Page 1 of Their Witch Bride

ONE

Tara

You, Tara, are like a dildo in the ass with no lube. I didn’t get what it meant, but one of the witches had said it before telling me I couldn’t join her and the others for lunch. Lilac always does have a way with words. I mean, why would anyone put something in their ass? Isn’t it only supposed to work… in the other direction? I’ll have to ask the blacksmith what she meant when I see him later, since he’s the only one I can ask about this kind of stuff.

“Unless you know,” I mutter, glancing at Wisp.

My will-o’-wisp floats around me in the tree I’m relaxing in. She’s nothing but a bright speck of gold light until she gets close to my face, and then I can make out her cute little eyes and mouth. Sometimes I can’t believe her kind are known for being such troublemakers, and sometimes I absolutely believe it.

“Your little light has gotten a lot of travelers lost, hasn’t it?”

She darts around, shifting the leaves and making the bright summer sunlight dance as it falls on me. “Travelers lost,” she says, her voice soft and musical.

“So you admit it,” I say with a snort.

“Admit it,” she says mischievously as she darts down below the tall branch I’m hanging on.

Wisp is an interesting character. For the most part, she repeats parts of what I say to her, but there’s usually a meaning behind the words she chooses to say and the ones she doesn’t. Then, on rare occasions, she says new words. Those are the ones that are really special.

I flip onto my belly and lay along the huge branch I’m on, following Wisp’s descent with my gaze. She skims the surface of the big lake far below me with complete abandon. Her actions create a ripple on the surface of the lake before she soars back up to me, disappearing in the leaves. But my eyes cling to the water, and I frown, remembering why I’m in such a sour mood.

“I have to get my shit together to impress Mother with my Elemental Magic.”

“Get shit,” Wisp echoes me, in a tone that suggests I’m going to be in trouble soon.

Right? “I will get shit if I don’t do well in front of my mother. I just suck at Elemental Magic.”

Okay, that’s not true. I suck at almost all magic, which is why my mother had talked with me in the first place about her expectations. She’d made it very clear before she left to have peace talks with the shifters that she expected me to vastly improve in at least one area of magic. Though not Metal Magic, as much as I love it, because “no witch respects Metal Magic,” but something more important. Something fitting the daughter of the Queen of the Witches. So, I’d chosen Elemental Magic as my area of study… and did about as poorly with it, despite working night and day, as I do with all magic.

“You suck,” Wisp whispers, like it’s some kind of secret, as she darts past my ear.

“Gee, thanks a lot!” I glare, but I don’t really mean it, because I do suck.

Being my mother’s daughter, I should have this incredible wealth of magic. But despite the Healers looking me over, they hadn’t found a single damn reason to explain why I’m bad at everything, I’m powerful and capable, according to them. A fact that pisses my mom off even more. I think she truly believes I’m choosing to suck at magic. Except, who the hell would choose to suck at the only thing that’s important as a witch?

Wisp glows brighter, changing her colors to blue, then purple, and then back to gold, which makes me smile. I’ve learned so much from Wisp since the day she helped me when I was lost as a little girl. And what she’s doing right now is trying to make me feel better because she knows how nervous I am about facing the wrath of my mom.

“You can’t cheer me up with your jokes,” I tell her with a sigh. “Thanks for trying though.” I stretch, and the scars on my back pull, reminding me exactly what will happen if I upset my mother.

Wisp flickers then dims.

I chew my lip, glance at Wisp, then decide to be honest. “I hate how my mother puts me down just because I’m not as good as everyone else at magic. She’s my mother. Shouldn’t she… love me in spite of that or something?”

Even though, I mean, I get where she’s coming from. I’m like a shifter who can’t shift. A vampire without teeth. A monster without bloodlust. Or a fae without, well, their weirdo magic.

“Hate mom!” she says gruffly, flitting in my face and landing on my nose.

Yeah, Wisp doesn’t like my mom. She never has. I know for a fact that’s why she’s never let my mom see her… even though she has her own reasons for not letting others see her. She’s just not a “people person.” But with my mom, it’s personal.

I sigh. “Right again!” I stare out over the water, feeling some of my sadness fading away. This lake, this spot, it’s so calm and peaceful. Meanwhile, I feel like chaos walking all the damn time. If my magic is going to work anywhere, it might be here.

“Let me try some magic.”

Closing my eyes, I focus my breathing. I need to be like the water to control the water. I open my eyes, snap my fingers, and command, “Water!”

There’s no change.

Let me be more specific. I stare intently at the body of water before me and bellow, “Lake!”

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