A Witch's Storm Read online

  A Witch’s Storm

  A Rouen Urban Fantasy Novel

  Raven Steele

  Ava Mason

  A Witch’s Storm

  Rouen Chronicles Book 9

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  A novel by

  Raven Steele

  &

  Ava Mason

  www.RavenSteele.net

  * * *

  This is a work of fiction. Names characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  * * *

  This book may not be reproduced in whole or part, by mimeograph or any other means, without the permission of the Publisher. Making or distributing electronic copies of this book constitutes copyright infringement and could subject the infringer to criminal and civil liability.

  * * *

  Cover design by Covers by Juan

  Printed in the United States of America

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  Copyright © 2019 by Raven Steele and Ava Mason

  All rights reserved

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

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  Chapter 1

  I slammed the door behind me and fled the great mansion. I’d just given the Abydos to my mom, Cassandra, and now anguish and contrition filled me, pounding through me as fierce as my thundering heart. My footsteps slapped against the stone steps, the moonlight at my back.

  I swallowed great gulps of air that smelled like pine and rich earth, glancing back at the ornate house where I’d grown up. I wondered if my mother’s eyes followed me, perhaps as she stood at one of the windows. I could imagine a cold smile marring her face as she watched me run away after giving her the Abydos.

  She’d mentioned my father again, saying he’d be pleased with me. I didn’t even know which father she meant. The one I grew up with, or my real dad, the one she kept secret from me.

  I reached my car and threw open the door. As I slid behind the wheel, I tossed the fake Abydos into the passenger seat, none too gently either. It didn’t matter if it broke. I could easily replicate another. That was the great thing about lies. They couldn’t be broken, only revealed. This one had to stay buried. Otherwise, I would lose my friends forever.

  Screaming, I punched the steering wheel over and over.

  A double life. That’s what I’d been forced to live ever since my mother and I had performed that spell to bring Briar to Rouen. I still don’t know how my mother had uncovered Briar’s true identity. According to Dominic and others who had been there, the extermination of her pack had been complete, and the Abydos was believed lost forever. They’d searched her territory many times, even bringing in special witches, but no one could find it. And yet, somehow my mother had known it still existed, had known about Briar.

  Curling my fingers tightly around the steering wheel, I started the car and slammed my foot against the accelerator. The tires chewed up the driveway, leaving angry black marks across the pavement. My mother would love that. Too bad I couldn’t make the image of my middle finger out of them.

  I drove away, angry tears stinging my cheeks.

  My father.

  My adopted father was dead, but I desperately needed to find my biological one. He couldn’t be as awful as my mother. No way.

  Did he know about me? I doubted it. Since my mother was thirteen and had discovered she was a witch with real power, she’d had one goal: marry a Morgan. They were the only witch family who mattered in our community. Getting pregnant by someone else must’ve been devastating to her. But somehow, she’d managed to still marry an infamous Morgan. Probably told my fake father the baby was his. He died when I was young, so neither of us would ever know the truth, unless I could get my mother to tell me, which was highly unlikely.

  I sighed and forced my body to relax into the seat as I drove toward the Apex. My knuckles had begun to swell. Damnit. I’d painted my nails earlier that day. They still looked amazing, but no one would notice the polish with all the bruises on my hands. I’d just have to hide them, like all the other ugly lies I told.

  I’d been raised under my mother’s care my whole life, trained to do her will. As a child, I had been eager to please her. Then as I grew older, I was too afraid of her to go against her wishes. That’s why I’d gone along with her plan to bring Briar to Rouen.

  But then I’d grown to love both Briar and Samira. I hadn’t expected to feel such a strong tie to them, though my mother only told me it was part of the prophecy. What she couldn’t understand was how isolated she’d made me, how much I’d longed for a real connection to other people. My friends made me feel loved and cherished, something I hadn’t felt in a long time.

  And so, my double life began.

  Living like that had broken me more than I thought it would. I had no idea who I was anymore. Torn between my obligations as a Morgan witch and my love for my friends, I’d felt my sanity begin to slip.

  My phone buzzed and a message appeared on the screen in my dashboard. I pressed the icon of my message folder and listened as a robotic voice said, “You have one message from Roma. Would you like me to read it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Hey, sweetie,” the robotic voice said as Roma. “Do you have the blood?”

  Robot paused. “Would you like to respond?”

  I stared at the road ahead, my heart pounding. Maybe I could still back out. Return to my mother and get the real blood. Yeah, right. There’s no way my mom would give it back now. She’d made too many plans, years in the making, to stop now.

  The only path for me was forward.

