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Chapter One
JADIS
Jadis
My phone rings, startling me. I turn down my music and lift the receiver.
“Jadis Bradbury,” I say, using my most cheerful voice. It’s Friday afternoon, and I am ready to go home.
“Are you coming to dinner tomorrow night?” Mom asks.
“Of course. Don’t I always?” I say, still working through the calculations on the work orders before me.
“Yes, but I just had to be sure. This Saturday, the coven is sending over a suitor for you.”
“What?” I say. That gets my freaking attention. Every so often, they do this. At twenty-two, I should be married, but I’m not. It’s old-fashioned, but hello, coven…
“His name is Walter Bishop.” Walter Bishop is two years younger than me and might as well still be in high school for how he acts.
“Oh Goddess, no.” I can’t keep it to myself. I know he’s not the warlock for me.
“Now, you can’t be too choosy. The High Priestess has issued her decree, and you are one of the only holdouts.” Her matter-of-fact voice grates on my nerves.
“I know, Mama.”
“So you’ll be here,” she asks again, as if I could disappoint her. I could never do that. I would never do that.
“I’ll be there.”
“Good girl. Seven o’clock, like always. Wear something bright.
“Bright?”
“Not your mourning clothes, please.”
“Fine,” I say, trying not to be insulted as I look down. Every day, I’m covered from head to toe in black, from beanie to boots. Well, the beanie is weather-dependent.
“Kisses. See you Saturday,” she says, hanging up.
“Bye,” I say to dead air before hanging up my desk phone.
I’m not like other girls. I’ve never been like them. I’m grown, so it shouldn’t matter, but my awkward youth still haunts me. I could have done something about it, but that didn’t sit right with me. I learned my craft. I have control over the elements. I just have my coven. They would never betray me nor I them. See, I’m a witch, and that comes with its own set of rules—rules I created and obey to the letter. I never use my magic for evil, I never use it for my love life, and I will only use it to save the world. Unlike so many of my counterparts, I follow these rules. Despite being a witch, I don’t use my magic. I don’t like to draw attention to myself.
I look over at my phone. The notifications for the Crystal Connections app are going wild. I didn’t sign up for the app personally, but our coven’s High Priestess, Hazel, ordered us all to join it. Our coven needs new blood. The kind of blood that can only come from the joining of fated mates. I don’t want to do this. I’m not ready. This doesn’t feel natural to me, but whatever Hazel says goes. I’ve been delaying the inevitable. I pretend that I have it all together, but I don’t. Not since I was a little girl, and my magic came early. Most don’t see their magic until they turn sixteen, but I was five. I truly freaked my parents out, and ever since then, I’ve been expected to do things at lightning pace instead of my own.
I’d like to say I do something profound, given my goddess-given abilities, but I don’t. I work in purchasing at a huge corporation in Boston. Despite all that Salem did to us in the past, it is a sacred ground, and we dare not leave. I’m thumbing through purchase orders when my phone goes off again. Something tells me to look at it. So, despite weeks of ignoring my phone, I pick it up and click into the Crystal Connections app. I am compelled to click into my matches. Ignoring the fifty older ones, I go right for the fifty-first match that just came through. The picture I am greeted with is blurry at best, but I feel something stir inside my belly, then pulls even lower. I quickly cross my legs in an attempt to stop the sudden ache between them. My pussy sure picked an odd time to perk up, but it makes sense. It’s the first sign of that a Bradbury witch is ready for their mate.
Within seconds, FireWarlock23 messages me before I get a chance to message him.
Dinner tonight?
Yes.
I answer quickly, without thinking.
Meet me at Fiero’s at 8.
Okay. Who are you?
