Alix (The Coven's Grove Chronicles #1) by Virginia Hunter Page B

second. The urge to do something or go somewhere was so strong that she closed the photo album, got to her feet, and headed toward the door.
    That’s when the vision hit.
    Miranda stumbled forward, and managed to grab hold of the doorframe before she fell. She slid to the floor slowly, as a young woman with black and purple hair filled her sight. The woman was driving, and talking to a red-headed man who sat in the passenger seat snoring softly. Whether the girl knew the man was asleep or not didn’t seem to matter, as she continued to jabber away. An aura of sparkling gold surrounded her, and Miranda knew without a doubt, that the young woman was a witch. The auras of normal folk didn’t have that kind of saturated color, and they sure as hell didn’t sparkle.
    Miranda’s heart hammered so hard she thought it would burst from her chest. She’d never had a vision before. She’d seen her old matriarch experience several back in the day, but she had no idea that it would be so immersive. She clawed at the doorframe, trying to catch her breath, as she watched the young woman and her companion drive along. Why is this happening to me? Who is that girl? And then a thought came to her. When Octavia had experienced her last vision, it had been just before Silvia had arrived. The dark-skinned girl had been the last of the witches to come, completing the coven. Octavia had been given warning of Silvia’s coming.
    Miranda wet her lips, and focused on the surroundings that passed by outside the car. They looked somewhat familiar. The pair were traveling on a highway heading south. No, not just a highway, they were on 35 in Moore, Oklahoma. They were coming up on the Warren Theatre that she, Hannah, and Rhea, had been to on so many occasions. It was on the west side of the highway, not too far from Coven’s Grove in Norman.
    “She’s close,” Miranda whispered. Her heart continued to race, and hope surged. The summoning spell! It worked!
    The young, purple haired woman went silent, and peered around. “Hello?” she asked with a frown.
    Miranda held her breath. Did she just hear me?
    “That was weird,” the young woman said with a shiver. “I must be more tired than I thought. I need some caffeine in a bad way.”
    Miranda gazed in disbelief. She really had no idea what was possible within a vision. But before she could experiment further, the purple haired girl exited off of 35 onto 19th street, and the vision abruptly stopped.
    Miranda scrambled to her feet, as her sight returned, and then rushed to the front door. She knew where the girl was, roughly anyway, and that she had to reach her. It must be the spell, she thought while stepping out into the cold. It’s driving me toward her . She quickly stripped out of her clothes, and tied them together with her belt.
    All witches had an innate power. Something only they could do that was above and beyond the incantations that any witch could perform. There was one exception to this rule however: the matriarch of a coven could possess more than just a single, inborn power. She could inherit the abilities of all the witches in her coven while retaining her own.
    Miranda used one of those inherited abilities now as she shapeshifted into a golden-headed eagle. She hopped onto the pile of folded clothing. Her clawed feet clamped around the belt, as she flapped her wings, and took off into the night sky.
    The city lights spread out below. Highway 35 was easy enough to find, as it glowed brightly, snaking its way north and south. Although 19th street was harder to find, once she saw the twinkling lights of the movie theatre, Miranda knew where to go.
    The purple-haired girl had exited 35 going east on 19th, away from the theatre. There was only one gas station in that direction close to the highway. That’s where Miranda would start looking.

 
    T he highway stretched on, as twilight approached. They had been on the road all day, stopping to trade cars in Knoxville, Tennessee