The Midnight Spell Audiobook

A curious witch. A mystifying spell. And a dark destiny …

Hazel made it into the Lightgrove Coven. Well, sort of. She made it into their initiate program. Now she needs to go through their intensive program, and only if she aces it, she’ll become a full member of the famous coven.

Besides the program, she also has to attend her college classes, study for midterms, and spend some time with not-quite-her-boyfriend-yet Sean. He has been nothing but supportive, but even his patience has limits.

Hazel haphazardly tries to juggle her new life, but when she can’t master her own magic, misses her class (not her fault!), lets Sean down (again, she couldn’t help it!), and strange spells and marks appear among students, things spiral out of control.

On top of it all, the coven seems to be hiding something. Something dangerous.

This time, Hazel might not be able to accomplish—or save—it all.

The Midnight Spell is the second book in the Rite World: Lightgrove Witches series—full of magic, romance, mystery, and excitement! Grab your copy today and start this new adventure!

Chapter One

“Settle down!” a woman with light olive skin and graying hair shouted.

Immediately, all the girls in the large conference room fell silent. Everyone even stopped munching on the breakfast laid out in front of them. Me included.

Last night, after the dark lightning show and the big scare, the Light Order ushered everyone to their rooms, where we were instructed to remain all night, unless a guard from the Light Order came to our doors and ordered an evacuation. Otherwise, we would be called upon in the morning.

Rodd was one of the guards leading the new girls and me to our side of the castle. I tried asking him what was happening, but besides a few glances in my direction, he didn’t utter a single word, other than instructions like “follow me” and “stay in your rooms.”

My mother and Amanda had been escorted to the guest wing, and as soon as they were safe in their bedrooms, they called me. We talked about what happened, but mostly, we wondered what the hell that was. Nobody knew, and I bet nobody slept well, busy worrying.

The gray-haired woman continued, “The council members are on their way, and they will explain everything.”

The tension in the air increased tenfold as we waited. The girls and I exchanged a few glances, but by now, we weren’t even eating anymore.

Finally, the double doors to the conference room opened, and the council members filed inside in pairs, followed by a Light Order group. This morning, Lenora, Denise, Cora, Grace, and Amelia were dressed in dress pants and button-down shirts. Even without the gowns, it was impossible not to gawk at them.

They stood at the head of the large oval table and stared down at us. Lenora’s owl and Denise’s red bird were perched on a nearby archway, and Grace’s snake slithered on the corner.

“We know you girls have questions about last night,” Denise said with a small, reassuring smile. “First, let me tell you that yes, that was unusual. And second—” She sighed as if considering her words carefully. “There isn’t much we can actually disclose at the moment. The ballroom is closed, and we’re conducting investigations to determine the source of the magic. Moreover—” The red-haired girl sitting beside me raised her hand. Denise turned her full attention to her. “Yes, Laini?”

“But … do you know what that was? What the rune on the floor means?”

Denise exchanged a brief but hard look with Lenora, then turned a firm gaze to Laini. “That falls under the confidential category for now.” She made a point of staring directly at each one of us, her gaze unyielding, as if challenging us to ask more questions that wouldn’t be answered. Everyone stayed quiet but squirmed in their seats.

I frowned, thinking about the rune. It was one of Queen Arianna’s runes. I was sure of it, but I honestly didn’t remember what they meant. These girls were mostly legacies. Shouldn't they know what it meant? 

“Any more interruptions?” Lenora asked, her tone low and firm.

No one said anything.

“All right.” Denise clasped her hands together. “As you all know, you’re here for our initiate program, which is basically a probation period. You’ll attend classes, some meetings, and events, and you’ll participate in missions that will grow in difficulty with time. You have six months to prove to us that you’re here because you deserve to be. Not because you’re a legacy or someone who shows great power. That means that during these six months, we’ll be judging your character, your traits and flaws, and how you conduct yourself.” Again, she looked briefly at each one of us. “This coven is the best there is, not only in power, but because of how good-hearted we are. We are good people, good witches. We help the world, and you have to show us that’s what you want too.”

Denise stepped back and Lenora turned to the table. “You will be separated into three groups of five. Each group will have a mentor to whom you should report. She’ll keep all your records and notes about your activities in and out of this castle, and at the end of the six months, she’ll report to us. Be sure that, if we find you don’t belong here, you’ll be asked to leave the coven prior to the six-month period. At the end of six months, you’ll have a series of tests to pass, and only then will you be a full member of this coven.”

“For which we’ll hold another ball,” Denise added with a smile. She was trying to lighten the tense air.

The double doors opened again and three witches entered.

“These are your mentors,” Lenora said. “Girls, please meet Penelope.” She gestured to a tall Black woman with short, blonde-dyed hair. She wore a suit and, with her hard frame, looked much like a bodyguard. “Guinevere.” Lenora pointed to a woman with white porcelain skin, faded orange hair, and an easy smile. She looked more like a best friend than a mentor. A small squirrel peeked out from a pocket in her suit jacket—her familiar. “And Moira.” She gestured to a tall woman in her late thirties with hard shoulders and an even harder expression on her sharp face. Her black hair was tied back into a tight braid. She was elegant and beautiful, even with the scars streaking from her jaw to her shoulders, disappearing under the collar of her shirt. “I’ll call your names. Please stand up and follow your mentor to your daily meeting room.” Lenora extended her hand and a scroll appeared. She unrolled the yellow paper and read from it. “With Penelope are …” and on she went, listing five names. The girls stood and followed Penelope out of the room as instructed. Then, she pointed to Guinevere and read five more names. Of course, I was in the last group. “And with Moira are Cleo, Belinda, Laini, Mei, and Hazel.”

