Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 126(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 126(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
Celeste Fortune was thrilled to discover her connection to Ren. He was the key to getting out of the arranged marriage she didn’t want—and to a love she never knew was possible.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
1
CELESTE
Cleaning dishes was a chore I had always hated, but I’d come to love doing it ever since I moved. Purely because I appreciated where I was doing them.
Witches in my coven lived on Bane land. It was a hard and fast rule that nobody had broken for decades. But shortly after I turned eighteen, I somehow managed to talk my parents and the High Priestess into allowing me to get my own place in the nearest town. My desperation for a little taste of freedom must’ve shown because my mom backed me up when I petitioned the coven leadership.
My parents had always been overprotective of me, so I’d been stunned that she’d actually listened to what I wanted instead of just putting her foot down like she usually did. My father was a stickler for rules, but he tended to defer to her when it came to me. Probably because her magic was more powerful than his…and I had inherited it through my maternal line.
While growing up, I often wished the opposite to be true. My relationship with my mom was complicated. Too often when she was training me, I felt something was off, especially after I turned sixteen and started coming into my true power.
On the surface, everything seemed fine. She didn’t skip any of the coven’s training rituals. She made sure that I participated in all of our ceremonial spells, doing my part to combine my power with the witches from my coven to manifest bigger outcomes for the group. But I continued to have this niggling feeling in the back of my mind that all wasn’t as it seemed with her and my training. It was almost as though something about my magic worried her.
As if I’d conjured them with my thoughts, I heard a knock on my front door, then my mother’s voice calling my name, followed by my dad’s low baritone. I’d turned this space into my own, but that didn’t stop them from invading it whenever they wanted.
Grinding my teeth together in frustration over the fact that she continued to let herself into my home without any notice that they were coming over, I headed out of the kitchen to greet them. “Mother. Father. Did we have plans today that I’ve forgotten?”
My mom shook her head with a sigh as she strode toward me. “No, we shouldn’t need a reason to stop by to see our daughter.”
“We’re your parents,” my dad added, as though that was enough of an explanation. And it would’ve been had our relationship been the one I’d longed for since I was a child.
I gave them each a quick hug and murmured, “Mm-hmm.”
“It’s a good thing we decided to drop in today.” My mom scowled at me. “The decorations on your porch are atrocious. Please tell me you’ve just put them up and nobody has seen them yet.”
My cat trotted into the room and circled my feet, rubbing against my ankles. She always seemed to know just when I needed comfort the most and deigned to give it. “Sorry, Mother. I can’t do that. They’ve been there all week, and a couple of my neighbors have actually complimented me on them.”
My mom rolled her eyes. “I will never understand why you wanted to live somewhere surrounded by mundanes.”
Mundane was the term my coven used to describe a person without any magical ability. Growing up, I hadn’t been allowed to make friends with any of the mundanes I went to school with. The reason I’d been given was that there was too much of a risk of exposure for the coven since most people thought magic wasn’t real.
As I got older, I realized it was also because they didn’t like outsiders. The Bane coven kept to themselves, and outsiders weren’t welcome. Unless you were a powerful witch looking to transfer, then you were accepted with open arms because you could help us create stronger spells.
“It’s been quite nice so far.”
“Nice?” My mom scoffed at my reply.
Refusing to let their disapproval get me down, I beamed a smile at her. “Yes, my neighbors have all been friendly. One even let me borrow a cup of sugar for a recipe last week.”
My mom turned to my dad and asked, “Where did we go wrong?”
“We never should’ve allowed her to move off coven lands,” he muttered.
“We agreed that she would get a small taste of freedom before the big day,” my mom hissed.
“I’m only a short five-minute drive away,” I reminded them before their argument got heated.
“Which is why you must take down those ridiculous decorations before someone from the coven sees them,” my dad demanded.
My mom nodded. “What your neighbors think about them doesn’t matter. You’ll never interact with any of them again after you move back to the coven.”
As far as I was concerned, taking them down wasn’t an option. Decorating my home for Halloween was a new experience, and I was loving it. “This is my home. The only person’s opinion that should hold weight is mine.”