Read Online Antebellum Awakening by Katie Cross - Free Book Online

across the ocean to their death or salvation, no one knew. Brutal curses and dark magic were the Almorran legacy.
    “Of course I’m sure!” she said.
    “Yes, however did I doubt you? Thank you for that explanation, Mrs. L, but I really must be going now! Merry part.”
    “Wait, where are you going?” she demanded. “I don’t trust teenagers. They have no control over their impulses, especially teenagers without parents around.”
    No wonder we don’t get along, you old bat, I thought. I have no control, and you need too much.
    I ground my teeth together and forced a warm smile.
    “I’m just going to see my friends, Mrs. L. I’ll save the subterfuge for another day.”
    “Where are your friends?” she asked, her eyes darting around. “They aren’t up at that turret, are they? I watch you girls. I know you’re conspiring up there.”
    “Conspiring?”
    “Yes, conspiring! That pale girl takes books up there all the time. What is she trying to learn? It’s odd that she studies so much. I don’t like it.”
    “I agree, Mrs. L,” I said in a droll tone. “Leda is odd. Perhaps she’s trying to figure out the composition of your cleaning potion. You should talk to her about it. One can’t be too careful.”
    Before she could respond, everything went black.
    The floor fell out from underneath me and I plunged into darkness with a gasp. The usual pressure of transporting bore down on my closed eyes and chest, as if something heavy sat there. I felt the weight, and then it disappeared. I fell onto a rock floor with a heavy thud and curled onto my side with a cough. I’d just transported somewhere, that much I knew for sure. But where? And how? Transporting another witch was a power reserved just for High Priests and High Priestesses, and I hadn’t . . .
    “Merry meet, Bianca darling. I’ve been waiting for you.”
    I froze. The low drawl, the smug tone, the chills it brought to my spine, could only mean one witch.
    I pushed off the floor and leapt to my feet, coming face-to-face with the witch I’d kill if I had the power. Miss Mabel stood before me in all her alluring, evil glory. Her crimson lips twitched into a full, teasing smile. Wisps of blonde hair stuck out in organized disarray from a loose bun behind her right ear. The luminous blue eyes that haunted my dreams now blasted me with the power of an arctic wind. The moment we made eye contact, magic came to life in my chest with a dangerous scream.
    “Welcome to my new home,” she said, spreading her arms out. “I’ve missed you very much.”
    “Miss Mabel,” I said with a tight voice.
    An expansive room with jagged red rock walls opened up behind her. There was no wall to my right, just a room leading to a balcony that made the area bright. Beyond it lay an endless expanse of yellow and red sand. The hot sun spilled in beams on the floor, sucking the moisture from every breath of air. Instead of walls, fluttering gossamer drapes edged with yellow lace separated the room into sections. Bookshelves on the left, warbled with carved designs in the dark mahogany. Decorative pots embedded with sparkling pieces of glass on the right. An elaborate painting of fire on the far wall straight ahead. Miss Mabel had transported me to her new lair in the Western Network.
    “Have you missed me, Bianca darling?”
    “Not particularly. How did you transport me here? It cannot be done with our magic.”
    The words our magic lingered in my mind. She must be using a dark magic that I didn’t know how to block. There was no other explanation.
    “Lovely outfit,” she said with a chuckle, purposefully ignoring my question. “I’m a little surprised you aren’t wearing pants and leather slippers. They are still your favorite, aren’t they?”
    I’m surprised you’re not wearing horns.
    “They’re being cleaned,” I said casually, clenching my hands into fists. The power hummed in my chest, dangerously alive in her presence. I didn’t know how long I