More than three hundred years after the most terrifying witch hunts the world has ever known, it's happening again.
Racing from attack by the ruthless Brotherhood in London to the powerful witch council in New York, twenty-four-year-old novice witch Stella has to put her faith in strangers just to stay alive but she might not be any safer in their midst than from the danger she is running from. Sent to an extraordinary safe house by the sea to learn her craft, Stella finds there is more than one dark secret in her new family: Étoile’s sister is spoken of in fear and sadness; Marc is supposed to be a powerful witch but is missing his magic; where does the owner of their safe house vanish to every day and why does Evan have the eyes of someone not quite human? There is only one secret that someone will do anything to keep quiet, but whose secret is it and will Stella have to pay the price for silence?
Excerpt
Sharp,
murmured voices passed me on the wind. I couldn’t make out what they were
saying but there was the sound of confusion and dissent; then a barked order
calmed them. I caught the sole word “silence” from a low voice as it hissed
past me. The footsteps shuffled and stamped again but no one uttered a word. It
was like they were all listening for me. I felt like a fox, terrified and
cornered, knowing that the beagles were just behind me, waiting to catch my
scent.
Above
me I could just see the first quarter of the moon breaking in the sky, casting
a dim glow over the city. My jacket was a dark padded cord, good for blending
in with both the hedge and low light. My breath was catching like little puffs
of cloud in the air so I pulled up my cheap, striped scarf and covered my mouth
to keep the plumes from straying to where they could be seen.
Without
moving the rest of my body, I strained my head towards my pursuers, the scarf
tightening about my neck until I tugged it loose again. I tried to count how
many footsteps I could hear as they shuffled, fanned out and regrouped.
With
only my pounding heartbeat for company I waited for what seemed like eternity.
I tried to count Mississippi’s to gauge the time but my mind stumbled over the
count and I threw the thought away. I waited for seconds, minutes, hours for
them to rush past me, or at least turn and stamp a different way, hoping
miserably that they really hadn’t seen me dart into this street.
Finally
I couldn’t hear a thing but the blood rushing in my ears. Had I made it up? Was I really paranoid enough to think someone would
bother following me? Probably. Possibly. It wasn’t the first time I’d been
extra cautious, but it was the first time since the news has been full of
murder. I shivered and tried to shake away the icy fear.
Edging
my way across the privet, the leather of my long boots brushing against each
other as I sidestepped, my toes scuffed against the scrub of garden. Fronds of
hedge needled my back through my winter coat as I brushed by and fresh drops of
dew slid uncomfortably past my scarf and inside my collar.
With
my mouth set in a firm, grim line, clamped so tightly shut I was close to
grinding my teeth, I poked my head forward, mere millimetres from the hedge but
enough to see a gloved hand shoot towards me and grab my coat, the fingers
clawing at my shoulder to snatch a handful of material and drag me into the
open. A gasp escaped me. How had they
gotten so close without me realising? Another hand, yellowed at the
fingertips and reeking of tobacco, reached for my neck.
A
gruff male voice snarled, “Gotcha!”
I
shrieked and my whole body went rigid as I closed my eyes tightly. The air went
thick and heavy around me, the cold momentarily disappeared and the blood in my
veins surged as electricity crackled through my body. For the merest second all
the low light and dull sounds of the city disappeared as the power rushing
through me overwhelmed and took possession of me.
With
the hand at my neck and the fear pumping alongside the electricity, I thought I
would die in this moment, but when I opened my eyes again I was on the other
side of the street, looking at my attacker grasping at the air where a second
ago my neck had been. I saw his fist punch savagely through the air where my
jaw should have been. If I had still been there, he would have smashed it for
sure.
*~*~*~*
Author bio:
Hi, I'm Camilla and I'm the author
of the Stella Mayweather Series, an urban fantasy/mystery. The series starts
with Illicit Magic and a lonely young woman, Stella, who has been caught up in
a terrifying witch hunt and is whisked thousands of miles away to what she
thinks is safety to learn her craft. The series is a blend of magic, mystery
and romance with a splash of humour - and while the girls really do go all out
to save themselves, there's always a hunky guy or two on hand to help them out.
The series continues with Unruly Magic and Devious Magic, both out now.
I live in London, England, but I try
to travel as often as I can – I’ve been all over the US and Europe. In my day
job I'm a journalist and editor so I write for magazines, newspapers and
websites throughout the world (my favourite assignment was spending a week
riding rollercoasters - if you listen carefully you can probably still hear me
screaming) but writing fiction has always been my first love.
Web links:
Website: www.camillachafer.com
Twitter: @camillawrites
