Untainted Magic

By Karen DuBose

Skye's whole life she has been told she was the one to defeat the dark source. She took pride in getting rid of evil. Until the coven that has been her life tries to use her for their selfish ways. Turning her back on them felt right at the time. Maybe she made a huge mistake, but she was never letting them use her.

Drik's life has

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kingston Publishing Company
• Release date: Nov 5, 2018
• ISBN: 9781949050752

Book preview

Copyright

Untainted Magic is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

UNTAINTED MAGIC: A NOVEL

Copyright © 2018 by Karen DuBose

All rights reserved.

Editing by KP Editing

Cover design by KP Designs

Published by Kingston Publishing Company

The uploading, scanning, and distribution of this book in any form or by any means—including but not limited to electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of the copyright holder is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized editions of this work, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

Table of Contents

Copyright

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Extras

Chapter One

The alarm blaring startles me out of another weird dream. I swear they are starting to feel more real each night. I really need to talk to my mom about it. Sitting up and throwing the covers aside. Placing my feet on the plush carpet. Wiping away the sleep in my eyes, I head to my bathroom. Turning the shower on, I walk to the sink to brush my teeth. I look in the mirror and freeze.

How in the world did I get leaves in my hair? Picking one out of my hair and looking down at it, I run out of the bathroom, through my room, and down the hall to my mom’s room. There is no way I brought something out of my dream, is there? My heart is slamming against my rib cage. I burst through the door and leaped on her bed.

She screams. Skye, are you trying to give me a heartache? Why in the world would you be running in here like you’re on fire?

My heart is still pounding like it wants to break loose from my rib cage. How can I explain to her what I can’t even believe?

Do you see the leaves in my hair? It’s the only thing I could think of.

She turns around to face me. Yes, I see the leaves in your hair. What kind of question is that? Is that why you ran in here like a crazy person? Over leaves in your hair.

No…. how can I explain this?.... I haven’t been outside today mom. I woke up with leaves in my hair. How is that possible? I mean I dreamt I was in the forest and lying in a pile of leaves before the alarm woke me up.

Mom jumps out of bed with a wild look in her eyes. She starts searching for something. She rushes over to a box in the corner of her room. Yanking it open, she took out an old looking book. She comes towards me, grabbing my hand and pulls me towards the hall.

Mom! What is going on? You're scaring me.

I will explain everything. Right now, we need to get to the attic.

Explain what, mom?

She drags me out of her room, down the hallway and up the stairs. She let’s go of my hand to put the book down on the table in the middle of the room. She sits down on the chair and looks at me.

There is something I need to tell you. Your twenty-first birthday is in a few months, and with that comes huge responsibilities. I wanted to tell you way before this, but the coven wouldn’t let me until you showed signs it was starting.

I interrupt her. What are you talking about? What responsibilities? You aren’t making any sense mom.

She takes a deep breath and lets it out. If you would let me finish. I will explain everything to you. Our magic is special. More special than everyone else’s. Ours is pure light magic.

What do you mean by pure light? Isn’t the coven’s magic pure?

Yes, theirs is pure magic, but it isn’t pure light magic. The difference is we are the only ones who can keep the dark source from taking over the world. You, my child, are the strongest of all of us combined. Which means the dark source is getting stronger. He has the ability to pull you to his realm while you are asleep, and if he does, he can kill you there. He has done that to almost all of us, pure light magic users. There is only a handful of us left.

Are you trying to say these dreams are his doing?

I don’t know if it is him or not. But with you saying you woke up with leaves in your hair, I can assume he may be pulling you into his realm to spy on you.

I start pacing the floor. How can I stop him from pulling me into his realm again. Why now? What is my twenty-first birthday has to do with any of this?

Your powers are at their full strength when you turn twenty-one. The closer you get to your birthday the more he can sense your power and will be drawn to it.

I stop my pacing. He will be drawn to me. How is that possible? Will I feel his power too? Why was this supposed to be a secret? What does the coven have to do with any of this? How come I wasn’t told of his powers? I’ve been training all my life to defeat him, and you guys are holding back information from me. The more questions I ask the angrier I get. I raise my hand to my chest. I don’t think my heart can take much more excitement. Not that this is exciting news because it is far from it.

Mom stands up and walks over to me. She holds her hands out for me to grab. I take them not knowing what else to do. You will be able to feel his power when he is near. The coven has been protecting you from him. The dark source will be as powerful as you are. Before you ask, I don’t know who he is. I have never dealt with him personally. I just know what has been told. The coven also thought if you didn’t know about the draw of his magic you wouldn’t search for him without knowing it. I know this is a lot to take in. I’m sure you will have more questions. But right now, we have to get ready for work. Before we go, I need to show you our family grimoire. You need to study this book. It will tell you everything we know about the dark source.

