Coven

By

Lacey Weatherford

Other Books by Lacey
Weatherford

Of Witches and
Warlocks

The Trouble With
Spells

The Demon Kiss

Blood of the White
Witch

The Dark Rising

Possession of
Souls

Book of Shadows

Fire & Ice

Chasing Nikki
Series

Chasing Nikki

Finding Chase

Chased Dreams

Crush Series

Crush

Smitten

Love

Smolder

Fringe Series

Tell Me Why

Leather’s Novels

Allure

The Story of Us
Series

Wanderlust

Novellas

Faery Kissed

Over The River and Through
The Woods

Anthology

A Midsummer Night’s
Fling

COVEN

Of Witches and Demons, Book
One

Copyright © 2014 Moonstruck Media

and Lacey Weatherford

Edited by Kim Swain, Red
Line Editing

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Published by

Moonstruck Media

Arizona

Smashwords
Edition

Without limiting the rights under copyright
reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in
any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of
both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names,
characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the
product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The
author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of
various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have
been used without permission. The publication/use of these
trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the
trademark owners.

This book is available in both ebook and
print formats.

For my best #ManFan, Kyle Peck. If everyone
had your heart of gold and zest for life the world would be nearly
perfect! Keep surviving! The happiness and friendship you bring to
so many is a gift!

Prologue

Vance Mangum-

Staring at my wife, Portia, compassionately,
my heart twisted with every moan that escaped her lips. Sweat
beaded on her forehead, plastering stray strands of thick black
hair against it.

“I can’t do it anymore,” she said, panting,
her eyes staring at me, mournfully.

“Yes, you can,” I encouraged her. “You’re
doing great. It won’t be long, now.”

Portia’s mother, Stacey, continued to wipe
Portia’s face with a damp cloth in an attempt to help cool her
down. “You’re so close now, sweetheart. Just a few more pushes and
you get to meet your new baby.”

“Let us know when you feel the next
contraction,” Krista, my mom, whispered with a smile. “We’ll help
you.”

Gratitude infused me. I was so grateful to
have both of them here. Yes, my medical training included
childbirth; but it was one thing to practice on a dummy and another
to actually deliver your own baby. Adrenaline coursed through
me.

“The next one’s starting.” Portia
grimaced.

Stacey and my mom each grabbed one of her
legs, lifting.

“Okay. Pull your knees to your chest and
push,” I instructed, watching carefully. I couldn’t help the wide
smile that creased my face. “I can see the head, baby. She’s got
lots of dark hair.”

Anticipation built inside me. I knew my
daughter was about to be delivered at any second.

“Ahhhh!” Portia cried out. “It burns.”

“That’s normal, honey,” Stacey said. “Just
keep pushing through it.”

With a pop and a gush, the head came
out.

“That’s good!” I said, swiftly rotating the
small infant and helping to guide her shoulders out. In one whoosh,
she suddenly slipped into my waiting hands. Tears filled my eyes as
I quickly suctioned her mouth and nose and began cutting and
clamping the cord, making sure to note the time. It was 9:42 PM on
April 2nd . . . my birthday.

Rubbing the baby briskly with a towel, I did
my best to stimulate her into crying and opening up those lungs. I
couldn’t help smiling as a loud wail filled the room. Lifting her
for Portia to see, I smiled. “Mommy, meet Kenna.” Tears continued
to leak from my eyes.

“Oh my gosh! She’s so beautiful!” Portia
replied with a sob. “I can’t believe she’s finally here.”

Stacey and my mom were both grinning from
ear to ear, with tears streaming down their faces.

“You want to hold her?” I asked Portia and
she nodded, reaching out.

Suddenly, an old, almost foreign, sensation
hit me hard and I gasped.

“What is it?” Mom asked, staring at me
quizzically; but I was already lost.

The scent of a fresh-blooded witch wafted up
into my nostrils—a scent that smelled surprisingly like Portia’s.
Immediately, my teeth lengthened in anticipation of a drink long
denied. Unable to help myself, I felt the demon warlock take over
and all I could think of was having a drink of my baby’s blood.

“No!” My mom screamed, lunging for me; but I
was too swift for her, yanking the infant away.

Breathing heavily, I fought to control the
raging desire to feed the long dormant monster inside me; yet, I
continued lifting the small child nearer, unable to deny the heady
scent. My whole body was shaking uncontrollably.

Giving in, I leaned closer, shielding the
baby from the grandmothers who were beating on my back. I was so
close, just a hairsbreadth away from something so delicious.

I opened my mouth.

Suddenly, the baby burst into flames.

Shocked, I yanked back, the surprise
knocking me from my bloodlust as I stared at her in wonder.

