Page 1 of A Witchy Spell Ride
Chapter One
Selene
Briaris curled upside-down on my couch, wearing rainbow socks and an oversized T-shirt that readPsychic? I Thought You Said Sidekick.Eating cereal straight from the box like it was a damn food group and giving me shit about my love life.
“So,” she says between crunches, “You ever consider maybe you’re cursed?”
I shoot her a look over the rim of my coffee mug. “You’re in my house insulting me before noon. You wanna try again?”
She grins, upside-down, all wild curls and eyeliner like war paint.
“Not cursed, cursed. Just… hexed. Like a romantic voodoo magnet for trash men.”
“Wow,” I say dryly. “It’s so comforting when your best friend calls you a human bad luck charm.”
“You’re welcome. But listen—this psychic I heard about? She’s not just good. She’s weird, good. Off-the-books, tarot-in-the-back-room-of-a-laundromat good.”
I raise a brow. “That’s specific.”
“She did Cross a reading last year.”
I sit up. “Wait—Cross?”
“Yup.”
“Your brother Cross? Raven Kings’ book-burying, body-hiding, terrifying accountant?”
“The one and only.”
I stare at her. “And what? She told him to diversify his portfolio?”
“She told him to ditch a deal he was making with some off-grid gunrunner in Florida.” She points her spoon at me. “And two weeks later, that guy got smoked in a warehouse fire. Coincidence? I think not.”
I blink. “Why the hell didn’t you lead with that?”
“Because you always roll your eyes when I talk about fate. You think my spell jars are just glitter and glue.”
“They are glitter and glue.”
She ignores me and sits up properly, curls sticking out like a mad halo. “So, here’s the deal. We gotonight. It’s in the Quarter. Real low-key. No neon signs or chicken feet.”
“Great, I was hoping for a night of witchcraft and risk.”
Her grin widens. “Admit it. You’re intrigued.”
I was.
But not for the reasons she thought.
I hadn’t told anyone—not her, not Reaper, not even Vex—that lately, I’d been feeling…
Watched.
Not every second.
Not even every day.
But enough that it sat heavy in my bones.
