The Witching Pen (Book One of The Witching Pen Series)

By Dianna Hardy

It's hard being the most powerful witch on the planet. It's even harder when you're a twenty-five year old virgin who'll lose all of that power the moment you sleep with someone ... that's why Elena's never slept with her best friend and flatmate, Karl, despite the true feelings they harbour for each other.

Elena's about to discover that there are even more difficult things in life to deal with. One of them comes in the form of a pen she discovers one day, a pen that allows anything she writes to come to pass...

Suddenly, it's not just her powers or her heart that's at stake, but her very soul, as a dream demon with a seductive pull uses the pen to try and turn her away from her reality, and from Karl.

But the pen is just the beginning. Everything Elena has believed in is a lie, and her world is about to fall apart...

Book length: novella (37,000+ words)

REVIEWS:

"I loved this story, so full of romance and magic, not to mention a very intriguing Demon Mythology created by the author." - Bookaholics Book Club (Ninfa's Bookaholics Factor)

"...a great start to a good series." - Romance Novel Junkies

"Throw everything you think about novellas out the door on this one .... This is an excellent story and quite differs from most paranormal romance stories." - Bitten By Paranormal Romance

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bitten Fruit Books / Satin Smoke Press
• Release date: Jul 29, 2011
• ISBN: 9781466043879

Dianna Hardy

Dianna Hardy is an international bestselling author of (cross-genre) fantasy fiction, most notable for her dark paranormal fantasy and the raw, intense Eye of the Storm series. But her heart-warming Once Times Thrice series proves she thrives in the light as much as the dark. Whatever your poison, what she loves most is to bring you stories that are action-packed, fast-paced and not short of heat, with the focus on character development, relationship dynamics, and the plot. She writes full-length novels and short fiction.Although quite active online, Dianna prefers the quiet company of nature and animals to the hustle and bustle of people. She loves anything paranormal (she doesn't really consider it "para"), organic food, walking barefoot, the smell of the woods after rain, and summer days. However, she is also sustained by coffee, chocolate and the occasional vodka.Having graduated from Richmond Drama School (London) in '98, she spent the next few years in a multitude of jobs (both acting and non-acting), studying anything that fascinated her, searching her soul, and finally found her passion where it had always been: at the end of a pen.She currently lives in South Hampshire (United Kingdom) with her fiancé and their daughter, where she writes full-time.

Book preview

The Witching Pen

(The Witching Pen Series)

Based in London, 2011.

The Witching Pen (Book One of The Witching Pen Series)

text copyright © 2011, Dianna Hardy

First published by Satin Smoke Press, July 2011

This version updated December, 2023

Satin Smoke Press is an imprint of Bitten Fruit Books

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

In this work of fiction, the characters, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination, or they are used entirely fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced by any means or in any form whatsoever without written permission from the author, except for brief quotations embodied in literary articles or reviews.

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your eBook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Cover images: woman © coka | Shutterstock; butterfly © suns07butterfly | Shutterstock

Cover design by Bitten Fruit Books

Satin Smoke Press

Hampshire, UK

http://www.satinsmoke.com

For my sister.

Thanks for reading

all my crazy stuff.

Chapter One

"Feeeel everything around you … go into it … become one with it..."

It was at these moments Elena had to try really hard to feign interest. It wasn’t Amy’s fault. Amy was just … well, she was Amy, and this was a Wicca group.

Yeah, everyone’s a Wiccan.

Except Elena. Elena was not a Wiccan, but she couldn’t tell anyone what she really was: a thirteenth generation witch. Her lineage granted her powers that other fellow witches, whether Wiccan or not, did not have – Elena was the real deal. For the hundredth time, she had to remind herself that the reason she came to these sessions was to connect with others, to make friends. The fact that she already knew how to do what Amy was trying to teach (and knew how to do it using actual magic) was completely beside the point. Elena, although mostly happy with her own company, occasionally felt alone – too alone and too different.

Closing her eyes and trying hard to go with it, Elena let herself feeeel her surroundings. It was like slipping into a warm favourite coat and it came far too easily to her.

Elena, hold back – don’t get carried away. It was her own voice of reason saving her. No one needs to see what happens to you when you lose yourself in meditation...

At that thankful moment, Amy’s stopwatch beeped.

