The Rebel Witch

by Chandelle LaVaun

  Tegan shouted and flew backward. She slammed into Deacon and knocked him and Cooper into the mountain wall. They stumbled and tried to catch Royce, but he dropped to his knees. Emersyn leapt forward and caught him around the shoulders, but his forehead still smacked against the stone step. Willow and Chutney slipped and stumbled into me. I somehow caught them with one arm and trapped them against the wall. I looked up to see what had attacked Tegan when a gust of wind hit me in the gut. My shoulder screamed in agony. I clenched my teeth and hissed through the pain. My magic rushed to the surface, pushing the wind up and off of us.

  “Sorry, sorry!” Tegan cursed. She was back on her feet in seconds with her hands raised. Her magic billowed out of her palms in a faint rainbow swirl. The wind hit her palms then flew over our heads. “Was not expecting a hurricane! Hang on!”

  “Where are we?” Royce groaned.

  I gasped and turned toward his voice. “Royce!”

  Deacon pulled his cousin up and re-draped him over his shoulder. “We’re trying to get home now, cousin.”

  I expected him to smile and give us one of his classic one-liners, but he just frowned. His skin was pasty white and covered in a sheen that I assumed was sweat. His sapphire blue eyes were dark and hooded. His black eyebrows hung low. I hated seeing him like that. It broke a little piece of something inside me. I wanted to reassure him finding the Book of Shadows would help us get Henley back. Tegan kept insisting it would. I just…wasn’t sure. False hope was a bitter pill to swallow.

  “Tennessee!” Tegan shouted, her voice strained. “I can’t hold it myself.”

  These damn stairs.

  “Go ahead. Go help her in the front. I’ll take the back.” Cooper joined me on my step and pointed up ahead. “Deacon can handle Royce now.”

  I looked to Deacon, and he gave me a thumbs-up. Royce glared at the ground. I nodded and pushed through my friends until I stood beside Tegan. The wind slammed into me like I was standing outside during a major hurricane. I pushed against the force with my magic and let it tangle with Tegan’s. Together, we weakened it enough to let us continue our path. By the time the wind subsided a little, I was struggling to breathe normal. My heart thundered in my chest. My arm throbbed. My legs burned. My shoulder felt like whatever had impaled me was still in there.

  And then the mountain rumbled and dropped heaps of snow right on top of us.

  I sighed. “Are you kidding me?”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Tegan

  By the time the staircase from hell flattened out, I was practically crawling on all fours. My fingertips were a light shade of blue. My hair was rock hard, frozen in a knot on my head. My leather jacket kept my upper half warm and comfortable, but the rest of me trembled. My bones rattled against each other. Air burned my throat as I tried to breathe. I paused with my hands on the top step, trying to summon the energy to pull myself up.

  “Here.” Tennessee’s voice was the only thing warm nearby.

  I looked up and found his hand out. I slid my fingers against his and let him drag me up to the flat surface. My feet were heavy and weighed down. Several inches of snow were caked on top of my boots above my toes. I growled and the snow melted away. I grinned. My magic was back to regular.

  Tennessee stomped his boots and shook his hair like a dog. When he stopped, he was dry. He looked himself over then glanced at me with a wide smile.

  “Finally, right?”

  “Finally,” he half whispered, half sighed. He reached up and ran his good hand over my hair. The frozen, weighted pressure vanished instantly under his touch. “Let’s help the others.”

  I turned and looked down at the staircase we’d just climbed. On the flat surface, the weather was clear and calm, a perfect spring day full of greenery. But one step down, a blizzard still beat up my Coven-mates. Snow piled on top of the stairs. The air was thick and gray, almost impossible to see through.

  Deacon and Royce popped into view first. Snow completely covered their hair and dusted their eyebrows. They looked like identical twins. We pulled them up.

  Royce coughed. “Deacon, put me down now.”

  “No, it’s okay. I’ve got you,” Deacon said, but his voice was barely more than a whisper.

  “Deacon, please.”

