit cold white tile a few steps away. We were in the bathroom. A stall-less, one toilet bathroom. I tried to keep up the strong front but the pain was too much. I half crumbled against the sink and about jumped out of my skin.

  In a panic, I reached up and yanked my sweater up and over my head. Heat still burned through my tank top.

  “Amelia.”

  I groaned and my stomach rolled. My back hit the cold tile again. “Goddess, what did you do to me? What did you stab me with?”

  “Show me.”

  Sweat dripped down my spine and pooled along my ribs. He reached out toward my side and I swatted his hands away. “Don’t touch me!”

  “FINE,” he growled and pushed away from me.

  I pulled my phone out of my skirt pocket to call for Deacon, to tell him Landy’s brother had just stabbed me in the ribs, when Maddox reached down and yanked the bottom of my shirt up. He lifted it just an inch and then he leapt away from me.

  His face paled then turned bright red. “No. NO!”

  I bent over and pulled my shirt back up…and my breath left me in a fiery rush. What the eff. I spun around to face the mirror then slid the thin black material up further. My jaw dropped. There on my pale skin, right over my left ribcage, was a picture drawn in black lines.

  It was a dragon.

  An elegant, bad ass black dragon with spikes down its back and a long tail. With shaking hands, I pulled on the elastic of my high-waisted gold sequin skirt and slid it down my stomach. A weird, strangled cry left my lips as I uncovered more
and more of this dragon mark. It stretched from just under my bra almost all the way down to my hip. I gasped. My heart thundered through my head and pounded in my veins.

  Behind me, Maddox stared at my dragon mark through the mirror like it was the sign of his death.

  Wait. Dragon mark. Dragon. This is a shifter thing. The shifter king is a dragon.

  “What did you do to me?” I shrieked and spun around. I swung my fists at him, shoving him against the tile wall. “What did you do to me?”

  He caught me by the elbows and lifted me off the ground, then shoved me to the far corner of the bathroom while he guarded the door. “NOTHING! I did nothing.”

  I gasped and fell back against the tiles, my lungs burning. “Liar!”

  “Nothing!” He shoved his hands through his hair then spun around and slammed his balled fist into the wall. Tile exploded into dust. “YOU. Of all people it has to be YOU.”

  I grabbed a roll of toilet paper off the rack and tossed it at his face. Then another, and another in rapid succession. “What did you do to me!”

  “You. You.” He snarled then gripped his stomach like he was going to be sick. “You reckless, wild, mouthy—”

  “I’m calling Koth—”

  “NO WAIT!”

  I scrolled through my contacts with trembling fingers looking for his name. I was going to get to the bottom of this, to find out what he’d just done to me.

  He reached for me. “Amelia, wait—"

  “Don’t touch me!” I smacked his hand away and lunged back.

  “Amelia, LOOK!” He pulled the bottom of his shirt up to reveal a black and white tattoo covering his left rib cage.

  In the exact spot mine was.

  Except his was of a woman with long pale hair. There was a sun shining behind her head and crescent moon at her feet. Vines made of black lotus flowers wrapped around her naked body. She held her hands in front of her chest and crystals hung from the tips of her fingers. Stars and the phases of the moon circled around her hips and legs. In the center of her stomach was a pentacle, with a crescent moon and each side to make up the Triple Goddess symbol.