I notice she skips over the part about the Coven being involved. I will get that out of her later. She lets go of my hands and walks back downstairs. I can hear her walking to her bedroom. When she shuts her door. I walk over to the book. I thought the grimoire I have been studying was our family’s. I reach for the book as it calls to my magic. I didn’t even realize I’m already touching it. The magic that is pouring out of it felt like home. Like I finally found my place in life. I open the book to the first page.

For every descendant to come may the light guide you in every way.

Keep the darkness at bay with the light of your heart.

This path is not for the faint.

We are with you in the afterlife forever and always.

Well, that’s a nice welcome. And kind of creepy. I close the book before heading downstairs to get ready for a job I barely tolerate. Taking my hand off the book, it starts to glow. The magic coming from it starts to pulse in time with my heartbeat. Nope, not going to freak out.

Walking away from the book as fast as I can. I don’t look back. I really didn’t want to. I head for my room. I can hear the shower still running.

Great! So much for a shower. Walking into the bathroom, I shut the water off and walk back to the sink. I finish brushing my teeth and put my long wavy brown hair in a messy bun.

This is as good as it’s going to get. I head back to my room to get dressed. Opening my closet to find something to wear, I see the laundry basket is overflowing. Looks like I need to get laundry done soon or I’m going to be going to work naked. Grabbing an outfit and putting it on. I walk out of the closet grabbing a pair of my favorite pumps and head downstairs. I hope mom put some coffee on. I desperately need some and a lot of it.

Chapter Two

Walking into the kitchen mom has a steaming hot mug of coffee in her hands. Finally decided to come down. She hands me the mug and I pretty much yank it out of her hands. Before I give her a snarky remark I take a long sip of the coffee. It’s just the way I love it-- black.

I figured I would grace you with my presence by being late. Are you ready to go?

She shakes her head at me, giving me that knowing smile. She hands me my purse and another mug of coffee with a lid. As much as I love your presence. I would love it much more if we aren’t late for work. Let’s go before we both get fired.

I don’t know why we have to work for the coven and not open our own shop like we always wanted. I have been looking into places and crunching numbers. I think we can do it.

Mom heads for the door grabbing her keys off the counter. We have been over this. We can’t just open a store and go over the coven’s head. We owe them a lot for keeping us hidden for as long as they have. We won’t be able to hide much longer.

Walking out of the door, I turn around and lock it. I think we paid our debt a long time ago. I know, I know. They saved our lives and we owe them everything. I get it. But we shouldn’t have to hold back from enjoying our lives.

Heading to the car I get into the passenger side shutting the door. She hasn’t said a word. I hope I didn’t upset her again. This has been an argument for a while now. One I feel strongly about.

I look out the side window. The neighborhood hasn’t changed since I was a kid. Every single house is the same color, same landscape, even the same people have been here. My best friend Lexia, a.k.a Lex, lives three houses down from me. We have been unseparated for as long as I can remember.

Mom backs out of the driveway heading to our little town of Starburn, Washington. The population of three thousand — most of which are the coven. The rest are here for the protection and peace the coven can offer.

I watch the trees and mountains pass by. I really do love it here. I just wish it was different. My dreams are being held back and I don’t like that. Owning my own shop shouldn’t be difficult as it is. If the coven doesn’t agree or give you permission, then that’s it. No point in getting angry over the same stuff repeatedly. One day I will be away from here.

The town comes into view. It still takes my breath away. I’ve lived here all my life and still. The old feel to it makes me not want to leave. The buildings have a lot of history to them. The first thing you see when you get to town is the shop we work in. It is built like a small castle. It’s one of the biggest buildings besides the courthouse. The grey building is four stories high. Wall to wall windows on the street level. Small circular windows on the other three floors. The towers have slits to look out. I love the north tower, it’s my favorite place to be. It looks out at the town. I go up there to be away from everyone. When it gets too much, I find peace there.

Looking across the street at the coffee shop, I see my best friend Lex. She is talking to one of the coven leaders and doesn’t look happy. She is always so spunky. Seeing her like that means they are talking about me again. The coven leaders don’t like me because I always go against them any way I can. They try to control me, and I won’t allow it. They know I am the light source to keep the dark source in check or destroy it. I rather destroy it. Evil needs another ass kicking if you ask me. Of course, they say you can’t defeat the dark source without destroying myself. To tell you the truth I’m not ready to die at least not right this minute.

I look back to the shop and sigh. Time to contribute to our staying here. I don’t know how many times I’ve begged my mom for us to leave and never look back. I understand she is worried things will escalate if we leave. I’m starting to wonder if she is doing it because I am her daughter and is protecting me any way she can, or she is scared I will fail at what I was born to do. That is an argument for a later day.

Mom pulls in the parking lot behind the shop. When she puts it in park, she takes a deep breath. I know she hates fighting with me as much as I do with her.

Skye. I know you are getting antsy to be out on your own. I know you have dreams. I wish things were different. I know you think I am being unreasonable. You must understand that I am trying to protect you for as long as I can. I love you more than you can possibly know. I feel like a prisoner just like you. Please, can we stop fighting over the same argument?

I get out of the car. I