magic has been awakened, he has found the sword.”
I stared down at my hands with wide eyes. That red smoke billowed out and coiled around my fingers. “This red smoke…is my magic?”
“Yes, love.” She chuckled and wrapped her arm around my shoulders. “This is your magic. Your mother and I had just last night decided we needed to tell you, to prepare you for when it happened, and then Jackson went and beat us to it. But that’s how I knew to call you. We knew you had to be scared.”
“And the books? And paintings?”
“Your magic,” Mum said softly. She turned finally, then walked over to sit on the other side of me. “Some witches are born with extra gifts, or abilities, and these just so happen to be yours. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
My breath left me in a rush. I groaned and scrubbed my face. “So what do I do now?”
“Have some tea and rest.”
“Granny—”
“I’m serious. We have made calls to The Coven to notify them of our magic returning. They’ll send someone over to help teach us all how to use our new gifts. You’ll want to be in on that, I imagine. In the meantime…” she held up a small red vial that I somehow had missed her holding beforehand. “This is a potion one of the healers in London had made for all of us. She said when our magic returned we needed to drink these to help calm our magic down until it has settled enough that we won’t hurt ourselves or anyone else. And then we need to sleep it off.”
I narrowed my eyes on the vial. “You want me to go to sleep? Now? After all this?”
Mom bumped her shoulder into mine. “It’s seven in the morning, Chloe. You’ve had a taxing morning. But more importantly, your magic needs to rest.”
“And so you’ll be fresh for the ball tonight.”
“What ball?”
“The ball to celebrate the return of our magic, of course!” Granny grinned and held the vial up higher. “Drink the potion, Chloe, and get some sleep. Tonight, we dance.”
I stared at the vial for a long, long time. It felt weird to just trust it, to just drink it without any other information…but I had no reason not to. This was my mother and grandmother. They wouldn’t hurt me. And I was exhausted. My whole body hurt. If I rested maybe I’d feel better. And I hadn’t even told them the worst part of my morning. The demon-dog. The man with smoke wings.
“Granny, why did you say nothing could hurt me here?”
“Oh, this estate sits on Holy Land.”
“Right.” I took the vial and unscrewed it, then poured it into my mouth. “Naturally.”
Chapter Four
Chloe
Growing up on the Lancaster Estate meant being accustomed to balls, galas, and anything of the sort. Normally they were a tad dull and stiff, but tonight this party was downright wild. There was even a buffet. Granny had said it was for my cousin Jackson, to make him more comfortable since he was the one who gave us all our magic back. Had he not found the sword by dawn this very morning we never would have got our magic back. Ever.
So naturally, everyone was arse over tits about it. Soon there’d be dancing on the tables. I didn’t even recognize these people – and they were extended family. All of them. Not a single person here wasn’t a Lancaster or married to one, which was no doubt intentional since magic was flying across the room like a pinball. Everyone may have been in gowns and tuxedos but they were acting like children on a playground.
Apparently I was the only person in the entire family who hadn’t believed the stories of magic. Apparently everyone else knew magic was real and witches existed. Apparently The Coven had a headquarters of sorts for their ambassadors, or whatever they bloody called them, and most of the Lancaster family had been to a function or two there. Apparently it wasn’t a secret to anyone else…except me.
Which warranted questions in itself, but I was too tired and too overwhelmed to even ask them. Tomorrow, after a considerable amount of tea and proper breakfast, I’d demand to know why it was hidden from me so much. Until then, I was going to sit back and watch my family celebrate.
Because I didn’t begrudge them their happiness.
I just didn’t feel any for myself.
That potion they’d given me knocked me out for the entire day. By the