Witch - By Fiona Horne Page 0,69

the best night to do magic. But all the magic I needed, I knew now, was inside me, in my blood.

I sat in front of the candles and chopped the chilli flakes into smaller pieces. In the saucepan I mixed the chilli and salt together and then, letting my intuition guide me, I sprinkled the mixture in the shape of a heart in front of me. I took the lid off the honey jar and stuck my finger into it. I withdrew it, sticky and sweet, and placed it in my mouth. My tongue was now christened with honey.

Holding the rose quartz to my heart, I gazed at the flames, focusing on the intention of my spell – to know true love.

A sphere of blue light appeared around me, sparkling like a million diamonds were floating in it.

My honeyed lips silently mouthed the words: ‘Come to me. Come to me. Come to me. Come to me. Come to me. Come to me. Come to me. Come to me. Come to me.’

I awoke on the floor. The candles were still burning, but I had no idea how long I’d been lying there. I looked at the clock on my desk and its glowing digital display said three a.m.

I pushed myself up to a seated position. I felt stiff and my head hurt.

The chilli heart was intact, but a row of ants had found the honey and climbed up the side of the jar. My eyes followed them all the way to my window. The moon was gone and the sky was dark.

I went to the window to blow out the candles . . . and heard a loud rustle outside. I ducked down below the sill.

I heard more rustling, louder still, and then there was a sharp tap on the glass.

I froze. What had I conjured up at this time of night during a waning moon?

‘Vania . . .’

It was my name but whispered in an eerie, unfamiliar way.

The hair stood up on the back of my neck.

‘Vania, it’s me.’

This time the voice sounded a little more familiar.

I peered up over the edge of the sill and the fading candlelight illuminated the face of . . .

Bryce.

I clasped my hand to my mouth.

He smiled and lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes dusting his cheeks. ‘Can I come in?’ he whispered.

I looked at my door. It was closed firmly. I put my fingers to my lips before whispering, ‘Yes.’ I carefully slid the candles out of the way.

Even with his arm in a sling he climbed through the window effortlessly. He looked deep into my eyes before reaching forward and taking my hand. ‘I had to come to you.’

I nodded.

When his lips touched mine they were velvety soft and more delicious than I could have ever imagined.

He put his arm around my waist and drew me close, pressing his lips more firmly to mine. I offered no resistance as he kissed me deeper and deeper, his tongue parting my lips until we were completely merged in bliss.

‘Mmm.’ He took his lips from mine just for a moment. ‘You taste like honey.’

We lay down together carefully on my bed, his injured arm resting on my chest, and I felt the strength of his body as our legs entwined and his heart beat steadily. We fit each other perfectly, slotting together like pieces of a puzzle.

Now I could see that all along, ever since I’d met him, the energy and the chemistry between us had been real and made sense. I’d been holding back; I’d thought I wasn’t good enough to experience something this wonderful – and I’d pushed it away.

I wanted to say sorry for all the times that I’d been angry and confused, and lashed out at him, at the coven.

Bryce’s beautiful green eyes glowed with warmth as he smiled and ran his hand over my hair. ‘I can’t believe the time we’ve wasted. I thought you just wanted to be friends; that you kept brushing me off because you wanted to concentrate on learning magic. So I tried to just be your friend. It was never enough. But I’m guessing now, you don’t really want to stay just friends?’ I could feel his chest shake slightly under my ear as he gave a small chuckle. But when I moved my head to reply, he just pulled me closer and pressed his lips to mine again. This wasn’t a time for regret – it was time only for being in the moment – the most magical of my life.

We kissed for hours until the sun made its presence felt in the sky as pale-pink light. I had never, ever felt as happy.

‘Vania, I always knew . . .’

And now I knew, too.

My true love was Bryce.

He always was – and he always would be.

Acknowledgements

My first work of fiction could not have been completed without these people.

Thank you to everyone at Allen & Unwin, and especially to my publisher, Anna McFarlane. Wow, Anna, I am so blessed to have connected with you. Thank you for believing in me and for giving me this chance and being the most amazing publisher an author could ever dream for. To Rachael Donovan, thanks for your patience and support – especially through the intense last stages of this book! To my editors, Clare James, Jeanmarie Morosin and Elise Jones, thank you for your terrifyingly thorough critiques and suggestions!

And I’m blessed to have so many other supportive people in my life. To Sarah Lassez, thank you, my dear friend and ally. I truly could not have written this book without your wisdom, insight and encouragement. Julia Ball, Kearie Peak and Melissa Torre, thank you my gorgeous friends for your support and enthusiasm throughout this whole process! To my beloved niece Julia Battese, thank you for reading the early pages of this book with all the big words, and for telling me you liked the enchanted cookies! And to Maddy and Claire Whittaker – Black and Blue! My Bandana Crew! Thanks for keeping me writing with a smile on my face! And to Bill Beattie, you planted the seed with me years ago, I hope you like the fruit! I will always treasure our connection. Thank you Jeff Sears, for your patience during the times I doubted myself writing this. And for listening to all my reading performances of this baby as it grew along the way, and getting me out of creative ruts with your ideas and input. To Diane Lake, thank you for being a true angel on this earth. And to Dannii Minogue, you wave a mean virtual pompom, hon! Thank you, for cheering me down the home stretch and across the finish line! Thank you, Jane Palfreyman – way back in the day you gave me my first writing break, which I will forever be grateful for. I am so happy to be back in the fold with you.

About the author

Fiona Horne is an Australian rock musician, radio and television personality, actress and author. She is famous for her public promotion of witchcraft and as the singer in Australian band Def FX. She has also written several bestselling books on witchcraft and magic and is considered a worldwide authority on Modern Witchcraft, being invited to speak at Harvard University on the subject in 2006.

Table of Contents

TITLE PAGE

DEDICATION

CONTENTS

PRELUDE

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR