“Frank, I—”
“Listen,” he said, before I could speak, “I’m not about to tell you how to run your life. Hell, I like Aaron. The guy’s fucking hot, and I would sell my own sister to step into the sack with a werewolf.” I blushed bright pink. He wasn’t wrong there. Aaron was a beast in the bedroom, but also gentle… and generous. “But if you have a kid, Amber, that child will be hunted, cursed, and will probably live a very tough life.”
“I know,” I said. “I know, Frank. But I, I want to be with him. I deserve him, dammit. I’ve been fucked around one too many times by guys. Aaron is different. But for what it’s worth, I’m sorry I didn’t come clean sooner.”
Frank took me by the hands. His touch was soft and nice, despite the fact that his fingers were caked in dirt and blood. “I’m your friend, Amber. Your brother. I’ve got your back.”
I nodded. It was comforting to hear Frank’s words spoken aloud. I always knew they lived in his heart of hearts, but hearing them touch my ears was melodious.
“Hey guys!” Damien was yelling from the foot of the hill. “Are you coming down or what?”
“What are we going to do about her?” Frank asked.
I cocked my head to look at him. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, is she going to leave or is she going to stay?”
I turned my eyes down to Collette. She was a stranger here, a foreigner in a foreign land whose powers were as mysterious to me as my own but also coated in a layer of mistrust, like a poisoned dagger.
“She stays,” I said, “She’ll stay in Raven’s Glen and she’ll join our Coven. I helped her with her problem, and now she’s going to help me with mine.”
“Do you think you’re ready for that?”
I turned my face up at Frank and grinned. “I am. Are you?”
To be continued…
RED WITCH
Amber Lee Series, Book 4
By Katerina Martinez
RED WITCH
Amber Lee Series, Book 4
Copyright © 2017 by Lee Dignam & Katerina Martinez. All rights reserved. Cover uses images © 2016 Shutterstock.
Published by Supernal Publishing
***
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, events or locales is purely coincidental.
Reproduction in whole or in part of this publication without express written consent is strictly prohibited. I greatly appreciate you taking the time to read my work. Please consider leaving a review wherever you bought the book, or tell your friends about this serial to help spread the word!
Thank you for supporting my work.
Prologue
PROLOGUE
I couldn’t remember when it had all started to feel like one big dream.
It was almost as if the left side of my brain, my most logical self, rebelled against the very notion that I had just spent any amount of time in a realm out of myth. Moron! That wasn’t real. You’ve just been asleep, duh. But I wasn't asleep. I could feel the ache in my bones, the strain on my eyes, and the steady pulse of blood against my skull.
Only a few hours had passed since we climbed out of that hole in the ground and Aaron picked us up, but with every passing minute, the memory of that harrowing experience was fading, sailing away on the evening tide. Part of me was grateful for it. But the other part screamed out in protest, and demanded that I catalogue as much of what had happened as I could.
So I spent the ride home in silence, holding tightly to as many fragments of memory as my willpower would allow. As soon as I got home I raced into the attic, yanked my Book of Shadows from off my altar, and wrote. I didn’t care about the dirt on my skin, under my nails, and in my hair; the only thing that mattered was the book, the story, the experience.
Get it on to the pages, I thought, tell their story, if not for them then for you.
Aishe.
The Shadow.
Missington.
It all matters. It’s all important. This is the kind of thing one shouldn’t just forget.
My hand was throbbing and my head was feeling at least three sizes too big by the time Collette stepped out of the shower and found me at the kitchen table, pouring myself onto the pages of my book. She approached, rested a hand on my shoulder, and with a touch snapped me out of my writing frenzy. I must have stared at her blankly for ages before finally blinking, shaking my head, and snapping out of whatever trance I had been in.
“Are you alright?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said, clearing my throat with a cough, “Fine. How was your shower?”
“Like a kiss from ze Goddess. Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. I wasn’t about to let you go back to that stale little cottage, cute as it may have been. You deserve a warm bed after what you’ve just been through.”
“What we have just been through,” she said, correcting.
I nodded and closed the book, stood, stretched. It felt good to stretch, like my body was sighing after a long day at the mill. “I guess it’s my turn,” I said.
“It is. Do you mind if I read what you have written? I fear I wasn’t myself in ze Underworld, and I would like to see what happened through your eyes.”
“Knock yourself out. I only wanted to get it all down before it left me.”
Leaving Collette to my Book of Shadows wasn’t a difficult decision to make. Wiccans are very particular about their books, the content being private and personal to the Witch. A Book of Shadows is at once a journal of experiences, a repertoire of spells, and a compendium of notes and thoughts on the witch's individual opinion about Magick. It was in an almost literal sense a window to one’s most secret self. But I trusted her not to go snooping around and, in any case, there wasn’t anything in there I wouldn’t have told her freely if she had just asked.
