Read Online Witch's Brew - Spellspinners 1 (Spellspinners of Melas County) by Heidi R. Kling - Free Book Online

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    Dad had left a year ago to “go find himself” at some Ashram in India. Secretly, I thought he was too overwhelmed with my transition from sweet little girl to arse-kicking witch, though he would never admit as much. He just…started looking at me funny. And then he was gone.
    Iris promised he’d be back, every holiday, every birthday. On those days, she paced the front room glancing out the window, listening for his car. But he never comes.
    The longer he stays away the more suspicious I get. I ask. But Iris doesn’t say anything more than, “He is a wandering spirit. He’ll be back when he’s found what he’s looking for.”
     
    He does email from time to time, and he sends cards and gifts on holidays. Little wooden statues from Southeast Asia, blankets from India—I pile them in a corner in my room. I don’t want gifts. I want my dad back.
    But I couldn’t think about him right now. It only made me upset and unfocused. At this moment, I had to be strong. A warrior. A witch. I needed to tell Iris about Logan. And what I subsequently learned at the library.
    “What’s deireadh na n-amanna? ”
    Iris jerked upright. Gone was the sweet singsong voice. Now she was all business. “It. It means the End of Times.”
    “Were you going to tell us about it?”
    “Yes.”
    “When?”
    “I was…we were…trying to figure out the right time.”
    “The right time to let us know our magic was being eradicated?”
    She sighed.
    “I also met a warlock.” Might as well drop all the bombs at once.
    “A war—” The word caught in her throat. “Are you sure?”
    “Jacob’s son, in fact.”
    Iris didn’t say anything.
    “Jacob, isn’t that the warlock master’s name?”
    “Yes,” she said in a small voice.
    “Mom? Are you okay?”
    Iris cocked her head, her eyes ablaze with curiosity. “Did he attack you?”
    “No.”
    “You didn’t charge?”
    “No. Well, there was a little spar, but it was more like a joke.”
    “A joke? There was an altercation? Did he say anything to you?”
    The chimes behind us jangled in the breeze. “Yes. Lots of things.”
    “Where were you?”
    I lowered my voice. “Near Black Mountain.”
    “Lily Rose! What in the world were you doing up there?”
    “Promise you won’t tell Camellia?”
    “No. I will definitely not promise. We don’t keep secrets in the coven.”
    “Um. Then what do you call not filling us in on deireadh na ?”
    She held up her palm, which was aglow with crimson light. “You need to stop saying that.”
    “Why? If I say it out loud it won’t come true?”
    I was angry and wanted her to know it. Our coven elders had been holding so much back from us. I’d been worried about my failing magic to the point of cheating, when all along, it was out of my control?
    “You should have told me,” I said.
    “I’m sorry. I was going to. We were trying to protect you girls until we came up with a plan.”
    “Which is? Something to do with a broken magic man, right?”
    She blinked. “How do you know about that?”
    “I found a book on the Fifth Floor…”
    “Lily! That library is for elders only. You may use it only when I accompany you.”
    “Well, Mom. It’s a good thing I broke your rules, then. Otherwise, I’d be in the dark, fumbling around, thinking my magic was all jacked up, when really our coven is in grave danger.”
    We stared at each other for a moment, something passing between us. A reckoning. An understanding.
    Even as a young child, Iris always encouraged me to speak my mind.
    But she was still angry. “Tell me everything.”
    I did. Leaving nothing out. “I was looking for some euca leaves. I thought if I had a few, before the Gleaning, they could give me the energy I needed…”
    “So you were going to cheat? Instead of coming to me? Instead of going to your Mistress? Do you have any idea the penalty for cheating in the Gleaning, Lily…?”
    “I’m the leader, Mom. I can’t be…weak.”
    “So you break coven law?