Eliza Gayle Witch Bundle (paranormal romance), Eliza Gayle [books suggested by bill gates txt] 📗

that broke the binding? But how?” Like she even needed to ask. The man had powers she couldn’t begin to fathom.

“Actually, Raven, I think I’m the one who should be asking the questions. You have a lot of explaining to do.” The dark tone of his statement was unmistakable. There would be hell to pay for her fucking up. Death or sacrifice, she wondered.

“I can—”

“Not now, Raven. That Voodoo bitch is listening and she’ll fuck everything up. Right now you need to head outside to the alley and meet my associates, who will bring you to me. So hang up the phone, say goodbye to dear Severina, and go outside.”

The tension in Scott's voice rose with each uttered syllable, and stark fear ran rampant through Raven. She couldn’t let Scott or his goons near her or she could forget it. She closed the phone and looked around the tiny shop. “Do you have a rear exit?”

“Yes, but what you need to do is call Denn and tell him what is going on. He can help you.”

“Severina, you’re wrong about that.”

“No, Cherie, Severina is never wrong. The Reverend will hurt you. Mark my words.”

Raven shook her head and rounded the corner. She didn’t have time for one woman’s superstition.

“Wait!” A hand grabbed her arm and stopped her escape.

Raven rounded on the woman prepared to fight her way free.

“Here take this, it belongs to Denn and I believe he is finally ready for it now.” She held up a rolled scroll of parchment paper sealed at the edges with a waxy looking substance. “Take it, Raven. You came to me for help, now trust me. This is the help you and Denn need. Now get out the backdoor and make sure this gets to your man.”

Her man. Raven wanted to laugh but she didn’t have time for this.

When she reached for the paper, Severina grabbed her hand and locked gazes with her. “Stop being afraid of what you are to him. It is meant to be, it is what you were created for. Trust in him. Trust in them both.”

Raven stared at her dumbfounded. Despite her own abilities and the many things she had seen, she would never understand the gift of sight and how eerily accurate it could be.

“Go now, Raven, Go!”

Raven stuffed the parchment into her back pocket and ran behind the curtain separating the back from the front. Through the dingy back room filled with beads, herbs, doll parts and an altar that took up an entire wall, She burst through the metal door marked Fire Exit Only.

Swiveling her head left, she saw one of the Rev’s “associates,” and in his dark tee, black jeans, and shit kickers he did not look friendly. She took off in a dead run in the opposite direction, raising her magick as she went. She listened to the pounding feet of her pursuer not far behind, knowing she didn’t have much time.

Wait. What am I doing? Why am I running from them? She whirled on the balls of her feet, casting her arm out at the same time, releasing the power she’d called. The hired muscle had just enough time to throw up a partial shield, blocking some of her magick. The rest knocked him back several steps and doubled him over. When he stood and howled in pain—or maybe frustration, she couldn’t be sure—she ran toward him, launching herself onto his wide back. His body was hot and smoke came from his hands.

Damn. Fire witch. Fire and water. They sure as hell weren’t going to get very far in a fight.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, wrenching with all her strength, trying to choke him. He staggered backward, slamming against the wall of the building with her in between. The force squelched the air from her lungs, loosening her arms from their grip, giving him the opportunity to drive his elbow into her ribs. Pain erupted in her body, her vision wavering, and she vaguely saw reinforcements surrounding her. With sheer will she fought to regain her strength and magick despite a new and unfamiliar magick wrapping around her and pinning her to the wall.

She frantically looked around for another idea or weapon as whatever was cloaking her was also dampening her power. The air shimmered around her as she sensed a solid blast of earth magick coming their way. Lucky for her it provided enough of a distraction that the power coursing through her chest broke free from their bindings. With no time to waste she ran again, straight into Denn. Momentarily stunned, he grabbed her hand and pulled her away from Scott’s men.

They only needed to make it to the end of the alley and they would be back on busy Bourbon Street where she was certain they could get lost in the crowd. About to turn the corner to freedom, or at least a better chance at it, a black SUV screeched to a halt, flinging its back door wide.

Denn pushed her with his solid strength. “Raven, get in. Now!”

Knowing at least with Denn she wouldn’t become a human sacrifice stripped of her power, she jumped inside, sliding along the bench seat.

“Go, Jake, go!” Denn yelled into the front of the vehicle as Raven lay sprawled across the floorboard, her breath sawing in and out of her heaving lungs. The car surged forward, pressing her back against the ridge of the seat. She closed her eyes, focusing on controlling her breathing. This isn’t what I wanted.

She wasn’t anymore ready to face these two men, as she’d been ready to beg for her life from Scott. How the hell had her life fallen apart so quickly? In love with two men who only wanted to use her to fulfill a prophecy, and a sick and twisted man who’d been like family in a weird and demented way would now just as soon steal her power as listen to her beg for forgiveness.

Tears welled in her eyes as she screwed