The Aether Witch (The Coven: Elemental Magic Book 6)

by Chandelle LaVaun

  “She didn’t want you to,” Bentley whispered. “Timing is important, after all.”

  Tennessee’s eyes turned sad. He handed me the book. “Here, you should be the one. But let’s go back in with the others.”

  The red leather was cool in my hands and soft to the touch. It had matching leather straps that were sewn into the binding and wrapped around the book to tie it shut. I untied it then followed Tennessee and Bentley back into the living room. But when I opened the front cover and saw the first page, my heart stopped.

  Oh my Goddess.

  “Tegan?” Tennessee’s voice broke through the whirling in my mind. “Tegan, what’s wrong?”

  I glanced up and found the whole Coven watching me. Emersyn had the Book of Shadows in her lap, but her eyes were on me. My pulse kicked into overdrive and sent adrenaline rushing through my veins. My heart felt like hummingbird wings in my chest. I licked my lips and gripped the book in my hands. Am I really supposed to read this to them?

  “Tegan? Sweetheart, you’re kind of scaring us,” my mother whispered from close by.

  “Um. Right. Okay. All right, I found this note written on the front cover. It says…” I cleared my throat. My stomach turned. I wasn’t sure how they were going to react to this note. I was still trying to wrap my head around it. “Dear Tegan—”

  “Wait, it’s addressed to you?” Tennessee’s eyes widened. “Sorry. Please continue.”

  “Dear Tegan, as you know by now, Gabriel the Angel took the Book of Shadows from The Coven back in 1692 in fear they were not worthy of its magic and knowledge. Elizabeth Bishop started this book, and she did so for you. It was always a hard secret to keep, knowing that you and the others would travel back to when your destiny began. We knew you’d need help. Since then, we’ve put everything we could think of in here for you and Emersyn. I hope it will be enough—”

  “Okay, this is creepy,” Royce whispered, but he leaned his elbows on his knees like he was watching the final play of the Super Bowl.

  Deacon rubbed the back of his neck. “So creepy. Who wrote this? It seems like they know you.”

  Henley narrowed her eyes at me. “Yeah, who did write it?”

  “Guys, let her finish reading,” Tennessee snapped without taking his eyes off me. He rubbed at the glyph on his chest, and I knew he was feeling my pulse pounding against his. He glanced me up and down like he felt the anxiety rolling through me. Though, he probably did. I must’ve made a face because he pointed to the book. “Please, keep going.”

  I took a deep breath, then continued. “Sadly, I will be gone before you join The Coven—”

  “Oh my God,” Tennessee whispered and dropped down to the bench beside me.

  “But I have tried to leave you as many notes as possible for closing the Gap. I know this prophecy rests on yours and Emersyn’s shoulders, but your Coven-mates will be crucial to helping you succeed. Use every Card’s gifts, be creative. You have the Book of Shadows, and now you have this one. Read every page. Every symbol. I know you. I know what is in your heart and in your mind, and more importantly, I know what you are capable of. You CAN do this, even if it’s your way.” I took a deep breath and licked my lips. The next part was going to hit hard. “With all my love, Cassandra George, or as you may know me, Miss Sibel.”

  The silence in the room was explosive.

  Tennessee frowned. His gaze dropped lower…and then his face fell. Sharp pain laced through my chest. I gasped. I was feeling his pain. His emotions. The energy around him was manic and chaotic, like standing in the middle of a hurricane. His knuckles were sheet white from how hard he clutched his knees.

  “Oh my Goddess,” Henley whispered. Her eyes were wide and watery.

  Everyone except Emersyn, Deacon, and Bentley just stared. I couldn’t blame them. Cassandra was important to them, a family member, someone they loved and relied on. I now knew what it felt like to lose someone in The Coven, and I’d only just met them. Cassandra had helped raise all of them. Hearing her words, even if only written, was tearing the scab off a nasty wound.

  Uncle Kessler cursed then moved to sit beside Tennessee.

