She poured herself a glass of water and sipped it.
“If only you were here, Grandma,” she whispered into the moonlight.
For a moment she thought she heard a voice.
Her heart raced, her senses tingling.
She turned on her heel and looked, but there was no presence in the room. After she scoured the shadows, she turned back to the window. She closed her eyes and concentrated hard. “Grandma, are you with me?”
At first there was silence, but she felt a familiar presence nonetheless. Then she heard the faintest sound, and it was indeed her grandmother’s voice. When she opened her eyes, the illusion disappeared. She clamped her fingers over the kitchen sink to steady herself, and shut her eyes again. “Are you there, Grandma?”
I am, child, I am always with you.
Sunny opened her eyes. Still no images, but the sound of the voice seemed to come from beyond the window, as if her grandmother was talking to her from very far away, or outside. Once again, she closed her eyes. “I wish you were here with me, I wish you could help me understand all of this.”
This time she kept her eyes shut.
I am always with you. Listen closely, child. You do not need me. Our magical heritage skips a generation, but you are lucky because you have inherited it from both sides of your family and carry a bounty in your soul.
Sunny’s eyes smarted at the sound of her grandmother’s familiar voice. Her parents had never given any sign of knowing about the magic, but she’d always sensed Grandmother Hanna was somehow magic. Little did she know she was right, and it wasn’t just a childhood notion.
I sensed it in you as a child, but you were so thoroughly grounded in reality, you wouldn’t have entertained the idea. It had to be a powerful event to draw on your magic, and I told Celeste this much.
“You spoke to Celeste about me?”
Many times. We knew you would grow up to be a powerful young witch, but you needed an initiation that came from the heart. Cullen was your initiation.
“I don’t want to lose him. I’m in love with him.”
Saying it aloud – albeit to a spirit – made her realize just how much she did love him. Her heart ached tremendously, as if someone was squeezing it. She gripped the edge of the kitchen sink so hard her fingers ached. “Can you help me face this battle they tell me lies ahead?”
I believe in you, child, and you must believe in yourself. The viscount is aware of how powerful you are, but you must present yourself to him as an innocent. You must be seen to be willing to learn from him, for he is the most powerful witch in Raven’s Landing.
“You mean I have to flatter his ego?” The thought of it turned her stomach.
You see, you understand the situation well enough.
The voice speaking grew faint, and she heard a quiet chuckle.
“Don’t go,” Sunny said and her eyes flashed open. But the moonlight was shielded by the clouds. It was dark, and the presence she’d felt was fading.
“Don’t go,” she repeated, but this time there was no answer.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
By day twenty of their thirty days, Sunny awoke feeling languid and yet energized. It was the strangest thing, because she’d been completely knackered by the tasks of the day before. Each day had been filled with difficult challenges and long lessons from Celeste and other members of the coven. There was so much to take in and pressure to learn quickly, in order to give her the best chance possible of succeeding in the battle ahead. By the end of each day Sunny felt overloaded with new information, information about the unseen world around her. It was as if a curtain had been drawn away from her vision, and she saw the spiritual, magical world all around her. Each day her knowledge grew, and yet the challenges she faced in taking it on left her weary. By morning the weariness had gone.
The answer was simple enough. The empty well was refilled by her relationship with Cullen. Celeste had explained the intimate links between emotion and magic, sex and spirituality. When Sunny felt tired and weary, her relationship with Cullen replenished her, giving her the ability to cope with everything going on during this, her most unusual midsummer month.
“What’s today’s plan?” Cullen asked.
“I’m due at Eben’s workshop. He’ll be teaching me today.” Sunny looked across the wooden breakfast table at her lover. How on earth would she live without him if she couldn’t win this battle?
“I’ll stand guard outside his workshop, in case...in case the time is nigh.”
He was thinking about Fox. He often was thinking about their invisible foe, she sensed it. “The time is not yet ‘nigh’ and I can defend myself.”
Cullen’s expression darkened. “I will not let him speak to you, let alone touch you!”