Magic Within

By Sara Fitzgerald

Nancy, a purple-haired witch, has never fit in with the other youth in town. She has always felt something was deeply wrong with her. When Josh, her best friend, is attacked by a werewolf, Nancy seeks a potion to save him from the werewolf curse within him. But Josh's fate—werewolf or human—is his to decide when the potion is injected during his transition at the full of the moon.

 

Nancy, too, must make a choice. Her mother, her best friend, and a steadfast young man all see the magic within her. Can she finally accept who she is and give love a chance?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Champagne Book Group
• Release date: Feb 16, 2020
• ISBN: 9781771550710

Book preview

Magic Within

SARA FITZGERALD

CHAMPAGNE BOOK GROUP

Magic Within

This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

Published by Champagne Book Group

2373 NE Evergreen Avenue, Albany OR 97321 U.S.A.

~ * ~

Magic Within

Second Edition: February 2020

eISBN: 978-1-77155-071-0

Copyright © 2013 Sara Fitzgerald All rights reserved.

Cover Art by Robyn Hart

Champagne Book Group supports copyright which encourages creativity and diverse voices, creates a rich culture, and promotes free speech. Thank you by complying by not scanning, uploading, and distributing this book via the internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher. Your purchase of an authorized electronic edition supports the author’s rights and hard work and allows Champagne Book Group to continue to bring readers fiction at its finest.

www.champagnebooks.com

Version_1

For my beautiful daughter, Savanna. May

You always find the magic within you.

Chapter One

Tall pine trees scraped Josh Van Skyhawk’s bare legs as he darted in and out of the shadowy forest, searching for a werewolf. He jerked his broom to a halt in midair and swallowed hard, trying to catch his breath. He and his best friend Nancy, also a witch, had been flying fast for hours, thanks to his sister’s deceit.

He frowned. How could his sister do this to him? To Shadow Falls, the strange town that was now home to them? He and his sister, Samantha, had moved here with their mother a few months ago, searching for a magic potion to kill their tainted vampire blood before they turned into full-fledged vampires, embracing the night forever.

Samantha had let her vamp boyfriend, Drake, bite her twice. She claimed him, the blood sucker, could be her soul mate, and she couldn’t resist him. Now she was more vampire than human. And time was running out. If he didn’t get fur from a werewolf, Josh and Nancy couldn’t make the potion to kill Samantha’s and his tainted vampire blood. Her blood would change in three days, on her seventeenth birthday, unless Josh stopped it.

Not to mention the vampires would take over Shadow Falls. Only the potion could save them.

Suddenly he spied an enormous werewolf devouring what appeared to be a deer. Yet the meat of the deer would never satisfy the beast’s hunger like human flesh would. To werewolves, human flesh was like street drugs to a junkie.

Nancy. He motioned to her. I’ve spotted one.

Nancy Stevens flew over so fast she nearly bumped him off his broom when she collided into him. Ouch. The kids at school called Nancy strange and an outcast, but to him she was magical and beautiful even with her purple hair and lack of self-worth.

She grabbed her broom to steady herself. Where?

He pointed to the beast. There.

The monster finished gulping down his kill and spit out the bones. They bounced in every direction. He sniffed the air and turned his gaze toward them.

Nancy’s eyebrow arched. You’re joking? He looks huge even from this distance.

Let’s take a better look.

They dipped their brooms and zoomed down. The beast was oversized, with lots of ugly, red, jagged battle scars crisscrossing its dull yellow fur. It snarled at them and lifted a paw as though he longed to swat them out of the sky. Silver-colored saliva dripped from its deadly jaws. They could hear the deep rumbling of his stomach.

Josh frowned, staring at the werewolf. The odds weren’t good. That was a complete understatement. The odds were impossible.

Come on, Nancy said, pulling her broom back up. Let’s keep looking.

Josh shook his head. No. It will be dawn soon. We can’t pass this up. There’s too much at stake. There isn’t time to find another one.

Don’t say that. Nancy gripped his arm. Look at him. He’s huge and ugly and last time you encountered one you almost died. Need I remind you?

Josh shrugged as if it was no big deal. But she was right; his last encounter with a werewolf had nearly ended his existence. His stomach tightened. It was insane to attack this werewolf. Maybe there was enough time to find another, smaller, weaker one.

No, he couldn’t. It was his sister’s life. There was no way he’d let this werewolf go. Nancy, stay where it’s safe.

She dug her nails into his arm. It’s too dangerous. Please, let’s keep searching.

He shook his head. I can’t. There’s something I haven’t told you. Samantha let Drake bite her again.