  I waited while they tackled the emotions her name brought. Emersyn’s mouth was in the shape of an O as she realized what was happening. Cooper squeezed his eyes shut and leaned his head back against the sofa. Royce hung his head. Willow and Chutney stared straight ahead, their eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

  Tennessee cursed and scrubbed his face with his hands. When he pulled back, his eyes were red and his cheeks were flushed. He shook his head. “She knew. She knew she was going to die, and she didn’t warn us. She even wrote it in a damn letter to you, but she couldn’t have left a note for us?”

  I sighed. “She said she left more notes. I’ll look for them and show you whatever I find.”

  “Question,” Emersyn said in a soft voice. She twirled her long blonde hair around her fingers. “Who is Miss Sibel? Did Cassandra have an alias?”

  “Not that we knew of,” Cooper grumbled. “But apparently we didn’t know much.”

  “We wouldn’t know her by that.” Henley narrowed her eyes on me. “That part was directed at Tegan. Who was Miss Sibel to you?”

  “Miss Sibel was a librarian in Charleston, but she wasn’t there all the time, so when she was, we used to spend hours talking.”

  I looked down at the book to where she’d signed with both her names. Miss Sibel was Cassandra. When I’d read it before, I’d been distracted by knowing how much this would hurt them. But now…it blew my mind. Miss Sibel was one of my favorite people. Besides Bettina, she was my only other friend growing up. She let me read all the fantasy books about witches and demigods, the ones my father didn’t allow me to read. Miss Sibel was my dirty secret.

  And she was really Cassandra all along. She’d purposely befriended me, knowing I needed to know stuff that my father wasn’t telling me. She must’ve broken so many Coven laws to do that.

  I smiled and closed the book. When I looked up, I found Tennessee watching me with wide eyes and a strange expression, almost like pain but also happiness.

  I frowned. “What?”

  “You knew her? Like knew her knew her?”

  I nodded. “For my twelfth birthday, she brought me to this little witchy store in town that she worked at. She’s the one who taught me about mythology, and tarot cards, and all the things dad wouldn’t let me read. She’s the reason I believed in witchcraft and the supernatural.”

  “I have so many questions right now,” my father whispered.

  Tennessee blinked. He opened his mouth then shut it again.

  “That is so Cassandra.” Paulina chuckled and shook her head. “SO sneaky. She could’ve gotten in so much trouble.”

  “Wow.” Cooper laughed. “So that’s where she used to go all those years. Tenn and I used to come up with all these crazy stories on where she went. But Uncle Kessler, you knew. You used to tell us she’s doing something important.”

  Uncle Kessler cleared his throat and ignored my parents glaring at him. “All right, well, now that we have the prophecy and this new book of information…”

  “We need a plan of action,” Timothy grumbled from the corner, where he glared out the window. “We’ve only got two days to figure out this spell and locate the Gap.”

  Tenn looked to me. “She seems to think Tegan will come up with this idea, and after the stunts she pulled off this month, I have to agree.”

  I groaned and hugged the new book to my chest. “No pressure, right?”

  “You are the High Priestess for a reason,” Deacon said with a chipper voice and a wink.

  Tennessee arched one eyebrow at me. He tried to hide the little smirk on his face by scratching his jaw, but I saw it. I knew what he was thinking. Sucks to be the leader. I finally understood exactly why he didn’t want to be Coven Leader—the pressure. Being a leader was a heavy role, and not one you got to play only when you wanted to. Everyone was looking to me now to figure this
out, and I’d never felt more helpless in my life.

  “We need proper rest.” Kenneth stood and stretched. “No one here got more than an hour of sleep before we were woken. If we’re not rested and recharged, we have no hope of succeeding these next grueling forty-eight hours.”

  “That’s why I’m here now.” Constance rubbed her hands together. “I’ll keep an eye on things. Y’all go back to sleep. I’ll wake you for lunch in a bit.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  TEGAN

  “The Hawthorne Hotel?” Royce looked up at the green awnings where the name was written in elegant white scroll. He scowled. “This is where you want to look? It’s a hotel.”

  “Damn it, I knew I should’ve learned to read.” I groaned and stomped my foot.

  He rolled his pretty sapphire-blue eyes.

