Trial by Fire (Covencraft Book 1) by Margarita Gakis Page A

turned the heat on in the car as soon as they rolled away from the Covenstead. She leaned her head against the passenger window, eyes half open on the scenery outside but not really cataloging any details.
    Paris thankfully didn’t talk to her as he drove. She tried to pay attention to where they were going, the street names and the turns they took, but her eyes were drifting shut. She didn’t know how much time had passed before she heard her name being called. There was a quick touch on her shoulder. She jerked awake and sat up in her seat.
    “We’re here,” Paris said lowly.
    She looked up and noticed they were in front of an old cottage-type house - two stories, but cozy. It appeared to have been painted within the last couple of years and while the door and the windows seemed worn, they looked sturdy enough.
    “I thought I would be in a hotel?” she asked.
    “If you’re going to stay here, you’ll need some place to live.”
    “I might not stay,” she immediately replied.
    “Then you may as well be as comfortable as you can be while you’re here,” Paris said smoothly. Before she could answer, he was out of the car and pulling her bags from the back seat, leaving her with nothing to carry. He unlocked the front door for her and then handed her the keys. She followed him as he stepped inside and set her bags down in the small entryway.
    “Would you like me to stay for a bit? Show you around or answer any questions?”
    A jaw-cracking yawn that she didn’t even feel coming was her response. She blinked owlishly at him and he suppressed a laugh.
    “I’ll take that as a no,” he said with an amused tone. “I believe there’s food in the kitchen and an assortment of amenities about. But if you need anything, you have my card from before?”
    She nodded.
    “I’ll be by in the morning to take you back to the Covenstead. Say around eight?”
    She shrugged. “Okay.” God she was tired. She might even skip food and just face-plant into the closest horizontal surface.
    “You’re not feeling any worse from before are you? Headache getting worse or anything else?”
    Her head still hurt but it was lessening - more like a regular headache now than the icepick pain of before. “No. M’okay,” she mumbled.
    “Well,” he said somewhat hesitatingly, “I’ll leave you to it.” He paused, awkwardly reached out and patted her once on the shoulder. He then left through the front door closing it quietly behind him.
    She stood alone in the entry way and did a small, uncoordinated circle, looking about.
    Her first impression of her place was that it was soft. Soft colors, soft fabrics, soft furniture. There was a large overstuffed chair and a matching sofa stationed in front of a voluminous fireplace. A shallow mantle ran over the fireplace and on it were some candles and a few innocuous knick-knacks. She could see the start of a kitchen through a partial doorway - kitchen table for two, subdued curtains, some appliances. She thought about heading that way and scrounging something to eat but it seemed far away and onerous. She grabbed her bags and started heading upstairs, hoping to find a bed in the first room she came across.
    Success!
    It was a small master bedroom with a little ensuite. She used the hand soap to wash her makeup off, not even caring that it made her face feel tight and dry. She fumbled in her carry-on for her toothbrush and toothpaste and, after the most cursory brushing, she stripped off her jeans and wiggled her bra out from underneath her t-shirt. She crawled onto the bed and sighed at how soft it was, wrestling the cover from underneath her and tucking herself in. At the last moment, her eyes snapped open and she found the nightstand and bedside clock, fumbling in the dark to set the alarm. Once that was done, she let out a sigh and then flopped over onto her side.
    Jade’s mind started racing as soon as she closed her eyes. Witches, covens, spells and magic. Her thoughts became