Lock and Key (Nocturne Academy 1)

So Mote it Be.”

The last sentence was written in crimson again, as fresh as spilled blood. It blazed from the page and I felt a tingle run through my entire body as I read it.

“Wow,” Avery whispered shakily. “This must be the prophecy you heard Nancy and her mom talking about!”

“What roses is she talking about?” I asked him. “Where is the Coven’s, uh, Hallowed Glade?”

“Not too far from here, actually,” Avery said. “But I never saw any rose bushes there—though they do have a lot of thorn vines surrounding the Glade. I always thought they were just to keep non-witches out, though.” He shook his head. “And before you ask, I’ve never seen any roses growing on them.”

“How many people do you think know about this?” I asked, pointing at the silver lines of the prophecy.

He shrugged.

“Who knows? It seems to have been hidden until you touched it with your blood. Maybe it only appears to Corinne’s direct descendants that have her blood in their veins.”

That sounded reasonable to me.

“So it could have been hidden for years if none of her descendants put their blood on one of the pages,” I murmured.

“You’re probably right,” Avery agreed. “Oh look—what’s happening to it?”

Even as we watched, the silver lines of the prophecy were fading and the vivid colors of the painting of the Witch Queen and her Blood Knight were growing dim.

“The prophecy is hiding itself,” I said quietly. “Just as Corinne must have intended. After all, she couldn’t let her coven know she was plotting against them—not even in the very distant future.”

I knew I must be right. The prophecy was hiding itself away once more and no one without my blood—Corinne’s blood—would be able to see it.

At last we were left looking once more at seemingly blank pages.

Both Avery and I sighed deeply and I looked at him.

“Do you think my mom ever read it?” I asked doubtfully. “I mean, could Corinne’s prophecy be the reason she left the magical world and chose to raise me as a Norm?”

“Possibly.” Avery looked thoughtful. “It’s known that Corinne’s descendants always have daughters so she would have known she’d have a girl. But how would she know that you would be the one in the prophecy? Maybe the thorn vines came to life again? They’ve always looked pretty green to me, every time I’ve seen them, anyway.”

“But am I the one Corinne was talking about?” I asked. “I mean—this is a lot, Avery. Are we really sure the prophecy is about me?”

“Let’s see—you have a Nocturne boyfriend and you’ve been doing Blood magic,” he ticked off on his fingers. “Plus, your magic is ridiculously strong for an untrained witch and you’re a direct descendant of Corinne Latimer. Oh yeah—I think it’s talking about you, Princess.” He nodded at the now blank-appearing grimoire.

“But why would my mom leave her coven and raise me in the Norm world just because of some prophecy about the Edict?” I demanded.

“Have you heard nothing I’ve been telling you?” Avery demanded. He shook his head. “I keep forgetting you don’t understand the importance of the Edict since you weren’t raised with it. Listen, every Other in the whole magical world has had it hammered into their heads from the time they were babies—Others of different species don’t mix. So if your mom somehow figured out that you might be the one to break the most sacred law of Other-kind, well…”

“I guess… it would be like an Evangelical finding out they were destined to have the Anti-Christ for their baby,” I said slowly.

“Exactly!” Avery exclaimed. “That’s exactly what it was like. Your poor mom found out she was going to have a Rosemary’s Baby situation going on and she decided she had to leave the coven and the whole magic world for good!”

“That’s exactly what she decided,” a strangely familiar voice said behind us. “Well, with a little persuasion from me.”

Avery and I whirled around. Standing there, a smirk of superiority on her face, was Winifred Rattcliff—head of the Windermere Coven and behind her were Nancy and the Weird Sisters.

Before we could move, they pounced.

69

“Run!” Avery shouted, grabbing my wrist and starting to drag me towards the door. But the other witches were between us and the exit. He pointed his index and pinky finger at Winifred Rattcliff and said something—some word of power—that made my eardrums bulge just to hear it.

But the senior witch was too quick. She made a sweeping gesture with both arms, as though deflecting Avery’s spell, and then said a word of power of her own.

At once Avery’s arms came straight down by his sides and his face froze—all except his eyes which bulged frantically from their sockets.

“That’s what you get for challenging your betters, boy,” Winifred spat.

For a moment I felt as frozen as my coven-mate—I was horrified at what had happened to Avery. But my paralysis only lasted a moment. I couldn’t let this go on—I knew I had to fight!