The Enchantress (Wicked Book 1) by Blaire Hammond

them, and nodded, ‘I’ll try.’
    Drew pulled
the old, navy volume from its place upon the mantel. He crossed the room to his
bed and settled by the lamplight.
  Light flooded across the cover of his book and he opened to the first page, reading
over the words. He needn’t read the words, really, for he knew them off by
heart, but having them in front of him brought the memories of his mother,
holding the book while he sat in her lap.
  Closing his eyes, he hugged the book to his chest, repeating the words in a
prayer to the Gods, and then closed it and sighed. He did this every night, yet
not once had he received a response. Not once had he been given a sign. All he
wanted to know was if they were proud.
  Lowering his head he traced over the words that were indented in silver
lettering across cover.
  He wasn’t quick enough to stop the flicker of those beautiful gold-hazel eyes
from appearing in his head. In seconds, he had pushed the image from his
thoughts, refocusing them on his book.
  ‘I won’t forget,’ he whispered, and stood up, placing the book back in its
place on the shelf.
    Oliver
was laughing, lifting up a little, bubbly three-year-old Laura and zigzagging
her through the air like an aeroplane. Laura was squealing and laughing. He
started to lower her down, putting on his best Pilot voice as he said, ‘prepare
for landing.’
  He placed Laura onto the ground and planted a big kiss on her forehead. She
laughed and kissed her father back on the cheek.
  ‘You two are maniacs. I thought one Oliver was enough but now I have two!’
  Little Laura ran to her mother’s arms. She was smiling, glowing a slight
green. Little Laura didn’t notice, but the Laura that was dreaming it sure did.
The other thing she noticed was the thick, black ‘ W’ that was on her wrist.
  Laura’s father gave a nod and in Laura’s mothers hand appeared a small
glowing sphere, shining the colour of green. It grew bigger the way Leo’s had
just hours before and it cast green flickering specks of light over the room.
  ‘When you remember this my dear, it is time,’ she whispered looking straight up
at Laura as the little Laura disappeared ‘I only hope that time never comes.
But if it has, then please know, my dear, that I love you, and I know you will
do what is right.’
  ‘Mum?’ she murmured, ‘time for what?’
  Suddenly it felt as if Laura was being dragged backwards by an invisible force
and the scene before her was fading into the distance.
  ‘No!’ she screamed, thrashing about, trying to break free.
  ‘NO! Mum help!’
    Laura woke
up screaming, tangled in her blanket. She sat straight up and pulled her legs
into her stomach, wrapping her arms around them. She started to rock back and
forth, attempting to calm herself. Beads of sweat rolled down her cheeks, but
as she reached up to wipe them away, she realised that they were tears.
  She rested her forehead on her knees and breathed in, then out, in, and then
out again. Eventually she gained control of herself and laid back down in her
bed.
    Logan awoke
in a hot sweat and sat upright in his bed. This happened too often. Realising
it had been yet another dream, he ripped back the sheets and placed his feet to
the cool hard wood floor. He stood and pulled the T-shirt that sat on his
nightstand over his head.
  He made his way out the door and down the hall to the kitchen. He took a
glass from the cabinet and filled it from the tap. Turning away from the sink
he leant his back against the counter and gulped from the glass. He often did
this, allowing his mind to wander, hoping it would calm him from the terrors
that invaded his dreams.
  ‘Another one?’ Grace asked as she entered the kitchen and took out a glass
for herself.
  ‘Yeah,’ he exhaled heavily despite not needing the air, moving so Grace could
use the tap.
  ‘Me too. I swear we all get more sleep in the day than during the night.’
  ‘Doesn’t surprise me,’