Page 7 of Rites of Passage

“You should have come in the SUV with us,” Miles protested.

Mae rolled her eyes. “I got here before you, didn’t I?”

“Anyone ever tell you that you ride like a madwoman?” Violet said sharply. “I almost ran three red lights trying to follow you. I’m surprised the fox didn’t throw up.”

“I like the wind in my face,”Brimstone grumbled. “Besides, until you have ridden upon the back of a helldragon, you have not experienced true speed.”

Mae made a face at that. There were times when she forgot her familiar’s dark origins.

Violet stared up at the fox. “Why are you sulking?”

Brimstone sniffed. “I would rather not talk about it.”

Unease swirled through Mae as she studied Bryony. The older witch’s features were set in hard lines that told her she was the bearer of news Mae didn’t particularly want to hear.

“Why do I get the feeling your meeting with the High Council didn’t go as planned?” she said warily.

“It didn’t.” Abraham marched out of Bryony’s office and joined them. “They were a bunch of assholes.”

He put away his cell, his face dark. His owl Shiloh swooped down from one of the chandeliers and landed nimbly on his shoulder. She hooted softly as he petted her head and blinked a welcome at Mae.

“You shouldn’t call them that,” Bryony admonished her aide, her tone not exactly forceful. “You realize they’re all your elders? Well, apart from Raven.”

“Raven?” Mae asked Violet.

“Raven Quinn. She’s the High Priestess of the L.A. coven and the youngest witch to ever make the High Council. She’s a tech genius who established her own start-up when she was sixteen. You’ve heard ofIgnisright?”

Mae stared. “The company that invented that AI chip that’s in practically every digital device on the planet? The one that’s worth billions of dollars?”

“Yeah, that one.” Violet smirked. “Raven once locked Miles out of all his online accounts for a week.”

“That was totally uncalled for,” Miles protested.

Mae pursed her lips. “Did he make a move on her?”

Violet grinned. “He even bought her flowers.”

Abraham gave Miles a pitying look.

Millie raised her head and hissed, her tongue flickering agitatedly. The familiar evidently thought any woman who refused her master was a complete moron.

Mae sighed. “Not that I really want to know the answer to this, but how were the High Council a bunch of assholes?”

Bryony and Abraham shared a guarded look.

Mae narrowed her eyes. “Spit it out.”

Abraham rubbed the back of his neck. “They want you to come to our Annual Grand Meeting.”

Violet straightened. “The national covenstead?”

“Yeah.”

Mae’s stomach sank as she observed their strained faces. “Why do I get the feeling none of you are particularly enamored with that idea?”

“We’re not,” Bryony said testily. “That’s the worst place to introduce you to the wider magical community. There will be hundreds of sorcerers and witches there and some will undoubtedly have secret affiliations with the Dark Council.”

Surprise jolted Mae at that.

---