AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I faced front again. “Would’ve been nice if Mom hadn’t kept me so in the dark.” Being ignorant was seriously frustrating. “What’s Rosa’s deal? Why doesn’t she live with La Aquelarre?”
“They had a falling out after abuela died. Luciana was the problem. That’s why Claudia and Raphael’s parents aren’t around much. They technically live there, but spend most of the time traveling to avoid Luciana.”
“Why didn’t they move away?”
“Because the twins didn’t want to. They were still learning and needed to be around the rest of the coven to do that. Now that they know more, they want to stick around to support whoever inherits the position from Lucicana.”
I scoffed at that. “Sounds like shit parenting to me. Who abandons their kids to an evil witch? No wonder mom isn’t close with her sister anymore.”
Axel directed us into a neighborhood of cute, brightly colored houses. We stopped in front of one with a beautiful garden in front. Wildflowers lined the walkway to the front door, giving it a laid back feel instead of a manicured look like its neighbors.
As we stepped up to the front stoop, the door swung open. A short, round, white-haired woman stood in the doorway. Her skin was paper-thin and wrinkled, and her shoulders hunched over, making me feel tall—quite an accomplishment for someone who was barely over five feet. She was in a flower printed dress, and a pair of reading glasses with bright red frames hung from her neck on a beaded chain.
“I wondered when you might come,” she said. Her voice was a little nasal and reedy, but pleasant.
“Me?” I pointed to myself.
“Yes. You.” She moved aside. “Come.” She motioned to the floor. “But watch the salt.”
A line of salt covered the threshold. The line continued across the porch and around the corners on both sides, sealing the house in a circle. For protection?
From who? Luciana?
Stepping over the salt, I walked into the house. The floorboards creaked under my weight. The place smelled old and musty, but there was a warmth to the space. The incense that burned somewhere in the house blotted out most of the musk, leaving it smelling like a church.
I sneezed. And sneezed. And again. I pulled my shirt over my face, but I couldn’t stop.
“Tess?” Dastien said. I felt his hand on my arm, but I couldn’t stop sneezing.
“That’s what I thought. Lead her into the living room,” Rosa said.
I couldn’t see. I was sneezing so fast my eyes were glued shut. I could barely get enough air to breathe. I knew I was breathing—sneezing took air—but this was out of control.
I reached out blindly, until I grasped Dastien. “Out.” Sneeze. “Now.” Sneeze. “Now.” Leaving this house was the only answer. It was the incense. I had to go. Right then.
Dastien lifted me, but Rosa started speaking in rapid Spanish. I was sneezing so much, I couldn’t focus on the words, but Dastien understood her. He said something and then put me back down on the couch. “She’s going to help.”
“Incense.” Sneeze. “Out.”
“It’s not the incense, cherie. Luciana cursed you when you went onto the coven’s land. Which was why I didn’t want you to go in the first place.” The last bit was very growly.
Shit. This wasn’t good. I kept sneezing. My abs were getting a hell of a workout.
Something slimy rubbed under my nose and the smell of eucalyptus and mint filled my senses. The sneezing slowed. I could finally open my eyes in between the wracking breaths.
The walls of the house were covered with religious icons. The aged paintings of saints’ faces stared down at me. There wasn’t a bit of empty space anywhere. Even the curtains had writing on them, and I’d bet everything I had that the words were Bible verses.
If I weren’t related to Rosa, I’d say this was the home of a crazy person. After all, I didn’t really know the lady. She probably was insane.
She stood in front of me, close enough that I could smell the rose and faint garlic on her skin above everything else. She held a white egg in one hand as she leaned over me. The shell was ice cold as she rubbed it over my head. She ran it in a circular motion down my body from head to foot as she said the Lord’s Prayer in Spanish. As she moved the egg, the sneezing trickled to a stop.
What the hell was going on?
When she was done, she reached for a glass on the coffee table. We were all silent as we waited for something to happen, but I wasn’t sure what.
The sound of Rosa cracking the egg against the edge of the glass startled me. She dumped the innards into the glass, but something was wrong with it. The yolk was black and the white had turned a cloudy gray.
“Holy shit,” Axel said.
