Chapter 1

1

CELESTE

C leaning dishes was a chore I had always hated, but I'd come to love doing it ever since I moved. Purely because I appreciated where I was doing them.

Witches in my coven lived on Bane land. It was a hard and fast rule that nobody had broken for decades. But shortly after I turned eighteen, I somehow managed to talk my parents and the High Priestess into allowing me to get my own place in the nearest town. My desperation for a little taste of freedom must've shown because my mom backed me up when I petitioned the coven leadership.

My parents had always been overprotective of me, so I'd been stunned that she'd actually listened to what I wanted instead of just putting her foot down like she usually did. My father was a stickler for rules, but he tended to defer to her when it came to me. Probably because her magic was more powerful than his…and I had inherited it through my maternal line.

While growing up, I often wished the opposite to be true. My relationship with my mom was complicated. Too often when she was training me, I felt something was off, especially after I turned sixteen and started coming into my true power.

On the surface, everything seemed fine. She didn't skip any of the coven's training rituals. She made sure that I participated in all of our ceremonial spells, doing my part to combine my power with the witches from my coven to manifest bigger outcomes for the group. But I continued to have this niggling feeling in the back of my mind that all wasn't as it seemed with her and my training. It was almost as though something about my magic worried her.

As if I'd conjured them with my thoughts, I heard a knock on my front door, then my mother's voice calling my name, followed by my dad's low baritone. I'd turned this space into my own, but that didn't stop them from invading it whenever they wanted.

Grinding my teeth together in frustration over the fact that she continued to let herself into my home without any notice that they were coming over, I headed out of the kitchen to greet them. "Mother. Father. Did we have plans today that I've forgotten?"

My mom shook her head with a sigh as she strode toward me. "No, we shouldn't need a reason to stop by to see our daughter."

"We're your parents," my dad added, as though that was enough of an explanation. And it would've been had our relationship been the one I'd longed for since I was a child.

I gave them each a quick hug and murmured, "Mm-hmm."

"It's a good thing we decided to drop in today." My mom scowled at me. "The decorations on your porch are atrocious. Please tell me you've just put them up and nobody has seen them yet."

My cat trotted into the room and circled my feet, rubbing against my ankles. She always seemed to know just when I needed comfort the most and deigned to give it. "Sorry, Mother. I can't do that. They've been there all week, and a couple of my neighbors have actually complimented me on them."

My mom rolled her eyes. "I will never understand why you wanted to live somewhere surrounded by mundanes."

Mundane was the term my coven used to describe a person without any magical ability. Growing up, I hadn't been allowed to make friends with any of the mundanes I went to school with. The reason I'd been given was that there was too much of a risk of exposure for the coven since most people thought magic wasn't real.

As I got older, I realized it was also because they didn't like outsiders. The Bane coven kept to themselves, and outsiders weren't welcome. Unless you were a powerful witch looking to transfer, then you were accepted with open arms because you could help us create stronger spells.

"It's been quite nice so far."

"Nice?" My mom scoffed at my reply.

Refusing to let their disapproval get me down, I beamed a smile at her. "Yes, my neighbors have all been friendly. One even let me borrow a cup of sugar for a recipe last week."

My mom turned to my dad and asked, "Where did we go wrong?"

"We never should've allowed her to move off coven lands," he muttered.

"We agreed that she would get a small taste of freedom before the big day," my mom hissed.

"I'm only a short five-minute drive away," I reminded them before their argument got heated.

"Which is why you must take down those ridiculous decorations before someone from the coven sees them," my dad demanded.

My mom nodded. "What your neighbors think about them doesn't matter. You'll never interact with any of them again after you move back to the coven."

As far as I was concerned, taking them down wasn't an option. Decorating my home for Halloween was a new experience, and I was loving it. "This is my home. The only person's opinion that should hold weight is mine."

Midnight hissed at my parents before trotting away, her tail flicking in agitation. She had never taken to them, and the feeling was mutual. Although many witches in our coven had cats, they'd pitched a fit when I got her. Luckily, the High Priestess had taken my side in that situation two years ago. I couldn't imagine my life without my beautiful feline friend in it.

Grabbing some of the additional decorations I purchased yesterday, I stalked toward the door, flung it open, and headed onto my front porch. My parents joined me as I dragged the ladder I'd left in the corner over to where I needed it to be. Of course, neither of them helped. Not that I expected them to offer, but it would've been nice.

My mom shook her head with a sigh. "Is this why you wanted to live off coven lands? So you could celebrate this ridiculous holiday?"

"Halloween isn't ridiculous. It's fun," I argued as I climbed up the ladder to hang extra cobwebs on the ceiling of my covered porch. I'd decorated it a week ago, but I'd decided this morning that it needed more oomph before all the fun started tonight. "I'm looking forward to seeing all the kids dressed in cute costumes when they come to trick-or-treat."

"You're seriously going to skip the coven's Samhain Eve bonfire to hand out candy to children?" my dad sneered.

I had never missed a Samhain or Beltan celebration during my eighteen years on this planet. They were our two biggest holidays, and everyone in the Bane coven attended. But I had been feeling the strongest urge to distance myself from my community while I still could. Also, trick-or-treating looked like so much fun in the movies, so I wanted to see what Halloween was like for the mundanes. Hopefully, it wouldn't be a disappointment. I had more than enough of that in my life already.

Glancing over my shoulder, I confirmed, "Yes, that's exactly what I'm going to do."

"Unbelievable," he muttered, stomping across the porch to trot down the stairs.

My mom followed him but paused at the top to say, "We didn't raise you to be so self-involved. You've let your powers fool you into thinking that the world revolves around you, but it doesn't."

Luckily, she swiftly moved down the steps after lobbing that verbal barb at me. If she had stuck around for much longer, I wasn't sure I would've been able to hold back an angry retort, which wouldn't help the situation at all.

Arguing with my parents never accomplished much. I had learned long ago to pick my battles, like I'd done with Midnight and moving to this house. I tried my best to only push back when it was important to me, but it was getting harder since my last birthday. Most likely because I felt the clocking ticking down on my freedom. I wanted to enjoy it as much as possible…while I still could. Starting with celebrating Halloween with my neighbors.

As my parents climbed into their car, I carefully hung the extra cobwebs, adding plastic spiders here and there. When I was done, I climbed down and dusted off my palms. Staring up at my decorations, I grinned. With my house looking as though it truly was haunted—like I'd recently heard one of the neighbor kids tell one of their friends when they walked past—tonight would be perfect.