The Empire Witch

by Chandelle LaVaun

  My breath left me in a rush. I dropped my phone then gripped the tile wall for support.

  I knew that symbol.

  It was the Mark of the Goddess.

  A rare, rare painting of her from the deepest vaults of our species.

  And it was on his body.

  Violent tremors racked my body.

  He dropped his shirt and it fell over his bare, chiseled skin. He put his hands on his hips and shook his head while staring at the ground. “You, of all people. Of all people. You. You’ve got to be kidding me. No, no, no, no, no.”

  “What is it,” I heard myself whisper.

  “No, no, no, NO.” He shoved his hands back into his black hair.

  I swallowed through the hot lump in my throat. “I’ll call Koth—”

  “No,” he snarled. “Don’t—”

  “Then tell me what you did to me!”

  “I didn’t do this! I don’t WANT this!”

  I half groaned- half screamed and stomped my foot. “Answer me!”

  “I didn’t do it!”

  “FINE, I’LL CALL KOTH.” I dove for my phone on the ground and went for my phone app.

  “NO. Just – damn it – don’t call him—”

  “TOO LATE—”

  “—just wait—”

  “I’ve done my waiting!” I found his name in the list and tapped on it. “You had your chance to tell me what it —”

  “YOU’RE MY SOULMATE.”

  I gasped and it burned its way up my throat.

  He stared at me with contempt in his eyes.

  My lip trembled. My whole body shook. I’d heard him loud and clear, but I still found myself saying, “what did you say?”

  “Did. I. Stutter?” He growled through clenched teeth as he balled his hands into fists at his sides.

  I shook my head. No. No this can’t be true. I can’t be his – he can’t be my – we can’t be – just no. I scrambled for my phone. I needed to call Deacon. He needed to tell me this wasn’t true, that this wasn’t even possible.

  “Wait. Stop.” He threw his hand out and navy-blue scales covered his arm.

  I jumped back and slammed my hand over my mouth.

  He cursed and shook his arm a few times until it went back to normal. “Just – just don’t call Koth. Or Deacon. Don’t call anyone. We don’t need to tell anyone.”

  “You’re not a wolf…”

  “No,” he growled and smoke billowed out from his nose. His blue eyes flashed with light as he turned his glare back to me.

  I looked down at the image on my side. It was a dragon. “It can’t meant that.”

  Maddox’s upper lip snarled. “Your own cousin has one, shouldn’t you know this!”

  My stomach turned. “Noooo. It can’t mean that. No.”

  “Yes,” he snapped.

  “No. No, I’m arcana.” I shook my head violently and tapped on my chest. “Soulmates get marked at first sight and it marks their chests first. This…this…this…this is not that…”

  “Yes, it is. Trust me, I would not make this up.”

  I flinched and the movement sent a new wave of pain through my body. I groaned and bile rose in my throat. “Why would I trust you? Goddess, why does it hurt so bad?”

  Maddox cursed and stepped in front of me. I swatted him away but he caught my hands in one of his and held them aside. “Stop. Just stop.”

  Then he pressed his free hand to my side, right over the mark.

  I froze as the soft skin of his palm touched my bare waist.

  But then the pain subsided, like it was slowly being drained from my body. I looked up at Maddox and sweat beaded along his forehead. I opened my mouth to speak and then he leapt away from me like I was diseased.

  I glanced at it in the mirror. It was still there but it no longer hurt. I let out a long, shaky breath then eyed him through the mirror. He didn’t look at me, he was glaring at my ribcage like he was trying to burn the mark off with his eyes.

  “It’s first touch,” he growled through clenched teeth, still not looking at me. “For shifters.”

  I cried out then sank down onto the toilet and put my head in my hands.

  “This is how it starts for our kind. On your left ribcage, closest to your heart, you’re marked with the image of your soulmate.” He cursed. “You’ve been marked with a dragon because I am a dragon—”

  “I thought you were a wolf.” I peeled my face out of my hands and glared up at him. “Or was that a lie? How am I supposed to know what’s the truth or not?”

  He rolled his eyes. “My king ordered us to keep our dragon sides a secret. We’re supposed to be undercover in case there’s a problem. He doesn’t want us to tell. And since you’re clearly such good friends with him I’d assume you’d want to honor his request.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Koth’s, yes. Yours? Not so much.”

  He snarled. “Mutual, don’t worry.”

  I opened my mouth to say something uncharacteristically nasty when his words registered. “Did you say…this is how it starts?”

  He nodded then pointed to his right side. “As the bond grows stronger, tribal prayers appear on our skin on the opposite side until the full prayer is shown. Well, not our skin since I can’t possibly see how this will grow into anything.”

  “Thank. God.” I grabbed my phone off the floor then jumped to my feet. “So what, how do we make it go away. Forever.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Are you that young and naïve? You. Don’t. How old are you anyway?”

  My chest was rising and falling rapidly. “Twelve.”

  His face paled and then he shuddered.

  “Let me guess, you’re a grumpy old eighty-five-year-old man? ‘Cause you act like it.”

  “Yeah, and you’re showing your immaturity nicely,” he snapped. “I’m fifteen but don’t worry, this doesn’t mean anything.”

  Fifteen? He looked more like eighteen the way he towered over me by a foot. “This is what happens when you put your hands on people without their permission. I hope you learned your lesson.”

  He grabbed my sweater off the counter and tossed it at me. “Don’t worry, I won’t ever be touching you again. Unless you get my sister almost killed again and then I’ll end you myself. Soulmate or not.”

  “Death would be better than a lifetime with you, pumpkin.” I narrowed my eyes and stood up tall. “If you tell anyone about this I’ll have The Coven strip your memories, got it?”

  He growled and leaned closer. “I have no intention of ever thinking of you again, let alone speak your name.”

  I arched one eyebrow. “Well, at least we agree on something.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Emersyn

  “Hold on, I wanna get a Big Mac for the road.”

  Deacon scowled and stepped away from the door. “Christian, you just ate four at the table?”

  He shrugged and jumped in line behind a guy dressed like Pikachu. “I’m a bear, what can I say?”

  The guy in front of Pikachu, wearing a sequin bodysuit tighter than Caroline’s, glanced over his shoulder to Christian. He looked him up and down, then wagged his eyebrows.

  Deacon shook his head. “Yeah, Christian, you’re probably going to want to revisit referring to yourself that way here in New York.”

  I snorted, then shoved the last bite of my cheeseburger into my mouth.

  Christian frowned and looked around. “Why?”

  “Because you’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto,” Olivia snapped and rolled her eyes. “This is why the country should stay in the country.”

  “Oh, Chrissy…” Noah bent over and laughed.

  “What? I don’t get it.” Christian glanced at each person in our group. “Tell me?”

  Just then, the guy in the sequin jumper grabbed his bag from the McDonald’s employee and marched right up to Christian. “Call me, big bear,” he purred and slipped a folded piece of paper into his pocket. He winked, then sauntered out the door and disappeared into the
New Year’s Eve hysteria.

  Christian’s eyebrows shot to the ceiling. “Okay, please tell me?”

  Rachel, one of Caroline’s new friends from school, giggled and held her phone out so he could see. “Read for yourself.”

  “What is this – oh – Urban Dictionary.” Christian leaned over and read the screen. Then he stood straight and pursed his lips. “Well…I mean…it’s not wrong. I like girls, but it’s still accurate.”

  Caroline wrapped her arm around his big body and shook him. “You’re adorable. And you’re going to get a lot of attention from the boys here in town.”

  Christian shrugged. “I’m not offended by guys hitting on me. It’s no different than girls I don’t like hitting on me.”

  “I think he’s going to fit in here just fine.” Oliver shook his head and smirked. “Go get your fifth round, Big Bear, so we can go.”

  Christian smiled and stepped up to the register when it was his turn.

  “Actually, it’s not a bad idea. Food for the road sounds great.” Noah jogged up to him. “Yo, Chrissy, get me one.”

  I smiled, then licked my lips. That cheeseburger had been alarmingly satisfying. I hadn’t had junk food like that in a while. And I hadn’t expected to have it on New Year’s Eve surrounded by Deacon’s friends. We’d all shown up to the fancy party with plans to stay there until it was time for the ball to drop, but when we got there, we discovered it was hors d’oeuvres only.

