The Lost Witch

by Chandelle LaVaun

  An hour later, I climbed back onto the deck of our sailboat. I cringed under the onslaught of morning sunshine. The humidity hit me like a brick wall. I may have lived in Florida for over a decade, but this heat was miserable. Why did I wear all black? Why do I do this to myself? And where the hell are my sunglasses?

  I narrowed my eyes and looked around the deck. Cooper still manned the steering wheel in comfortable silence. The others were in the seating area, and judging by their hand positions and closed eyes, they were training the girls like I’d asked. Tegan sat facing me, her long hair tied in a messy knot on top of her head. She smiled and watched Emersyn produce smoke out of her palms.

  “Maybe Royce has a point. Maybe you’re not human.” Cooper chuckled.

  I laughed and Tegan’s eyes snapped up at the sound. She did a double take on my body, smirked, then bit down on her bottom lip. Sunlight deepened the red flush in her cheeks. What…? I frowned and looked down at my body, but I didn’t see anything besides my soaking wet clothes. My black cotton shirt and denim pants looked more like paint than clothing with the way they clung to my body, leaving little to the imagination. OH.

  I ran my hand through my wet hair so Cooper wouldn’t see my own blush. I cleared my throat and tried to ignore the effect I apparently had on her. “Not you, too, Coop.”

  Cooper turned toward me with a grin. “I hadn’t told anyone we were here yet, and boom, there you are. How did you know?”

  “Same way you did, I suppose.” I shrugged and summoned the water out of my clothes, then walked forward and stretched. “So, we’re here. Let’s get going.”

  Tegan jumped to her feet and skipped toward me. She grinned from ear to ear. “Sorry, I shouldn’t be this happy right now. I can’t help it. Ignore my smiles.”

  Not likely, Kitten.

  She arched one black eyebrow, and her grin grew wider.

  Great. I said that out loud. “So…”

  “So, do you know anything about this Leyka dude?”

  “Uh…no, actually.” And I hated not knowing. The name sounded familiar, yet I couldn’t place it.

  Tegan gave me a thumbs-up. “Great, that makes none of us. This should be fun.”

  “Well.” I ran my thumb over my bottom lip. “I’ve heard his name before. He used to be Nephilim, as in part angel, part human. The Creator made him an angel a few hundred years ago, but then something went down and he got trapped on an island.”

  Tegan nodded. “This is that modesty thing we talked about earlier, dude.”

  “What?”

  “Cute, but overall not helpful. Kinda like an Ewok.”

  “Oh.” Libby walked up beside Tegan, laughing. “BURN.”

  Tegan high-fived Libby then patted my shoulder. “See, when humans want to signify when a good joke has been made, we say burn. Because I roasted you, and it should hurt a little.”

  I rolled my eyes and looked over my shoulder to where Royce held his stomach and laughed. “Seriously, her too?”

  The boat slowed to a stop. I walked over to the rail and eyed the island. There wasn’t a dock, but it wouldn’t be a problem. I glanced over my shoulder at Cooper. “This is good.”

  I opened the railing and held my palm out in front of me. The water rose at my command, shaping into a staircase. I stepped forward and descended my water stairs. When I got to the bottom, the ocean solidified under my feet. I turned and looked up at my friends. “Maybe human is overrated.”

  Not surprisingly, Tegan was the first to follow me. Her first step was tentative, but then she bounced down until she stood at my side. I waited until the rest of them descended, then spun on my heels and led them toward land. The ocean under our feet was crystal clear and a vibrant aqua color. Fish of various shapes and sizes swam by, oblivious to our presence. The sky was bright blue, without a cloud in sight. Up ahead, golden sand and green grass awaited us. There weren’t any other boats, although the trash sitting on shore suggested this island was visited frequently.

  We got about three feet from shore when something moved in my peripheral vision. On instinct, I raised my right hand and summoned my sword from the boat. Two seconds later, the cool metal hit my hand and I gripped the hilt.

  Warm fingers grabbed my bicep. “Wait, it’s just pigs.”

