Awakening Beauty by Bonnie Dee & Marie Treanor

Author:Bonnie Dee & Marie Treanor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Published: 2010-09-28T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

The raven swooped down from the sky and landed on a tree branch, its weight setting the bough swaying. Pigeons that had been contentedly cooing and strutting over the ground looking for stray tidbits rose into the air en masse and flew to the shelter of the building eaves where they roosted. The red-eyed raven watched the silly birds flutter madly. They knew she was not a predator that would attack them but sensed something dangerous about her that put them to flight.

Foolish though they may be, the birds were smarter than humans. Even when she was cloaked in her feathered form, the pigeons could see Valborga’s true nature, whereas she could walk among mortals every day and none of them sensed her otherness.

How many years had she dwelled on this earth, generation after generation passing away, and none of them aware of her true face and form, her imprisoned power? Now her time had almost come, the period of enforced hibernation was over, and her magic would soon bloom into full glory again. This time there would be no pesky sisters to hobble her by modifying her spells or limiting her strength. The others of her kind had gone away along with the rest of the magic that used to fill the world so when Valborga finally achieved full potency she would reign supreme.

Only one thing stood between her and her ascendancy, and she was watching the annoying wench right now. Little Aurora, bane of her existence. The girl was like a cockroach that just could not be crushed. Right now she hung on her lover’s arm, pointing at the Brea Monument that towered over the surrounding buildings like a shining crystal beacon. The princess was clearly impressed and chattering away, while Joel smiled at her with the fond indulgence of a besotted lover. Disgusting creatures, the pair of them. But Valborga would take what she needed from each of them.

Attempting to keep them in the castle had been a mistake, as had been her flare of temper that had caused the fire in the motel. Trapping or killing these two wouldn’t help her. She needed things they possessed. Aurora’s blood was nectar that she would drink deeply, and Joel Thorne’s human strength, along with his financial power, would give her the last piece she needed to achieve the height of her glory. She would make use of both the rose and the thorn, the transformative liquid and the earthly necessity.

A thousand years was almost over, the protection spell already breaking, and her metaphoric wings were about to unfurl and spread their shadow across the land.

With a guttural croak, the raven lifted off the tree branch and flapped her wings to gain height before following the oblivious lovers on their tour of the city.

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