Read The Magick of Dark Root (Daughters of Dark Root) for Free Online Page A

Sister House had been waiting for us, and now that the daughters of Dark Root were all home, it could make its plans.
    The trees that surrounded Sister House rustled as wind caught their branches, conjuring up sounds like whisperings. I stood on tiptoe trying to make out the words.
    “Maggie. Maggie. We see you.”
    I scanned the forest, peering into the grayness through the rain. My skin crawled as I realized that someone watched me. Or something.
    I charged towards the house, sloshing through mud that grabbed onto me like quick sand.  
    “Maggie. Maggie.”  
    At last, I stood trembling before the door.  
    A covenant would be made within these walls today that would bind me to Dark Root forever. I turned the knob and walked inside.
     

 
    Three
    WELCOME ALL AGAIN

     
    November, 2013
    Sister House
    Dark Root, Oregon
     
    “Knock, knock,” I said, pulling a smile onto my face as I stepped inside, nearly tripping over the orange tabby lounging in the entryway who merely yawned at my arrival.
    “Aunt Maggie!” My five-year-old niece leapt over the cat and barreled into me, wrapping her arms around my legs. “You made it!”
    “I couldn’t stay away from you, Mae,” I said, calling her by her birth name. She wrinkled her nose and I corrected myself. “I mean June Bug.”  
    I bent down to give her a hug, as always astounded by how much she looked like her mother with her cream-colored hair and robin’s egg blue eyes. “Hey, lookie there. You lost another tooth!”  
    She opened her mouth, revealing a large gap in the top front row.  
    “At this rate the tooth fairy will be broke by springtime,” I said.
    June Bug grinned, brushing a wisp of fine hair from her face. “Grandma says we should put her dentures under the pillow and see how much money she gets for them. Gross!”  
    A week ago, we’d all wondered whether her grandma would ever leave the hospital and here she was cracking jokes about her fake teeth. I couldn’t help but laugh.
    June Bug scooped up the cat, which my mother had also named Maggie. “Do you want the kitty cat? Aunt Ruth Anne’s allergic.”
    I shook my head. The last thing I needed was something else relying on me. “No, honey. I’m sorry. Auntie can’t take a cat right now.”
    “I guess we have to take him to a shelter then.” Her bottom lip pushed.  
    She released the cat. He bounded up the staircase, as if understanding its impending fate. June Bug took my hand as Merry strolled into the living room carrying a steaming mug. Dressed in red velvet and brown corduroy, with her blond hair tied back in a bow, she looked like she belonged on the holiday cover of an East Coast magazine.  
    “How’s it going, sis?” she asked, joining us and planting a kiss on my cheek.
    “Aunt Maggie is afraid she’ll kill the cat, mommy.” June Bug answered, looking between myself and Merry. “Isn’t that right, Aunt Maggie?”
    I quickly withdrew my hand from June Bug’s. I had forgotten that she could read people when she touched them, able to feel and even take on their emotions. It was a gift she shared with her mother. I should have cleansed my energy before coming into the house.
    “I think she’s scared she’s going to hurt her baby, too,” June Bug continued. “But we won’t let anything happen to them. Right?”
    I raised an alarmed eyebrow to Merry. Though June Bug was an empath, she seemed to know more than she should, even with that gift.  
    Merry knelt down so that she was eye level with her daughter. “Well, that’s understandable honey. Having a baby is a scary thing. But we are all going to be here to help Aunt Maggie, right? And let her know that everything is okay.”
    June Bug nodded and Merry resumed her standing position. “Now, honey, go tell everyone that Aunt Maggie’s here, okay?”  
    June Bug darted off, a blur of blond hair and red satin, calling out “Aunt Maggie’s Here! Aunt Maggie’s here!”
    “Are you sure she’s only five?” I