RISING SHADOWS (Shadows Book 2)

Chapter 1

Morning had already broken when I woke up, the sky a gentle grey-blue in the last of winter's months. It had been ten weeks since he left. Ten weeks of strange dreams and a throbbing ache in the pit of my stomach. Ten weeks of willing him back through my window.

It didn't happen.

I lay there, in the quiet calm of my room, staring at the ceiling. Sometimes it helped to soothe the rush of my blood as my fingers grazed the smooth, cold pentagram around my neck.

And then it hit me.

I remembered what I had to do today.

At midnight, I would enter the Catacombs of the Obsidian Star as Riley Archer and leave officially as High Witch of the coven. An authority on all coven matters, Ariadne Horton had given me words to memorise. I'd shoved them under the fruit bowl on the kitchen worktop and hadn't touched them since.

What worried me most though, was what was happening before then, in about two hours time. My stomach squirmed just thinking about it. Today would be the first of many things, the first-time seeing Will and Kat since Mrs Horton's ball, my first official ceremony as High Witch. Truthfully, I could wait a little longer for all of it.

"Riley! Are you getting up at some point today?"

I groaned, kicking the duvet off to start the day. There was no point fighting it now. Arden Jones was relentless.

Downstairs, I found he'd already showered and dressed. Our bags sat side by side on the kitchen table. Arden slipped a lunchbox into mine and closed the flap.

I clicked my tongue at him. "Oh, you do like to mother."

"Someone has to look after you." He stopped, those bright green eyes roaming over my face. Before he spoke, I knew what he was thinking, what he wanted to kick himself for. "I didn't mean it like that Riles-"

"I know you didn't," I said quickly, the death of my grandmother too fresh of a wound to inspect just yet. Arden stared once more, and I wondered if he was taking in the dark bruises under my eyes, the waxy quality of my skin.

"Did you dream about him again?"

I replied with a bob of my head.

Arden raked a hand through his hair, he'd let it grow longer since I first met him all those months ago, a crown of ruffled ebony. "And he isn't coming back?"

"No." I'd not yet divulged to Arden the details of Rafe's departure and the fact that I was the reason he had to stay away, and I wasn't sure if I was going to.

"But-"

"No more. Please."

His features softened. "Have a shower. I'll make us breakfast on the go."

By the time we pulled up in one of the parking spaces outside sixth form, I wished I'd said no to breakfast. The two slices of toast I'd forced down were now making their way back up, threatening to make a reappearance.

Arden switched off the ignition to Gran's 60's mini. It was a miracle the thing still ran at all. Although the word 'ran' suggested a smooth, consistent movement. Gran's car chugged and spluttered to its destination. "Are you ready for this?"

"Would it change anything if I said no?"

"You're still going in, so no. Come on, I'll let you hold my hand."

I needn't have worried. Becoming leader of a coven of witches must have inflated my ego because I'd forgotten I was barely a blip on anyone's radar. All except the one time when I was at the centre of a rumour. A very true rumour about being seen travelling at high speed on the back of a motorcycle clinging on tight to the abdomen of a handsome stranger.