Please, I beseech you, send a warrior to free me from this fate or else one to deliver death upon me, for in freedom I can free those you have entrusted to my protection or in death I can force my captor to do the same. I ask this by my birthright as the Treasure of Paragon. By the Mountain, let it be.
He opened his eyes to the same dark world, the same stink and despair. Nothing had changed. Still, somewhere deep inside his heart was a flicker of hope. He reached out and pulled the food toward him and began to eat. There still was no whisky, but thanks to the prayer, he had faith.
Chapter Two
September 15, 2018
London, England
Avery Tanglewood sorted the magazines in the witchcraft section of Relics and Runes, separating those based on Wicca from those on Druidism and Asatru. Even though she’d lived a considerable portion of her life in New Orleans, a city known for its connection with magic and the supernatural, she’d never realized there were so many forms practiced by ordinary humans. Many ordinary people she’d met in this store applied witchcraft with varying degrees of success and talent.
Still, none compared to her sister Raven, who could absorb any spell from the page and execute it perfectly the first time or Clarissa, who could make things happen simply by singing. Even a modicum of magic was impressive to Avery, who had none herself despite being mystically tied to them both.
A long and bizarre sequence of events had brought her here. Raven had married Gabriel in June. Soon after, Avery had learned that Gabriel was actually the exiled heir to the kingdom of Paragon, a realm of a world that existed in a parallel dimension to Earth. Gabriel and Raven had managed to keep his origins secret until an evil fairy sorceress named Aborella had tried to use Avery to get to Raven and the truth could no longer be denied.
Around three hundred years ago, Gabriel and his seven living siblings—Tobias, Rowan, Alexander, Nathaniel, Xavier, Sylas, and Colin—had been evicted from their world and sent to Earth by their evil and ruthless mother, Eleanor, under the pretext that she was saving them from their malevolent uncle who’d murdered their oldest brother Marius at his would-be coronation. But in February, Raven and Gabriel had discovered everything they’d been told by their mother was a lie. She’d sent her children, the Treasure of Paragon as they were called in their world, to Earth so she could keep the throne for herself. They’d spread out across the globe, believing that diluting their magic in the human world would keep them safe from detection. Over time, the eight lost touch with each other.
Now Gabriel was working tirelessly to reunite his family. And although he did not speak about it frequently, he seemed more inclined by the day to challenge his mother for the throne.
Which was none of Avery’s business really, considering she was a simple human who was connected to Raven by blood and Clarissa, Nathaniel’s mate, by a magical bond. They were the three sisters, a bound trio. Unlike Avery, Raven and Clarissa were extremely powerful witches. The only special skill Avery had ever possessed was the ability to comfort Raven and Gabriel’s baby… well, technically, their egg. The half dragon, half witch hadn’t hatched yet. For some reason, Avery was the only one besides Raven and Gabriel who could hold the egg without getting zapped by its defensive magic.
Which brought her to this moment. She’d decided to remain in London, living in Nathaniel’s place, Mistwood Manor, at least until Raven’s baby was born. She also desperately wanted to explore the magical connection she shared with Raven and Clarissa.
What would it be like to have magic? Since she’d learned of Raven and Clarissa’s powers, she’d questioned whether she was somehow defective. Was she a dud? A cosmic mistake? Not only was she completely without magic, her human existence was equally dull and ordinary, a truth that came sharply into focus in Nathaniel’s bookstore, which specialized in the extraordinary.
Her phone vibrated in her back pocket, and she brought it to her ear with a cheery greeting.
“Thank you again for watching the shop while we’re away, Avery,” Clarissa said. “We owe you one.”
Clarissa was legally obligated to perform one more show for her record label, this one in Italy, and she and Nathaniel had left that morning. Normally, Nathaniel’s store manager, Albert, would take over while Nathaniel was gone,