The remaining girls and I stood and followed Moira and her long, fast steps through a maze of corridors and down a flight of stairs, until we entered what looked like a lounge in the castle’s library.

Moira closed the door as soon as I crossed the doorway.

“Sit down,” she said, her tone as sharp as her expression. The other girls and I stepped farther into the lounge and sat on the uncomfortable couches in the center of the room. “My name is Moira Whitemore and I’m a legacy.” With her hands behind her back, she strolled to a lone armchair between the couches. “We’ll meet here every morning at seven thirty sharp. Even on weekends. No excuses, no tardiness.”

She went on about the rules of the place, and I learned a few things I didn’t know. Apparently, when a witch officially joined the Lightgrove coven, she could move into an apartment in the members’ wing with her family. However, her family wasn’t allowed into other parts of the castle. Ever. So these girls here, all legacies, had never been to this part of the castle before. Like me, they were getting a look at the place for the first time. That made me feel slightly better.

Moira took us on a tour of the castle. For about forty minutes, we walked from grand hallways to breathtaking rooms and back to the castle entrance. From there, she led us to the council chambers, the main conference rooms, the two ballrooms, the main mess hall, the library, the initiates’ rooms, the members’ wing (which we didn’t enter), the witches' practicing area, the Light Order wing and their training grounds, and the portals to the outside world.

To my amazement, the portal I had used to come and go from New Orleans wasn’t the only one. Along the tree line, there were fourteen other portals. Thirteen of those portals had set destinations—like New Orleans, New York, Paris, Tokyo, Sydney, and other cities. However, one of those portals was a special one, only high-ranked witches could access it—its location changed according to the user’s wishes.

After that, we returned to our lounge, where Moira handed us thick and empty grimoires, in which we should record everything we learn in the next six months. 

“I’ll take a look at those grimoires before I make my final report to the council.”

That was so reassuring.

Then, she launched into a speech about the history of the Light witches. We all had heard this story a thousand times since we were little girls.

Seven hundred years ago, Arianna was a good witch in a time where bad witches were everywhere. She disbanded the Lightmist coven and founded the Lightgrove coven to protect the good witches from the trials spreading through surrounding countries, and then the world. Despite the intolerance for witches, the king learned about Arianna’s good deeds and brought her to the castle to save his dear daughter, who had fallen ill because of a curse from a dark witch. After saving the little girl, Arianna gained the king’s trust and joined the fight against the dark witches. That was when she began working side-by-side with Prince Thales, the heir to the crown. Eventually, Arianna and Thales fell in love but kept their romance a secret. The Brotherhood of Purity heard about Arianna’s deeds and came for her. Thales sent one of his most trusted guards to protect her. However, the guard had been bought by the Brotherhood and he delivered Arianna to her death. Thales arrived in time to hold the love of his life in his arms as she died. He gathered her ashes and promised to find a way to bring her back. With the help of the sisters, Anna and Britta—the new heads of the Lightgrove coven—Thales searched for a way to bring back his love. However, Thales was killed by the Brotherhood before fulfilling his promise, and Arianna’s ashes were forever lost.

Moira continued the story with Anna and Britta and their quests, among them the effort of trying to find Arianna’s ashes, grimoire, and necklace—so they could try and bring her back even though that spell had been forbidden for centuries. Moira also talked a little about the other powerful coven witches—especially the Blackmarsh, Silverblood, Bluemoon, and Wildthorn covens.

“The supernatural world is changing,” Moira said, a hint of wariness in her stern voice. “Blackmarsh witches don’t perform sacrifices anymore; demon hunters only hunt truly evil supernaturals; the Ravensoul and Crystalflames covens remain silent and hidden; a forgotten magical werewolf pack is back, as is a coven of warlocks.” I frowned. Warlocks were rare. As far as I knew, at least. For light and dark witches, the magic skipped the males, thus there were no light warlocks or dark warlocks. She waved a hand. “We’ll go more in depth on all these topics during our lessons.”

Next, Moira mentioned the wars between the covens, a little about the Darkmist coven history, and how close the Brotherhood of Purity had gotten to destroying us all more than once.

“Unfortunately, the Brotherhood is much stronger than we would like,” she said, her voice grave. “They seem to be everywhere and they attack when we least expect it.”

Seeing them at Towland had shaken me to the core, but Denise and the rest of the council assured me that had been a one-time thing, and it had been taken care of.

Then, Moira mentioned a battle with the Brotherhood a few decades back. I had never heard of this one.

“My grandmother was killed during that battle,” Mei said.

“My grandfather was a member of the Light Order. He was captured and tortured,” Laini said, her voice breaking. “He was rescued, but his injures were too extensive. There was nothing any witch could do for him.”

I stared at them, totally lost.

Moira turned her gaze to me. “Where was your family during this battle, Hazel?”

“I …” I closed my mouth, my throat growing dry. “I didn’t even know about it until a couple of minutes ago.”

Moira’s eyes flamed, burning me alive. She pressed her lips tight. She snapped her head to the window, looking out at one of the internal gardens, and let out a long, shaky breath. After a minute of pure tension, she spoke again. “All right. You are all dismissed for lunch. Be back here at two.”

The girls and I stood and walked toward the door. As Laini opened the door, Moira said, “Hazel?”

I glanced over my shoulder. “Yes?”

“You stay.”