  Pigs? I frowned and narrowed my eyes. With all this sunshine, it was difficult to see things clearly. I lowered my weapon, but didn’t drop it entirely. Within seconds, we were surrounded by dozens of pigs. Wild pigs. Some were huge; some were the size of puppies. There was every color from solid black ones to solid white, and everything in between. At least half had adorable black spots.

  Royce stepped forward to pet a pig, but I made the sand harden around his feet, holding him in place. “Dude,” he said.

  I shook my head. “The pigs are a diversion. Here to distract us. We need to find Leyka.”

  “There’s no one here.” Libby spun in circles with her arms out wide. “No one.”

  “Actually, that’s not true,” Tegan said from right beside me. She crept forward and off to the left. She pointed to the center of a cluster of pigs. “There!”

  Without warning or waiting for a response, she sprinted toward the pigs. The wild animals scattered in every direction. The rest of us dodged pigs like we were playing Frogger. Tegan chased an average-sized tan pig. It had to be the size of a bulldog and only had two random black spots on its back. The pig squealed and snorted. Tegan cursed and a wall of water shot into the sky. The pig crashed into it and bounced back. It lay on the ground unmoving.

  Tegan slid to a stop. She turned wide eyes on me. “I think I broke the pig.”

  Wild laughter echoed off the wall of water. We all glanced at each other, but the sound wasn’t coming from us. Light flashed from the ground. The pig was gone. In its place, a man with dark, sun-kissed skin lay in the sand on his back.

  The guy laughed and rolled onto his side. He had long, curly, sun-bleached hair and a scruffy beard he needed to shave. His eyes were the same color as the ocean. When he finally stopped laughing, he pointed a finger at Tegan. “Now that was more fun than I’ve had in a while. So, thank you.”

  “Leyka,” Tegan whispered. Not a question. How did she know?

  He cocked his head to the side and eyed her like she was a dessert buffet. “I’ve been called worse.”

  Yeah, I bet.

  Tegan stepped forward. She held her left hand out in greeting. “My name is Tegan Bishop.”

  I smiled at her sly action. She knew the II Mark on her left forearm would mean something to the right person. If this wasn’t Leyka, then no harm had been done.

  The guy’s aqua eyes sparkled with delight. He jumped to his knees and took Tegan’s hand in his. He kissed her knuckles and winked. “High Priestess, if I’d have known how much fun you’d be, I would’ve sent for you sooner.”

  I must’ve made a fist because my knuckles cracked.

  “Oh, I don’t think your boyfriend likes me,” he fake-whispered.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tegan blush and look back at me, but I kept my attention on him. I tried to keep my face as neutral as possible while I panicked on the inside. “I’m not her boyfriend.”

  “Really?” Leyka pursed his lips and dropped back down to the sand on his side. He propped his head up on his palm. With his free hand, he scratched the center of his chest. “Interesting.”

  He knows. How?

  “Boyfriend? Why would you think he was her boyfriend?” Cooper asked beside me.

  “I didn’t say him.” Leyka arched one blond eyebrow. “Yet, you knew I meant him.”

  “Enough,” I said in the sternest voice I had. If Leyka kept talking, my secret would be out and we’d be in a world of trouble. “He’s trying to get a rise out of us, for entertainment.”

  Leyka chuckled and shrugged one tan shoulder. “He’s not wrong.”

  “You’re Leyka. The angel who was once Nephilim.”

  “Not wrong, again.” Leyka yawned. “
This has been fun, but it’s nap time.”

  Royce stepped forward and wiggled his fingers. Vines of flowers wrapped around Leyka’s wrists and ankles, trapping him in place. “This flirty game of yours has been fun, but we’re on a quest for the Hierophant’s locket and were told you could help us.”

  “I could, but I won’t.” Leyka winked. In a flash, he changed back into pig form.

  I cursed and forced the sand to shoot up like a cage all around him. My sand wall towered over his pig body. With the swish of my hand, water seeped up from under the sand and filled the small space until Leyka had to swim…or change back. I wasn’t going to let him die, but he didn’t know it.

  Water splashed over the edge, and then Leyka stood on his human legs. He glared at us, his previous lighthearted attitude gone. “Who told you I could help?”

