Chapter One
A thump, followed by a ga-jug , echoed within the
Volkswagen Rabbit, then the car rolled to a halt on the side of the gravel
road.
“Oh Blessed Be, this cannot be happening.” Bryanna turned
the ignition key and it clicked. She tried again, but she didn’t hear a spark
of the engine igniting or a purr from the muffler, she only heard silence.
Dropping her head against her hands resting on the steering
wheel, she shrieked in frustration and her throat tightened. But when tears
filled her eyes, she straightened up. “No, you will not cry.” Cursing
the now-dead piece of junk, she opened the car door, grabbed her handbag from
the passenger seat and kicked the car’s silver door shut behind her.
Before the dash-unit GPS crapped out on her, it had
indicated she had arrived in the West Feliciana Parish of Louisiana. Now she
stood atop a narrow ridge overlooking a river below with blue sky and white
clouds above.
The beautiful sight didn’t match her wretched mood. She
should enjoy the rich, earthy scents around her, feel rejuvenated to have left
the busy city of Shreveport behind and bask in the gloriousness of the nature
around her. That was, if she was a good Earth Witch, which sadly, she wasn’t.
In fact, her magical abilities were embarrassing at best. But those kinds of
chastising thoughts weren’t important anymore. Nothing mattered. Least of all
what she could or couldn’t do with her magic.
She strode forward and her long black satin skirt dragged
along the ground, making her grumble. The gravel road was slightly damp and the
big clouds meant a storm had recently blown through, which only added to the
strong scents around her. Rich moss thrived on the forest floors to her right.
Birds chirped in welcome, but she didn’t know to where.
Not as if that mattered either. The only thing that did
concern her was never turning back and always moving forward. Her life needed
to change, which included getting her ex-boyfriend, Layton Brimley, completely
out of it.
A man built of romantic dreams—beautiful on the outside,
blue-eyed, blond-haired and sexy as sin. But the pretty packaging was
deceptive; his soul was tainted with darkness. He was the reason she’d been on
the road for four hours now and why she’d never go back to the Shreveport
coven.
Above her, a bird squawked and Bryanna raised her hand to
protect her eyes, watching the hawk soaring on a thermal. She sighed. If only
she was that hawk and Layton was a little mouse she could rip to pieces. It’d
be the sweetest revenge.
She focused back on the road and increased her speed. On her
third step, her boot caught a stone, causing her to stumble forward. With a
yelp, she nosedived toward a puddle and scraped her hands against the rough
stones. The dirty water soaked her clothing, plastering her skirt to her skin.
“Oh for the love of magic.” She pushed herself up, wiped her
injured hands on her wet skirt and took a cautious step forward, but wobbled.
When she glanced down, she noticed the heel of her boot had broken off.
Drat!
Things that had been bad so far were only getting worse with
each passing hour. She’d need four sets of hands to count all the mishaps she’d
encountered along the way. Limping forward, she continued on, determined to get
to…well, she hadn’t figured that out yet.
As the hawk above her squawked again, she also heard a car
approaching from behind and drawing closer with each limp she took. Refusing to
look back at the car in fear of embarrassing herself further, she stared at the
gravel road when a thump caught her attention. The car’s tire had clearly hit
another hole in the road, since when she turned, a splash came barreling toward
her.
If she were a normal Earth Witch, she could conjure magic to
stop the dirty water from hitting her. Sadly, she was anything but normal.
Instead, she braced herself, shut her eyes and waited for the deluge.
Only a second later, the frigid water hit her dead
A thump, followed by a ga-jug , echoed within the
Volkswagen Rabbit, then the car rolled to a halt on the side of the gravel
road.
“Oh Blessed Be, this cannot be happening.” Bryanna turned
the ignition key and it clicked. She tried again, but she didn’t hear a spark
of the engine igniting or a purr from the muffler, she only heard silence.
Dropping her head against her hands resting on the steering
wheel, she shrieked in frustration and her throat tightened. But when tears
filled her eyes, she straightened up. “No, you will not cry.” Cursing
the now-dead piece of junk, she opened the car door, grabbed her handbag from
the passenger seat and kicked the car’s silver door shut behind her.
Before the dash-unit GPS crapped out on her, it had
indicated she had arrived in the West Feliciana Parish of Louisiana. Now she
stood atop a narrow ridge overlooking a river below with blue sky and white
clouds above.
The beautiful sight didn’t match her wretched mood. She
should enjoy the rich, earthy scents around her, feel rejuvenated to have left
the busy city of Shreveport behind and bask in the gloriousness of the nature
around her. That was, if she was a good Earth Witch, which sadly, she wasn’t.
In fact, her magical abilities were embarrassing at best. But those kinds of
chastising thoughts weren’t important anymore. Nothing mattered. Least of all
what she could or couldn’t do with her magic.
She strode forward and her long black satin skirt dragged
along the ground, making her grumble. The gravel road was slightly damp and the
big clouds meant a storm had recently blown through, which only added to the
strong scents around her. Rich moss thrived on the forest floors to her right.
Birds chirped in welcome, but she didn’t know to where.
Not as if that mattered either. The only thing that did
concern her was never turning back and always moving forward. Her life needed
to change, which included getting her ex-boyfriend, Layton Brimley, completely
out of it.
A man built of romantic dreams—beautiful on the outside,
blue-eyed, blond-haired and sexy as sin. But the pretty packaging was
deceptive; his soul was tainted with darkness. He was the reason she’d been on
the road for four hours now and why she’d never go back to the Shreveport
coven.
Above her, a bird squawked and Bryanna raised her hand to
protect her eyes, watching the hawk soaring on a thermal. She sighed. If only
she was that hawk and Layton was a little mouse she could rip to pieces. It’d
be the sweetest revenge.
She focused back on the road and increased her speed. On her
third step, her boot caught a stone, causing her to stumble forward. With a
yelp, she nosedived toward a puddle and scraped her hands against the rough
stones. The dirty water soaked her clothing, plastering her skirt to her skin.
“Oh for the love of magic.” She pushed herself up, wiped her
injured hands on her wet skirt and took a cautious step forward, but wobbled.
When she glanced down, she noticed the heel of her boot had broken off.
Drat!
Things that had been bad so far were only getting worse with
each passing hour. She’d need four sets of hands to count all the mishaps she’d
encountered along the way. Limping forward, she continued on, determined to get
to…well, she hadn’t figured that out yet.
As the hawk above her squawked again, she also heard a car
approaching from behind and drawing closer with each limp she took. Refusing to
look back at the car in fear of embarrassing herself further, she stared at the
gravel road when a thump caught her attention. The car’s tire had clearly hit
another hole in the road, since when she turned, a splash came barreling toward
her.
If she were a normal Earth Witch, she could conjure magic to
stop the dirty water from hitting her. Sadly, she was anything but normal.
Instead, she braced herself, shut her eyes and waited for the deluge.
Only a second later, the frigid water hit her dead
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