  “It’s ranked the number one haunted place in all of Salem,” Larissa said softly. She held her phone out to Royce. “See? I heard tourists talking about it while you were in 1692, so I looked it up online.”

  “Right, because you can believe everything you see on the internet,” Royce grumbled and glared up at the red brick building. “But why do we want to go in a haunted hotel?”

  “Because maybe it was built on top of the Gap, and that’s why there’s so much paranormal activity here?” Emersyn tied her long blonde hair on top of her head.

  “Smart.” Deacon leaned over Royce’s shoulder to look at Larissa’s phone. “Says here rooms 612 and 325 have the most reported incidents. At least we know where to look first.”

  Royce spun around with his eyebrows raised. “Why didn’t we just send Paulina?”

  “Because Paulina sees all spirits, so we won’t know if there’s something special about this place if she’s here.” Henley rolled her eyes. “Baby brother, the demons we’ve been killing for a decade are more terrifying than some spirits. Trust me.”

  “Paulina went to Old Burying Point cemetery with Braison, then she’s checking Gallow’s Hill, and Rebecca Nurse’s old property.” Tennessee crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back on his heels. “If you’d like, you can join Easton, Lily, and Willow and help them inspect every abandoned building in town. Or perhaps you would’ve rather checked out the three restaurants on Larissa’s list with Timothy and Constance? My father and Evaline went—”

  “All right, I get it.” Royce shivered. “Spirits just give me the creeps, okay? Like, they’re dead. No thank you. Obviously I’m going wherever you’re all going.”

  Ever since the seven of us had gone back in time and back again, we’d become rather attached at the hip. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to hang with the others, but I simply didn’t want to not be near this group. I knew they felt the same as I did. I also knew that was why Tennessee invited Larissa to come with us since this was her idea. We didn’t want to exclude anyone, but when you went through what we had, you didn’t come back the same.

  Cooper cleared his throat and raised one finger. “I’m just wondering why this place, you know? There are many haunted locations here, and I understand your thought process that maybe the Gap is causing it…but here? This is a massive hotel.”

  “You mean because the two hot spots listed inside are nowhere near each other?” Deacon pointed to Larissa’s phone. “And they’re both located hundreds of feet in the air, and that doesn’t really make sense because how would Althea and Aurelia have gotten up there?”

  “This is Bridget Bishop’s property.” I sighed. “This used to be her orchard. She was the first victim, and she was hanged right after they concealed the Gap. So I thought, what if that was why they accused her? What if the Gap was opened on her land, so the other Sapiens assumed it was her?”

  Deacon groaned and hung his head. “Goddess, please let that not be true.”

  “Well, we’re going to find out soon enough.” Tennessee brushed past me and walked up to the door, then glanced back at us. “Let’s check these two rooms out and get back before the sun sets, shall we?”

  We followed him inside the main lobby in silence. I might have been teasing Royce, but I didn’t particularly love seeing the deceased. Not since The Gathering. Spirits couldn’t hurt humans, except we weren’t human. We were witches and we were fair game. The spirits who sought out Paulina wanted help, wanted to find their peace. Paulina even told me to beware the haunted hotel we’d just entered, because the spirits there were angry. Not that I was going to tell Royce that.

  Paulina said to check it out without her and see how it felt, but if the spirits made any move to harm us, we were to bail. Immediately. I also wasn’t going to tell Royce that. I didn’t even want to know. My heart fluttered in my chest, sending little waves of anxiety and adrenaline rushing through my veins.

  Tennessee marched straight through the lobby full of intricate woodwork and went right for the elevators. The hotel was bustling with activity and excitement. It was Halloween in Salem, the only time of year everyone liked witches. The foot traffic in the lobby reminded me of Hidden Kingdom around parade time; no one knew where to go, but they all wanted to be there and get the best spot.

  The elevator doors opened, and a group of college girls with black pointy hats poured out. Tennessee stood aside for them to exit then charged inside and held the door open. We rushed in after him. A few other ladies tried to join us, but Deacon raised his hand.

  “Sorry, ladies, this elevator is full.” His voice was soft and hypnotic.

