Read The Enchantress (Wicked Book 1) for Free Online Page B

of blackness.
  ‘I know it’s hard to believe,’ Leo’s voice boomed overhead, the words swooping
down to meet her as she thrashed harder.
  ‘You are powerful,’ Estella whispered from beside Laura’s head and she jerked
away, breathing heavily.
  Then, as quickly as they had appeared, silence and blackness swept back over
the abyss above. Laura let out her breath and closed her eyes, but as she began
to relax, the faces loomed back up to her sides, surrounding her.
  They screamed.
  Her eyes flew open as she again began to thrash, trying to break free of the
invisible grip that rendered her immobile. Alarm and terror clasped their
greasy hands around her lungs, squeezing the air from them.
  ‘Stop it! I’m human! Stop! LEAVE ME ALONE.’
  She took a deep breath and with all her might, pushed herself beneath the
surface and down, into the murky depths of the black sea.
    Laura sat
bolt upright in her bed, breathing heavily. Sweat pricked the back of her neck
and her eyes darted frantically across the room, searching for the faces. It
took a moment for her eyes to adjust, but when they did, she realised that, to
her relief, she was very much alone. Her eyes began to wander thoughtfully
across the room.
  Thin white curtains blew slightly in the breeze that swept through the open
window. Streams of light from the moon shone down over the foot of her bed. She
pinched the skin of her upper arm, hoping with all her heart that this was a
dream. A terrible, terrible dream she was yet to wake up from. However, as the
pain tingled beneath her pinch, she knew that this was reality.
  Laura pulled back the covers, dangling her feet over the side of the bed. She
rested her face in her hands for a long minute, then pushed back her tangled hair
and planted her feet firmly on the ground. She padded across the cold floor and
rested her hand on the cool brass handle of the door.
  Quietly, hesitating for only a moment, she turned the nob. She poked her head
out into the corridor, looking both ways. Dim lights shone down from the roof, illuminating
the hallway full of closed doors. She could see no movement around her so softly,
she tiptoed down the hall towards the library.
  Fumbling through the dark, Laura found the light switch and flicked it on, blinding
herself momentarily. She rubbed her watering eyes, willing them to hurry and
adjust. When they had, she began observing the paintings again. This time, she
noticed the distinct ‘W’ tattooed across the wrists of the Wizards and Witch.
  She drifted through the room, coming to a stop in front of the final
painting, the one of the Wizard who held the red light. His mark was slightly
different. It was not silver like the other two, but gold.
  ‘It’s hard to wrap your head around isn’t it?’
  Laura turned and watched as Caspian pushed himself upright from where he had
been leaning against the door frame.
  ‘I remember when they first told me I was a Wizard. I was in denial for weeks.
Kept wondering how it could all be possible.’
  He wandered forward, his hands laced behind his back, and came to a halt
before the first painting.
  ‘Did they tell you about me?’ Laura asked.
  ‘Yes. I’m so sorry about your father,’ he said softly.
  Laura didn’t say anything. She couldn’t, not without choking up again.
  ‘We’re all orphaned,’ he said.
  Laura’s mouth formed an ‘oh’ and guilt washed over her. She felt selfish for
acting as if everything was all about her.
  ‘Don’t feel bad, it was a long time ago for most of us,’ Caspian smiled as he
turned to face her.
  ‘None the less, I’m very sorry to hear that.’
  Caspian turned his gaze to the portrait before Laura. ‘This is Erebus Cain
Wizard. The first ever Wizard to walk the earth. The first to learn how to use
the power we possess.’ His voice was soft, his movements graceful.
  ‘What power exactly?’
  ‘There are a lot of aspects to our abilities, but I