Page 34 of Witch Unexpected
“Wren’s a mogwai.”
She frowned. “Rare breed of fae.”
“I know.”
She studied Wren for a long beat. “There isn’t much information on them.”
Jasper had called him dangerous but there was no way I was telling her that because Wren was not a threat.
“Is there going to be a problem with him being here?” My tone clearly said that if there was, she could go fuck herself.
She smiled. “No. I’m sure you know what you’re doing.”
Um…no. But sure, we’d go with that. “Of course.”
“Walk with me.” She turned on her heel and led me into the room beyond.
I stepped off the balcony onto plush carpeted floors and into a room lined with shelves heaving with books. It looked to be a study of some kind, but there was no time to check it out properly because Anna was striding out the door and into the corridor beyond.
I hurried after her. “Where are we going?”
“To test you. There’s no time to waste. The loss of our potentials is a huge blow.” She glanced over her shoulder. “I’m sure Elijah has explained the repercussions to you. Our current anchor is weakening. We need a new anchor, and if you’re not strong enough, then…”
“Then what?”
“Then we’re doomed.”
There was a resignation to her tone, as if she believed we were already fucked. Which, I had to admit, was kinda insulting. I hadn’t wanted to bethe one, but now I kinda did. Now it mattered, and yeah, I wanted to see the look on her face when I passed.
We reached the bottom of the corridor and took a flight of winding steps. We were in one of the towers. I passed a narrow window and caught a glimpse of the driveway far below. The fountain and the statues were visible, but Elijah’s car was gone.
My stomach hollowed. Elijah was a stick in the mud and pushy as fuck, but he’d also been my rock in navigating my witch status. He’d helped me avoid getting embroiled in the witch world because that was what I’d wanted, but now… Now I was climbing a tower to be tested to become an anchor for the most powerful coven in the world.
No pressure.
Wren clung to me, and his warm body pressed to my chest was a comfort. How could my little buddy be dangerous? Death by cuddles? Puppy-dog-eye paralysis? Nah, the intel had to be wrong. Or Jasper was wrong about what type of fae Wren was.
We reached the top of the stairs, and Anna pushed open a door. A cool breeze kissed my cheeks as I followed her into the room to discover there was no room. We were on a huge circular platform open to the stars and surrounded by a perimeter of ominous, inky darkness.
Silver symbols were painted onto the ground. Some I vaguely recognized from the texts I’d pilfered from the Magiguard library over the past few weeks. Others were new. A statue of a woman rose up in the center of the platform, but on closer inspection, it wasn’t one woman. It was three women melded together.
Creepy as fuck.
Anna walked toward the statue. “Let’s begin,” she said.
Wren whimpered, and figures materialized around us, melting out of thin air. There were six women, three on each side of the huge circle, and they were all dressed in long white robes with golden rope-like belts around their waists. They were older women, like Anna.
“Cora, this is the elder council here to bear witness to the test,” Anna said.
No, Cora, ignore the cult vibes. This is a coven. Just witches hanging out on a rooftop wearing robes.
I caught sight of a few frowns and looks of irritation lanced my way. What was wrong with these women? You’d have thought they’d be eager for this to work, not pissed off I was here. Or maybe I was reading the situation wrong? Maybe they just wanted to hurry this up.
“Are the Alphas here?” Anna called out to no one and everyone.
The darkness on the other side of the statue rippled, and a man and a golden wolf stepped through.
The wolf’s eyes captivated me, tawny and bright in the darkness of its feral face. Its gaze locked on me steadily, unnervingly. I dragged my attention to the man, and my breath hitched on anoh, fuck.
