Seizing Her Power

By Rowena Aiello

We're strong.

 

We're powerful...

...but so are they.

Will our powers be enough to stop them from tormenting our loved ones?

Meet Kendra, Roxy, and Effie. As witches in training at the prestigious Circle Academy, they're destined for greatness, once they can tame the magic inside them.

But as they're each gearing up to become the leaders they're meant to be, sinister things start happening in the Academy. Things that have been going on for some time.

And things that are now hurting the ones they love.

Will they each be able to seize their powers in time to stop their loved ones from suffering?

• Language: English
• Publisher: M Publishing
• Release date: Feb 4, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215183175

Rowena Aiello

Rowena Aiello's love of fantasy and romance stories began when she was reading Twilight fanfiction in high school—because where else was she going to find anyone who would make sure Bella/Jacob would be endgame? After years of fruitless searches in mossy woods, snowy mountaintops, and gorgeous mansions revealed no trace of hidden vampires, werewolves, or any other such creatures, she took to creating her own versions. She now lives in a definitely-haunted house with her wonderful but sparkle-free family.

Book preview

Seizing

her

Power

Three Fantasy Romance Stories

Rowena Aiello

Copyright © 2022 by Rowena Aiello

All Rights Reserved

CHAPTER ONE

KENDRA

I emerged from class with my hands tingling, my palms pink from practicing magic. I stared at the fading lines, at all of the places where power had shot into the air around me, and smiled, shivering only a little in the December air. Massachusetts threatened to dump more snow onto me, but I couldn’t seem to care about that.

My powers were getting stronger. As the daughter of the leader of our community’s largest Circle of witches, I was nineteen and finally coming into my own. Soon, I’d have magic enough to make real Love spells, not just the practice ones we were assigned at our benches.

It thrilled me to the point where I had almost laughed out loud during class. Except there were so many others in the room who struggled that it felt indulgent.

So now, in the privacy of the crushing crowd of Circle Academy, I allowed myself a smile. I could hardly believe that, in less than a week’s time, I’d be taking my Circle Exam to prove that I could become the leader of the Deep Breaths Circle, just like my mom did before me.

Closing my palms, I tapped into that power again. This time, instead of directing it into a cauldron or a pile of crushed herbs in my mortar, I sent it outwards, towards my friends, Roxy and Effie.

I can’t wait to show you guys what I can do now, I said, feeling the link of their powers hooking onto mine.

They each let out a burst of excitement and curiosity before breaking the connection. Opening my palms, I let them go. Classes now were hard enough without people contacting us in the middle of them, but I couldn’t help myself. If any teacher felt what I’d just done, I’d insist only that I was proud and couldn’t wait to share about this.

For now, I hurried off to the dining hall, stomach growling from exertion and body drain. It was hard work, doing that much magic in a small amount of time. Fortunately, people around campus weren’t dainty eaters because of it. We consumed almost as much food as a marathon runner each day. If I pigged out a little at lunch, no one would notice…or get their hand too close to my face.

Except right before I got to the front door of the dining hall, a familiar, chilling cackle crackled through the air. Setting my jaw, and steeling myself for what I would find, I turned to look.

Sure enough, my Circle’s enemy, Missy, stood on the snow-dusted lawn, whispering into some poor kid’s ears while her girl gang of witches giggled and watched from the sidelines. The kid, a clear freshman, carried a tray loaded to the brim with food over to the table where her friends sat. They had nothing in front of them, so I could only assume that the entire group was going to be eating from the tray the kid carried.

Around his head, though, was the obvious aura of pink spellwork that indicated magic was being used on him. Every time Missy whispered into his ear, looking sleek and slippery even from this distance, the aura grew stronger.

She had him carry her lunch tray to the snowy bench and feed her bits from each portion of food. Meanwhile, her friends on the sides picked at the edges like they were sneaking scraps from a table…or were conscious of how much someone might see them eating. From the look on the kid’s face, he was in awe of Missy, but there was a clear amount of fear in the tightness of his arms and legs.

It chafed at me. In her spare time, she’d apparently learned the fine art of manipulation. The only thing she hadn’t accomplished was the ability to make her victims forget what she was doing. If she had, he’d be looking dazed, instead of completely humiliated.

So she was strong enough to manipulate the kid, but not enough to make him forget what she was doing…or enough to put him in the kind of daze where he would wake up later, wondering what had happened to get him to this place.

My feet were moving before I knew what I was doing. Before I could make it more than two steps from the dining hall door, though, a large, slightly calloused hand caught mine.

Hey! You headed to lunch?

The sound of his voice made my heart beat double. I immediately forgot the kid, and Missy, and spun to find Theo holding my hand. My face broke into a smile despite myself, and warmth spread from my toes to my nose.

Theo, one of my closest friends and the one guy I’ve had a crush on for a long time, was giving me the sweetest, happiest smile, his mop of blond hair swept back off his face.

Y-yeah, I was just– I motioned to the door, and then, involuntarily, glanced over my shoulder again at the kid at the table.

Sure enough, the kid was still feeding Missy. When I turned back to Theo, his gaze had gone there, too, tightening at the sight before us.

She’s not all bad, he said at last. The uncomfortable twist to his mouth gave me a little hope. At the very least, it told me he wasn’t impressed with her. Sometimes, she can actually be kind of…sweet. When she wants to.

Now it was my turn to make a face at him. Look, I know this is none of my business, but you’re…friends, I said, though the word in my mouth made me want to gag. I couldn’t truly imagine someone as sweet as Theo being friends with anyone like Missy, but Theo happened to be the kind of person who just got along with everyone. He had more friends in more groups than I even knew existed in Circle Academy.

This time, though, his shoulders slumped. Yeah, I am… he said, already hedging. I got the feeling he knew what was coming, and didn’t want me to ask.

I had to ask, anyway. "Could you at least, like, talk to Missy? Let her know this isn’t cool