Which Witch?

*Hezzlie*

“Hezzlie? Wake up.”

I moan and roll over, wishing my mom would leave me the hell alone. I don’t want to get up. I don’t want to go to school.

“Hezzlie! Open your eyes. Someone important is here to see you!” 

My mom shakes my shoulder again, and I crack my eyes open. I’m not in my room. I don’t recognize these sheets, this bedspread. I turn and look up at her and see desperation in her eyes.

Why the hell am I naked?

Then, everything comes rushing back to me. I’m in Rowan’s bed, in Rowan’s mansion, in Rowan’s kingdom–and my mom is standing here?

Grasping the blankets, I pull them up over my chest as I fly up in bed. “Mom! Why the hell are you in Rowan’s room?”

“Relax, Hezzlie,” she says, shaking her head. “I wasn’t born yesterday. I know what’s going on. I know about fated mates and all of that now. None of that matters at the moment. You’re needed downstairs–immediately. An important person has just arrived at the mansion, and she wants to see you.”

Confusion is further clouded by my unclear mind. I need some caffeine in order to process all of this. “Okay,” I tell her. “Who is it?”

She’s already on her way toward the door. “I’m not sure,” she admits. “But Rowan sent me to wake you. He’s downstairs with her. Hurry up!”

Mom leaves and closes the door behind her, and I scamper out of bed. I need a shower, but the way she was talking, there’s no time for that. I go into the bathroom and use it, cleaning myself up the best I can in the process. I have to put on my clothes from yesterday, which is gross, but I guess it’s a good thing that I’m not clean now. Putting dirty clothes on a clean body seems counterproductive.

The whole time I’m getting dressed, I’m trying to figure out who the hell might be here. I’m praying it’s not someone from my father’s castle. What if someone is here trying to bargain with Rowan to get Aiden and me to go back? That would be just terrible. Surely, my mate wouldn’t do that, would he?

I run a comb through my tangled hair, which is fairly ineffective, and then rush out the door, down the hallway, to the stairs. As I approach the bottom floor, I hear voices coming from a parlor and head in that direction. 

Rowan is there, along with my mother and Dean, and a woman. She’s got hair just as black as mine, and her skin is also as pale white. She’s wearing a long purple gown that makes me think she’s dressed as a wizard for Halloween, except Halloween is over. 

As I walk into the room, Rowan stands, as does Dean, but the stranger and my mother stay glued to their seats. “Hezzlie,” my mate says, “this is Veronica Blackwell. Your mother’s first cousin.”

Veronica extends a hand, and I tentatively walk over and take it. I’m not surprised that it’s frigidly cold. She’s not smiling. Instead, she has a wicked gleam in her eye. “Hi,” I say, letting go of her hand. Rowan guides me to take a seat next to him on a brown leather couch that matches the chairs everyone else is sitting in. “It’s nice to meet you.” I’m trying to be polite, but I don’t have any idea at the moment whether it’s nice or a travesty.

She giggles, and her laugh even sounds like it belongs to a witch. I guess that makes sense, though. She is a witch–isn’t she? I can’t be biased against her because I’m also a witch.

“I hear you’ve come into your powers,” she says, her back ram-rod straight in her chair.

“Yes.” I look at my mother, and she’s smiling proudly, but she doesn’t say anything. “We didn’t know we had them.”

“Oh, I think your mother knew more than she’s letting on,” Veronica says with another cackle. “None of that matters now. I’m here to train you.”

“To train us?” I repeat, looking at my mother who shrugs. I wonder what they’ve been discussing the entire time I was not in the room, but I guess it wasn’t this.

“That’s right. Even though your mother was kicked out of the coven, it’s still our responsibility to make sure that you know how to use your powers responsibly.”

She says that last word like it has ten syllables in it, and I find myself swallowing hard. I’m not sure how I feel about this. “I think I have a pretty good handle on them,” I tell her.

She immediately shakes her head. “No, you need to learn exactly what you can do, and when it’s appropriate to use them.”

“I’ll use them however I need to if it means preventing my father from invading our lands,” I tell her.

Veronica nods. “I understand there are issues between Darksky and Moonstryker. It’s always appropriate to use your powers to help others and defend yourself, but your unique status as a hybrid makes you potentially quite powerful. We need to make sure you don’t accidentally do something that could hurt the wrong people.”

I turn and look at Rowan and see that he looks annoyed by the fact that Veronica is here, but he isn’t arguing with her. He must think that it’s a good idea for me to train. 

“All right,” I say, letting out a sigh. “How long do you think that will take?”

“I have no idea,” Veronica says with a shrug. “It all depends on how well you can control your powers. It could take a few weeks or a few years.”

“A few years?” My eyes bulge.

She nods. “Believe me, I hope it’s shorter. I don’t want to stay here forever.” She looks around her like the mansion is a cardboard box on the side of the road. “I have a life back home to return to, you know?”

“I don’t want to be any trouble.” I narrow my gaze at her. 

“It doesn’t matter what you want,” she says with a snide tone to her voice. “You’re my responsibility to train.” She looks at my mother. “Both of you. So I’ll do it. We’ll start in the morning.” She stands and takes a step toward the door. “I need to get to know my surroundings and take in the energy here. Five AM. Don’t be late.”

“Five AM?” I repeat, my eyes bulging. “Why do we–”

“Five AM,” she says again, looking from me to my mother and back again. “The energy is strongest in the morning. Meet me in the back yard near that large oak tree near the swing.”

I wonder how in the world she knows what’s in Rowan’s back yard. When I look at him, he shrugs, like he doesn’t know either.

“I’ll show you to your room,” Dean says, standing. His expression is a mix between annoyance, irritation, and skepticism. 

Veronica doesn’t wait for him. She walks out the door, and Dean follows behind her.

I turn to my mother first. “That’s your cousin?”

“Apparently. I don’t remember her, but then, she said she grew up in our homeland, and my parents left right after they got married to move to the city, so I never really knew any of my family. I do vaguely remember my grandparents visiting once, but I was small, and I can’t even remember what they looked like.”

I wonder why her parents left, but I don’t ask. I’m glad I have today to get my head on straight and prepare for a 5:00 AM practice session. I’m not a morning person. In fact, it’s a little early for me now, and the large clock across the room says it’s almost 9:00.

“You should go eat some breakfast,” Rowan suggests. “Maybe you’ll feel better if you do.”

I nod, but it’s not hunger pains that are making me feel disoriented. It’s the witch that just showed up, my friends fighting over who they’re supposed to marry, and whether or not my father is going to attack us and kill us all in our sleep.

I hope that Veronica Blackwell ends up being a friend, but something tells me she's going to end up being my worst nightmare.