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Chapter One
A thump, followed by a ga-jug, echoed within the Volkswagen Rabbit, then the car rolled to a halt on the side of the gravel road.
“Oh Blessed Be, this cannot be happening.” Bryanna turned the ignition key and it clicked. She tried again, but she didn’t hear a spark of the engine igniting or a purr from the muffler, she only heard silence.
Dropping her head against her hands resting on the steering wheel, she shrieked in frustration and her throat tightened. But when tears filled her eyes, she straightened up. “No, you will not cry.” Cursing the now-dead piece of junk, she opened the car door, grabbed her handbag from the passenger seat and kicked the car’s silver door shut behind her.
Before the dash-unit GPS crapped out on her, it had indicated she had arrived in the West Feliciana Parish of Louisiana. Now she stood atop a narrow ridge overlooking a river below with blue sky and white clouds above.
The beautiful sight didn’t match her wretched mood. She should enjoy the rich, earthy scents around her, feel rejuvenated to have left the busy city of Shreveport behind and bask in the gloriousness of the nature around her. That was, if she was a good Earth Witch, which sadly, she wasn’t. In fact, her magical abilities were embarrassing at best. But those kinds of chastising thoughts weren’t important anymore. Nothing mattered. Least of all what she could or couldn’t do with her magic.
She strode forward and her long black satin skirt dragged along the ground, making her grumble. The gravel road was slightly damp and the big clouds meant a storm had recently blown through, which only added to the strong scents around her. Rich moss thrived on the forest floors to her right. Birds chirped in welcome, but she didn’t know to where.
Not as if that mattered either. The only thing that did concern her was never turning back and always moving forward. Her life needed to change, which included getting her ex-boyfriend, Layton Brimley, completely out of it.
A man built of romantic dreams—beautiful on the outside, blue-eyed, blond-haired and sexy as sin. But the pretty packaging was deceptive; his soul was tainted with darkness. He was the reason she’d been on the road for four hours now and why she’d never go back to the Shreveport coven.
Above her, a bird squawked and Bryanna raised her hand to protect her eyes, watching the hawk soaring on a thermal. She sighed. If only she was that hawk and Layton was a little mouse she could rip to pieces. It’d be the sweetest revenge.
She focused back on the road and increased her speed. On her third step, her boot caught a stone, causing her to stumble forward. With a yelp, she nosedived toward a puddle and scraped her hands against the rough stones. The dirty water soaked her clothing, plastering her skirt to her skin.
“Oh for the love of magic.” She pushed herself up, wiped her injured hands on her wet skirt and took a cautious step forward, but wobbled. When she glanced down, she noticed the heel of her boot had broken off.
Drat!
Things that had been bad so far were only getting worse with each passing hour. She’d need four sets of hands to count all the mishaps she’d encountered along the way. Limping forward, she continued on, determined to get to…well, she hadn’t figured that out yet.
As the hawk above her squawked again, she also heard a car approaching from behind and drawing closer with each limp she took. Refusing to look back at the car in fear of embarrassing herself further, she stared at the gravel road when a thump caught her attention. The car’s tire had clearly hit another hole in the road, since when she turned, a splash came barreling toward her.
If she were a normal Earth Witch, she could conjure magic to stop the dirty water from hitting her. Sadly, she was anything but normal. Instead, she braced herself, shut her eyes and waited for the deluge.
Only a second later, the frigid water hit her dead center, as expected.
When she opened her eyes, she discovered her violet-streaked long black hair dripping around her. Looking down at her black corset, she found it completely soaked and dirt particles marred her flesh. “That’s it!” she shrieked to the sky above. “I’ve had enough!”
“You can either get in or stay wet. Your choice.”
At the low, velvety voice, Bryanna jerked her head toward the car, looking at back door of the black Dodge Challenger, which was open. Get in the car with a stranger? Or stay in these soaked clothes, with a broken heel on my boot?
The right decision was glaringly obvious.
With her continuing limp, Bryanna approached the car, then settled into the backseat. “Thank you for stopping.” As she leaned against the back of the seat, she noticed she was dripping dirty water along the expensive black leather. “Perhaps this was a bad idea. I’m ruining your seat.”