  “The Crones.”

  Leyka narrowed his eyes into little blue slits. “Myrtle?”

  “You know her?”

  “Myrtle and I are both old. You get to know those who live as long as you do.” Something flickered behind his eyes, but it was gone too soon to dissect. There was definitely more to the story. “However, Myrtle was wrong. I won’t help you. There isn’t anything in it for me, nor does your precious locket mean a thing to me.”

  “Except that’s not entirely true, is it, Leyka?” Cooper asked. He strolled forward until he and the angel stood face-to-face. “I may not have access to an angel’s dreams, but I have seen your face in others.”

  Leyka shook his head and turned away from Cooper. With his back toward us, he began to walk away. “Sorry, Dream Walker. There is nothing you could know to be of value to me.”

  “Not even a red-haired fairy with light pink wings?”

  Leyka spun around so fast he sank into the sand a little. His aqua eyes were wide and held a tinge of fear. “What do you know of her? Choose your words wisely, Star.”

  “Do you mean Saffie?” I asked.

  Leyka turned his glare on me. His cheeks flushed. “You know her?”

  I nodded. How is Saffie relevant here? “She is a good friend of mine.”

  “You lie!” Leyka yelled.

  “I swear on a bed of rose thorns.” Part of me worried I shouldn’t reveal my friendship with Saffie in detail to anyone. Right, because that will make sense to anyone else. “Seems like there is something in this for you, after all.”

  Leyka’s face paled. He moved to stand in front of me. “There is something, a deal that can be made. But I have no reason to trust you will hold your end of the bargain. The Coven’s previous Emperors have all betrayed me.”

  “Try me,” I challenged him.

  He eyed me for a long minute or two, then he reached forward and grabbed my left hand. He wrapped both his hands around mine and stared at me. Heat spread through my palm. “Find this and return it to me…and we’ll make a deal.”

  I pulled my arm back and opened my hand. In my palm was a black card with words etched into it. I looked up to ask Leyka what it was…but he was gone.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Tennessee

  “What is it?”

  “What does it say?”

  I shook my head and looked down at the black card in my hand. It was harder and heavier than I’d expected. A flower etched in metallic gold ink looked like a lotus flower but with thorns on its petals. Next to it, three lines were written. I took a deep breath, then read them out loud. “Beware the song within your heart. If you cut them off before they start, you’ll find the treasure of worlds apart.”

  “It’s a prophecy. Another one.” Cooper cursed. His blond hair perfectly matched the sand under our feet. “A quest within a quest isn’t normal.”

  “He seems shady.” Libby narrowed her eyes at the spot where Leyka had disappeared. “Are we sure we should be making any deals with them?”

  Saffie’s face flashed in my mind. I’d known there was a story. I’d even told Kessler I wanted to look into it…and now an angel was offering to help us because we knew Saffie. Or I knew Saffie. I didn’t know why, or what we’d have to do for him in return, but we weren’t in the position to say no. Without Leyka’s help, the locket would be lost forever. Not on my watch.

  “We don’t have much choice,” I said. “We need his help. When it’s time to repay the help, I’ll do it myself if I have to. Let’s discuss these lines and get started.”

  “These lines are vague,” Royce grumbled. He bent down to pet one of the black pigs who’d come back over. “How are we supposed to figure it out?”

  I sighed and looked back at the card. “If there’s anything I’ve learned…prophecies are always about word choice.”

  “So, the ‘song within your heart’ means our hopes and dreams?” Henley said. She knelt in the sand, petting two other pigs. “And whose are we discussing?”

  “Tennessee.” Libby shrugged. “Given the track record.”

  I shook my head. Although, I suspected I wouldn’t get out of this one. “It wouldn’t be so specific. We’re looking for something generic.”

  “Right.” Cooper scratched the back of his neck. “What’s something everyone hopes for?”

  “Are sirens real?”

  Everyone turned to Tegan. She blinked and looked around our circle. Her pale green eyes were calm, which was more than I could say for the others.

  “Sirens?” Cooper turned back to face me. “I don’t know.”

  “Yes, they are.” I frowned. Where was she going with this? “Why do you ask?”

