Newport House: A New Adult Contemporary Fantasy by Lauryn Evans

Author:Lauryn Evans [Evans, Lauryn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-08-31T05:00:00+00:00

32

A loud knock wrenched Renata Courtenay’s nose from her book. Her amber eyes darted up from the yellowed pages, toward the front door. The book was the only thing of her late father’s she’d managed to save from the mansion in Newport during the fire. And even though Renata had read Alexander’s copy of Charles Dickens’ famous novel at least a thousand times already, she still hated being interrupted.

Miss Havisham and Estella would just have to wait a moment.

Renata plopped Great Expectations down onto the coffee table with a sigh. She stood up from the couch to greet whoever waited outside, anxiously wondering who it could be.

Jackson Crowe, her retired vampire hunter boyfriend, bounded down the stairs as soon as the knock sounded, running his hands through his thick black locks.

It seemed like both of them expected some kind of trouble to follow, given all that had happened during the past year. The House members endured a multitude of the Order of the Seven Blades’ attacks, Nightblood witches, and even the risen dead.

Renata was fairly sure they’d seen it all.

“You’re not expecting a client today, are you?” Jackson asked as he trailed behind her, his shoulders tense.

After the Newport mansion burned down about three months ago, the House members moved to their new home in Tiverton, Rhode Island, where they’d lived ever since. Since the move, they could not host the lavish parties that used to be their source of blood and income. To compensate for the loss of revenue, Renata and the other House members started an event planning business to pay for utilities and other twenty-first century necessities—keeping the House afloat.

“No,” Renata reached for the door handle, bracing herself. “This is just as much a surprise to me as it is to you.”

The Mistress of the Newport House didn’t quite care for surprises. No matter how exciting they were.

Renata opened the door, eager to see who waited outside. Clarissa Bancroft, leader of the Lightblood witch coven, stood in front of the open door with a grim look on her face and her arms tightly crossed.

“Hello, Clarissa. What a pleasant surprise,” Renata said coolly, careful not to betray her apprehension. She didn’t know why the witch was here. But, ever the good hostess, she welcomed Clarissa in with a smile, gesturing towards the kitchen. “Please, come in.”

The Lightblood witch murmured a quick “Thank you” as she ducked inside the cozy Cape Cod style home.

Catching Clarissa’s dire look, a wave of unease rippled through Renata. Her magic stirred. “Is there something wrong?”

She internally scolded herself. Clarissa was there, at her doorstep, of all places.

Of course there’s something wrong.

The last time Clarissa knocked at her door, Renata made it very clear she wasn’t interested in joining the coven. What other matters could have brought her there?

Whatever had been keeping Clarissa together suddenly fell apart. “The ancestors,” she choked out, putting her face in her hands. “There’s something wrong.”

Renata furrowed her brow, turning her head toward Clarissa. “What are you talking about?”

“I can’t feel them, Renata.

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