  His cousin hesitated for a second before he hobbled them over to the wall of the mountain and propped Royce up. The second Royce was on his own feet, Deacon slid down the green vine-covered wall to his butt. He squeezed his purple eyes shut and leaned his head back.

  I waved my hand, and all the snow and water on them melted away. When I turned, I found Tennessee had helped the others climb onto the flat surface with us. Everyone sighed and looked around in relief.

  “Well, well, well,” a deep voice said.

  I knew it instantly.

  I spun around and found him standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. Gabriel. He looked exactly the same as he had when we entered the Garden of Eden. I had no idea how long it had been. It felt like years since we’d started the stairs. For all I knew, it could’ve been ten minutes. I pulled out my cell phone, and sure enough, it still read 6:02 Sunday, August 26.

  “Hello, Gabriel,” Tennessee said with that silky voice of his.

  The glyph that covered Gabriel’s entire body, the one that matched mine and Tennessee’s, shimmered a metallic golden color. His white feathered wings reminded me of the snowstorm we’d just gone through.

  He cocked his head to the side and watched me with his white and gold eyes. “High Priestess, you surprised me. That doesn’t happen often.”

  My eyes widened. I opened my mouth then shut it again. I swallowed the nausea rolling up my throat. Is that a bad thing?

  “A bad thing?” Gabriel repeated the question I hadn’t asked. He pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes on me. After a second, he shook his head. “No, just not expected. You set the creature free. Why?”

  Ah, crap. But then the hydra’s expression when the water hit him flashed through my mind, and my confidence soared. I’d done the right thing.

  I cleared my throat. “The animal didn’t want to fight us. It waited a long time to engage, and only once we initiated.”

  “What do you call those vines?” Willow snapped.

  Gabriel arched one eyebrow.

  “Everything has to eat. I don’t know what it was, where it came from, or why it was there…” I shrugged. I hadn’t been sure if I should voice what I felt in that moment with the hydra, but looking up at Gabriel, I knew I had to. “It was barely fighting back until Tennessee chopped one of its heads off. Then, when he hit it with fresh water, it…like…cried with joy. I just saw it in its face. Then it grew wings and tried to fly away, even though it knew we were all alive down there. I only brought it back down to save Emersyn, then I gave the animal a little pool of water, and you should’ve seen how happy it was. The idea of hurting it just broke my heart.”

  “Its eyes changed from red to aqua,” Tennessee added. “It splashed in the water.”

  “Exactly!”

  Gabriel chuckled and shook his head. He looked at me with his white and gold eyes that sparkled in the sunlight. “The prophecy of Salem will be resolved by Samhain, one way or another.”

  I nodded.

  He walked up and stopped in front of me. “Give me your hands, High Priestess.”

  I threw my hands out, palms up. My heart pounded in my chest.

  He pressed his palms to mine, and a white light illuminated between us. “There may be hope for your world, after all.”

  My fingers tingled. Energy pulsed through my hands and up my arms. Gabriel pulled his hands back and I gasped. A massive, leather-bound book sat in my palms.

  My pulse skipped with delight. Adrenaline rushed through my veins. I grinned down at the pentagram burned into the front cover. “The Book of Shadows.”

  “Yes, however…” Gabriel waited until I met his eyes. “Remember we are watching. If you don’t deserve it—”

>   “I will deserve it. I promise.” I’d just interrupted an angel, but I didn’t care.

  “You will find many answers in here. Take care of how you use them.” Gabriel placed his hand on the cover of the book and tapped his finger.

  “I will. I promise.”

  There hasn’t been an Aether Witch in a few millennia, High Priestess, Gabriel said into my mind the same way I did to my friends. Setting the hydra free proves that our selection wasn’t a mistake. Remember what makes you who you are, for dark times lie in wait.

  Thank you, I thought back to him.

  Gabriel stepped away and flapped his wings. He glanced at Tennessee then back to me. Hope is not lost. Until then… And then he was gone.

