Witches Be Burned: A Magic & Mayhem Novel Read Online Free PDF Page B

set that up—their soul-bond had instantly brought comfort to Nexi, while Haven explained where Nexi was, that her adoptive mortal parents were dead, and that Nexi was actually a supernatural living in a mortal’s world.
    Now she couldn’t quite imagine her life without Haven. Their relationship wasn’t sisterly, it was similar to that of what twins experienced—but possibly even closer than that. A connection of hearts and souls.
    The second supernatural to visit Nexi on her first night in the Otherworld had been Drake, the guardian who gave her life, and who had been a complete stranger to her. Nexi wished she had spent more time getting to know him than the few months she had with him before he died during the fight with Lazarus. Yet life was what it was, and there was no sense hoping for a different outcome. Besides, she believed Drake felt that he finally helped avenge his wife, the mother that Nexi had never met.
    She ignored the pang in her heart, refusing to return to that dark place of sadness that was still so fresh, turning her attention back to her friend. “What in the world happened to you?”
    “Your damn cat hasn’t shut up,” a low, angry voice bit off.
    Haven opened the door farther, showing off her boyfriend and fellow guardian, Finn, sitting on the couch. The deep frown on his slender face was so unlike him that Nexi’s brows rose higher. In all the time she’d known him, he had never lost his cool—Finn was always the calm, collected one. Now his crystal-blue eyes reflected grave annoyance, and his jaw muscles were twitching.
    Nexi slid her glance to the kitten sitting on the armrest of the couch, staring and swatting at Finn. While she appreciated that apparently the kitty had been bothering him, and perhaps was driving him mad, she was also silent. “When did the meowing stop?”
    “The moment you knocked on the door.” He looked to the kitten with a vicious glare. “She’s here. Get out.”
    The kitten glanced to the doorway and Nexi swore the kitty smiled before jumping off the couch and trotting over. “Come on, how can you hate her?” Nexi said, grinning at the kitty. “She’s so stinkin’ cute.”
    “Easily,” Haven snipped, reaching for the kitten. “You weren’t here for the past hour, listening to her cry and whine for you.” Those trickles of annoyance increased through their bond as she shoved the kitten into Nexi’s arms. “Have fun with that one.”
    Haven began to shut the door, and Nexi called, “Wait. You need to tell me about her—”
    The door slammed shut.
    Sighing, Nexi looked down at the kitten and frowned. “You sure know how to make friends. Guess you’re stuck with me, even if I have no idea
what
you
are
.”
    The kitten purred, rubbing her face into Nexi’s neck. She laughed, turning away from Haven and Finn’s apartment and strode along the hallway in the Witches’ House, located in the west side of the Otherworld’s castle. Each species had its special place in the medieval castle, or at least that’s what it resembled.
    From what she’d learned, the castle had been built sometime in the 1700s after the two worlds merged and made the treaty. The need for the Council meant they needed a headquarters, and no one had renovated it since. Nexi didn’t mind so much; she thought the castle had charm, and it reminded her of old Scotland—which she learned was where the leaders of Earthborn supernaturals were located back in the 1700s.
    While Nexi could stay in either the Witches’ House or Guardians’ House, because she was technically both, she had gravitated to the Guardians’ House, since she had trained as a guardian first. But she appreciated her witch magic just as much.
    As a Spirit Witch, she was blessed with all four elements: Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. All other witches other than Spirit Witches gained one element, like Haven, who excelled in the Earth element. Through the training over the few months, Nexi had mastered Air and