Okay everyone – great session today. Don’t forget your glamour spells for next week, she called out as people filed out the door and others hung back in the hope of gaining advice, maybe praise, from the group leader. They were all of mixed ages, anything from eighteen to sixty.

Elena, can I have a quick word with you?

Oh crap, not good.

Elena always tried very hard to stay out of everyone’s way, she tried especially hard not to engage in conversation with anyone. It wasn’t that she disliked people, but people invariably ended up disliking her … or at least afraid of her. But she knew that her distance wasn’t helping her cause to make friends and curb her loneliness, so instead, she put on her best I’m-one-of-the-crowd-voice, and said, Sure.

Elena, you’ve been coming here for three months now and you haven’t led a session yet. I think you should, or at least think about it.

Sure, she said again. No way – unless you’re all prepared to see me floating off the ground and accept it as reality.

Okay … well, how about next week? It’s the full moon – you could lead the glamour session.

Er—

Great! That’s settled. Amy beamed a smile through her immaculate, white teeth that left no room for compromise, and swiftly turned away from her to talk to her avid followers.

She had tried really hard to like Amy, but no matter which way she looked at it, she couldn’t help but think of her as fake. Not a fake witch – no, Amy exuded magic – more like a fake human being. She feigned compassion, Elena was sure of it.

With a slight smile, she reached into her bag as soon as she was outside the meeting room, and pulled out a pen. It was nothing special to look at – a standard fountain pen, with a dark blue, metallic surround. She could have bought it at the local newsagents, but she hadn’t – no, she’d found it in the middle of the suspension bridge that hung over the river. She would never even have picked it up were it not for the fact that at that second, she had been on the phone, with notepad in one hand, needing to write down a name her mum was spelling out for her. Her other hand had been rummaging around her rucksack for a pen she didn’t have … and then the sun had bounced off this one...

Knowing she really shouldn’t, but itching to let out some real magic, Elena pulled out her notepad and started to write...

Suddenly and completely out of the blue, Amy Langdon’s skirt fell from her hips and pooled around her ankles.

From behind her, back in the room she’d just walked out of, Amy let out a squeal of horror as a few hushed giggles floated on the air.

Okay, so I’m officially a bad witch, muttered Elena, "but that was so much fun!"

~*~

The smell of roast pork greeted her as she walked into her flat. Karl was cooking roast?

Hey! I’m home!

In the kitchen!

You’re cooking roast?

Yeah, why not?

It’s Saturday.

So? Is Saturday roast against the law?

No, it’s just, you don’t cook roast – I cook roast. You cook cheese on toast.

Well, maybe there are a few things you don’t know about me, he teased. How was your fake witch group?

She groaned. Don’t. Amy wants me to lead the session next week.

Karl hooted his laughter, which was met with a slap on the arm from Elena.

Does she know you’ll scare away her little band of followers if you’re allowed to do such a thing?

No. I don’t know how to get out of it. It’s crazy – I’m twenty-five years old, and yet the woman reduced me to feeling like a clumsy, mute teenager.

Just magic your way out of it.

"Not something I want to resort to. Come on, you know the rules."

Rules are there to be broken.

Hmm – spoken like a true non-thirteenth generation witch.

Well, if you’d do me the honour of making mad, passionate love to me, I’d be a witch just like you.

Elena sighed. Of course this wouldn’t be the last time they had this conversation.

Elena had known Karl, the boy from across the street, since she was five and he was seven. By his declaration, he’d been in love with her ever since he was ten years old and saw her bring a butterfly back from the dead, an act which had shocked her mother into an eerie silence. Elena had never reciprocated his love – at least, she didn’t think she loved him. Loved him as a best friend, undoubtedly, but not in love with him. It was in fact possible, that by the sheer impossibility of her ever being able to be with anyone at all, she’d simply denied any feelings she may have had – after all, that was better than admitting the truth. The truth would lead only to grief.

You don’t want me, you just want my powers. She knew she shouldn’t play this game, but she desperately wanted to make light of the situation. Karl was the least power-hungry person she knew.

Yep, okay, yes, you win – I want your powers, you’re absolutely right … now give them to me!

She squealed, half in frustration and half in delight, as he catapulted her over his shoulder and ran for the living room couch.

"Put me down!"

Not until you submit, woman!

Never! Never, never, never!

Regardless, he still dropped her onto the couch. She was not a large woman, but she was taller than average, with Karl only half a head taller than her.