Nancy’s eyes widened as the slight pink drained from her cheeks. That means—?

She’s more of a vamp than human. Don’t you see? I don’t have time to search for another one. Samantha’s will is weak. If I don’t do this, she’s gone forever. Josh gritted his teeth. I have to save her. I need werewolf fur for the potion.

Nancy bit her lip. I don’t want to lose you.

He gently touched her face. She seemed so vulnerable and afraid. She was more than a close friend, or at least she could be. In the moonlight, in spite of her bizarre looks, she was quite beautiful. He leaned toward her lips…

What was he thinking? He had to save his sister. His hand fell away from Nancy’s face. When I signal to you, swoop down and grab the fur. Josh pried her hand off his arm. Do not, I repeat, do not come until I have it.

I can’t let you fight by yourself. She bit her lower lip, a nervous habit.

He wanted to tell her he’d be fine, but looked away. It was now or never. The moon was fading and the hungry werewolf turned his back on them and headed up the mountains.

He could do this. He gripped the broom so tight his veins bulged. He cleared his throat and gulped in the thin mountain air. Flashes of his last encounter tormented his mind. No! Think. Stay focused.

Josh grabbed a smooth wooden stake out of his backpack. He’d tried in vain to get a gun with silver bullets. The stake would kill a vampire, not a werewolf. With luck it would distract the beast enough so Josh could get his fur and escape the jaws of death.

Mentally screaming a war cry, Josh dove toward the monster. He struck the werewolf’s back. The wood shattered into pieces and warm blood squinted out of the wound, spraying Josh. He frantically wiped it off his face. His trembling hands were drenched in the creature’s blood. The awful taste of vomit in his mouth made him gag. He was in a horror movie, only this wasn’t a movie.

The repulsive beast howled and jerked around. He locked gazes with Josh, who sucked in his next breath. He was going to die. What had he been thinking? Nancy was right—this werewolf was too powerful. He just made the biggest mistake of his life. Do something. Move.

The werewolf’s massive paw knocked Josh off the broom. He hit the ground hard and struggled to catch his breath. His arm thrashed around searching for his broom. At last, his fingers curled around the handle. The werewolf snarled as it crept closer, the stake still protruding from his back as blood dripped to the soil. The wolf’s ears lay flat against his head and his fangs glinted in the moon light like flashes of steel.

Without taking his gaze off the creature, Josh pulled out a pair of sharp scissors from his backpack. All he had to do was get some fur and then get as far away as possible without getting bitten, emphasis on not getting bitten. No way did he want to be a werewolf. Not even with all the power and freedom that came with it.

He struggled to sit up as he dragged his broom to his side. He slid his leg over the shaft. When he had the fur, he would take to the sky. Just get the fur.

The beast was a few feet away. Josh could smell his foulness. He lunged at the beast and clipped as much fur off as a single swipe of the blade could cut. He cut too deep.

The creature howled in pain. Josh grabbed a fistful of fur dampened in the beast’s blood and held it high. Nancy!

Within seconds she flew down and snatched it. Now what? He was about to be devoured by a stinking werewolf. His only hope was to launch himself in the sky before the beast stopped howling at the moon. Josh held onto his broom and began to push his feet off the ground. Nancy screamed; the piercing sound surrounded him.

Sharp pain jolted him. Razors ripped into his flesh. The jaws of death sank deep into his shoulder. He choked back his cry for help. Nancy was powerless. He’d been bitten; there’d be no salvation for him.

If he didn’t die, he’d become cursed. A beast would live within him and every full moon; he’d go through the torment of the brutal change. Worse, he’d be a monster who killed. Just let me die! Please, God, let me die tonight.

~ * ~

Josh groaned, shifting his body on the hard ground. Every single cell in him burned. Was he in hell? He managed to open one swollen eye and stared at the blazing rays of sunlight. Not hell, but close. He lay at the base of a mountain. Thick wild weeds pricked his skin and mounds of dirt were scattered all around him.

He touched the crusted blood on his arm and choked on bile. He was alive, but now a beast lived within him. What now? Maybe he could make it back to Shadow Falls. No! Not an option. Not now, not ever. The next full moon, he’d change into a werewolf.

Maybe he should lay still and let the vultures come and finish him off. The scent of his blood would bring them soon. Never did he imagine dying like this, pecked to death by ugly old vultures.

There he is, shouted a teenage girl.

Boy, Eric, you really did a number on him. I wonder if he’ll survive, said another female.

I could care less, the stupid idiot. He stabbed me in the back with a stake as if I was a vampire. Doesn’t he know his monsters?

The