  We were alone. We appeared to be on some kind of mountain ledge overlooking the Old Lands. Green grass swayed in the breeze under our feet. The trees were vibrantly full of color and life. The sky was a crystal-clear blue without a cloud in sight.

  But my mind was a mess. Gabriel’s words repeated like a broken record.

  “So, you actually made it out.”

  I looked up and found Lonan leaning against the mountain wall with his hands in his black jean pockets. He was shirtless again and rippled with lean muscles, but it made sense for a guy who turned into a black dragon. Lonan looked like a tanner version of Royce, but with that wildness I loved so much in Tennessee—and that Emersyn feared.

  “Lonan!” Chutney squealed and bounced over. She gave him a hug, which he returned hesitantly.

  He chuckled. “You guys look like hell froze over.”

  I looked around at my friends. He was right. We were in rough shape. Our clothes were torn and grimy. Snow and sweat still lingered anywhere it could. We were covered in cuts and bruises. Blood was splattered everywhere, some of us worse than others. I knew from the strain in Tennessee’s eyes that his wound hurt, even though he was acting tough. Royce looked like a zombie.

  “Yeah, it’s been a rough one,” Tennessee said with a sigh.

  “Listen, I know you all have a big prophecy on your hands right now…” Lonan’s eyes flashed bright crimson. “I’ll fly you back to Eden, but when everything settles, I think it would be good for our species to get to know each other more. Deal?”

  I smiled. “Deal. Definitely deal.” When a dragon shifter wanted to make friends, only an idiot would say no. Plus, Lonan had helped us out. I wanted to be friends with him. I wanted to learn about his species. I wanted to know why he was called the Banished One.

  “Yes, for sure,” Tennessee agreed.

  “Let’s get you home, then. You remember how to do this, right?” Lonan cocked a sideways grin. A dark shadow wrapped around him, and then a massive, twenty-five-foot dragon form stood in his place. He sank down to his belly and lowered his tail for us to climb up.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Tegan

  If possible, the flight back to Eden was faster than our first ride in the Old Lands. I knew my Coven-mates were excited to go home, but my mind was already working a mile per minute. I should’ve been happy, especially with my face pressed against Tennessee’s back and my arm wrapped around his non-injured side. Warmth radiated off his body. For the first time since our last flight on Lonan, I felt comfort. Part of me wanted to close my eyes and sleep for days.

  But I couldn’t even if I wanted to. The prophecy of Salem had to be resolved by Samhain, or Halloween as Sapiens called it, but that was two months away. In the meantime, I had to find a way to lure the demon living inside my friend Henley back to our dimension…and then I had to trap it there until I could figure out how to separate the two. Without killing Henley.

  I was told my answers were inside the Book of Shadows, and I finally had it in my possession. My fingers burned and ached from how hard I clung to the ancient leather-bound bible. There was no chance I was letting it get away from me. Gabriel had said I had to deserve it, and I was going to.

  Before we left, I’d had visions of Henley being tortured by the demons in whichever hellish realm she resided in. Every time I thought about it, my stomach turned and threatened to empty. I just kept telling myself that Henley was tough, that she could handle it. But I believed it a little less every time.

  “Landing!” Chutney yelled back to us. Our resident animal communicator was back to her smiling self, and I couldn’t blame her.

  Not everyone was cut out for what we just went through. I pressed my hand against Tennessee’s chest, right over the glyph crystal that marked him as mine. His hand covered mine and squeezed. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to let me know he was there and okay. I kissed the back of his neck and closed my eyes.

  Hang on, Henley, I’m coming for you.

  Tennessee tapped my hand then slid it down to his waist.

  I frowned and sat up straight. But then I realized why he did it. We were about to land, and there were probably going to be a few pairs of eyes watching since we were flying a dragon in. The world passed by in a blur, and my stomach turned. I squeezed my eyes shut and breathed through my nose.

  When is the last time we ate?

  There was a loud whooshing noise, then a rumble vibrated through Lonan’s back.

