Dylan's Witch: 10 (Supernatural Bonds) Read Online Free

magic.
    Denial was Seraphine’s knee-jerk reaction, but only because she didn’t want to worsen the already bad relationship with Electra. Fear for Chesna argued that some risks were worth taking.
    The icy chill returned. Trained or untrained, her niece was going to be a powerful witch. Being able to sense the spell-working inside the house tonight was just the latest and most alarming demonstration of it. Given the wards in place, protections strengthened by a demon lord, she shouldn’t have been able to.
    “One small batch,” Seraphine said, reaching over and stroking the calico cat. “Then I’ll drive you home.”
    Chesna’s smile was radiant. “I can sneak back in. Alice will never even know I was gone.”
    Seraphine let the comment pass. They went to the kitchen, slipping into a familiar routine only to have it interrupted a short time later by fierce pounding on the door.
    Chesna’s shoulders slumped. “Mom.”
    “Yes.” It didn’t require magic to verify.
    Seraphine turned away from the counter where the baking pans were now dotted with cookie batter. Chesna slammed into her, arms going around her, transmitting a desperation that crashed through Seraphine.
    “Can’t you make Mom understand?”
    “All I can do is try.” And try. And try. To no avail.
    “Please, can’t we pretend we’re not here?”
    “You know we can’t.” Even without her car sitting in the alleyway, it would be a mistake. Seraphine’s hug was every bit as fierce as Chesna’s. “Let’s go.”
    They went. Steps slow, like the hopeless cadence of a death march.
    Seraphine opened the door, taking the brunt of her sister’s fury when Electra demanded, “Did you put her up to this?”
    The blow hurt. It always hurt. “No.”
    Electra’s angry focus shifted to Chesna. “You know you’re not supposed to come here. Get in the car. Now .”
    “Mom—”
    “ Now .”
    A final hug. A final pleading glance at Seraphine, and Chesna shuffled away.
    “You should have called me immediately,” Electra said. “The very instant she showed up here.”
    “Electra—”
    “No! She could have been kidnapped and we’d never know what happened to her or even if she was still alive. She could have been raped. She could have been killed. This is your fault. All of it. When you tell her witchcraft is all pretend, when you swear not to practice it, then we’ll talk about Chesna being allowed to visit you. Until then, you call me immediately if she comes to you. You put her in your car and bring her to me.”
    Electra stormed away, leaving her anger and fear pounding against Seraphine like a jackhammer, widening the already existing chasm of loneliness. How could two sisters now be so different?
    She could pinpoint when it had begun, that summer when she’d been sixteen and Electra had graduated from high school and taken off with friends, backpacking through Europe and staying in hostels. Coming home pregnant with Chesna, though she hadn’t revealed it until it became obvious.
    They’d been close until then, sisters who’d always shared secrets. But rather than confide, Electra had hidden the truth of her pregnancy and had never revealed anything about the father of her child.
    Electra denied that something beyond getting pregnant had happened in Europe. She refused even to talk about it, but by the time she came home, she’d turned her back on the magic she once believed in and no longer openly used her own gifts.
    Seraphine stepped into the house and closed the door. The oven beeped, announcing it was hot enough for the cookies she’d now make alone.
    She rested her forehead against the cool wood. The green heartmate stone in her bracelet caught the light like a spark of hope and promise. She covered it with her hand, raw from the encounter with Electra, not wanting to think about Dylan Archer and all the weeks that had passed without him finding an excuse to contact her.
    Another man, one who believed in magic, and she wouldn’t