Free After the Summerland (The Witches of Spring Hill Book 1) by Patricia Proctor Page A

were instinctively coming
together to ward off whatever spells were being cast against them.
    Marcus raises his eyebrow
at Liam before continuing, “You must also be aware of black magic, as it does
exist. Although you may have good intentions, you might find yourself casting
spells that do harm or are selfish in nature. Always be aware of your
intentions when practicing so that you don’t inadvertently cause harm to
yourself or others, which will create negative karma, keeping you in the cycle
of reincarnation and out of the Summerland.”
    “Are there any other
witches in the area?” Chloe asks, glancing quickly at Rowan and Kaiden, wondering
if they were thinking the same thing. It can’t be a coincidence that they are
learning that they are witches today when they had such strange experiences
with the Silvans all day at school. The Silvans’ arrival and the timing of this
meeting must have something to do with each other.
    Chloe can’t help but
wonder if the strong connection she felt to Cian wasn’t just a spell that he
cast to make her feel safe and comfortable with him. She considers whether to
say anything but before she can, Kaiden pinches her arm and shakes his head
slightly.
    Marcus clears his
throat observing his grandchildren’s interaction. “While there haven’t been any
other covens in this area in years, we have reason to suspect that the new family
who arrived in town this week may have some supernatural abilities. Not having
spent any time around them though, we can’t say for certain that they are
witches; however, we learned that we, you three specifically, may be targeted
because you are not part of a coven nor were you technically aware of your
abilities until this moment.”
    “What do you mean by ‘targeted?’”
Kaiden asks.
    “You will learn more
about the importance of what we have told you when you read the books left for
you,” Marcus says, “but for now you just need to understand that
something
on this property makes your
abilities more powerful than anywhere else, which is worth having, is it not? Now
imagine someone looking for a place where their own magic could be more
powerful — somewhere where the people who lived on the property didn’t even
know that the land was sacred. To other witches, discovering that a place like
this exists could create a kind of madness and desire to make it their own.”
    “Therefore, the people
who live on the land would be targets because if other witches are aware of the
power, they would do anything to have it for themselves,” Liam finishes.
    Overhead thunder
cracks, like an omen that a storm is coming to the Alexanders’, in both the
literal and figurative sense.
    “For now, keep your
distance from the Silvans until we know what they are doing here. We will make
some calls to see if we can learn anything about them and will let you know
what we find out,” Liam says. “No more secrets.”
    “Now that we have told
you all of this,” Marcus adds as he begins to gather everything off the altar,
“you can ask us anything and we will try our best to answer; but you must not
tell anyone, anyone at all, what you’ve learned about yourselves tonight.
Although times have changed a lot from the days of the Salem witch trials,
there are still a lot of people who would not want witches living amongst them.
Understood?”
    They all nod in agreement.
    Peter, Marcus, and Liam
walk over to the kids. “We love you as if you are our own and we will protect
you with our lives,” Marcus says, and just like the day they found them — they
embrace them and vow to keep them safe, always.

Chapter 12
    As the clouds darken
the horizon, Selene can’t help but think that they rolled in to mark her dark mood.
She trusted the kids, especially Xavier, to come up with something that she could
use against the Alexanders. Instead all she got was attitude from him, all because
he was pissed off that she talked to Liam Alexander before it was