  Tegan shrugged. “Well, folklore says sirens sing the song of your heart. That’s how they lure you to your death.”

  My eyes widened. “Holy hell. You’re right. You’re absolutely right. Amazing.”

  “Amazing?” Royce turned incredulous sapphire eyes on me. “What part of luring you to your death do you find amazing?”

  “Did you, an experienced witch, figure it out?” I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at him. A salty ocean breeze swept over my face, and I took a deep breath to soak it into my body.

  “No…”

  “That’s what I thought.” I winked at Tegan.

  Royce rolled his eyes but he grinned. “Okay, amazing. Fine. But if I’m getting lured to my death, that siren better have a Y chromosome.”

  “Ignore my brother. He’s hangry. So what’s the rest?”

  “If you cut them off before they start, you’ll find the treasure of worlds apart,” Libby said.

  “It means if we prevent them from singing, we’ll be able to find what we need.” I held the card out for everyone to see. “I’m going to take a wild guess and say it’s this weird flower.”

  “Of worlds apart?” Emersyn stepped forward to look at the card in my hand. “As in, something not from our world.”

  I smiled. The twins may be new to the witch world, but they were smart and picked things up fast. “I have no idea what this flower is… Royce, do you?”

  Royce narrowed his eyes at the card, then cocked his head to the side. “No, and I know every flower on the planet.”

  “So, why does an angel like Leyka need a flower from another world?” Cooper asked.

  “Because he’s shady?” Libby threw her arms up in exasperation.

  “Because of the red-haired fairy Saffie who lives in Hidden Kingdom.” Tegan reached up and fixed her hair in a ponytail. “She’s the reason he’s helping us.”

  “Right, so maybe this flower is from wherever fairies live?” Emersyn asked.

  Amazing. Normally, Cassandra or I figured everything out. Not that my Coven-mates were stupid; they simply weren’t great at deciphering riddles. “Exactly. Let’s go find the siren den and retrieve a flower.”

  “The prophecy didn’t give us a hint on where to find the sirens.” Cooper ran a hand through his hair. “Or did I miss that?”

  I slipped the card into my back pocket and checked to make sure my dagger was tucked into my left boot. “It didn’t, but I know where their den is.”

&
nbsp; Cooper spun toward me with his eyebrows raised. “Do I want to know why you know?”

  “Nope.” There was an explanation, a story for how I found them, but no one needed to know about it yet. The last time I found their den I almost died, had water not been my element. How I didn’t realize the clue right away amazed me. They’d sung a song to me, one which detailed my deepest desires. Back then, my song sang a different tune than the one they’d find now. I glanced over at Tegan before I could stop myself. If I went down there, what would they sing? No one could know the extent of my connection to Tegan.

  One solution would be to send Tegan in my place since she, too, had water powers. Perhaps if we’d had time to train her, we could send her instead. As it was, Tegan had no control of her magic. She may be able to breathe down there, but she could get herself killed by her own power. I looked around at my Coven-mates and found them watching me, waiting for my instructions. I had to do damage control…and they weren’t going to like it.

  I held my palm out and summoned my sword. “Okay, Royce and Libby, you come with me to get this flower. The rest of you go back to the boat and wait for us.”

  “Shouldn’t I come with you?” Tegan asked with hopeful eyes.

  No chance in hell. Despite her water powers, I didn’t want her anywhere near the sirens. I wouldn’t be able to focus on the task. I’d be too worried about her getting hurt. These were sirens, after all.

  I cleared my throat. “The more people down there, the higher the risk. I need you to stay up here to protect them from the ocean.”

  “Why Royce and Libby?”

  I peeled my eyes off Tegan and looked to Cooper. I knew by the clipped, sharp tone in his voice that he worried about me going without him. Cooper was my preferred partner in dangerous scenarios, except for this one. I had to push him aside. He couldn’t know about the glyph. The risk was too much.

  “They were chosen for this quest for a reason,” I said.

  “I do not like where this is going,” Royce mumbled.

  “What’s the plan, boss?” Libby asked. She pushed her shoulders back and held her chin up high.