You out of breath?

You kidding me? You’re a waif. He knelt on the floor and laid his head on her lap. Elena?

Yes?

What are your plans for the future?

A silence filled the air, growing heavier with every heartbeat.

Aren’t you going to burn the pork?

"It’s on a timer. And don’t change the subject. I know you don’t want to talk about me, or us, but there’s still you. What are you going to do?"

Karl... She really didn’t want to talk about this.

You’re a twenty-five year old virgin.

Hey!

Hey yourself – it’s true. I know it’s not your fault, but … is that it? You’re never going to give yourself to anyone because of a condition?

My lineage is not a condition.

It is if it means you can never have sex … or never show your love to someone.

And you’re hoping that someone is you, right? It was a bit of a sneer and she knew she was hitting below the belt, but her irritability levels had shot right up since he’d mentioned the V-word. Yes, she was a virgin. She had no choice in the matter. If she decided to sleep with someone...

I’m hoping you end up happily married to the man of your dreams and have a horde of beautiful kids that’ll keep you on your toes by turning your neighbours into various types of pond-life. He then shot her his signature grin. But if it happens to be me, then I wouldn’t say no.

His grin was truly infectious. As a boy, it was the first thing she’d noticed about him – that grin had gotten them both out of trouble on many occasions – and it was framed by a face that had never lost its boyish looks, from the dimples in his cheeks, to his unkempt, sandy blond hair and his sea blue eyes. He was your typical boy next door – the one your mum would want you to marry, unless, of course, you were Elena’s mum. Never the social butterfly, Katherine Green, Elena’s mother, had never taken to any boy that Elena had found remotely interesting. When she was fifteen, Elena had begun to talk about Karl more – maybe she’d given away something in her eyes, because that was when Katherine had sat her down and told her the awful truth of her magical inheritance...

"I need to talk to you, Elena, about sex."

"Eeew, Mum—"

"No interruptions, please. I’ve been dreading this day. Her mother sat down next to her at the breakfast table and took her hand. Elena, you’re special. Being the thirteenth in our family line makes you special – with that come certain responsibilities."

Elena rolled her eyes. "Mum,

Reviews for The Witching Pen (Book One of The Witching Pen Series)

[ufreviews · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A novella full of witchcraft, demons, and love. I was excited to read this novella mostly because I have really enjoyed the witchcraft aspect of urban fantasy lately, although I would say that this novella fits more into the paranormal romance side of things.A problem I always seem to have with most novellas is that there has to be enough action in them to keep the reader interested, but they have to achieve that action in a substantially smaller amount of time than a full length novel. I have always said writing a compelling short story is harder than writing a compelling novel. I think this novella suffers from this problem, so much action had to take place in such a short period of time and words that it starts to feel rushed in the end.That being said, the entire novella did not feel rushed. The first half or possibly even the first two thirds of the book flowed pretty well and did not feel rushed.Elena and Karl are this stories main characters, and like I said earlier I think this novella fits into the paranormal romance category because from start to finish the novella is about these two characters and their love for each other. The novella starts off with the two of them as friends who are roommates, but even in their everyday lives as friends the reader can sense that something more is on the horizon for these two. There chemistry is certainly clear from very early on in the novella. While the two of them feel organic for most of the story, towards the end they start to lose some of that organic feeling which is certainly a loss for the reader.Elena is being stalked essentially by a demon who is after her power. As the story progresses you find out more and more about not only Elena's power but also about her family and how unaware Elena really is about who she is. And of course not knowing these things about herself end up creating problems for her as the story progresses. There are a lot of family elements within this story which I think really helps the story, especially in the parts where it feels rushed.Another element of this story that I think works in its favor is the secondary character of Amy. Hardy seems to have made a point to introduce her to the reader, give her a pretty decent background, and really make the reader like Amy. The story does not really have an ending for Amy, so I can see how maybe the next novella in this series would be more about Amy, and if it is then I am looking forward to finding out how Amy's story ends.Overall, I would say this is a good novella. I would recommend it to anyone who likes paranormal romance AND novellas (I know a lot of people don't particularly care for novellas). This is certainly a romance based book so if you are person who only wants a little romance in a book, this is probably not the book for you. But overall I think paranormal romance lovers will enjoy this book as a quick weekend escape read.