Heir of the Coven (Daughters of the Warlock 3)

The locket began to burn against my skin. I smiled as I reached for the locket, my touch activating my mother’s voice inside my head.

Ava! Oh, my God, I’ve been going crazy here! Where have you been?

Guilt hit me in the gut like a kick to my stomach. If time passed for my mother, with any sort of real timeline, then I should never have taken the locket off. She would have been alone for days. Worrying about me.

“Hello, mother,” I said. Even though both my father and Tavlor weren’t around, I still feel obligated to keep my voice down. It was as though I didn’t want anyone intruding in on our conversation. “I’m sorry I haven’t been wearing the locket. Things have been a little too intense out here.”

Intense... in a good way? What was the outcome of the Council meeting?

I sighed, fingering the locket and glancing out my window. “It’s a long story.”

I have all the time in the world.

I sighed again. “So, basically... the Council tried a whole lot of dirty tricks, but in the end, we won. Mostly because Dad took them on with his magic. He’s so much more powerful than I thought he was.”

Mother laughed, the sound strong and happy. Enough to make me smile as I lay on the bed. I thought she would be upset at the compliment I gave him, but I was glad to see that wasn’t the case.

He’s the High Warlock of all the realms. Just because the Council has done a good job in manipulating him and confining him to the position they want him to fulfil, does not make him weak. In fact, he’s the most powerful Warlock there is.

I grinned now. She sounded so proud of my father, even if she hadn’t seen him in twenty years.

“Well, sorry to correct you mother, but Tavlor is more powerful than Father. Although he is half Fae, so perhaps he doesn’t count.”

Tavlor... he is the half breed you are... involved with.

I swallowed. I hadn’t told my mother much of Tavlor yet, but she knew me better than anyone and had probably read between the lines. “Yes, I’m in love with him.”

My mother sighed. The Council won’t like that.

“Because he’s a half breed?”

And because they don’t want you to make your own choices. They will have had the next High Warlock and his wife lined up for the past twenty years.

“And yet, Charity couldn’t have a child, so she stuffed them up, didn’t she?”

We both laughed and I relaxed even more, shutting my eyes and enjoying the sound of my mother’s voice in my head. I thought it would be more difficult to have this conversation with her, but it wasn’t. She was more open than I gave her credit for.

So, you have been acquitted of all treason claims?

I nodded. “Yes.”

So, are they going to make you High Warlock after your father?

Her voice sounded hopeful, but thin. As though she was afraid of the answer to her question.

I bit my lip, thinking about the best way to explain where we were at. “Well, that’s the sticking point,” I said. “They’ve told me they will allow me to be my father’s heir, and inherit his title after he relinquishes it... but...”

But what? What do they want in return?

“They want me to marry someone of their choosing. A warlock I’ve never met before. Probably someone they can manipulate since they know they won’t be able to manipulate me.”

Mother hissed. Those bastards.

I sighed. Yep. Totally agree. “They still want to control me and since they can’t actually control me, this is their next best thing.”

And if you don’t say yes to their demands, what then?

“They say I can have a normal life, and they will appoint the new High Warlock, which I know will be the same guy they want me to marry. It’s obvious he’ll get into the position, no matter what. Which would be fine except, again, he’s just a puppet. And I’m worried that even if they say I can have a normal life, I don’t actually trust them to give me one. What about Bella and Courtney? Would the Council find out about them? And if they do, what then? Maybe I might be entitled to a normal life, but would they?”