Raven and the Rose

Raven and The Rose

By

Charisma Knight

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

®

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places, businesses, and incidents are from the

author’s imagination, or they are used fictitiously and are definitely fictionalized. Any

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trademarks or pictures used are specifically in a descriptive capacity.

No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form (electronic or print) without

permission from the author. Authors do have permission to reproduce content and or

characters they have contributed to this anthology, but may not use or reproduce sections

of other authors’ works from this anthology without that author’s permission unless it is

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Cover Art: Charisma Knight

Editors: Wicked Muse Productions

Shannon Williams

Chapter One

W
ith the power of her mind, Gypsy Rose McQueen opened The Book of Whispers to study

each page and search for a spell to heighten and maintain her power. The Blood Moon curse had

begun. This moon occurred once every one hundred years, affecting the descendants of Clara

Rose. It was now taking a toll on their abilities.

Closing her eyes, she focused her mind and listened. Her ancestors’ whispers had grown

faint over the last several days, after the death of her cousin, Seneca. Her
Gypsy
strength had waned. Along with her powers and she no longer possessed the ability to see into Queensville,

thanks to the Blood Moon.

Kezzie, her raven familiar flapped her wings and squawked several times. Flames danced

high from the large pillar candles she’d lit in preparation of communing with her ancestors.

“Quiet, Kezzie. I need to concentrate,” she whispered sharply to the bird, as the pages began

to turn slowly on their own.
“Seneca.”
She fought back a few tears. Her cousin’s death had been untimely while she aided the younger witch in battling and containing an incubus terrorizing the women of Queensville.

Her aunt Viola had been beside herself with the loss of her only child, but in a matter of

days, the older woman had finally pulled herself together.

After the Closure Ceremony, her mate, Storm accompanied Seneca’s spirit to the afterlife.

His duty was typical and traditional as a shaman, creator and a raven shifter, just as Micah

Ravencloud’s duties were to his mate, Clara and the rest of the McQueen’s of the 1800’s.

Focusing on the task at hand, she concentrated her powers on the book, but the pages ceased

their actions, and Rose could barely hear the whispers. Everything had become a gnarled mess,

with the exception of the glyphs changing and moving over the crinkled brown pages.

What were they trying to tell her?

“No,” she whispered, as she mentally turned the pages. “There has to be something to stop

this. Or at least help me acquire more power.” She squinted at the words on the last page of the magic book, but couldn’t quite make them out. “Need, embrace? Dark? What are you trying to

tell me?” she asked the book. Her voice filled with frustration and despair. Rose didn’t want to embrace the fact that all inhabitants of Raven’s Falls could possibly meet their end if she didn’t strengthen her powers.

With the recent activities occurring, she tried every spell known to the McQueen family and

failed miserably. An enemy walked among them, and for now, she was powerless to do anything

about it.

Rose was the strongest of all the McQueen witches and the heart of them all. When she

weakened, so did they. Resting her head in the palms of her hands, Rose allowed the book to slam shut. Tears of anger stung her eyes as she fought to clear her mind. She needed to remain calm.

There were too many lives depending on her.

She heard the raven squawk and the sound of her feathers flapping. She looked up at Kezzie,

shooting her a piercing gaze. “I’m sorry. I just needed to concentrate.” A few moments of silence passed. “Kezzie, there is something you can do. I need you to fly into the next world to be my

eyes and ears. On wings of flight, I implore you, bring to me information on those who would

fight against a McQueen witch.”

Kezzie squawked several times before disappearing.

Rose sighed. She’d exhausted herself and needed to recharge her energies, or what was left

of them.

Suddenly, a knock came at the door. “Who is it?”

“Tobias. Rose. It’s urgent.”

“Come in.”

Her cousin rushed into her chambers, his face darkened with worry. Sweat beaded his toffee

skin, and strong emotion lingered in his hazel-brown depths. “Ah, so you have the book. When

you’re finished with it, please return it to the Hall.”

“I had planned on it,” she assured him. “What’s wrong?”

“We have a problem.”

“On top of all the problems we already have?” She rose from her altar, shaking her head.

“Those break-ins are becoming even more gruesome. A few hours ago, a family of dragon

shifters were brutalized by four wolf shifters, but only one was detained,” the young witch

informed her. “They’ve been stirring up trouble all over town.”

“Is the family all right now?”

“Depends on what your definition of ‘all right’ is.” Tobias folded his arms across his chest.

“Rose, their children are shaken and the parents are beyond pissed. The father was injured while battling the wolves. It was a pretty nasty scene. He had to shift and fight off the pack with

flames.”

“As they should be,” she gasped. “Tobias, I need more time to strengthen my powers. Yes,

it’s normal for a McQueen witch’s power to fade a bit during the blood moon in preparation for

The Heightening, but to have our town open to outside elements is something totally different.

My powers are almost non-existent at times and I don’t know why.”

“Council meeting is tomorrow evening. I know of no other McQueen witch in
this
century who has dealt with such an issue. Clara Rose herself didn’t even deal with this sort of dilemma,”

he informed her. “We need to come up with answers and put our citizens at ease. Until then, we’ll exhaust our powers if we continue concentrating on the seals to keep us hidden. We need to

transport ourselves into Queensville to see if everything is okay there.”

