Page 46 of Castings & Curses

“Out-of-control magic, that’s what’s going on,” Amari said with a giggle.

Thunder rolled overhead and lightning forked through the sky.

Corwin looked up. “Huh. Today was supposed to be a beautiful day.”

More thunder rolled and a crack of lightning hit not too far away.

“Uh, Tempest, maybe you should tone it down a bit,” Pippa said. “I’m sure we’ll figure out how to get inside eventually.”

“It’s not me,” Tempest said with a grin.

“What do you mean it’s not you?” Pippa demanded. “You’re the only weather witch around and there’s no way this thunderstorm is a natural phenomenon.”

Rowan snickered. “Ask our resident Witch Queen.”

Corwin stiffened. Witches had queens?

“Witch—what?” Pippa whirled toward Natalie. “You’re the Witch Queen?” she screeched.

Hold on now.

Corwin took a careful step back from his mate, then turned slightly so he could see her face.

Natalie scowled. “Why do you assume it’s me? It could be any one of us!”

“No one else walks around with a giant staff of power or dresses like royalty,” Pippa accused. “How come you never told us?”

More importantly, how come she’d never toldhim?

And what in the hell had he done to deserve this?

A mate who wasroyalty?

“I’m the last of my line, Pippa. It’s not like I thought I was going to pass the staff on to anyone else. I expected the staff’s power to die with me, not to come alive because some idiot witches decided I should be the leader of their coven.”

“Hold on,” Pippa said. “You mean the staff—”

“I mean it’s been getting weaker, not stronger, through the generations. Yes, more power flowed into it as the generations passed, but without a coven to feed energy to its Queen, not much of that power could be accessed. So like I said, I expected the staff to die with me. Instead, its power is now tied to that of the Zero Cum Laude Coven, so congratulations, witches. You’re now the Queen’s Council and your first task is to help me figure out how to control this damn staff.”

A giant crack rendered the air and a tree at the edge of their property let out a horrendous groan before beginning a slow topple toward the roof of the coven house.

Natalie whipped the staff up with a jerk and the treemoved,rolling to the side and crashing to the ground in such a way that it missed every building on the property.

How the hell did she do that?

Corwin eyed the staff.

The two jewels, one at the top and the other at the bottom, were glowing a brilliant red.

The wind picked all around, them, leaves lifting and swirling through the air, faster and faster.

“Oh, shit,” Tempest exclaimed. She whirled and raced toward Natalie. “You have to pull in the storm. It’s about to take on a life of its own. Natalie, if you don’t pull it in, there are going to be tornadoes in about three minutes. Big ones, ones that will take out the entire town.”

Natalie didn’t seem to hear Tempest. Her hair was lifting off her shoulders and her eyes were blind to anything around her.

Corwin hooked an arm around her waist and dragged her back so that she rested against his chest. “Natalie,” he murmured in her ear. “Pull the storm back.”

When nothing happened, he whipped her around and kissed her. Deep.

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