Serenity claps her hands to get our attention before dropping them to her hips, standing with her long, teal hair moving slightly in the gentle wind. “Listen up, buttercups. You are now in the witch realm which means you play by my rules. I hold the balance in this realm and it’s my job to make sure newbs like you don’t screw it up.”
We just stand there, listening, because we’re so far out of our element here, it’s insane. It’s probably best to have all the information to avoid certain death. If anyone gets us killed, it’ll be Lana or the twins.
She continues. “Witch realm equals magic. You’ll see a lot of things that you won’t be able to wrap your heads around since you were raised as humans. You need to pay attention and stay sharp. We don’t have time to play catch up but we have to because of your upbringing.” She drops her characteristic goading tone as she looks in each of our eyes. “I will not let Gaia down.”
I find myself nodding to her words. Maybe she’s worth learning from—if she can stop hounding Lana long enough to focus. For some reason, I don’t think that’s happening. They seem like water and oil.
This is going to be a nightmare.
Lana huffs, clearly not ready to let go of the disrespect. “We’re not idiots. You don’t need to talk down to us just because we were raised as humans.”
I pinch her side to try to get her to stop and she glares at me before turning to Serenity.
Women.
Serenity gives Lana a look that could freeze hell over. “Well, once you’ve proven yourself to be anything other than an immature, spoiled little girl, I’ll start talking to you with some respect, Anal.”
Oh shit.
Lana seethes and takes a step towards her. “Who the fuck do you think—”
“Lana!” I grab her around the waist as she struggles to get to Serenity, ready to pounce on her.
Can’t say I blame her because damn, that was harsh.
Hale takes a step forward to try to diffuse the tension, addressing both women. “Listen. Clearly you two aren’t going to be best friends but can we try to focus on the task at hand?”
Good job, bud. Keep them on track.
Feigning mock surprise, Serenity puts a hand over her heart. “Whatever could you possibly mean? Anal and I clearly have a friendship that will stand the test of time.”
“Witch Bitch,” Lana mutters under her breath.
Serenity laughs and turns away, walking to who knows where. “Let’s go, kids.”
Luke
About half a mile after we started following Serenity like cute, little ducklings, I snag Lana’s hands as her eyes light up, taking in the city we’re approaching. Brightly-colored houses, every color of the rainbow, swarm the hillside, while a lone, black mansion sits on the top of the hill like a dark shadow.
Lana takes in the town in awe, while I look at her in a similar vein. This gorgeous, feisty, take-charge woman who kissed me this morning like her life depended on it. My gaze falls to her slightly-parted lips.
That mouth could do so many dirty things to me.
Though I want to grab her, lay her down on the grass and have my way with her, I instead settle on appeasing the need for physical touch with a squeeze of her hand. I know she’s struggling with the strange dynamic between Serenity and herself but she needs to know we’re on her side no matter what.
This is a new emotional side to me that’s kind of scaring the shit out of me but I know I need to stop thinking of just myself if I want to treat her right.
To me, it’s obvious that Serenity is goading Lana for the pleasure of a challenge. With the way she reacted when Ash stayed behind with Serenity, I know Lana is insecure about her position in our lives and Serenity may take advantage of that. But I’ve seen enough girls fighting over my brother and I to know that Serenity has no real interest in us.
All we can do to make Lana feel more secure is make sure we’re open with our displays of affection in front of the perceived competitor.
And we need to have that talk. Yesterday.
Lana tears her gaze away from the enchanting view and beams up at me, her anger clearly forgotten when faced with this beautiful new world. With her fondness for bright colors and nature, this is probably a dream come true for her.
We draw closer to the outskirts of the town when Serenity holds her hand up for us to halt, pausing our advancement.
What now? We were doing so good in silence.
Three men wink into existence in front of Serenity, scaring the shit out of us as we jump back. They’re well over six-feet with power rolling off of them in waves, making me want to hide like a pussy with my tail between my legs.
Holy fucking intense.
She walks up to the white-haired guy with piercing green eyes, much like Ash’s and places her hand on his chest while looking at the black-haired guy and redhead lovingly. I can see the affection that runs through her to them and smirk inside. Yeah, she’s really not interested in us.
She explains, “Our city is warded around the outskirts to not allow strangers in. Seth here is my earth mage. He draws on nature’s energy to construct an invisible net of magic.”
He chants in a language I don’t understand and gestures with his hands. Suddenly, white sparks fizzle in the air and a rectangular opening forms where I assume the invisible net is. The edges of the opening shimmer. Am I on ecstasy? Is this what that feels like?
“Come on through,” Seth’s deep voice booms.
I am not walking through what looks like sparklers on crack. No way.
Once again, Lana leads and I want to hang my head in defeat when she drags me by the hand behind her. Okay, Luke. Can’t look like a pussy in front of your woman.
As I’m about to cross through, I pinch my eyes shut, just in case one of the sparks decides to go wild and fly into my eye. Not that my eyelid will be much protection. Where’s my magic when I need it? Will water even do anything to deter a flying sparkler?
I keep walking with my eyes closed and distracting myself as Lana guides me blind. After a few steps, I make an educated guess that we’re through—unless doorways are five feet wide in the witch realm because why the fuck not—and open my eyes again to Lana staring at me. When did she stop walking?
Mirth dances across her features. Did she see my eyes closed? “Don’t worry, Luke. I’ll protect you from the big bad doorway.”
Damn it.
I gape at the disrespect. “Listen here, my Queen. I just had something in my eye. I’ll be doing the protecting around here.”
She scoffs as the rest of the group rejoins us, my family on one side and Serenity and her guys facing off in front of us. The way we’re standing, it looks we’re getting ready to fight—or maybe a dance off.
The man with long, red hair, tied in a bun, and glowing, silver eyes leans down and whispers into Serenity’s ear. She meets his gaze with exasperated amusement before snapping her fingers. The moment she snaps, a large wave of power rolls over my body and I fall on my ass from the force. It felt like a tidal wave pushing me back and I turn to see the rest of the guys on their asses too.
Only Lana stands, clenching her jaw with her body tense.
She leans up and gives the redhead a chaste kiss on his lips, as he meets her halfway. “Sorry, kids. I forgot I had my glamour spell on to hide my power from the humans. Derrick was kind enough to remind me before it drained me too much.”