Witch to Choose (Heart of a Witch #1)

I decided to pick Paris’s brain before she left for the weekend.

  “When will I start learning more serious spells?” I asked.

  “I have to be honest with you, Sahara. You are learning so fast and I think you’re centered enough that magic is attracted to you as if you give off some kind of joy to do your will. I have never seen anything like this. Your aura is electric.”

  “I’ve been doing my aura spell each morning.”

  “You know, you can do it more than once a day. Some days, I have to do it every hour, on the hour.”

  “Look, you are saying so many wonderful things to me that no one has ever said about me or to me. I just need to know this answer: When can I learn bigger spells?”

  “You don’t need to ask me,” Paris said. “Mother Earth has a weird way of showing you herself.”

  “Is that what happened to you?” I asked. “Is that when you became a Most High Witch?”

  “The answer to that question is ‘yes,’” Paris said. “But it was a journey into both the physical and spiritual realms. The closer you are to finding out your ‘truths’ around you in your daily life, the closer Mother Earth wants to wrap her arms around you and make you the highest any human-turned-witch could be.”

  “All of this is tied to spells?” I asked.

  “No, Sahara. It isn’t. All of this is tied to life. All of this is tied to how you handle the Magic that has been sent your way.”

  She was starting to talk in riddles again and I hated when she did this.

  “How to handle the Magic? That is a little vague,” I said.

  “It’s not. Just do what I told you to do before. Pay extra attention on all your dates and see what is happening. Once you’re confident you know, claim it out loud and then do the physical part of the spell and everything will go back to normal from that moment on. So, all the good things that happened during the spell will still be there. Now, you are going to have to figure out how to solve it without magic. And that is when Mother Earth is looking at you the closest. What you do then will determine the rest of your destiny.”

  My mouth actually dropped open. “This sounds a bit apocalyptic and extremely dramatic. Holy shit, all right. I thought I was inviting some fun into my life, not raising the graves of dead saints.”

  “What is happening in your life is not that extreme in the big picture of the entire world. But as far as your life goes, it is. You’re at a crossroads. That’s all I can say and from here on out, I can’t help you any further in regard to the spells.”

  I gasped at the realization that now I was pretty much on my own in regard to developing my powers and understanding how to break spells and make them. “Okay,” I said. “I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do.”

  “That’s the spirit,” Paris said in a very cheerleader type of way.

  “Don’t do that,” I said.

  “Too ‘puny.’ Got ya’.”

  Paris left and I wouldn’t see her all weekend.

  The next day was Saturday and I got an itch to go back to the Black Magic shop. I could own being a Black Magic witch, but I would only use it against other Black Magic witches. Otherwise, all my spells would help others and myself.

  I got into my car and I started to back up when suddenly, my car was lifted off the ground. All I could think was, “What is happening and what are the neighbors going to think?” Suddenly, my car dropped from what seemed to be about ten feet high to my hard driveway and I felt completely sore. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw a woman who looked like she could be my twin.

  A fear sent a chill through my spine and out my chest. She refused to say anything. She just stared at me. My body was aching from the landing of the car. I got out of my car because I didn’t trust what Abigail would do to me if I remained in my vehicle.

  I stepped out of my car and my back hurt.

  What do you want? Abigail looked at me and didn’t say a word. I thought this was extremely unusual. Abigail led me inside my house and into my living room.

  There she said, “Hello, Sahara.”

  Then a gush of wind swooped into my living room and my head began to feel faint. I opened my eyes and I could see Abigail and I could remember everything that had happened between us. The last time we were together, I had said no to her mentoring me. I thought she came here to punish me and I began to feel extremely scared.

  “Why are you, here, Abigail?” A prickle of fear sizzled up the back of my neck.

  “I’m here to see if you have reconsidered.”

  I looked at Abigail and I knew in my heart that Paris’s side was the side for me. “No, I haven’t.”

  “Why not?” Abigail asked. “You have seen the power of both sides. One is clearly more powerful than the other.”

  “It comes down to trust. I trust Paris more than I trust you.”

  “What is there to trust? I teach you the way. You go about your life and use the Magic for whatever you want. I’m not rallying troops. I’m just trying to prevent the other side from signing a hot prospect.”

  “I know you are. That is why I know you will never be truly sincere to me.”

  “Let me guess. My honorable sis...Paris...is as sincere as they come.”

  “Yes, she is. She is raw and beautiful.”

  “I’m done with this.”

  Suddenly, Abigail went to the other side of my living room. My natural reaction was to go to the opposite side of the room and square off with her, my back to the wall. We weren’t exactly feeling the best buds’ vibe.

  “I am so disappointed that you’re forcing things to come to this. I wish you would have chosen me. I wish you would have chosen my side.”

  I decided that it was in my best interest not to tell Abigail that I hadn’t made a decision about Black Magic. I had just made a decision that I wanted to remain with Paris as my mentor.

  Abigail stared at me as if she was looking through me. Then she raised both her hands and said, “Master of Peace, Master of Darkness. Fill me. I am your mistress.”

  Some kind of force was now in my living room and it had a blue glow that was pouring itself into Abigail’s body. I had no idea what was happening. I couldn’t run. I couldn’t do anything. I just stood there and waited. I waited to defend myself against Abigail’s attack. Suddenly, her arm went from being up in the air to pointing both her hands in my direction. Then a yellow light came out of her hands and they shot at me like lasers.

  As the lasers hit my body, I felt the pain of a puncture and then the force rested inside my body and caused me to have more pain than I thought was humanly possible. My brain was rattling and I just stood there taking Abigail’s abuse because I was unable to move.

  Was she killing me?

  Finally, while still taking Abigail’s abuse, I gathered myself and I began to call out the first spell Paris had taught me.

  “Strike one, strike twice. Hold.” I repeated the spell again and nothing happened. So, I tried the other spell that Paris had taught me:

  “I take back my power.

  At this very moment,

  This very Hour.”

  Abigail began to laugh in a mocking tone that led me to believe she didn’t think to highly of the spells Paris had taught me.

  Still, nothing happened. I said each spell one more time, but nothing happened. The pain was excruciating.

  Finally, and realizing it was the exact spell she had used, I said one of the warrior Black Magic spells.

  “Master of Peace, Master of Darkness. Fill me. I am your mistress.”

  Suddenly, my own glow filled me, but my glow was red. I had never felt more powerful. The spell was helping to defend me from the exact same spell she had invoked against me. I no longer felt any pain.

  Abigail’s eyes bulged with her effort to hurt or kill me.

  “Lose control. Face your fate,” I said my first attack spell. A green glow came out of me and nailed Abigail back as she desperately still tried to fill me with pain and sap my life. But it wasn
’t working. I felt no pain. I felt vengeance. Abigail was going to pay for coming into my house and attacking me in my own living room. I pointed my hands at her and she went to her knees. Tears were dripping from her eyes. I was hurting her something fierce. I could have kept going and killed her, but that was not my intent. I only used the Black Magic to defend myself.

  I lowered my hands so they would no longer attack Abigail.

  “Go!” I said, giving her an easy out.

  “You are far more powerful than I thought.” Abigail looked at me and said, “Wiser is she, wiser is he. You won’t remember me until the next time we speak.”

  Chapter Thirty-two