  And in the words of Christian, ain’t nobody got time for that.

  It was finally becoming less strange to be friends with Christian now. At first, it was weird as hell. I’d legit known this guy since I was a kid and then I’d dated him. And never in that time had I felt for him what I did for Deacon. Not even an ounce. Yet somehow, here he was, now a part of my friend group.

  Or extended friend group.

  Not all of these people were my friends.

  Oliver and Olivia were back in town. One of them was at least being outwardly friendly, and it wasn’t Olivia. She appeared to still hate me and she definitely was pissed that Caroline didn’t. But I decided to not let it bother me. Life was too short for that drama. Besides, there was more than just her there. Marcy was with us, and she was awesome. But then Noah and Caroline had made quite a few friends at SOMA in the short time it was open. There were three guys I’d never met and four girls. I only knew the name of one – Rachel. She wasn’t the most pleasant.

  None of the rest of them had introduced themselves properly, and I wasn’t going to ask.

  Instead, I was enjoying blending into the background.

  “Em, love, we’re leaving.”

  I looked up from my bag of French fries and noticed everyone else was at the door. Deacon picked up my soda for me. I cursed and jumped up. As we headed to the door, I tipped my head back and dumped the last few little pieces of French fry into my mouth.

  “Goddess, I love you,” Deacon said under his breath.

  I giggled and looked over to find his violet eyes drinking me in. “It’s blasphemy to waste a single fry.” I balled up the bag and tossed it in the trash can.

  He handed me my drink. “You are refreshing,” he said with a chuckle and wrapped his arm around my waist.

  We walked out the glass doors and onto the sidewalk where our large group was waiting. Christian and Noah were each double-fisting cheeseburgers. I grinned. It wasn’t often you got to watch a bromance develop.

  Red mist flowed out onto the sidewalk in front of us, parting the crowd like the Red Sea. Everyone else was loving the convenience of Deacon’s magic. I kept seeing Tenn’s text in my mind about not abusing our power. But it was harmless so I kept my mouth shut. When we got to the next corner, everyone stopped short. I slammed into Noah’s back then cursed.

  “Whoaaaaaa.”

  “It’s just a street performer, Christian,” Olivia snapped. “You need to get used to it and learn to keep going.”

  Caroline shrugged. “Or maybe we need to learn to stop and watch every once in a while.”

  Olivia glared at her back.

  I stepped behind Deacon then walked over to the garbage can. My drink was basically empty, so I took the lid off and chugged the rest of it. Once I got every last ounce of Coca-Cola, I tossed the cup in the garbage can and sighed.

  “It’s like you’re trying to tease me.”

  I started to snap back at Deacon with some sassy retort when my gaze landed on a neon sign behind his head.

  FRO YO.

  Deacon frowned and followed my stare. He looked back to me. “You okay?”

  I nodded. “I want fro-yo.”

  “You want what?”

  “Fro-yo, Olivia. Frozen yogurt. Even your stuffy ass must’ve heard of that.” I rolled my eyes. “It’s right there and imma get me some.”

  Normally, I would never, ever have suggested getting frozen yogurt when it was one degree outside. But the leather jacket Tegan gave me for Christmas was keeping me perfectly warm and cozy. And Deacon had given me fuzzy socks that had a charm to keep my feet warm. Magic was amazing and it meant I got to eat ice cream in the winter.

  I held my chin high and marched past the whole group into the brightly lit store. None of the employees acknowledged my arrival, the standard behavior for Manhattan, which was okay by me. I was on a mission for the self-serve machines in the back of the store. I grabbed a neon green cup and headed for the only flavor that counted. Mint chocolate chip. It only took me a few seconds to fill my cup with yogurt and a sampling of almost every topping.

  “Damn, girl,” Caroline chuckled as I bounced up to the register. “That’s like a child’s dream right there.”

  “Thanks?” I shrugged and put my cup on the scale.

  The guy weighed it then stuck a neon green spoon in it and gave it back to me. “That everything now?”