“I’ve already sent Kezzie to bring us the information we need.”

“You and I must take a trip down to the police station tonight. Louis Rosseau has been

released from the hospital and the officers aren’t getting anywhere with him. He was arrested last week for breaking into Pearl’s house and attacking her.”

Rose already heard about the break-in at Pearl’s. “Pearl Gordon?”

Tobias nodded and ran a hand over his short black wavy hair. “I’m sure he has the

information we need and only we can obtain it from him.”

Rose grinned. “And we shall.”

“I’ll meet you there in half an hour.” Tobias turned on his heel and left the room.

Rose walked to her terrace that overlooked the waterfalls. She closed her eyes, trying to clear her mind. “Clara, give me the strength to find my way. Please. I’m listening but you’re not

speaking. None of you are speaking. Why is this happening to me? What have I done wrong?”

She peered up into the sky, awaiting an answer from her ancestors.

A soft breeze embraced her as energy rushed in from the top of her head to the soles of her

feet. She inhaled quickly and sharply exhaled. “Thank you,” she whispered, knowing her power

and time were limited.

* * *

At the police station, Rose and Tobias were greeted by Luke Matriano and Leslie Shapiro.

“Right this way.” Luke escorted them into Louis’ cell. “He’s been a real dick, and so has the

wolf, Nelson we caught several hours ago.” Leslie gestured to the cell across from Louis.

Rose peered at Nelson.

He returned her gaze with a ferocious snarl.

“He’s under some sort of mind control,” she told to them as she peered into the man’s

faraway gaze. “Tobias, you question him, I’ll deal with Louis. It’s almost midnight, and I need to look into some other things.”

“Sure thing.” Tobias waited for Leslie to open the wolf’s cell. “Wait, I want to see Louis for

myself before I question Nelson.”

Leslie nodded. “Louis has been making threats against Pearl even though the poor woman’s

done nothing to him,” Leslie stated. “The man’s quite sick in the head.”

“How is Pearl?” Rose asked as she stepped inside the cell.

“She’s fine,” Luke answered.

Louis winked and smiled sheepishly at her as he sat in the cell. “Ah, the infamous Gypsy

Rose and her cousin Tobias. What can I do for you this evening?”

“First off, you’ll tell me how you managed to slip into Raven’s Falls.” Rose’s tone came out

low, calm and almost hypnotic.

“Ah, Ma Cherie, I cannot tell you of such things.” He smiled and leaned against the wall.

“We can, however, discuss how you and I will rendezvous when I am released from this dreaded

place.”

“Ugh, you turn my stomach, termite. And don’t call me Ma Cherie.” She glanced at the

officers. “Please leave. I have no time to dick around with this man. I need answers and I need them now,” she seethed in a low voice.

Both officers nodded and vacated the room. “Tobias, whenever you’re ready, I’ll open

Nelson’s cell,” Leslie told him.

Tobias rose and paced the floor before walking up to Louis. The witch frowned as he crossed

his arms across his wide chest. “Tell my cousin what she wants to know.” With that, he strode out of Louis’ cell and to Nelson’s where Leslie was waiting.

Louis swallowed hard, then turned his attention back to her.

Rose simply smiled.

“Do you think Tobias will get anything out of him?” Louis laughed. “You witches can’t

harm me…I’m not afraid of any of you.”

“Apparently, we’ll have to use force.” Snapping her fingers with a sigh, she forced Louis

into a hypnotic state. She smiled satisfactorily. “Look into my eyes, Louis.”

Louis returned her smile. “Yes ma’am.”

“How did you arrive in Raven’s Falls?”

“Vampires, ma’am.”

Her breath caught and she narrowed her eyes, then glanced over at Tobias, She turned her

gaze back to Louis. “Which vampire coven?”

Louis shook his head. “I’m sorry ma’am, I dunno.”

Rose sighed. “Did these vampires share blood with you, Louis?” When the man nodded, she

cursed softly. “Louis, I want you to be my eyes and ears. If anything happens, you will not

hesitate to relay the message to the nice officers or myself and Tobias. Do I make myself clear?”

Louis nodded. “Yes ma’am. I will report everything I know.”

“That’s a good boy.” Rose snapped her fingers.

Louis shook his head and grinned. “Like I said, Ma Cherie, you’ll get no information from

me.”

“Sure,” she scoffed with a soft smile as she rose to her feet. “Have a good evening, Louis.

That will be all.” She and Tobias walked out to the lobby of the station and were greeted by

Leslie and Luke.

“You get anything out of him?” Leslie asked.

“He’s shared blood with vampires. That doesn’t bode well,” Rose informed them.

“That’s the same story Nelson told me,” Tobias mumbled. “I’m not liking this, Rose.”

“It doesn’t measure up,” Luke interjected, with a puzzled look on his face. “Louis terrorized

Pearl because she rejected him several months ago. That’s his motive. That’s why he came here.”