“What needs to be done.”
I try to pull away, but he doesn’t let me, not as my heart races or as I hold my wand against his chest.
His eyes lock with mine, doing the same thing they did before, and I can’t help but to be captivated by his words.
“You will forget tonight. You’ll forget me. But you won’t forget your desire for vampires, what my blood felt like. No one can give you what I give you, Ember Hallow. When the time is right, I’ll come to collect what is mine. You will not put yourself in danger and you will not come here again. Till we meet again, sunshine.” His soft words rattle my brain as everything goes black.
Chapter 2
PRESENT DAY
Icharm the box of all the herbs and flowers to be lighter as I ride my bike downtown to Goddess Apothecary. I’m regretting riding my bike as sweat trickles on my neck, spring is an illusion in Louisiana.
The major plus side is I can park my bike right in front of the shop and not have to deal with parking. My finger tingles as I do and I shake out my hand, every now and then I get this phantom feeling in my pointer finger. I glance around the lot, thinking I see something in the distance, but when I look back there’s nothing there.
I shake my head at myself, this happens way too often. Maybe my grandmother is right, I have an overactive imagination, always seeing things that aren’t there.
The feeling of being watched leaves me as I head down Main Street. My best friend Violet’s husband, Silas, who happens to be the Alpha of the Moon Walker Pack, basically owns the town now. He’s made major improvements, but all good things take time. Just like our relationship with the wolf shifters. Even though our coven is no longer a cult run by a psychopathicwitch with outdated views, there’s still a long way to go with our relations with other supernatural beings.
The bell chimes over the door as Iris yells out, “Just a minute!”
I place the box on the counter and look around.
Iris built this shop from the ground up. Her mother and grandmother weren’t highly skilled potion makers, her grandmother was a seer, and her mom, well we don’t talk about her much. My smart and too-wise-for-her-years friend is impressive and talented. Then there’s Violet, who’s the future High Priestess of the coven, she picked up magic like it was nothing, and is the most talented healer we’ve had in generations.
Comparison is a slow killer, and I try to not let it bother me, I really do. It’s not that I feel jealousy toward my friends’ gifts, I just feel like out of the three of us I have less to show for myself.
Sure, my herbs and flowers are important to the coven, but I’m replaceable. I’m a completely average witch, and it’s been a tougher pill to swallow as of late. Maybe it’s because of the huge shift in our coven, and watching Violet bridge the gap between the witches and the shifters. There’s this deep down yearning in my gut for adventure and figuring out where I fit in the grand scheme of things. Not that I’ve shared what I’m feeling with anyone else.
I’m always happy when I’m around anyone in my coven, always ready to crack a joke or lighten the mood. Suppressing feelings is way easier than saying them out loud. Even if that means I’m like a slow cooking potion in a cauldron, simmering until my emotions boil over the smallest thing.
I take a look at all the beauty products on the shelves and sigh, guilt churning in my stomach for all my negative thinking.
“Hey Ember, thanks for bringing these all down,” Iris says as she opens the box and starts taking everything out on thecounter, organizing different plants and flowers based on what she’ll need them for.
Iris is beautiful with her skin glowing as it normally does, but her amber eyes look haunted, like she hasn’t been sleeping.
“Just because you live above the shop doesn’t mean you have to work all the time. You’re getting enough sleep?” I ask her.
She waves me off, as she usually does. It seems like I’m not the only witch bottling my feelings up around here. “I’m fine, just been working on some potions that require more around the clock care.”
She’s lying, and I don’t know why, but I won’t push her.
Iris, Violet, and I may be sisters in our own right, but we’re all the same with having our secrets. I mean, hell, Violet was married to our enemy and didn’t tell us until she had to. Her marrying Silas and uniting the wolves and witches is one of the best things to happen to the coven.
Whatever Iris is hiding, she’ll tell me when she’s ready.
“Alright, are we going to test this new hair potion out or what?” Iris asks, changing the direction of the conversation.
“Let’s do it,” I say, sitting in the worn, brown chair in the corner.
The chime dings with someone’s arrival, and I smile, realizing it’s Violet.
“Oh perfect, let’s see if this is strong enough on the white pieces of your hair too,” Iris says excitedly as she swirls the pink bottle.
“You know it won’t work. How many potions have you tried now?” Violet says, but still sits down, knowing that Iris has to test the theory.
“I think about fifty. Can’t hurt,” Iris says, putting it on my hair first, running her fingers through my long wavy strands. “Let it sit for twenty minutes,” she tells me before taking a test piece of Violet’s hair and placing the potion on.
