Ritual Magic (40 page)

I narrowed my eyes at her. "You slapped me!"
I yelled. I couldn't believe that my best friend in the world had
just
slapped
me!

"You weren't
breathing
!" She snapped
back at me. I blinked at her wildly. Okay, she had me there.
Breathing
was
good.

Solomon coughed and it cleared my mind,
bringing me back to the subject at hand.

"Tell me what you suspected, Tish. What did
you suspect? How did you suspect it?" I leaned backwards, away from
her reach, and felt Solomon right behind me, pulling me into him.
It was comforting to feel his strong arms around me.

Tisha brushed her hair over her shoulder and
gave me an apologetic smile.

"When I heard about the spell that you had
cast, I was first clued in that this may be the case. Not even Von
understood what you had done to transport all of you to your
castle, to this time. He tried his best to explain all of the
nuances of the spell, the power, what you said, but it was far
beyond his comprehension. I have heard of it only being done once
before, and that was eons ago, by a
very
powerful wizard."
She rolled her lips as she shifted on the bed, pulling her legs up
on top, and crossing them underneath herself. "There are stories of
what the wizard went through. He would experience memories, moments
in time. A whole lifetime whizzed before his eyes like a dream, and
then he came to, in the middle of a lifetime that he wasn't aware
that he had been living. He was confused for a bit until he was
caught up to speed. He knew what had passed, but it had only felt
like a dream to him. In the end, he had lost thirty years in the
dream, and he was shaken by the entire experience." She looked at
me with concern in her eyes.

"What happened to the wizard?" Solomon
prodded her to continue with the story.

Tisha cast her eyes up to Solomon and then
back down to me. She hesitated and then replied. "He simply went
mad." She looked down at my hands which were now grasping the
comforter in front of me. "But
that
is not going to happen
to
you
." Tisha set her determined eyes on mine, demanding
that I acknowledge her words.

I swallowed so loudly that it made a sharp
gulping noise. "Okay." I knew that she was going to do everything
that she could to ensure that I would keep my sanity.

"He was nowhere as strong as you, Celeste.
The wizard hadn't experienced what you have, been cast into the
past, pushed into the future, hurled through time and space. His
body and mind couldn't handle it." She looked at me again, drilling
into my left eye again for answers. She leaned back and smiled
broadly with a twinkle in her eye. "But you, my dear, are the queen
of witches, warlocks, vampires, werewolves, and all magical beings
on this half of North America." Her voice rang through the room
with as much conviction as she could muster. "And you will
prevail." Her smile covered her face and I knew that she meant what
she said.

I clamped down my lips as I eyed her
suspiciously.
I wish I felt as sure as she looks.
A quick
release of air escaped me as I nodded slowly. "Right. Because what
doesn't kill us..."

"Only makes us stronger." Tisha smiled back
at me as Solomon pulled me closer into his embrace.

Right.

Selena Hunter is a writer in the North Texas
area. She has a wonderful family and a tight circle of friends that
she turns to when she is inspired to write about supernatural
beings and love stories with interesting twists. When she isn't
writing, she loves to entertain herself with Sci-Fi and Discovery
Channel shows, digging for new ideas and concepts that would always
make a story more fun and alluring. Inspiration is everywhere as
far as she is concerned.

* * *

Would you like to read more about Celeste,
Solomon, Leo, Von, Gabriel and Cora? Follow the story in order in
the Magical Tendencies Series:

Magical Tendencies - Book 1 - August 2013

Ritual Magic - Book 2 - November 2013

Magic Isn't Everything - Book 3 - February
2014

When All Magic Fails - Book 4 - July 2014

Books 5 and 6 are in the works so please keep
your eyes open!

* * *

Visit my website at
SelenaDHunter.com
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the credits page to meet my

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