Free The Sea Witch (The Era of Villains Book 1) by S.J. Valfroy Page A

I’ll go
grab you another full one for you to take home with you, too.”
    — — —
    Serena
almost turned back on her way to Casius’ home, but she shook
her head and swam on. This was it. She had made her decision. Living
in a place where every two out of three merpeople were criminals
made her uneasy, despite the fact that she had made new friends. She
stopped swimming again. Her friends. She couldn’t leave her
friends. She had gone so long without friends; she couldn’t do
that again, could she? But she wouldn’t be leaving all of her
friends…hopefully. And really, Casius was the friend she felt
closest too.
    Deep
down she knew the real reason she wanted to leave Arcanus. She
dreamt of Triton almost every night now. The familiar ache of fierce
desire was back stronger than ever. Amphitrite’s words had
lost their sting. She knew the truth now. Queen Amphitrite and King
Poseidon were cruel, selfish, unfit rulers. She couldn’t let
them influence Triton. She wouldn’t let Amphitrite force some
pretty, wealthy, bubblehead who didn’t care about the kingdom
(or anything except her hair) on him. He needed someone who could
help him reach his full potential. Encourage his kindhearted nature
towards his subjects. He needed her. And if she had to use a love
potion to make him ignore his parents’ objections and make him
see she was perfect for him, then that’s what she would do.
Even if it meant asking Moira for help.
    Casius’
home was not a house. He lived in a large crevasse under a giant
piece of volcanic rock. She gently pushed aside the sea weed he had
strategically laid over the opening like a door.
    “ Casius?”
she called.
    “ Serena,
what a lovely surprise,” said Casius, emerging from the dark
space underneath the rock, tentacles first.
    “ Casius,
I’m going home to Adamar. Will you come with me?”

    Chapter 4

Sign on the Line
    “ There
it is,” said Serena, parting two stalks of kelp to reveal the
family cave in its little clearing in the kelp forest. “I
think you’d better stay out here for a while. She’s
going to be furious, and octopus beaks and tentacles are used in
quite a few potions.”
    “ I’ll
be waiting, then,” said Casius, not sounding too concerned.
“Don’t let her bully you.”
    “ I
don’t let her bully me. That’s why she hates me so
much.”
    Casius watched her
swim into the glowing blue mouth of the cave and wondered if he
should have spoken up. He had wanted to tell her that a love potion
was probably not the solution. Triton shouldn’t need a love
potion to fall for her. If he did, he wasn’t worthy of her
anyways. But he had held his tongue because she was finally taking
the first step to embracing her talent, and he was sure that was the
right decision. He sank to the ocean floor and changed his skin to
blend in with the sand so he would not be disturbed…and maybe
he could catch himself a little lunch.
    A purple cloud of
smoke was rising from Moira’s cauldron when Serena entered the
cave. Magic was imperious to the effects of water, and the smoke
acted just like smoke above the surface. Moira swished it out of her
eyes when Serena entered.
    “ Well,
well, well,” said Moira, “look who decided to come
swimming back home. Have you been wandering out on the edge of the
reef crying for a whole month?” Moira laughed at Serena’s
disgruntled look of surprise and anger. “You thought I didn’t
know? I’ve been keeping a close eye on that slimy eel who
calls herself a queen. I saw the whole thing from right here.”
Moira pointed a finger down at her cauldron with a smirk. She
twirled the finger in the air, stirring the potion, and then grabbed
a glass bottle from the shelf and threw in two flying fish fins. The
smoke turned blue.
    “ Poor,
poor Serena,” said Hazel, appearing from the green-lit hallway
to her room. Her face was pulled down in a mocking pout, her eyes
ablaze with giddy joy. “Rejected by her prince. How rude of
him to laugh in