Chapter 1 - Dani #2
Every day, Dani prayed no witch would look too closely.
Every day, she prayed Aurelia would never ask the question she wasn’t ready to answer.
She reached the High Sister’s chamber and forced her shoulders back.
Inside, three senior witches stood in a loose half-circle: High Sister Lavinia at the center, calm and unreadable; Sister Rosetta, tall and statuesque, hands folded; and Sister Penelope, whose resting expression remained permanently unimpressed.
“Dani,” Lavinia said warmly, spreading her hands out, the long grey sleeves of her gown trailing against the worn carpet. “Thank you for coming.”
“Of course,” Dani said, bowing her head. “How can I help?”
Lavinia gestured to the table. “We received correspondence yesterday. From the far west.”
Dani’s stomach dropped.
“West?” she managed, voice steady only through force.
Lavinia lifted an envelope sealed with crimson wax, a familiar sigil stamped into it.
Dani’s lungs froze.
“I should sit,” she whispered.
Lavinia nodded gently.
Dani sat.
Penelope wasted no time. “A shifter pack has requested our aid.”
Dani stared at the seal, pulse hammering. “Shifters? Asking witches for help? That makes no sense.”
“It surprised us as well,” Rosetta said, “until we read the letter itself.”
“What does it say?”
Lavinia unfolded the paper, smoothing it across the table.
“Hybrid sightings have increased significantly in Alaska. A nest has been spotted moving through the northeastern mountains. Multiple missing persons, shifters, vampires, humans. They believe the threat is rising faster than any one species can manage.”
Dani shook her head. “Still. Shifters would never seek out witches.”
“They have,” Lavinia said softly.
“Who signed it?” Dani asked, folding her hands over in her lap.
Lavinia refolded the letter with long, elegant fingers. “One Julian Rook.”
Dani frowned. “I’ve never heard of him.”
“Why would you have?” Penelope asked quickly, eyes flashing with mistrust.
Dani breathed slowly, trying to calm her heart. “You know I come from Alaska. Every witch alive has heard of the Volkhov, has seen their sigil. And Julian Rook is not their leader.”
“No,” said Lavinia, “he is their…strategist. And he is asking in an official capacity on behalf of Dominic Volkhov.”
The name caught in her chest, wrenching her back in time to a meeting of the packs. A serious, strong-looking boy with intense eyes and dark hair.
She choked down the memory.
“I assume by strategist, you mean spymaster,” Dani spat. “How do we know this Julian Rook isn’t trying to trick us?”
Rosetta folded her arms. “We have been in communication with the Scottish Coven, as well as the Roman Coven. They have had…encounters with him in the past and have assured me that he would not ask this unless it was truly necessary.”
“What if it’s a trap?”
Lavinia and Rosetta exchanged a look before Lavinia turned to Dani with a strained smile. “Dominic Volkhov was recently mated, a union blessed by their god, so they say. The reports we’ve received seem to indicate, however, that…”
“She’s a witch,” Penelope interrupted with a dark scowl. “There’s no other explanation for it.”
Everything inside her went still.
Her heart. Her lungs. Her thoughts.
Still.
Then, violently, painfully, moving.
Heat surged beneath her skin, not magic, just emotion. Pure, terrible emotion.
“Impossible,” she whispered, throat tightening, tears rising unbidden. “That’s impossible.”
“Stranger things have happened,” Rosetta said, the wooden beads in her dark braids gently knocking against each other as she tilted her head in contemplation. “We were allies, once.”
“No, you don’t understand,” Dani said, launching to her feet, anger crackling in her ears. “It’s just not possible. The Volkhov hate us. Magic has been outlawed in their lands for decades, and Dominic is no different from his father. Whoever this Julian is, whatever he says, this is a trap.”
Penelope scoffed. “You cannot declare that without evidence.”
“I am the evidence,” Dani spat. “The Volkhov destroy every piece of magic they come across. They hate witches. They exile us on sight, if not worse. If they’re reaching out now, it’s because they want something. And it won’t be safety or peace.”
Lavinia held Dani’s gaze. “This request was sent to multiple covens, Dani. Not just ours. And not only to witches.”
Rosetta nodded. “The Volkhov have called a meeting. They’ve invited other packs. Vampires. They believe this threat requires all of us to face it. They have sworn we shall not be harmed, and we are inclined to believe them.”
Dani’s heart thudded over itself, stuttering to a near-halt.
She barely got the words out. “The Volkhov are not the only pack in Skymist. What does this letter say of the Nordan?”
Lavinia paused, lips pressing together, before she looked back down at the letter, turning it over in her hands. “It does not mention the Nordan.”
“There you have it,” Dani said, hands trembling as she pointed at the letter.
