‘Jax, keep Gavin close, okay? Like, don’tlet him run off.’
‘You want me to babysit your mate?’his snarky reply came through.
I sighed. I hadn’t been able to catchJaxon and Avery up on what Gavin told me, but I wanted to make sure he waswatched. Just in case.
‘Look, some stuff is going on and he mightbe a flight risk. Just watch him, okay?’I pleaded.
‘Oh. Okay,’my brother replied.
Nahuel and I were halfway to the frontdoor now and he stopped and turned to me. Holy crap. His hair was fully grayand he had definitely aged ten years.
“What’s going on with you?” I pointed tohis silver braid.
He gave me a weak smile. “Don’t worryabout me. Mukesh tried to follow us. I had to cover our scent the entiredrive.”
My eyes widened. Holy crap. How did heknow that Mukesh was following us? And more importantly how did he cover ourscent for over 200 miles? Before I could rattle off questions, he reached outand put both hands on my shoulders.
“Anya, you are about to meet one of themost important people in the world of magic. She only meets people byinvitation and she has requested to meet with you.”
Nerves churned in my belly. “Okay … who isshe?”
Nahuel thought about that for a moment.“We call her Mama and she is said to be the mother of magic. She comes from along line of seers. Her entire coven are seers and it’s something passed downto them for generations.”
I nodded. That was pretty cool. “Like mymom and me?”
My mom was a witch and seer and so was I.Jaxon had the affinity of powerful spellcasting. Any spell he did was ten timesmore powerful than mine.
But Nahuel shook his head. “No, dear,she’s nothing like you and your mother. Or any other witch for that matter.”
Oh. Okay.
“All right, well, I will be on my bestbehavior.” I winked.
He released his hands and gave me a smallsmile. “Just take what she may say to you very seriously, okay?”
The nerves in my gut tightened. “Okay.”
Now I wasn’t sure I wanted to walk into thishouse. This woman I had never met had called Nahuel and requested to meet me?The mother of magic? It all sounded like another thing I didn’t need right now.But before I could voice any concerns, I realized Nahuel was already on theporch knocking at the large set of double doors.
Turning back behind me I saw Gavin,Avery, Jaxon, and Mason letting themselves into the back yard via a largewrought iron gate.
The front door creaked open and I spunaround quickly, checking out the woman who had answered it. Standing in thedoorway was a tall and strikingly beautiful woman. She had bronze skin and longblack hair in braided twists that fell to her waist. When my eyes rested onhers, I tried to conceal my shock. Her entire pupil was white … like she wasblind. It happened sometimes temporarily when powerful magic users were havingvisions or doing powerful spellcraft but this … it looked permanent. Withoutlooking directly at Nahuel, the woman beamed with a radiant smile. Her fulllips peeled back to show perfect white teeth and a genuine smile.
“Nahuel. It’s been too long.” She openedher arms wide and the shaman walked into them, giving her a warm embrace.
I raised one eyebrow. My shaman wasn’treally the hugging type. As soon as they broke apart she looked right at me,right through me.
“Anya,” she breathed, extending her lefthand for a shake. She was a lefty and a seer witch. Interesting. Giving her myhand meant a whole host of things in the witch world. “I’m Cee Cee,” she offered,still extending her hand. She looked about forty years old, but it was hard totell.
I took a deep breath.Here goesnothing.Reaching out, I gave her my hand. The moment our skin touched, Ifelt an enormous tidal wave of power underneath her skin. Her mouth opened abit in shock as she continued to hold my hand.
“May I look deeper?” She breathed,looking beyond me at something I couldn’t see.
I looked at Nahuel who was no help. Well,she was asking permission, so that was cool. Most witches just saw and didn’task.
“Sure,” I muttered as the wave of powerbecame a buzz working its way up my arm. Holy crap. Did Gretchen know aboutthese witches? I would have to ask her later.
Her mouth formed a small O and her pupilsbecame even whiter. So, was she blind or wasn’t she? Maybe it was just extrememagic use but she could still see.