  “Yes,” I said, my regret growing stronger. I hated this part of my life.

  “What would you like to say?”

  A sound beeped. “I’ve got it and am on my way to you. See you soon.”

  I sent the message and quickly wiped at a tear that had managed to escape from my eye. None of that, I told myself. I had to appear confident, self-assured, like I knew exactly what I was doing. Like I wasn’t betraying my friends and sealing their fate. Our fates.

  My phone rang, startling me. My gaze dropped to the dashboard screen again. Aris was calling. My heart skipped a beat, and I answered the phone. “Hey.”

  “How’s it going?” he asked.

  The sound of his voice shot straight through me. He’d only recovered a week ago after being accidentally hit with one of the spells that had been protecting the Blutel Estate from Korin. I was glad the spell had finally worn off. I liked hearing him talk.

  “I’m good,” I answered.

  I hated thinking of that night. So many had died, specifically Sersi, the President of the Ames de la Te
rra. I should’ve been able to save her. But Ivona, in the Phoenix’s form, had overwhelmed me. I’d felt powerful until the second she’d mentally touched my mind. Then all confidence had failed me. I was no match for her, not even close, and that realization had been devastating.

  “Where are you? I thought we were meeting at sunset.” His voice always held a tone of seriousness, roughness even. He’d scared me when I’d first met him at my training with the Principes Noctis. The way his steely blue eyes, cold as an Arctic wind, scrutinized every one of us, as if deciding our worthiness to belong to such a powerful group.

  It wasn’t until later that I learned he sought to determine who amongst us was the most dangerous.

  Aris also lived a double life—one posing as someone who shared the Ministry’s evil goals while also secretly trying to stop the abuses of power among supernaturals, wherever they sprung up. Hence, his reason for being in Rouen.

  Maybe that’s why I was drawn to him, his ability to successfully balance both evil and good in his life. It also helped that every time he was near me, my whole body flushed, longing for his touch. His body was lean, with broad shoulders and tight muscles that begged me to touch them. He held a quiet strength, a demeanor that hinted I could trust him.

  That he could be more. But that wasn’t going to happen. Aris and I were just friends.

  “Sorry about that. It took longer than I thought at my mother’s house. I’m on my way to the Apex to spell the Abydos.”

  “I’ll meet you there.”

  “No,” I said quickly. It had been hard enough to lie to Samira and Briar. I didn’t want to have to lie to him, too. “It will be a while, plus super boring. Roma and Owen have these spells we have to perform. One of them is over an hour long.”

  There was a long pause. “Can I see you after, or will you need to sleep?”

  See me after. For anyone else, that might sound like a date, but with Aris it just meant friendship. I think he was lonely, especially since Mateo and Samira were finally together, and now Angel and Briar. He still had Oz, but Oz was often busy at Blutel Estate in their lab.

  “If it’s not too late, I’ll come by. The hotel?”

  “Possibly. I’ll text you if I’ll be somewhere else.”

  I thanked him and hung up. He would be somewhere else. Roaming the city, looking for bad guys to stop. Briar and many of the others said Aris had a hero complex, but it wasn’t that at all. He’d confessed a little of what he’d had to do in Coast City to get rid of Bastian, an ancient and powerful vampire. He’d had to do some terrible things for the greater good, and it had nearly broken his soul.

  Every night, he hit the streets trying to atone for his past mistakes. It was for this reason he didn’t allow himself to be happy, which also meant no relationships. I’d asked him once why. He’d answered, “The shadows on my heart and mind will not allow it. I’ve too much to atone for.”

  It made me sad for him and yet, I got it. Since I also lived a double life, love was the last thing I wanted. If the people around me knew who I really was, they’d be devastated. I didn’t want to hurt them like that. Love would have to take a back seat, for now. Maybe forever. Maybe one day I’d have to be like Aris and roam the streets to atone for all my sins.

  That is, if I had a future.

  Everything I did, all the lies and secrets, was to guarantee our future—at least according to my mother. But now I wasn’t so sure. If she could lie to me about something as big as my father’s true identity, then what else would she lie about?

  I parked the car in front of Kim Yaun, the Chinese Restaurant that sat high above the Apex, and grabbed the small chest holding the Abydos from the passenger seat. The restaurant was already closed for the night, but I used my key to slip inside. It still smelled like jasmine with hints of iron, the result of many supernatural customers who practiced magic.

  “Hey, Elvis,” I whispered to the yellow canary that sat on top of the counter in a metal cage. If Kuriko, the owner, hadn’t felt pressured to keep with the traditional Chinese decor of red lanterns and droplet wall vases, the place would probably be covered in Elvis paraphernalia. She’d seen him perform as a child while living in San Francisco and had been obsessed ever since. The Elvis decor packed in the basement storage room was enough to prove it.

