The Witch: Book Two of The Sorceress Saga by Taliesin Govannon (top 10 novels of all time .txt) 📗

from the hit squads, the works.  We’ve all been staying baked twenty-four-seven, and as much as I enjoy weed, we need a break.”

                “I can’t say that you’re wrong.  Anywhere in mind?”

                “Well, Samhain is coming up.  I’d like to go somewhere really magickal to celebrate it.”  I rethought my words quickly.  “Magickal as in ‘gee this is really cool’, not ‘bombarded with magickal creatures’, mind you.”

                He smiled.  “I know just the place.”

Chapter Eight

                From the Diaries of Angelique Dupre

                02/03/1589

                Roanoke Colony

                Sarah finally began to understand what kind of power she’s going to come into last night.  I am quite relieved… I thought the girl to be a bit daft until now!

                I was guiding her through the old Pagan holiday that graces two February, one my old cohorts used to call “Imbolc”.  Sarah knew nothing of the old religions, of course.  I think she still believes her coming power to be from "the devil", Christendom's favorite bogeyman.  The fact that she doesn't seemed bothered by this has eased things, to say the least.

                The energies she channeled last night were potent… I haven’t seen anyone take so well to wielding such power in a long time.

                She knows no fear.  I don’t know if this is a good or bad thing. She confessed that she sometimes dreamed of controlling vast numbers, but I took solace in the horror I saw in her eyes. I pray, too, that this is a good sign.

*                                *                                *

                “Holy shit, it does look like a quilt!”

                I grinned and fired up my Kindle.  While this wasn’t my first plane ride, it was Raina’s first trip that didn’t involve miles of highway.  While I normally preferred the window seat, I let Raina have it.  Her enthusiasm was fun to watch, and made my ‘sacrifice’ well worth it.

                “Just wait until we hit our peak altitude.” I said.  “The clouds really look like fields of cotton-balls from up here.”

                “Jack is so missing out!”  She turned away from the window and shook her head.  “Isn’t he traveling by mirror realm with Angelique and Vincent?”

                “No, he said he was traveling by a different shadow realm, something that Hatsu and Katsu use.”  I grinned.  “Guess who’s joining him?”

                “Shut up!”  Raina’s mouth hung open.

                “No, you shut up!”  I grinned.

                My friend whistled and shook her head.  “Damn, if that boy doesn’t know how to pick ‘em!  She’s, what… five thousand years old?”

                “But she doesn’t look a day over four thousand.” I jokingly insisted.

                She snorted when she chuckled.  “Look, I know that she looks to be in her late teens, early twenties… whatever age she was when she and her sister were frozen in time, however that happened."  She stopped, face perplexed.  "Do you know how or why they were frozen in time?"

                “I have not been given that story yet.”  I answered.

                “Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah...” She took a deep breath.  “I understand the attraction.  She’s beautiful.  And she’s very, very smart.”

                “Not to mention completely smitten with him!”  I added, finger raised.  "Wherever you're going with this, remember that it's a two-way street, and Katsu is a willing participant."

                “I just hope he knows what he’s doing.”  She paused, and then looked at her watch.  “When do we get into Vancouver?”

                “Five thirty.” I responded, grateful that she seemed willing to drop the subject of Jack’s love life.”

                “And where do we go when we land?”

                “Vincent said that he’d arrange transportation for us from the airport.”

                “So he’s there already?”

                I shrugged.  “Mirror realm is just faster, I guess.”

*                                *                                *

                “You have got to be kidding!”

                The sight before my eyes refused to register.  My friend’s exclamation ignored, I stared in open-jawed shock at the unbelievable vision before us.

                “No fucking way!” she said.  When I again refused to answer, she just repeated herself.  “No fucking way!”

                It was a big wooden carriage.  A big wooden carriage made to look like a giant pumpkin.

                A big wooden pumpkin carriage pulled by unicorns.  Fuck me with Fae Fire. I thought.

                The door to the carriage opened and out stepped Vincent, a big grin on his face.

                “You said you wanted this trip to be special.” he said.  He gestured at the setup grandly.  “Is it special enough?”

                Not only was it other-worldly, but it was also particularly out of place in front of the airport.  "Vincent, what are you… everyone can see this, I..."

                He held up a hand to stop me.  “Don’t worry, it’s enchanted to mask its true nature to the outside world.  However, Witches with Fae or Sorceress magick are immune."

                "Kickass." Raina said, grinning.

                We climbed aboard, and I noticed that it was far roomier than its outside size should have allowed for.

                “What is this, time-lord magick?” I asked, settling down onto an impossibly cushy seat.  “Or maybe Lords of Pampering magick?”

                “Wait,” Raina said suddenly, looking around wide-eyed, “this isn’t...”

                “Twilight Fae magick?”  Vincent said, his grin growing wider.  “Why, yes it is!”

                “You are shitting me!” Raina squealed, her face lighting up.

                “Completely free of excrement.” Vincent avowed, raising his right hand.

                “Oh my Gods!” she squealed again.

                I had heard of the Twilight Fae but knew little about them beyond that they favored a more… glittery style of magick than their Wood Fae brethren that I knew best.  The fact that the ‘Twilight’ Fae were thought of that way amused  Jack to no end.

                If he could only see this! I thought.

                “So,” I said instead, “I know almost nothing about the Twilight Fae, other than they’re one of three Fae races still known to exist.”

                “Which is a hell of a lot more than most average Joes or Janes now about any Fae.” Raina interjected.  “They’ve been incredibly successful at keeping information on them out of the public eye!”

                “Almost zero information on any Fae has ever leaked out into the