Page 1 of Autumn L.A.W

PART 1

THE DANGEROUS DUO

When an ancient obelisk erupts beneath Central Park with its glyphs glowing and its magic shaking the soil loose, L.A.W. liaison Chad sends Sahara and Lioness. Together. Despite their substantial objections.

Sahara Nadir is a disciplined archaeologist who translates dead languages the way other women match outfits. She trusts structure, logic, and the comforting order of glyph patterns.

Lioness Graves is a remote-viewing artist whose visions strike like emotional lightning and breathe life into her sketches. She trusts her intuition, instinct, and whatever emotional chaos the universe throws at her.

They are opposites. They are oil and water. They are Rayna’s personal headache for the entire Autumn quarter.

And unfortunately, they’re the exact witches the obelisk responds to, because the obelisk isn’t just an artifact. It’s a prison. And the prisoner is waking up. Sahara needs to translate the outside of the obelisk, and Lioness needs to illustrate the inside.

Their investigation quickly attracts backup: Ezra Vale, a calm and maddeningly centered mage whose grounding magic softens Sahara in ways she refuses to acknowledge. And Cal Monroe, the firefighter with Golden Retriever energy Lioness once saved — now keeps showing up at exactly the wrong (or right) moment to return the favor and pull her out of danger. Does he believe in magic? It’s hard not to when a teleporting mansion comes to his rescue.

As glyphs flare, visions collide, and something ancient tries to claim a host, Sahara and Lioness are forced into a partnership neither asked for. Mabon demands balance, harmony, and cooperation — three things they’ve never managed without arguing, sabotaging, or threatening to hex each other’s boot laces together.

But when the obelisk’s prisoner stirs, choosing human vessels and cracking reality at the seams, intellect and instinct must finally unite. If Sahara and Lioness can’t trust each other, and the infuriating men who keep trying to help them, the city won’t survive what’s coming.

CHAPTER 1

The L.A.W. mansion woke everyone the same way it always did when trouble was brewing, by flickering every lantern like it was trying to Morse-code S O S.

Rayna stepped into the war room in full Autumn Senior Priestess mode—combat boots, auburn braid, and the facial expression of someone who had already had three cups of coffee and wished they’d been stronger. “Okay, witches, settle. The ground shook in Manhattan, and none of us were involved, so what’s with that?”

Chad was already at the oval table, laptop open, tie crooked as if he’d sprinted here. “Not a natural quake. Seismographs picked up a spike pattern I’ve only seen in magically-generated tectonic displacement.”

Joell sidestepped him, carrying her mug like it was a fragile, beloved pet. “Translation: something spooky woke up under New York before any of us had caffeine. Rude.”

The air shimmered. Bas appeared by projection, dressed in High Priestess chic and radiating the kind of calm that only came from being on a completely different continent. “Good morning, my darlings.”

Rayna nodded. “High Priestess! To what do we owe the honor?”

Bas chuckled. “I sensed I might be needed. Chad and I had a chat, and he’s worried that you might challenge his authority.”

“Only if it’s stupid,” Lioness said.

Bas gave her the side-eye. “Chad is doing a wonderful job as your liaison.”

“That’s true,” Sahara said. “He’s not stupid; he’s new.”

“He’s not that new anymore,” Brianna interjected, defending her love interest.

“Look, there is something very ancient trying to surface in Central Park,” Chad said. “We don’t know what it is, who put it there, or when. But there are a couple of you perfectly suited to figure it out. Together.”

Bas’s emerald eyes drifted across the team before landing on two witches who were already trying to inch in opposite directions. “Sahara. Lioness.”

Both froze.

“No,” Sahara said immediately.

“Nope,” Lioness echoed.

Bas smiled the serene smile of someone who absolutely enjoyed saying this. “You two will handle the Manhattan disturbance together.”

Lioness threw both hands up. “Why? Why would you—why would anyone—pair me with her?”

Sahara crossed her arms. “Because if chaos needs balancing, apparently I’m the poor soul condemned to do it.”