it dipped down, and a massive opal glistened in the sunlight—a stone that contained all the colors and qualities of every other stone and could be charged for any type of magic.
“Tegan,” Constance said softly.
I gasped and refocused on her…but my gaze went right to her crown. It was a simple crown made of clear quartz crystal with raw edges that were a couple inches tall. But then she reached up and took it off of her head.
She stepped up to me, holding the crown out. “Tegan Bishop, The Coven has spoken. Do you accept this role and vow to always guide us in the honorable direction?”
I nodded. “By The Coven’s magic, I shall be heard. With mine High Priestess’s power, I give my word.”
Light flashed from the Goddess’s rune in the ground. It shot up and wrapped around the crown in Constance’s hands in front of me. Rainbow magic coiled around it like snakes. I sucked in a breath and held it. I knew it. It’s changing for me! My pulse skipped. Butterflies danced the Riverdance in my stomach. And then my magic exploded like fireworks and my breath left me in a rush.
OH MY GODDESS.
THANK YOU.
It was breathtaking. Gorgeous. And absolutely perfect for me.
The part that would wrap around my head was made of the same golden vines as Tennessee’s, the ones that looked like they came straight from the Garden of Eden. Above the golden vines was a ring of white twigs and little raw pieces of bone. It was bad ass. In the center a crescent moon made of fire opal dangled from the bottom and I knew it would rest perfectly against my forehead.
But my favorite part of the crown, the part that had me happy dancing inside, were the clear raw quartz crystals. There were two rows of them going all the way around. Each crystal on the bottom row was at least four inches tall, and the ones in the second row were twice that size. Each one was pointed at the top. It looked like someone had taken a cluster of these stones and just sat it on a crown…and I was obsessed.
Constance grinned from ear to ear, then reached out and placed the crown on my head. Warmth radiated down my spine and into all of my limbs. Wild, raw energy tingled along my nerves.
I giggled, then bit down on my bottom lip.
“High Priestess of The Coven,” Constance said softly, pulling my gaze toward her. She smiled down at me with glistening blue eyes. She pulled a small white crystal out of the chest. “The Goddess has spoken. Do you accept this role and vow to always guide us in the divine direction?”
I swallowed through a lump in my throat. “By The Coven’s magic, I shall be heard. With mine High Priestess’s power, I give my word.”
She twirled her fingers, and a cloud of white smoke billowed out from the crystal. When it cleared, an intricate staff stood on its own. The shaft was made of white birch tree. Pentacles were carved into the birch in gold and silver, the two metals mixing together. There was a six-inch raw clear quartz with a pointed tip that perfectly matched my crown. Gold and silver metal wrapped around it to fasten the stone in place. The coolest part was the top. The way the birch wood was cut, it looked like a hand holding the fire opal crystal on. The crystal itself was oblong and not cut smoothly, like a miner found in a mountain and glued on a stick.
It wasn’t a surprise that both Tennessee and I had fire opal in our pieces. It was a stone that contained all the colors and qualities of every other stone and could be charged for any type of magic. I grinned reached out and clutched the scepter in my left hand.
“Rise, High Priestess, and stand before your people,” Tennessee said softly.
I stood…and every single person in the crowd bowed.
My Coven-mates rushed to my side. They were all grins and high fives. Bettina tackled me first, followed immediately by Emersyn. When they stepped back Cooper, shoved my arm playfully. Dad tugged on my hair – that had returned to its normal black and purple hues. Mom gave me high-ten and grinned. Uncle Kessler put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed, and I knew by the way he always did that to Tenn that it was his sign of affection.