Page 1 of A Witchy Spell Ride

Chapter One

Selene

Briaris curled upside-down on my couch, wearing rainbow socks and an oversized T-shirt that readPsychic? I Thought You Said Sidekick.Eating cereal straight from the box like it was a damn food group and giving me shit about my love life.

“So,” she says between crunches, “You ever consider maybe you’re cursed?”

I shoot her a look over the rim of my coffee mug. “You’re in my house insulting me before noon. You wanna try again?”

She grins, upside-down, all wild curls and eyeliner like war paint.

“Not cursed, cursed. Just… hexed. Like a romantic voodoo magnet for trash men.”

“Wow,” I say dryly. “It’s so comforting when your best friend calls you a human bad luck charm.”

“You’re welcome. But listen—this psychic I heard about? She’s not just good. She’s weird, good. Off-the-books, tarot-in-the-back-room-of-a-laundromat good.”

I raise a brow. “That’s specific.”

“She did Cross a reading last year.”

I sit up. “Wait—Cross?”

“Yup.”

“Your brother Cross? Raven Kings’ book-burying, body-hiding, terrifying accountant?”

“The one and only.”

I stare at her. “And what? She told him to diversify his portfolio?”

“She told him to ditch a deal he was making with some off-grid gunrunner in Florida.” She points her spoon at me. “And two weeks later, that guy got smoked in a warehouse fire. Coincidence? I think not.”

I blink. “Why the hell didn’t you lead with that?”

“Because you always roll your eyes when I talk about fate. You think my spell jars are just glitter and glue.”

“They are glitter and glue.”

She ignores me and sits up properly, curls sticking out like a mad halo. “So, here’s the deal. We gotonight. It’s in the Quarter. Real low-key. No neon signs or chicken feet.”

“Great, I was hoping for a night of witchcraft and risk.”

Her grin widens. “Admit it. You’re intrigued.”

I was.

But not for the reasons she thought.

I hadn’t told anyone—not her, not Reaper, not even Vex—that lately, I’d been feeling…

Watched.

Not every second.

Not even every day.

But enough that it sat heavy in my bones.