Free Falling into the White (The Ancients Series) by Christine M. Butler

were locked up in your apartment, so I couldn’t take my Jeep home. That’s why I ended up going back to his place.”
    “Damn.” She whispered.
    “I have to say, as many times as I’ve been in your apartment when you’ve brought guys home, I have never heard you quite so vocal. Asi must be doing a good damn job.”
    “Oh, he really is.” Ashley took a breath and got ready to launch into details I probably didn’t want, when I felt that weird tingle down my spine. I grabbed her arm hard, which shut her right up. “What?” She asked, and quickly realized something was wrong, because the playful demeanor fell away from me, replaced by fear. I scanned the area, looking for a sign of something, or someone, out of place. I didn’t see anything that stood out at first, and then a woman stepped around the fountain heading towards us with a purpose in her step.
    “Ashley, be ready to run. She’s a witch.”
    “That means running will do no good, if I wished you ill.” The woman called out to us, hands raised in a pose that said she meant no harm. “I just want to talk for a moment.”
    “I can’t even fathom why you would need to talk to me. I don’t meddle in witch business. I’ve never even met one that I know of.”
    She smiled, “well now, you’ve met me. I am Estella Sophia Marquez.” My brain fired off a response to that name, but it took a second for me to place why I recognized it. “I see you know the name.”
    “You’re the one who helped Antoine.”
    “Guilty.” She sat down on the edge of the fountain and looked up at me. “Now, you understand why a witch is meddling in your affairs, because they are entwined with the De’ Lunes, and because you are the white wolf.”
    “How?”
    “Witch.” She pointed to herself. “Wolf.” She pointed to me. It is my job to know these things.”
    “You were in the woods yesterday, watching us?”
    “Indeed. I do hate to spy, but I needed to see something for myself. I’ve heard the warning bells lately. I just needed to make sure you were on the right track.”
    “Okay, that really didn’t clear anything up at all.” My fingertips were suddenly massaging my temples, because I felt another headache coming on. This one was not Antoine induced though.
    “You are the last white wolf. If your line dies, the white wolf dies with it.” She looked at me gravely then. “Do you understand?”
    “How do you know I am the last?”
    “Witch.” She stated again simply.
    “Right. So, I’m in danger? Again?”
    She huffed out a laugh that sounded disturbingly like a snort. “Child, you are fated to be in danger, it seems. It is the burden of the white wolf when she comes into her power. Once you have achieved all, the danger will lessen, but you are vulnerable now. You must be cautious.”
    “Clearly.” I agreed.
    “You must also choose wisely. You have a decision to make amongst which mate you will take, correct?”
    I nodded my head, not trusting myself to speak.
    “One will see your flourish and bloom. The other will destroy you. A choice must be made soon.”
    “That’s not cryptic or anything.” Ashley chimed in finally.
    Estella smiled, “You are the red wolf. You will know before she does which is worthy. Make her listen!” She eyed me longer, seeming to see something that wasn’t obvious to everyone else. “You are coming into more power, be careful how you use it. Do not tip your hand too soon.”
    “What?” I asked, but Estella had already gotten up and turned her back on us.
    “Keep your growing power to yourself. Those who covet it will show themselves, those who care not are your allies. Keep this one by your side. She is your balance.” The woman drifted off beyond the fountain to blend with the students milling about the quad, and then she was gone.
    “Just what I needed. Crazy witch prophecies on top of all the other shit.”
    “We need to call Asi, and let him know.” She looked at me, phone in hand, “I didn’t know