  Whoa. I opened my eyes…and my jaw dropped. Lonan had flown us right into the center of Eden, in the courtyard in the middle of campus. The entire student body of Edenburg must’ve seen a black dragon flying overhead because there had to be hundreds of teenagers surrounding us. I glanced left and right only to find the same wide-eyed, jaw-dropped expression. No one spoke. No one pointed. No one screamed or ran away. They watched us slide off Lonan’s back without reacting. It wasn’t until Tennessee landed on the ground that everyone gasped. Except this time, they scurried away from him.

  I frowned and looked over my shoulder at him to tell him to stop glaring at the civilians…but my words dried on my tongue. His eyebrows were set low over his eyes, blocking the beautiful colors from view. His lips were set in a firm line. His hair was wild and disheveled, sticking out in every direction. But it was the blood caked on his face and dripping down his body that set the tone. His left arm bandage and left hand were completely soiled a dark red from dried blood. If possibly, it made him look more dangerous.

  I got the feeling no one had ever seen an injured Tennessee. And it seemed like it terrified them.

  Finally, one kid whispered, “If something hurt the Emperor, we’re screwed.”

  I smiled with pride.

  Tennessee strolled up to stand in front of Lonan. “Thank you, Lonan. If we want to find you again, do we go to the place?”

  Lonan snorted and looked to Chutney.

  “Okay!” Chutney grinned up at our dragon friend with a rosy blush. “I’ll tell him.”

  “Perfect. Take care of yourself.” Tennessee smiled.

  I waved. “Thanks, Lonan!”

  Lonan nodded then pushed into the sky like a rocket. He flapped his wings then shot out of sight. There was a rush of whispers in the crowd on the far side of the circle of students. A second later, a tall, slender man with tortoiseshell glasses and a three-piece suit emerged from the crowd. I had no idea who he was, but I got the impression he was important somehow.

  “Tennessee?!” the man all but squealed.

  “Hello, Daniel.” Tennessee smiled and led the rest of us over to him. “Sorry about the dragon. He’s a friend of ours.”

  Daniel flushed and pushed his glasses up. He swallowed and looked up at the sky. “A friend, you say? With a dragon?”

  “Well, at least that dragon.” Tennessee frowned and looked around the crowd. His gaze was sharp. He turned back to Daniel. “Where are Constance, Kenneth, and Timothy?”

  Daniel blanched. “They went to Tampa to help. The demon attacks have intensified.”

  “Help? Attacks?” Tennessee shook his head. “What are you talking about?”

  “Emperor…you’ve been missing for five weeks.”

  The Coven has no idea what’s coming for them in Book Four of the Elemental
Magic series, THE BROKEN WITCH. Want to know if Tegan and Tennessee can keep their love hidden long enough to save Henley? CLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter and you’ll receive an email alert when it’s available early summer 2018!

  Turn the page to see the cover and get a sneak peek at THE BROKEN WITCH!

  Desperate times, desperate magic.

  I finally have the Book of Shadows. The pages call to me, begging me to devour their hidden power. There are more than just spells inside, and there are things only the High Priestess can see.

  And now I know everything I wasn’t supposed to.

  My Coven likes to keep secrets…well they’re about to get a taste of their own medicine. Rescuing Henley from the demon’s possession won’t mean a thing if we can’t close the Gap in Salem. Samhain is our deadline, and it’s right around the corner.

  The question is…can I dig into the world’s ancient secrets without losing myself? I don’t know, but i’m about to find out.

  THE BROKEN WITCH releases early summer 2018! CLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter to get an email alert when it comes out!

  About the Author

  Chandelle was born and raised in South Florida. She is the ultimate fangirl. Her love of Twilight, Harry Potter, and The Mortal Instruments inspired her to write her own books. When she’s not writing she’s on the beach soaking up the sun with a book in her hand. Her favorite things in life are dogs, pizza, slurpees, and anything that sparkles. She suffers from wanderlust and hopes to travel to every country in the world one day.

  Copyright © 2018 by Chandelle Lavaun

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.