Free The Witches of the Glass Castle (The Witches of the Glass Castle Series Book 1) by Gabriella Lepore

her wondered if she had been sleepwalking and imagined the whole thing.
    ‘Mia!’ Wendolyn said as she helped her to her feet. ‘Why are you out here?’ she repeated the question, now with a note of urgency.
    ‘I don’t know,’ Mia stammered.
    ‘Let me take you bac k inside.’ Wendolyn gently but hastily guided Mia up the embankment and back towards the castle.
    Clearly troubled, Wendolyn led Mia to the library and urged her to take a seat. Mia willingly cooperated.
    ‘My dear,’ We ndolyn began, ‘what made you go outside? Were you heading for the forest?’
    ‘I think so,’ Mia admitted weakly.
    ‘But you know that it’s not safe,’ the older woman said.
    ‘I know . I’m sorry.’ There wasn’t much more that she could say.
    ‘Just like your mother!’ Wendolyn chuckled with a trace of uneasiness. ‘Always getting up to mischief!’
    Mia frowned. ‘My mother?’ That didn’t sound much like her mother at all. In fact, Cassandra was notoriously sensible and prudent. ‘Don’t you mean my aunt?’
    ‘Oh, well, I suppose that Madeline was no saint, either! But Maddie was more noncompliant whereas your mother…well, she was a free spirit in search of adventure.’
    ‘I’m not looking for adventure,’ Mia explained. ‘I really don’t know why I went to the forest.’
    ‘Oh, I believe you,’ Wendolyn reassured her. ‘You’ll have to excuse me; I was simply indulging in my memories.’
    Mia smiled. ‘Actually, it’s interesting to find out what my mother was like at my age.’
    ‘I see a lot of her character present in you,’ Wendolyn divulged. ‘And in your brother, too.’
    ‘Really?’
    ‘Very much so.’ Wendolyn paused for a moment. ‘Mia,’ she said, ‘you must not go out to the forest again.’
    ‘I won’t,’ Mia replied, hoping that she would be able to keep her promise.
    ‘You’re unsure?’
    ‘You read my thoughts?’ Mia guessed.
    Wendolyn chortled. ‘No. Sometimes I don’t need to.’
    ‘Oh.’ Mia blushed.
    ‘The reason why I ask for you to stay away is for your own safety. Do you understand?’
    Mia nodded her head.
    ‘Now more than ever you must exert caution,’ Wendolyn went on, her voice grave. ‘I’ve detected an intruder presence around the forest boundaries. Hunters. A coven, I believe.’
    The hairs on Mia’s arms bristled. ‘Lotan and Colt?’
    ‘No, no.’ Wendolyn shook her head. ‘Lotan and Colt are a part of the Glass Castle just as much as the Arcana. In fact, the forest is their domain. What I’ve picked up on is activity just beyond our forestland.’
    ‘More Hunters?’ Mia exclaimed in dismay.
    ‘Perhaps. Their presence is imprecise.’
    ‘Why are they here?’
    ‘I can’t be sure,’ Wendolyn mused. ‘Try not to fret. They’ll be no concern to you. They’re simply unwelcome guests. I imagine they’re here out of curiosity more than anything. But while the threat is at large, you must be extra vigilant.’
    ‘Do you think they’ll leave on their own?’ Mia asked.
    ‘Eventually, I’m sure. Once I’ve located them, I will find a way to exile them.’ She smiled at Mia. ‘Try not to worry,’ she said again. ‘They’re not here for you.’

Chapter Five
The Language of the Rain
     
     
    Over the next few days the rain began. And it didn’t stop. It lashed down constantly in a barrage of bulging raindrops. It was as though someone had pulled the plug from the sky and there was no way of resealing it.
    As it happened, the miserable weather was an apt reflection of Mia’s mood. No longer did she possess the naive hope that her power would eventually come to her. Now, she was surer than ever that a mistake had been made. And to top things off, she and Dino had drifted even further apart. Their argument in the bedchamber days before had sparked a chain of quarrels, which gradually escalated to the point of their scarcely speaking at all.
    Mia sighed as she ambled into the drawing room. Imprisoned by the rain, the Arcana had