As I headed for the shower I was reminded of that night during Mabon. It was September 23rd last year and I was sitting in my room up at Evan’s family home up in the woods. This was the night Damien had shown me how to do real Magick, the night he stole into my room to teach me the secret truths about the world he had been wanting to teach me about since we met. I had been trying to write in my Book of Shadows for the first time, but I couldn’t even think of a name to call myself by, let alone figure out what to write inside it. But now the pages were starting to fill up with detailed notes on my experiences with the demon, Aaron’s transformation, the cult that tried to have me killed, and my own magical development. That stuff was private, sure. But not to Collette.
Not if we were to become sisters.
It would be nice to have another sister, I thought as warm jets of water washed the last twenty-four hours off my body. Eliza was—and always would be—my sister, but I could no more share my magick or my stories with her any more than a mother could tell her daughter of all the sexual partners she had been with in her lifetime. If HP Lovecraft had taught me anything, it was that there were things man was never meant to know. I may have taken a step away from being human, but Eliza hadn’t; and I didn’t want to bring her into something she was never meant to be brought into.
Yes, Eliza was and always would be my sister in spirit. And then there was, of course, my actual biological sister who lived out East with her husband. The sister I didn't often speak to and would only see on the very rare occasion my family bothered to organize some kind of big event that calls us all back like dogs to supper. I couldn't tell her anything about my secret life either, and I guessed it was better that way. Secrets were like juggler's balls; try to juggle too many of them at once and one of them was bound to slip through your fingers.
I didn’t linger in the shower. Aaron had gone out to get us a bite to eat and, given that he was probably due back at any moment and I didn’t want to miss a single second of dinner, I decided to finish quickly instead of savoring the sensation of warm water revitalizing my tired flesh. As it turned out Aaron hadn't arrived yet and the growling of my stomach c
aused Collette to perk up.
“You look refreshed,” she said.
I smiled. “Thanks,” I said, “I needed that like I need a cheeseburger.”
“Something to eat would be nice.”
“Why are you always so proper?” I asked as I approached. She was wearing a pair of black leggings and a long shirt. They were my clothes, of course. The Mistress of Darkness didn't have her own wardrobe yet.
“I’m not sure I understand," she said.
“You haven’t eaten a proper meal since I met you,” I said, taking the other seat by the kitchen table. “So why can’t you just say yeah, I’m fucking starving.”
Collette smiled. “I don’t normally curse.”
“I’ve heard you curse.”
“No you haven’t.”
“Haven’t I?” I wasn’t sure anymore. My face scrunched up as I tried to recall a moment where I had heard Collette swear, but I came up short. “Alright, fine. I’ll just have to get used to it since you’re gonna be living here.”
"Living here?” she asked. Her right eyebrow curved into a perfect arch, giving her a Morticia Addams kind of air. I could totally see her in a black-and-white movie on the silver screen, performing a soliloquy with a skull in her hand and a snake coiled around her neck. “What do you mean?”
“You heard me,” I said, “I don’t want you to look for another place. I want you to live here, in my house.”
“Amber—”
“Collette,” I said, taking her hands, “This isn’t the time for you to be humble. Let’s both just agree that it makes sense, okay?”
She swallowed, pensive, but nodded, and her agreement made the butterflies in my stomach start dancing. Not since Eliza had anyone besides me lived in my house, and seeing as my place had come under attack more times than I cared to think about there was no denying that I needed a roommate. Besides, Collette didn’t have a place to stay, and I had a house that was too big. You’re damned right it made sense, even if immigration couldn’t know about it.
I didn’t remember Collette ever mentioning the details of her Visa, after all.
“I would very much like to live here,” Collette said.
“Good. You look like a clean roommate, so I think we’ll get along fine.”
Collette smiled, but it started to curve downward until it settled into something a little more somber, more serious. It was as if clouds had rolled in and snuffed out the light from the sun on a bright spring day.
“What is it?” I asked.
“You understand zat... now I have to tell you what I know, yes? About ze person who is hunting you.”
My stomach went cold, and suddenly the grumbling I felt earlier didn’t much bother me anymore. “Must we?” I asked.
“We could wait, but…” she trailed off.
“I’m sorry. I’m ready. I don’t want to wait. I was just hoping for a little normalcy after all this.”
“Normalcy isn’t a word ze Red Witch will ever know, ma chèrie.”
A soft sigh escaped my lips, but I knew this was coming. My life as a regular person, a normal person, was over the first time I used magick; and a part of me knew that for a long time. This knowledge compacted what could have been a life-shattering moment into an easy pill to swallow. I shuffled around on the chair and made myself comfortable.
“Alright,” I said, “Tell me what you know.”
Collette paused to find her words. The wind was rustling through the trees outside causing them to hiss softly in the night. When I heard a car rolling along my heart leapt high into my throat, and my body warmed. Aaron was back from Joe’s, I thought, and with him, food. But the car kept going down the street until the droning of its engine faded into nothingness. I relaxed.
“Zere are many Witches in ze world,” Collette said, “My Power has allowed me to travel to many places and encounter many Witches, good and bad, and learn about their secret lives and histories. I have spoken to a High Priestess of Selene, shared a meal with the cult of La Signora del Gioco, and done battle with a Shaman of Táltos. Ze world we live in is full of players in a cosmic game, but none play ze game more ruthlessly zan ze Witch I have come to know as Acheris.”
