Read The Silent Goddess: The Otherworld Series Book 1 for Free Online Page B

glared icily at Annie.  Annie tried to cover her smile with her hand.  Kat attempted to appear intimidating but her tiny frame and cute cherub-like face made that almost impossible.  Annie could only laugh harder.  She knew her friends took their magick (with a “K” because the other kind of magic was just illusions and tricks) seriously.  Annie respected their religion and their beliefs; she just couldn’t wrap her brain around the idea of ‘magick’.  Of course they had all tried to explain it to her.  Annie didn’t understand how a bag full of dried up plants and rocks could fix problems; eventually they gave up.  An occasional house cleansing was all she would allow them to do.  A purification of negative energy or, as Annie liked to think of it, cleaning the air.  Besides she loved the way her house smelled, okay she liked the way it felt too, after the purification ritual was done.  Maybe that’s why she always had to add that stupid line at the end of every ritual so she would be reminded that there was nothing magickal in the world.
                  Kat tried to hold onto her death stare but lost control of her facial muscles as her scowl slowly turned into a smile and then a full laugh.  Kat was adorable there was no other way to describe her.  She had long, almost perfectly styled, straight black hair that fell just below her shoulders.  Her eyes, a beautiful shade of blue, were always made up in a perfect cat-eye.  Her face was always happy and her bubbly personality was infectious.  Give her some caffeine and she could run for hours without taking a break.
                  “So,” Kat said trying to control the giggles.  “Why did I have to come and do another house cleansing?”
    Annie’s smile slipped from her face.  She looked around her tiny kitchen, her eyes darting back and forth between her black fridge and black stove.  Why was everything in Salem Black? Even her friends wore all black, well except for Robert, but even he preferred darker colors.
                  Kat’s foot tapping on the floor dragged her attention back, “Annie?”
                  Annie cringed. Kat may have only been five foot two but she was definitely not one to be messed with.  Annie had personally seen her scare a man well over a foot taller than her out of her store with no more than a few words and a dramatic finger point.
                  “Well,” Annie hedged.  “You see stuff just kind of keeps moving around.”
                  Kat raised a dark eyebrow at her questioningly and nodded for her to continue.  Annie was mortified to have to admit to the strange things that had been happening.  It was never a good thing when the pronounced skeptic had no mundane explanation for something.
                  “Like yesterday I put my coffee cup on the counter,” she said pointing to the spot where the cup had been.  “I got wrapped up in a phone call from my father,” she said pausing to steal a look over at Kat, who rolled her eyes and huffed.  Kat knew better than anyone how overly protective her father could be.  If he didn’t talk to his only daughter at least once a day he would panic.  She learned the hard way to always talk to him once a day.  Shortly after moving to Salem he had called the police when he had not heard from her in twenty four hours.  It had been embarrassing, but it was the day she met Kat.  After the police had left Kat had come over and introduced herself.  More than just a little curious she had asked Annie why the police were “visiting”.  A couple of hours and a few glasses of wine later and they were best friends.
                  “So,” she continued taking a deep breath.  “When I finally got off the phone with him the cup was not where I left it.  Instead it was in the cabinet.”
                  “Maybe you just forgot you put it away,”