“Even if the Volkhov have honest intentions, even if they would welcome us, the Nordan…they hate us even more than the Volkhov. The…the alpha would not let us past his territory line. And we would need to cross it to reach the town.”
“Our reports say that Arthur Wells is a reasonable male,” Rosetta said, “and strongly allied with the Volkhov. It is unlikely he is unaware of Dominic’s plans.”
“You’re not listening,” Dani whispered, ice spreading over her limbs. “You can’t go. Arth—the alpha is cruel. Crueler than you know. He will not suffer witches in his lands.”
Penelope’s eyes narrowed, gaze piercing into Dani’s, as if looking through to her very soul. “What do you know of Arthur Wells?”
Dani met her gaze, hands closing into fists. “I know enough.”
Lavinia chuckled. “You underestimate us, Dani. We will not be going in undefended. Other covens will be in attendance, and we have more allies than you might think. One in particular, whose presence will ensure our safety.”
“Who could that possibly be?” Dani asked. “The Volkhov and the Nordan are among the strongest packs in America. Who could possibly stand with us against them?”
“It’s better if you don’t know,” Rosetta said carefully, “but remember that there are other powerful packs to be reckoned with. And we trust this ally.”
Dani barked out a humorless laugh. “Nothing about this is trustworthy.”
“Your experience in Alaska was…unfortunate,” Penelope offered, tone bordering on dismissive. “To be driven out of your home because your magic woke up? We appreciate that you may not be on the best terms with the shifters.”
Dani paused a moment, the familiar lie tripping her up.
It had been so easy, when she arrived in Salem seeking an old family friend her mother had once told her about, to say she had been exiled from her home because her magic had awoken when her daughter was born. There wouldn’t be any questions that way, any accusations.
Her magic had woken up with the excruciating pain of labor, but she had already been long gone from Skymist by the time that happened.
Nobody needed to know the true reason she fled. But they did need to understand the danger that still existed.
“This is madness,” she said firmly. “You don’t know what you’re walking into.”
Lavinia lifted a hand gently. “Dani. We understand your concern. But the threat of hybrids is not something we can ignore. We need to know what is stirring. And we want you to join the delegation.”
Dani’s heart stopped. “No,” she said, stepping backward. “Send someone else. Anyone else.”
“We need you,” Lavinia said. “You know the land. The customs. The temperament of the packs. You lived in their territory; you understand their ways better than anyone in Salem.”
“I left that behind!” Dani snapped, louder than she intended. “I built a life here! A safe one, for me, and for my daughter. I will not take her back into that nightmare.”
Penelope frowned. “Your daughter wouldn’t go. Only the representatives.”
Dani froze.
Her voice was barely a whisper. “You think I would leave Aurelia behind? Not knowing who might show up? Not knowing what might follow us back?”
A flicker of understanding crossed Lavinia’s face.
“Dani,” she said quietly, “the decision has been made. Our coven will attend.”
Dani felt the words like a punch to the sternum.
“No,” she breathed.
“We depart within the week,” Lavinia continued. “And as one of our most promising young witches, with knowledge vital to this mission…we ask you to join the delegation.”
“Ask?” Dani whispered.
Penelope corrected harshly, “Require.”
Dani’s legs buckled. She caught herself on the table’s edge, breath shuddering.
“Why me?” she croaked.
Lavinia’s voice softened. “Because whether you accept it or not…your fate is tied to Skymist. There’s a reason you came to us. And there is surely a reason you must now return. It is all part of Gaia’s plan.”
Dani shut her eyes.
Arthur’s face burned behind her lids, strong jaw, bright eyes, the voice that once told her she belonged at his side.
Then she saw Aurelia.
She opened her eyes. “I cannot go. I can’t tell you why, but…I cannot. Please don’t make me.”
Lavinia stepped forward, laying a gentle hand on Dani’s shoulder. “I know this is difficult. I truly do. But the hybrids are rising. We cannot ignore the call.”
Dani’s breath trembled out of her.
“You’re sending me back into hell,” she whispered.
“We are sending you home,” Lavinia corrected softly. “For the first time.”
The word home felt like glass in her throat.
Dani bowed her head, unable to trust her voice. When she finally stepped out of the chamber, she walked as if the world had shifted beneath her feet.
Because it had.
She had sworn to herself she would never return to Alaska.
She had sworn she would never see Arthur Wells again.
She had sworn she would keep Aurelia’s parentage buried forever.
And now…
In one week, she would be walking straight back into the land she’d fled, carrying the secret that would shatter all their lives.
She pressed a trembling hand to her stomach.
“Auri,” she whispered into the empty hallway, “what have I done?”
She didn’t know whether she meant ten years ago or right now.