  The doors closed with a ding, then the car jumped into motion. We rode in silence with only the heavy thumping of our hearts and Royce tapping his foot to fill the space. When the car stopped and the doors slid open, we stepped out into a hallway that was straight out of The Shining. The walls were white with intricate woodworking on the bottom half. The carpets were dark green with a floral-like print that might’ve matched the one used in the Haunted Palace back at Hidden Kingdom. There were no artificial lights except for the vintage chandeliers hanging every fifteen feet or so that gave off a soft golden glow. A cold chill slithered down my spine and I shivered.

  “Room 325. Let’s get this over with,” Deacon said under his breath. He held his palm to the electronic door lock, and red mist spilled out of his hand. The door popped open. He pursed his lips. “Should I have knocked first?”

  He shrugged then walked inside. The rest of us glanced at each other then raced after him. There was just something really creepy and unsettling about this hotel. The room was nice enough, and decently sized. The décor inside matched the hallway, which wouldn’t have bothered me if I wasn’t already expecting an attack.

  Lights flickered over our heads. The television turned on by itself. We huddled closer together in the center of the room. The TV flipped through channels on its own. The volume turned up, then a little window popped up saying it had been muted. No one had touched the remote or the TV.

  The toilet flushed, and we all jumped. Tennessee lifted his hand and pushed the door open with some wind…but there was no one inside. Water splashed out of the sink faucet, then it turned off again. Then on…and off.

  My heart skipped a beat. Tennessee’s fingers were cool to the touch as they brushed over the back of my hand then caressed my palm. I frowned and turned toward him. “Why are your hands so co—” My words died on my tongue. Tennessee wasn’t touching me. No one was, yet someone was.

  Tennessee frowned and looked down. “What about my hands?”

  “N-nothing. Never mind.”

  “Something’s touching her,” Royce whispered. He jerked and spun around like he was expecting to see something. “It is, isn’t—"

  A loud, high-pitched wailing of a baby crying cut his words off. I gasped. It sounded like it was coming from the corner of the room by the big window.

  “NOPE!” Royce turned and hightailed it for the door.

  I cursed and sprinted after him. By the time we got out there, Royce had already called the elevator for us. None of us spoke; we just hopped on and let the doors clos
e. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on the task at hand and not the eerie chill on my back. When the elevator dinged and rolled to a stop, I opened my eyes then jumped out.

  Royce stopped in the hallway and froze, his gaze locked on something down the hall. “You see her, right? Right?”

  I followed his gaze and gasped. At the end of the hall, a woman in a long gown stood outside the room door. She glanced over her shoulder at us, then slipped inside.

  I sighed. “I saw her.”

  “Me too,” Henley whispered. “Let’s find room 612.”

  The little plaque on the wall beside us said room 612 was to the right, so we followed the narrow path…all the way to the end. It shouldn’t have concerned me so much that the room we’d been headed to was the same one that lady had gone in. Tennessee raised his fist and knocked on the door, and after the third time of no answering, he sighed.

  Deacon stepped forward and used his magic to get us inside again. He leaned in and yelled, “Pardon me, miss?”

  No answer.

  Deacon shrugged and pushed the door the rest of the way open. We all filed inside expecting to find a very confused woman with lots of questions…except… Wait a second. My heart flipped in my chest. Butterflies bounced around my stomach. There’s no one in here. That lady was gone. Nowhere in sight. I glanced over my shoulders. Each time I found a whole lot of nothing, but I couldn’t shake the feeling I was being watched.

  Three loud bangs erupted in the far corner, like someone dropped something large on the coffee table. But there was no one in there with us. Electricity pulsed through the air and tingled down my arms. My upper body froze. I tried to move my arms, but they wouldn’t budge, like something was holding me in place. My heart pounded. The hairs on my neck stood tall.

  The floor creaked in the far corner, then the sound moved closer, like someone was walking toward us. A heavy pressure weighed down on my chest, pushing me toward the ground. I tried to reach out for Tennessee, but my arms wouldn’t budge. A cold chill washed over me. Something moved in my peripheral vision. When I looked, I saw the negative image of a man’s face and shoulders in the mirror’s reflection.