  Crossing the dining room, I stopped in front of an old wooden door with the symbol of fire etched into its center. A different key opened it, one given to only a few witches. My mother got me mine, otherwise it would’ve been years until I earned it. Being a Morgan witch had its perks.

  As soon as I reached the bottom of the darkened, circular staircase beneath Kim Yaun’s, I picked up my pace, wrapping my jacket around me. It was cold and damp down in the tunnels that led to the Apex, the secret location where the Witches of Rouen practiced magic. I’d wanted to fix the temperature issues, but whenever I brought it up, some witch just cast a spell to warm the place. That was all well and great, but seriously? Electricity had been invented for a reason, but there were always witches who insisted using magic for every little thing.

  Not me.

  I’d used so much of my power recently, it had nearly killed me. I’d be happy to never use it again. Be normal. What would that be like?

  The sound of Roma and Owen’s arguing voices reached my ears, which meant they’d left the security door open for me. Roma and Owen had been arguing a lot more lately, ever since Angel and Briar had taken off after the Abydos. I never knew what about, though. Roma wouldn’t tell me even though I’d asked her several times.

  Light crept out from the Apex, partially filling the stone tunnel around me. I slowed my steps, hoping to catch a little of their conversation.

  “This isn’t the way,” Owen was saying. “We need a full coven.”

  “I don’t trust a full coven.” Roma’s firm voice was laced with bitterness. Had something happened I didn’t know about?

  “If you can’t trust your own kind,” he said, “who can you trust?”

  “Myself, first and foremost. Then those of my choosing, and certainly not twenty-year-old sorority sisters who just want to use their magic to make Mardi Gras cocktails, or older women who haven’t used their magic for years.”

  “They’re more than that.”

  “Are they?” Her question hung in the air between them, a weapon to be used for both sides.

  It was true the Witches of Rouen hadn’t acted as a full coven until recently, which did make them weaker. But they had been disbanded over two decades ago because of all of the corruption between them. So do you use a full coven with people you didn’t know well, or a weaker one with people you trusted?

  Escaping the shadows, I stepped loudly into the hallway to announce my arrival. I walked into the Apex. The smell of animal’s blood was stronger tonight. I turned my head to the wall to see why. Several ancient symbols had been painted onto the rough surface, the beginning of a powerful spell.

  Since the moon wasn’t quite full enough to fill the circular tube running from the outside and down through the ceiling, several candles had been lit. It made shadows dance across the stone floor and gave the air a smoky flavor.

  “Hey guys,” I said, clutching the small chest to me. I had to remember that even though it contained the fake Abydos, I had to pretend it was the real thing.

  Roma hurried to me, smiling big as if she hadn’t been arguing only seconds earlier. “You made it.”

  She embraced me tightly, her hair smelling like apples and cinnamon. She gave the best hugs, so full of warmth and love. Or maybe it just felt that way because my mother never hugged me like this.

  For just a moment, I forgot about my lies, but then she pulled away. “Can I see it?”

  I held the box protectively. “It’s in here.”

  I didn’t open it. I couldn’t for fear she might sense it was a fake. My mother had spelled it with magical properties similar to the Abydos, but one couldn’t be too careful.

  Roma stared down at it f
or a long moment, then looked up at me, a determined look on her face. “Let’s get this thing protected. Over here.”

  Owen turned away from a boiling pot sitting on an ornate wooden table. “It’s good to see you again, Lynx.”

  “You too.” I frowned when I noticed his singed eyebrows and blistered cheek. “Are you okay?”

  He rubbed at his dark skin. “I nearly blew my face off earlier today.”

  I glanced at all the magical objects behind him on the table. Many of them were very powerful and should rarely be in the same place together. “What were you trying to do?”

  His silver eyes flickered to Roma coolly. “Something that should’ve been done by a full coven of witches.”

  “Oh, don’t mind him,” Roma said, her eyes twinkling and her voice sweet. “It was just part of the protection spell, but we worked it out, didn’t we, Owen?”

  He grunted and turned his attention back to the table.

  Guilt wormed its way to my gut, making me touch my stomach. Owen had nearly been killed trying to protect absolutely nothing. I hadn’t thought about this part of my lie. The magic we were about to perform was extremely dangerous. Any one of us could easily be hurt.

  But what could I do about it now?

  Everyone had to believe the blood was here. To save the world, I reminded myself. Isn’t that what my mother had told me?

  “Where do you want it?” I asked.