The word sent a shiver through my body and caused me to shudder. I had never met this woman, never seen her face, and the thought of her sent my skin on fire. “Tell me about her,” I said, despite myself.
“Ze stories are many,” she said, “Stretching far across both time and space. Her name does not appear in many texts, but her presence can be felt regardless. It iz said she has gone from place to place, destroying whatever Witch she could find zat did not bow to her and her power. Many have tried to stand up against her and failed, destroyed by ze might of ze ever growing cult zat surround her like wolves protecting their master.”
“Why? I mean, why would she go around doing that? To what end?”
“As zey say, 'absolute power corrupts absolutely', and ze corrupt care only to seek out more power. She was once a Witch like you and me, but no longer. She iz something else now; part Witch, part… I don’t know. Her power is matched only by ze influence of her cult.”
The story was vexing. Collette had me hanging to her every word, and her sultry French accent had nothing to do with it. I found myself drawn to the story, watching it unfold before my mind’s eye as if it were real, like a play on a stage. Part Witch, part something else. What was the something else? Part demon, maybe? She had command of at least one such entity that I knew about, and a cult of men who weren’t quite human.
Or at least she had a cult.
“Aaron cut her cult up,” I said, “The night he transformed, he… I watched him do it. Every single one of them died. Where is her power if she doesn’t have her cult?”
“Ze tip of ze iceberg,” Collette said, dismissing the fact. “She has more followers than you could imagine; zealots who drink her blood for a measure of her essence and will die for her if she asked. Zere will be more. And zat is why we must be ready for her. Zat is why I came to you; to help you defeat zem.”
My head started to spin. I watched Collette shrink and grow for a moment until I could right myself with a pinch to the thigh. When my vision snapped back I shook my head and sighed. “What can we do? We’re just a bunch of Witches.”
“A bunch of Witches and a Werewolf,” she corrected, “And with my powers returned, I will teach you ze art of Shadow Magick. Together we will prepare ourselves for her next attack and when she comes we will defeat her. We have no choice, Amber.”
“Yeah, I figured she wouldn’t just leave me alone of her own accord.”
Collette shook her head. “She knows you are ze Witch spoken of in ze prophecies. Your blood is powerful—holy, even—and Acheris wants it, but we will not let her have it. I will die before she takes it.”
Die. Death. The thought of anyone dying at the hands of this mad Witch wrapped itself around my throat and squeezed so hard I lost the ability to breathe for a moment. If there was any truth to what Collette was saying—and I had no reason to doubt her—, then we were dealing with some epic business here; the kind of business that puts a person’s life on hold.
I thought of Aaron and how much I just wanted to wrap myself around him and sleep. Even if I knew I wouldn't ever have an ordinary life, was it impossible to want and have a normal week? Or even a normal day? I would settle for that. I'm not greedy. But Collette had promised me that I would never have a normal life, not as long as this stranger drew breath, and I had read way too many books and watched way too many movies to know that if anyone ever said that to someone, it was probably true.
“We should be doing something then, shouldn’t we?” I asked, “Trying to locate her?”
Collette shook her head. “You are not ready to face such a foe yet, Amber. I am here to prepare you, but if we go searching for ze asp in ze sand we will be bitten before we know what’s hit us.”
“So… we wait?”
“We wait. She will not strike f
or some time.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because our quarry is immortal; and immortals are slow.”
“Immortal?” There’s that something else, I thought, answering my earlier question. “How is that… how is it even possible?”
“Some say she made a deal with ze devil in exchange for eternal life. Ze story of ze Witch desperate for ze fountain of youth has been told many times, but zis is because it happens more often zan you could imagine. Ze devil would never suffice himself with a single servant.”
“I didn’t… believe… in the devil before this all started,” I said, “Wiccans don’t believe in the devil.”
“But you know ze truth now. And in any case, ze devil is only a name by which to know ze beast. It has many names in many cultures and tongues. Some believe and others do not, but it has great power and has always existed; as has Magick.”
“And one of its servants is after me. What I want to know is why.”
“Because, ma chèrie,” said the Necromancer, “Ze Red Witch is ze only one who can break ze game Acheris has been playing; and she doesn’t want zat.”
Chapter One
The summer had come and gone, and the dreams had gone and come back.
The sky was overcast today, grey and miserable, and the evening wind had regained its ability to bite and snip at unprotected skin. From the kitchen, I could hear the bedsheets I had hung out to dry earlier snapping in the wind outside, could smell the stink of ozone that heralded the approach of a storm, could feel the very earth opening up to accept the incoming rain as if it had never tasted water.
I've got to bring those sheets in, I thought as I watched, but my body chose not to move. So I continued to gaze out of the window, my eyes drawn to the way the clouds above rolled on, grey, greyer, and greyest, pregnant with rain and lightning. They reminded me of Lily, Damien’s sister, and that thought in turn reminded me that it had been a year ago, almost to the day, where I crossed the line from reality into fantasy.
The Amber Lee Boxed Set Page 65
