Free Eye of the Coven by Larissa Ladd Page A

would be in if I didn’t take my place, and pushed to get me there.
    But I dreamed of a different life, of having aspirations and ideals besides developing who I was into the most powerful being I could be. I loved the other witches, my coven was the closest thing to family I knew, but I didn’t see myself working with them in tandem, being the leader in practicing witchcraft. I didn’t see the bigger picture everyone was always talking about.
    I wanted a life like the people I’d gone to school with, a life with a job and a family, a life outside of being a witch. I wanted a place in society where I was liked or even loved for who I was, and not for what I could do, or how my existence would benefit someone or something else.
    “You realize that your refusal means that we have no choice but to remove you from the coven.” Nema’s words echoed off the walls as if she and I were the only ones there, the other witches silent now as they waited for the verdict, waited to see what would come of a high priestess challenging a witch who was stronger. No witch had ever witnessed something like this before, and I could feel their curiosity mix in the air with their lust for drama, action, bloodshed, anything.  Their flickering shadows seem to dance with excitement against the walls.
    I understood what those words meant. No witch just got removed from the coven to go home and perhaps find another one. To be removed from a coven meant to be killed, because a life you were born into wasn’t just a life you could be released from with well wishes, and a coven only trusted you only as long as you belonged to them.
    “I don’t understand why that’s necessary,” I said, my voice strong in the dim light as the dark eyes around me flitted between the two of us.
    “How do you propose we continue? You know the rules, Cherry; you’ve grown up within these walls, seen how we do things. There are rules here, traditions, but above all, there are secrets. You understand that this is the life you were meant to live, and that if you were given these powers, it is your duty to assume the responsibilities that accompany them, lest we assume you might betray us.”
    “I’m more than willing to serve within the coven as I have until now. I have no reason to tell anything that I know or give anyone, including myself, away. The coven is my family. I’m just not prepared to lead it.”
    Nema pursed her thin lips together, her blue eyes searching mine. I knew she was trying to get into my mind, I could feel the slender tendrils of her thoughts prodding at mine, but I blocked her off, closed myself to her feelers, and, after a few more seconds of trying, she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply.
    “You are very strong,” she said almost in a whisper, and the atmosphere in the room changed. It went from the thick palpable air of authority to something a little more submissive, and something a little sadder. I could feel her emotions shift and change as she thought about what the options were for me, and I could feel her resolve to do the right thing slowly crumble. When she opened her eyes, the blue was softer, but her voice when she spoke still had the hard edge. The other witches wouldn’t recognize her change of heart.
    “You’ll settle for a duel then.” She didn’t pose it as a question.
    The formation was quickly set up. The witches voted for an opponent and fanned out in a circle around us, Nema standing closest to me. I knew it was to step in if something happened where more than one witch was needed to restrain me. I saw it in the witches’ eyes when they’d voted, felt their doubt in me snake through the air. They didn’t understand how much I knew of what they were thinking, feeling, and releasing into the atmosphere.
    Rebecca faced me, her feet wide apart and her shoulders hunched like she was about to pounce. Her eyes were dark and angry, and the snarl on her face looked almost animalistic in the light of the dancing