The Witch: Book Two of The Sorceress Saga Taliesin Govannon (best free ereader .txt) 📖

                “This coffee is incredible.” she said, amazed.

                “Vincent sent me a text.” I replied, “It seems that Ashara was an early investor in Tim Horton’s up in Canada.”

                “Nice.”

                The forest had done much to reclaim the unused fields, and its edge was closer than it was originally.  I found myself wondering if all of the Fae that Gaia had brought were living in the woods as she had in Hawaii, or if they used any of the voluminous unused rooms in the main house.

                “Can you believe how big this place is?” I asked, still slightly awed.

                “I counted fourteen bedrooms.” Raina replied.

                “And two kitchens.”

                “And a drawing-room, a parlor, and a library...”

                “To say nothing of the barn, the old slave quarters, and everything else we’ll explore tomorrow.”

                “And then we get to work.”

                Raina was excited to start working on our magick, and I was pretty stoked as well.  We could blow shit up out here and nobody would know. I mused.

                Just then I noticed a shape halfway between the house and the woods, one that hadn't been there just a moment before.  It was human-shaped, but couldn't distinguish anything else.

                “Raina...” I said in warning.

                She had seen it too, however.  Leaping up from her seat, she pointed at it with glowing hands.

                “Identify yourself!” she demanded.

                “Hey Raina, chill out… it’s just me.” the shape said.

                That voice… it’s familiar! I thought.  “Gaia?” I asked.

                “Bingo!” she answered.  “I just wanted to try out my human disguise for you.”

                She stepped closer, and my jaw dropped.  She looked entirely human, with dark shin and…

                “Gaia, your hair’s green.” I said.

                “I know.” she said, stepping into the light created by Raina’s hands.  “Green hair is kind of in right now, so I switched my hair and skin colors.  Like it?”

                I had to admit, she looked like an African American emo girl, and the look was not unattractive.

                “You look good, girl!” Raina exclaimed, and I could tell that she really liked what she saw.

                “Drucilla and Cordelia came with me.” Gaia continued, “and they are so looking forward to seeing you, Raina.

                I could swear that I could see her blush.

                “Don’t wear yourself out, champ.” I said to Raina softly.  “Remember, you’re in training.”

                “All work and no play makes Raina a cranky Witch.” she replied.  “So, where are they set up?” she asked Gaia.

                “We’re set up in the old slave quarters,” Gaia explained, “But they’re willing to come to your room to, uh… say hello.”

                “Tell them to give me ten minutes.” Raina said.  “Good night.” she said to me and hurried inside.

                Gaia raised her hand and a light bloomed above it.  “Hey guys, she’ll be ready in her room in ten.” she said into it.

                “Roger that.” came Drucilla’s voice through the light.

                Gaia closed her hand and the light went out.  “So, settling in well?” she asked me.

                “As well as I can, being here for just a few hours.” I replied.

                “It’s an impressive place.” she said, sitting down in Raina’s vacated seat.  “I’ve been here for three days, and I’m still finding secrets around the property.”

                “I read some of Angelique’s diaries about their time here. A lot happened in a short time.”

                “Have you met Ashara?”

                “Yes, she seemed very nice.”

                Gaia grinned.  “Nice?”

                “OK, fine,” I said, throwing up my hands in defeat.  “She’s hot.  There, are you satisfied?”

                “After last night with her? Totally!" Gaia sipped Raina's abandoned coffee and winked.

                “Really? Wow… that’s moving fast!” I said as I finished my cup.

                “Vampires and Fae, as long as our lifespans are, rarely waste time.” she said.  “Why beat around the bush forever if both parties know what they want and it’s mutual?”

                “I can see that.” I said.  I almost envied her freedom, but my own relationship drama stopped that from fully taking fruit.

                “You know,” Gaia said, almost reading my thoughts, “if you’d just have a conversation with Vincent and Angelique, you could probably clear all of this up.”

                “I know, I know.” I said.  Every website internet advice column and YouTube site say the same thing: ‘communicate, talk it out, clear the air’ they say.  Well, what if I’m the most chickenshit Sorceress in history. Huh? What if I’m terrified of the answers?”

                “What, you think they’ll react badly?” she asked.

                “I don't know." I replied.  "What if Vincent has his heartbroken?  What if Angelique is hurt?  Or, most of all, what if they're fine and want to have a three-way? I just got used to being in a relationship… I have no idea if I’m ready for that yet!”

                “Sometimes I envy humans." she said, eyes wide.  "This isn't one of them."

                                                                                                *                *                *

                I spent much of the next day walking the grounds of Nocturne Plantation.  I spent the hottest hours walking through the forests that had reclaimed much of the old farmland that was still attached to the main property.  While the trees were young, the energy of the land was very, very old.

                I somehow expected the vibe to be, I don’t know… heavier? I thought.  And yet there’s a tranquility here that was missing on the way, missing from the plantations we drove by to get here.

                I'd always known about the horrors of my nation's past with slavery.  It had been one of the ways that my Mother had inoculated me against the creeping white supremacy that had infected far too many of my generation.  I knew just how much of our modern-day prosperity had been built on the backs of, and had been greased by the blood and tears of, enslaved Africans brought here for a hard life and often early death.

                It was why I had never felt very comfortable with tours of historic sites.  I thought that they were merely boring; once I had become attuned to the