Pushing myself to go, I was shocked when the doors all but fell away when I put my palm on one and pushed. I jerkedforward, the sudden nothingness in front of me causing me to lose my balance.
My gasp caught in my throat when the scene changed in front of me, blown away by the sheer beauty of it.
Inside wasn’t your normal office building. It didn’t look like an office at all. I was transported directly into the forest with three towering waterfalls surrounding me. The sound of the water rang in my ears, and even the smell was clean and fresh.
Beyond them were tall mountains with bright flowers scattered throughout. A small breeze carried the scent of them and the water. It tickled the hair on my neck.
The floor below me changed from dirty concrete to flowing water. My heart jumped, afraid of falling in, but the cold splash of the water never came.
Is all this really possible?
“Cedar, my poor, sweet witch, you’ve been the talk of the town.”
I forced a smile on my face and looked up to see a woman right in front of me. Long, white-silver hair, a heart-shaped face, pink painted lips, and a smile that looked like she truly pitied me. Her light blue eyes told a more sinister story, though. Her blue and white dress matched the surrounding water and flowed off her curvy body like the current below.
The power radiating from her was unmistakable. But it wasn’t harsh, like my coven head’s was. It was smooth, feeling just like the stream below us.
The gentleness scared me even more than the harshness of the magic back at my coven. Their cruelty was expected. However, her magic lulled me into a false sense of security, making me want to trust her without her doing anything to earn it.
“I would guess as much,” I said and bent my head to her. “Morgan, it’s nice to see you in person. I don’t believe I’ve ever had the pleasure.”
Her smile widened.
“Still so smooth with your words. Was that how you got not one, buttwobonded to you?”
Heat washed up my neck. Of course she knew. Morgan was the coven head and liked to remain elusive. While her location wasn’t a secret, not many were granted entrance into her place.
Myself included.
“I didn’t know the witches knew about that,” I muttered.
Her eyes twinkled. “We know about everything, my dear. Even that dangerous box you carry.”
Panic and fear flooded me.
“No. None of that. I won’t hurt you.”
But others maywas what she left out.
“I suppose you know what it contains then.” I reached into my sack to pull out the magic artifact that held the body of the monster who hunted my people. It pulsed with that same dirty energy I felt in the throne room.
Only when she plucked it out of my hands did I realize how heavy it made me feel. How sickly. My stomach lurched, and I had to clamp my hand over my mouth at the suddenness of it.
Morgan looked at it with a sadness that I couldn’t bring myself to show, even though I felt it. It was a different kind of pain. One that sunk into your bones, scarring you so deeply that every time you saw another witch, you would be reminded of its existence.
“Disgusting creature,” she said, handing it off to the side where an assistant appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and took it from her before disappearing again. “We will do the work of trying to figure out the witches he stole from. Thank you, Cedar. I am sure the families will be happy to get some closure.”
I bowed my head to her and took a step back, ready to make my swift exit, but she stopped me.
“Is there something you want to ask me?”
I froze, feeling like a mouse caught in a trap. The door was right behind me, but it felt like miles away.
The sound of the waterfall intensified.
My heart pounded in my chest.
“Are you a seer?” I breathed, feeling dizzy.