“Oh my gosh!” My mom gasped, taking a step
back from the roaring inferno in my arms. “She’s manifesting!”

“I thought children weren’t born with
unleashed powers,” Stacey said, eyes wide.

“They aren’t,” my mom replied. “I’ve never
heard of this happening.”

“Vance?” Portia’s questioning voice caused
me to turn and look at her.

“She’s a fire witch—like me,” I said in awe.
“She’s protecting herself. I can hear what she’s thinking.”
Laughing, I stared at the flaming bundle, drawing her to my chest
and holding her close. “She felt the bloodlust in me and knew she
was in danger.”

Portia stared at us both, her eyes showing a
mixture of wonder and worry. It was at that moment I realized I
could no longer hear Portia’s thoughts. Apparently the baby was the
one who’d formed the connection between us. Now that she was
delivered, the mental connection with my human wife had been
severed and I immediately, mourned the loss. I loved being linked
with Portia in that way.

Holding the baby out in front of me, I
stared down at her still flaming body. “I won’t hurt you.” I
promised. “Daddy loves you. You just took me by surprise.”

Instantly, the flames went out and I
laughed, realizing she believed me—trusted me. It made my heart
soar.

Slowly, I extended her toward Portia.

“Wait! What if she bursts into flames?”
Stacey asked in alarm. “Portia isn’t magical anymore. She could be
greatly harmed.”

Smiling, I shook my head. “No. Portia is her
mommy. She won’t hurt her.” Confidently, I placed the baby in my
wife’s arms.

More tears fell from her eyes as she happily
held her child for the first time. “Hello, sweet Kenna. Momma loves
you.”

And overwhelming abundance of love suddenly
burst through me and I realized it was coming from the baby.

“She loves you, too,” I said. “So much that
I’m not even sure how to describe it.”

My mom and Stacey kept glancing back and
forth between my wife and me, looking as completely bewildered, as
I felt.

“I think we’re going to need to raise this
baby somewhere else,” I said with a slight laugh. “Somewhere away
from society.”

My mom nodded. “I agree. It’d be awfully
hard to explain away her spontaneously combusting in the middle of
an outing or something.”

“Very hard.” I didn’t care what I needed to
do to protect my family. As long as we were together, that was all
that mattered.

Leaning over, I brushed my lips against
Portia’s head. “You’re a beautiful mother,” I whispered.

She eyed me with concern. “Are you sure
you’re going to be okay?”

I nodded. “I will be. It just caught me
unaware. I wasn’t prepared for it. From now on, I will be. I give
you both my word.”

Sighing, she visibly relaxed. “I simply want
us all to be happy.”

“We will be, baby,” I replied, kissing her
head, again, and reaching out to pat the small infant in her arms.
“We will be.”

Chapter One

Kenna Mangum-

“Are you sure you want to do this, Kenna?”
My dad stared at me from the driver’s seat, worry and concern
clearly etched on his face. “It’s not too late to change your mind,
you know. I can turn the car around and we can drive home right
now.”

Laughing, I shook my head. “You just moved
our entire family across the United States to give me this
opportunity and now you’re trying to talk me out of it?”

He smiled slightly; but it didn’t erase the
worry from his eyes. “I’m just nervous. You’ve never been out in
public on your own before. If there were a problem, it would take
time to reach you. That makes me uncomfortable.”

I snorted, rolling my eyes. “Dad, I can
easily kick the ass of every person in that building and you know
it. You trained me well.”

Eyes softening, he smiled a bit wider.
“Watch your language, young lady. I know you can, but you can never
be too careful.” Reaching out, he stroked my dark hair. “You’re the
most important person in the world to your mother and me. I
promised her I’d protect you from all the evil out there and I
intend to keep my word.”

Leaning over, I briefly kissed him on the
cheek. “And you’ve done a fantastic job, so far. Now it’s time to
trust me and let me grow up a little. I want to live
this—experience this—for myself. It’s the only senior year I’ll
have; and it’s my last chance to experience public high school. I’m
tired of homeschooling and I want to meet people my own age.”

“I know. And I don’t mean to push my own
insecurities off on you, but I’m of the opinion ‘better safe than
sorry’.”

“Daaad.” I dragged the word out. “How many
times have we had this conversation? I’m not going to change my
mind. You know that or you wouldn’t have moved here. And honestly,
how much more can we blend in? We live in frickin’ Salem,
Massachusetts. I could stand on the corner and scream at the top of
my lungs that I’m a witch and no one would even blink twice. The
school mascot is the Salem Witches for crying out loud—I’m fairly
sure you picked the absolute best location on the planet for a
family of witches to blend in.”

Chuckling, he shook his head. “When did you
become so logical?”

“The day I was born,” I teased. “And I’m
pretty sure I got it from you.”