Page 239 of Sigils & Spells

She winked at me as Evie and I moved toward a table. We divvied up the food, enjoying the special fare. Meals were mainly simple here, and exceptions were only made for special occasions.

Evie licked the whipped cream off her finger as she popped a berry into her mouth. “Diana really outdid herself this year.”

“She sure did. I'm stuffed already.” I tried to get the words out around the mouthful of waffle I had, but had to cover my lips to keep it from falling out.

“Ew. I know at some point they taught you not to talk with your mouth full. Gross. The rest of us don't want to see that.” Sienna's shrill voice pierced my ears. She was such a bitch.

Before I could use my powers to do something mean to her and land myself in hot water, Evie spoke up.

“Oh shut up, Sienna. Green is a terrible color on you.”

The girl looked down at herself and turned to her friend. “I'm not wearing green, you weirdo.” The two shook their heads.

Evie and I giggled, confusing them even more. “You only make fun of Annarah because you're jealous. And it shows. It makes you look even uglier than you naturally are.”

She sputtered, trying to come up with a retort as Carrie drug her away from us to the farthest table in the room. Sienna might have been an awful person, but Carrie wasn't half bad. She didn't stand up for me or pretend to be my friend, but she was never blatantly mean to me.

Unable to resist, I took one last look at Sienna as we cleaned up our mess to leave. Just as she lifted her mug to take a drink, I sent a tiny wave of power her way, causing her to spill it down the front of her shirt. Biting my lip to hide a smile, I waved at Diana on the way out, who waved back but shook her head with a reproving expression.

Pursing my lips, I ducked my head. I'd been expressly forbidden to use any of my powers unless under the guidance and permission of the High Priestess with another priestess as my chaperon. Sometimes, though, the temptation got the better of me. Evie and I locked hands and skipped out of the dining hall.

“Wanna go for a ride?”

The temple grounds covered a large expanse of both open field and woodlands, and we were allowed to wander them in our free time as long as we didn't pass the markers indicating the perimeter. The stables held a handful of horses and riding was my absolute favorite pastime. Except maybe watching the stars, but that wasn't an option in the middle of the day.

“Sure!”

We ran across to the stables, giggling together and enjoying the beautiful weather. I ignored the dirty looks we got from others still deep in their chores. For the last two years, the High Priestess made it a point to assign Evie the quickest chores that could be done early in the morning on the rotation of my birthday week, knowing that we spent my birthday together. When I thanked her, she played dumb and simply smiled, reminding me that the rotation was perfectly random in order to remain fair.

Only three men had permission to be within the grounds and Toby, the stableman, was one of them.

“Happy birthday, Miss Annarah.”

“Thank you, Toby! How are you today?” Despite his age, he seemed to still be healthy as an ox, but I worried that one day we'd be without him. He made up one of the few to be truly kind to me, and I'd be devastated when he was gone.

“Right as rain, Missy, as usual. The girls are ready for you to take out.” He indicated our two favorite horses, standing in cross ties at the end of the barn, completely saddled and ready to go.

“Can you read minds now, Toby?” I quirked an eyebrow at him.

He laughed. “No such talents for me, dear. Miss Genevieve here came in to ask me ahead of time to get them ready for you.”

Evie winced as he used her full name, but thanked him with a huge grin. She threw her arms around him and kissed his cheek. “Thanks, Toby! You're the absolute bestest of the best.”

“Git on now, go have your fun.”

He waved us toward the horses, pretending not to enjoy our affection, but I knew he did. Physical affection was frowned upon here, but we managed to bend the rules as far as they would go without breaking them, usually when we could be sure nobody was looking.

We led the horses out of the barn and swung into the saddles. So far, this birthday was turning out amazing. Before we headed off, I whispered a little prayer that nothing would get in the way of it continuing that way.

CHAPTER3

Sunbeams shone down,filtered through the canopy, the birds sang and the wind whispered through the leaves in the trees. The Spring Mountains of Nevada were idyllic in their beauty. Horse hooves clopped along the trail, creating a soothing melody. Evie and I rode in comfortable silence for the first couple of miles.

“Do you want to go to the waterfall?”

Meeting her eyes, I laughed. “Of course I do. It's my favorite place and you know it.”

Because of its solitary location, I often practiced my magic here, away from the prying, disapproving eyes of the rest of the compound residents. They considered me dangerous, most of them. Admittedly, there had been a few, okay more than a few, mishaps when I first started to manifest any magic. We didn't know where it came from or why I got it, but it was there nonetheless.

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