RISING SHADOWS (Shadows Book 2)

Chapter 21

The next morning, a hazy sun hung low in the sky over Ravenshold.

Matthew had let me borrow his phone to call Arden, which led to not even something that resembled a conversation. Instead, after I'd made sure Angel was coping without me, we blubbed through a few 'I've missed yous' and some other incoherent exchanges. I did, however, manage to gauge that he'd persuaded the coven it would be unfair on the Callears if over a dozen witches landed on their doorstep and that it would be best if Arden and Fawn came to bring me home. Rafe had made the decision to keep his distance from Valestone, hoping it would draw less attention to the fact he'd broken his promise to the angels.

While we waited for Arden and Fawn to arrive, the rest of us had breakfast.

Five-year-old Tabitha was the spitting image of her mother, and kept flashing me wide grins with a mouth of missing teeth. "If I wanted the jam," she said, pointing to the open pot of sticky red mush at the end of the table. "Could you get it for me without touching it?"

I probably could now, using Astrea's power to manipulate the air. But I kept those thoughts to myself. I gave Tabitha a smile back. "That's not quite how our magic works. We are tied to the elements like water and fire. Some other things are possible but we have to make potions for those."

Her eyes widened in excitement. "In a cauldron?"

"Yes, in a cauldron." I lied, but saying we prefer to use non-stick pans wouldn't have sounded as thrilling to a five-year-old.

Rafe smirked from across the table.

"Could you fill my glass with water?"

"Tabitha," Niamh hissed. "Let Riley eat her breakfast."

I finished spreading a thick layer of butter on my toast. "It's okay." I stretched my arm out where Tabitha sat opposite me, hovering my palm over her glass. "Ready?"

"Yes," she nodded.

Slowly, I raised my palm up, drawing water into the cup until it was three-quarters full.

Tabitha let out a slow breath. "Wow," she said quietly. "I'm going to drink all of my water just so you can do that again."

"Maybe that's how we can get her to drink more water, Niamh. Bring Riley around every meal time," Matthew raised his own teacup to me.

"Is it safe?" Niamh asked, eyeing up the glass now in Tabitha's hands.

I'd gone back to piling blackcurrant jam on my toast. "Perfectly. It's pure drinking water."

"What else can you do?" Tabitha asked.

Just then, Rafe piped up. "Enough Tabby Cat." He ruffled her auburn hair with his full hand. "Eat up. I know it's not everyday your mum lets you have chocolate spread and you haven't touched our cereal yet."

She giggled and squirmed at his attention, and finally tucked in to her own breakfast and left the rest of us to ours.

We'd all enjoyed a few minutes of quiet when Tabitha decided the silence needed to be broken.

"Are you and Uncle Rafe getting married?" she blurted out.

I choked on my jam-glazed toast and dared to glance at Rafe. To his credit, he was perfectly composed.

"Tabitha, we've talked about this."

"But are you?" Tabitha looked to Rafe, ignoring her mother.

One side of Matthew's mouth curled up to meet the blue eyes flashing with amusement.

"Riley is still quite young," said Rafe.

"Okay," said Tabitha, though not with an ounce of disappointment. She scooped two spoonfuls of cereal into her mouth. "Can I be a bridesmaid?"