The Ravens (The Ravens #1) - Kass Morgan Page 0,31
as if she were being electrocuted. But there was no pain. Just the opposite, in fact. She felt powerful, alive.
Except that the energy wasn’t running up her arm. It was the other way around, she realized. The energy was flowing from her. Vivi gasped again as the flame split into five streams that danced and curled through the air before forming a five-pointed star.
This time, the exceptional sight didn’t cause a surge of confusion. Vivi felt a wave of calm pass over her, sweeping away knots of anxiety and uncertainty she hadn’t even been aware of.
“Place your card on the table,” Dahlia said. A note of smug satisfaction had crept into her voice.
Vivi turned her card over and found herself staring at an image of another woman. She wouldn’t describe this one as beautiful, exactly. Her pale face was slightly too long, her expression much too fierce. But Vivi hardly gave it a passing thought, for what was beauty compared to this woman’s power? In one hand, she clasped a large golden disk carved with a five-pointed star. Thick vines and flowers curled around her other arm, and it was clear that the woman was causing them to grow. She was surrounded by creatures of all sorts—birds, snakes, deer—magnificent creatures drawn to her energy.
“The Queen of Pentacles, the Earth sign. Welcome to Kappa Rho Nu, Vivi.”
Vivi felt Ariana squeeze her hand, but she was too numb to do more than shoot her a vague smile before turning her attention back to the proceedings. Another girl was rejected, and the redhead named Reagan, a Fire sign, was the last pledge to be accepted.
Once every pledge had been tested and the failures had all been escorted out, Dahlia swept the cards up and placed them back in a neat stack. “Welcome, pledges, to the oldest, most prestigious, and most powerful sorority in the country. We’ve been waiting for you. Whether you realize it or not, your destiny has led you to Westerly and to Kappa Rho Nu.”
“What are you?” Ariana asked hoarsely.
Dahlia grinned. “We are witches.”
Witches. The word seeped through Vivi, as slow and sweet as Dahlia’s honey-thick drawl. Witches. For a moment, it felt more comforting than strange, as if a part of her had always known it. But then Vivi forced herself to return to reality. This had to be an elaborate prank, part of the hazing process or, worse, some sort of stunt to put on YouTube. Yet Vivi had spent most of her life observing charlatans like her mother, and even she was hard-pressed to imagine how the Kappas could’ve pulled off a trick like this.
“You were born witches,” Dahlia continued. “But tonight you’ve taken your first step toward becoming something even more important—a sister. Kappa Rho Nu is much more than a sorority; it’s the oldest, most powerful coven of witches in the country. It was founded in the seventeenth century to help women escape persecution, and over the years, it’s become one of the most influential organizations in the world.” She looked around the circle with a meaningful expression. “Witches are powerful on their own, but together, we’re unstoppable. Over the next four years, we’ll teach you how to harness and control your magic, how to unlock abilities beyond your wildest dreams. But you have to work for it.” She looked at each new member, one after the next. “To become a full Kappa, you’ll need to survive Hell Week. Then you must continue to impress your sisters over the weeks that follow. It’s not enough to have magic; you have to become one of us.”
Vivi shivered at the word magic. Less than an hour ago, she would’ve scoffed at the notion. But she couldn’t think of a better term to describe what she’d just witnessed, the power she’d felt unfurling inside her.
Could she really be a witch? The thought was at once so intoxicating and so alarming, she couldn’t keep herself from blurting out a question. “Does anyone outside of Kappa know what you . . . I mean, what we are?” she asked, thinking about her mother. Her heart thudded loudly. Did this mean Daphne was also a witch?
“Definitely not,” Mei said with a shake of her head. “Not unless they were Ravens too.”
“But during the rush party, you had lots of non-Kappas here . . . Isn’t that sort of risky?” Vivi asked. She could almost feel magic crackling in the air, a hint of electricity like in the moments before a thunderstorm.