Enchantress (Witches Academy #8) - Tamara Ferguson Page 0,3

theatrics involved. Through the years, Ariella had chosen to ignore them.

“Chosen mate? Don’t start that again. I’m only twenty-five. I have my whole life ahead of me and I don’t need a man to live a rewarding life.”

Mother bit her lip, looking at her Aunt first and then back at Ariella. “You’re only saying that because of that awful man you were dating a few years ago, who broke your heart.

Ariella snorted. “I’d say I was lucky to find out about the other women he was seeing before it got more serious.”

“Dear, you don’t really mean what you’re saying,” Aunt Serena said, sounding reassuring. “You just haven’t met your true mate.”

“What is all this crazy talk about a mate?” Ariella growled. “You make it sound like I’m a breeding animal instead of a woman who’s waiting for the right man – if there is such a thing, that is.”

Both Mother and Aunt Serena winced as they stared into each other’s eyes.

“Fine,” Ariella muttered, glancing at her watch and dropping onto a leather club chair near the fireplace. “I still have plenty of time to get to the airport. Let’s hear this story so I can be on my way.”

“It’s all in our family’s book,” Aunt Serena murmured. “But I know how you’ve avoided reading it since you were a child.”

“I remember some of the stories, but you’ll have to fill me in specifically about this one.”

Mother drew in a deep breath, looking at Aunt Serena. “Shall I begin?”

“Yes. You tell the story much better than I do.”

“That’s only because it was pounded into my brain as the eldest sister.”

“Your mother was so beautiful, Ariella. You two look so much alike.”

Mother grimaced. “She’s getting impatient, Serena. I’d better begin. Since the beginning of our line, back in the early 1600’s, an evil force has been slowly attempting to absorb our powers along with another equally strong line of witches’. We have ancestors who have mysteriously disappeared through the years and we suspect that they’ve been tricked somehow into revealing their vulnerabilities, so their powers were taken, possibly along with their souls since they’re never seen again. The ultimate power will be handed over through our strongest and most determined descendants – one man and one woman, and once these two mate, their powers will be strong enough to conquer even the most evil oppressor of them all.”

Ariella stared at her mother blankly. “You think this woman is me?”

“We don’t just think it,” Aunt Serena answered. “We know it. We’re being shown right now. Look at the quartz.”

Standing, Ariella walked toward the fireplace, gazing at the quartz resting on the mantel. Although she could barely make him out, the man appeared to be tall and broad shouldered. “Where is this place? Why do I feel as if I’ve been there?”

Her mother seemed surprised. “Do you sense the island? No, you’ve never been there before – at least not in this lifetime.”

Ariella squinted, trying to get a glimpse of the man.

“He must find you, you know. He needs to be the one to seek you out. You can’t reveal anything about yourself, and the fact that you know he’s meant to be your mate.”

Ariella scowled. “I don’t want a mate. But why can’t he be told?”

“He may be the evil one in disguise. The only one who will know the whole story will be your true mate. He must recognize you as well.”

“So, what’s the significance of the island?”

“It won’t return to life until you arrive in Crystal Rock. And then the third and final conflict will need to be resolved.”

“Conflict?”

“The previous two conflicts were toss ups. You and your mate have used these periods of time wisely, by gathering information about the evil one, who is the only one with the capabilities of absorbing the magick of the most powerful lines of our kind. Our world as we know it will be destroyed if this happens because evil will rule.”

As Ariella studied her mother, who appeared to be completely serious, a feeling of dread invaded her senses.

Because she knew instinctively that what her mother claimed was true. Thinking of the dreams and the memories which seemed to not be her own, but yet again were, Ariella suddenly realized she’d known it her entire life.

Dropping down on the chair, Ariella covered her face with her hands as she became absorbed in a world of sensations. The sun, the moon, and then the feeling of flying high in the air and fluttering across a