  “OH, I want hot chocolate, too, please!” I yelled to him.

  “Now that’s everything,” Deacon said and handed his black credit card over to the guy. He looked down at me and winked. “The girls grabbed that table in the back.”

  I scooped up a spoonful then shoved it into my mouth. Flavor exploded on my tongue and I moaned.

  Deacon smacked my ass, and I jumped. He leaned down to whisper in my ear, “Go to the table, love.”

  “Deacon,” I hissed as my cheeks burned. But when he just pointed in front of me, I turned and found most of our group sitting at a table. “Oh.”

  I skipped to the back then slid into the open seat between Caroline and Marcy. None of them had gotten yogurt, but they all had big cups of hot chocolate and some kind of cheesecake they were all splitting. They giggled and stared at Rachel’s phone screen. I focused on my snack and began shoveling the yumminess into my mouth.

  Deacon walked up beside me and put his hand on my shoulder. He set my hot chocolate on the table in front of me, then kissed my cheek. “See you in a minute.”

  It was about five bites later that I realized I hadn’t heard what he’d said. I’d been too busy scarfing down my frozen snack to hear him. See you in a minute? I frowned and glanced over my shoulder, but he was nowhere in sight. Maybe he went to the bathroom. I shrugged and returned my concentration to my dessert.

  The girls were all talking about something, but I was too busy stuffing ice cream in my mouth. It was heavenly delicious and I’d never been more happy about my weather-proof jacket than I was right then.

  “I’ll ask Christian.” Marcy pulled her phone out of her glittery clutch. “Oh shit, it’s eleven already!”

  “Damn. This night is flying by. We need to go.” Caroline stood and pulled down her black velvet mini dress that had bunched while she was sitting. “Time to get close.”

  I heard her, but it wasn’t until the others all walked away from the table that I registered we were moving. Oh, shit. I’m not done – oh, dammit. There was still yogurt in my cup. I jumped up and glanced up. Marcy’s white sequin dress sparkled like a disco ball under the store’s florescent li
ghts by the front door. I grabbed my cup of hot chocolate that I hadn’t even started drinking yet and carefully placed it in the crook of my elbow, pressed tight against my body so that I could still eat while I walked. Then I plucked my bowl off the table and hurried after the others.

  Thankfully, I’d decided to wear my cowgirl boots tonight instead of high heels so I had no problem scurrying through the store after my friends. I finally caught up to them just outside the door. The sidewalks were so crowded it looked like rush hour traffic on the highway. The streets were an actual parking lot of humans. They were barricaded in like cattle, all huddled together in their winter gear while I wore a dress made of sequins. The neon sign across the street said it was zero degrees.

  I looked down at my bowl of yogurt and grimaced. Maybe this was a bad idea.

  “Oh, she’s here now!” Marcy yelled from suddenly right beside me. Then she glanced back at me. “You’re game to walk and eat, right?”

  I scooped another bite and shoved it into my mouth. “Mmhhmm,” I mumbled and nodded.

  Marcy nodded in approval. “I didn’t think you were that dainty.” She winked playfully then skipped away.

  Rachel looked down her nose at me while I shoveled more bites of my yogurt into my mouth in rapid succession. “How do you eat like that and stay so thin?”

  I froze with my spoon in my mouth still. “Umm…”

  “All right, come on people, we’ve got to go claim our spot for the countdown!” Caroline yelled and waved both arms like she was directing an airplane.

  “Back to the tundra,” Olivia groaned and huddled into her hopefully faux fur coat.

  I frowned and looked up at the building a few blocks down with the massive disco ball sticking into the black sky. “Wait, I thought we were already in place for the ball drop?”

  “If we’re going to be out here in the cold, why wouldn’t we get as close as possible?” Olivia rolled her eyes as she walked by me. “We discussed this. Maybe you should try listening.”

  “Be nice,” Caroline hissed at her. Then she looked up at me and smiled. “Sorry, I’m not sure what her problem is tonight.”

  Me, evidently.

  I shrugged like it didn’t bother me, because I was trying not to let it. “It’s fine. I just want to know where Deacon went.”