Chapter One
Luken
I dropped my keys onto the table with a loud clank as the front door clicked shut behind me. They slid across the table’s surface and onto the floor as I headed over to the fridge, hoping my memory of one last beer inside was accurate. I’d had the kind of day that demanded some alcohol.
When I pulled the door open, the light shone brightly down on the almost emptiness. But the glorious brown bottle sat lonely in the middle. The only other things inside were a stick of butter and a box with two slices of leftover pizza.
I really needed to go to an actual grocery store and had no idea when I’d last bought butter. This was getting embarrassing.
There’d be no shopping tonight, but one day…
“Fucking hell!” I yelled when I turned around and saw a form sitting in a chair in my living room.
In the fucking dark.
Like a damn creeper.
“That’s a fine hello for your best friend,” the familiar voice said back.
I hadn’t noticed him sitting alone in the dark. Kind of odd if you asked me.
Miller Campbell was the first person I’d met when I came to town at fifteen, having been claimed by the coven after my mother’s death. I’d lost the only person in the world I’d cared about and had known nothing of witchcraft, covens, or the council.
I’d been untrained.
Rebellious.
Miller stuck with me through it all. He pushed off the chair and came out of the darkness. My size with his blonde hair a mess and his icy blue eyes looking at me.
“What’re you doing here?” I asked. This had to be something official otherwise he would’ve sent me a text instead of scaring the shit out of me. “How’d you get in? Never mind.” I held up a hand. “Forget about the second question.”
Getting into a locked apartment wasn’t all that hard. Especially when you had the craft to work with. Even without it, I was fairly convinced Miller would still be able to get in.
“Luken, Serena Good is dead,” he said just as bluntly as could be.
The beer bottle stopped halfway to my mouth. I must’ve heard wrong. He couldn’t have said what I thought he had.
The stories of Serena Good were notorious. I’d never met her of course, but even with me having been here for such a limited time, I knew what this would mean. What I didn’t know was how the council would handle it or why Miller was in my apartment. She’d been getting older, they’d said, and sure, the day would’ve come eventually, but this unexpected death wouldn’t mean anything good. There was a lot I didn’t know about the inner workings of the council, but this much I did.
“Shit,” I finally said while scrubbing my fingers through my hair.
“Yeah.” He went silent and stared at me for what seemed like an eternity. Then he said, “They want to see you.”
My eyes popped open wide in surprise. That was the last thing I’d thought would’ve come out of his mouth next. Or ever. It didn’t make any sense.
Wanting to see me made no sense. I was a nobody amongst the great and powerful. Sure, I’d done a few jobs for them in the past, but as part of a team. Maybe it was that. Maybe they wanted me to be part of a team.
“Tonight,” he added.
“Say what now?” Again, Serena’s death would affect all of us, no question. But the council wanting to see me was off-putting. Strange in a Twilight Zone sort of way and it made me nervous.
“Yeah.” Miller stood up and walked over to me, clasping his hand on my shoulder. “I didn’t get a bad feeling if that’s what you’re worried about.” Still, I didn’t answer him. “But I told them I’d come get you so they wouldn’t send… someone else.”
Obviously, I was supposed to be grateful for the small things in life.
The council had immeasurable power. They could’ve sent some of the worst warlocks around if they thought I was going to give them any trouble over coming in. Magical hitmen, so to speak, only they didn’t kill you. Though you might ask them to by the time they finished.
“Let’s go then.” I set my bottle on the table and leaned over to grab my keys off the floor, then followed Miller out of my apartment, already missing that beer.
I hopped on my motorcycle while Miller climbed into his car. He waited for me to pull out first, probably under orders to follow me and make sure I showed up.
As if I’d ignore the council.
I’d never met them, and honestly, I was a bit surprised they even knew of my existence. These men were revered among my people. As direct descendants of the Salem survivors, their individual powers were stronger than any single witch or warlock could imagine. Together, they were a force no one wanted to face. However, they were so old, they couldn’t go out on jobs anymore.
What the hell could they possibly want with me?
There wasn’t a lot of time to consider all the scenarios that had me headed to the council headquarters. I took the roads slower than I could’ve but didn’t bother wasting time. There’d be no point in that. If they grew irritated, they’d just locate me another way. The final turn came way too soon.
I pulled into a parking lot with Miller right behind me. I’d only known where to go because this place was the stuff of legends, not because I’d ever been here before, though looking at it now, it didn’t look all that legendary. More like a big, old house. But I’d parked in the parking lot of the abandoned building next door for several reasons. One being an easier escape if necessary because no one could’ve blocked me in.
I swallowed hard as I got off my bike. Miller jogged toward me. Of course he parked nearby but not so close to be at a disadvantage.
“Apparently, as soon as they heard about Serena, they went into a closed-door meeting. For hours.” He pulled the door open for me and waited as I crossed the threshold. “But you’re what they asked for the minute they came out.”
“Why me?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Don’t know. But I think you’re about to find out.”
I’d never met the members of the council individually before and had planned to go my entire life without coming face to face with them as a whole. Now I was about to face them all at the same time and I hadn’t even done anything wrong. That I knew of, anyway.
Inside the house that the council used as their meeting space, a large man indicated I should follow him, which I did after glancing back at Miller. I wasn’t sure Miller had ever passed the threshold I was about to, yet he still gave me a big thumbs-up of support, the asshole. We worked for someone about four degrees removed from the actual council, yet that was as close as I ever wanted to get.
The dimly lit room gave me a creepy vibe. Why couldn’t they just have had a normal conference room?
Instead of fluorescent overhead lights, candles burned around the perimeter and near an altar behind the line of four men and one woman, all in white robes as if they needed that extra touch to make things ominous. I was told they only wore them while in session but who knew? Maybe they wore them while relaxing at home.
All five members were older, probably in their sixties if the salt and pepper hair was any indication. The woman, I’d heard someone refer to her as Rebecca once, wore her hair in a long, silver braid that disappeared behind her back. All watched me with severe looks on their faces.