He looked to the other Elders and saw they shared his concern. This one was far too young — only a child. Why had she been allowed to dance in the sacred circle?
Their question was answered quickly. The young woman’s feet lifted from the earth and she spun high into the air, whirling along on the currents of the wind. The entire gathering stared in sheer wonder as she dipped and spun above them.
But she was not done yet. She sank back to the earth, her feet lightly touching the ground. She absorbed the earth’s power through the soles of her feet, they could all see it: a little lick of blue light from the dirt beneath her, seeping into her soles.
First fire streaked from her fingers, then a sheet of pure translucent blue light. The light shimmered and hung in the air before it smashed against a straw figure behind the Elders, setting the straw ablaze.
Nobody spoke. Nobody had to. This was the one they had all known must come one day.
This was their new Queen.
One of the Elders, the leader of the Manoli family, stepped forward. His face was grave in the firelight; the gold hoop in his ear winked and shone. His hands shook as he began to draw the runes around the young woman before him. This was his duty — his family’s duty — it had been their duty to name the new Queen since the dawn of time.
The runes hung in the air, glowing softly and shimmering with a pale blue light. They covered her body, lay in her hair like precious jewels and outlined her nubile limbs. With the runes finished, the Elder embraced her before stepping back. He inclined his head and said softly, “It’s time to accept your destiny.”
Her eyes went to the emerald ring on the Elder’s finger, then to the fire. She was supposed to utter the words that would seal her destiny, that would see her take her place as Queen of the Tribe, Queen of the Romani… but she couldn’t say them. Her tongue clung to the roof of her mouth.
Beyond the fire a wolf stood, his powerful body silhouetted in the light and shadow. She knew him. Her body sang out with desire, her bare feet flexed and she began to run away from the Tribe and toward the wolf that stood outside that sacred circle.
Behind her, someone called her name.
CHAPTER 2
“Cara? Cara, do you hear me?”
Caraleigh snapped her eyes open. The coffee sitting in front of the pile of books before her toppled over. “Dammit!”
Cara flexed her fingers and the coffee stopped in its tracks. The dark brown liquid pooled and froze. That irritated her too; she hated using her powers. She knew that was ridiculous, but she did, and to have used them so carelessly proved to her yet again that she still hadn’t learned to control herself.
“That book must be boring.”
Cara gave Jaelle a fond but irritated glance. “The law is never boring.”
“Spoken like a true member of the Kris Tribe.” Jaelle’s dark eyes were keen as her mind. She was in her forties but still looked like a teenager thanks to her diminutive stature and smooth face below a short mop of ebony curls. “What did you see?”
“See?”
“Are you going to tell me you didn’t fall into a vision?”
“Yes,” Cara said a bit too sharply.
“You lie badly.”
“I guess that’s better than lying well.” Cara stood and put her hands to her back, stretching luxuriously as she did so. Her narrow shoulder blades ached and her head did too. She ran a hand through the long black hair that hung to her waist in a silky sheet and sighed.
“A vision is important,” Jaelle said. “You need to remember it and try to understand its meaning.”
“Duly noted.” She wasn’t about to tell Jaelle, or anyone else, what she had seen in her vision.
And maybe she hadn’t had a vision at all — maybe it had all just been a dream. She had been exhausted lately. She wasn’t sleeping well and the first-year exams were brutal. She stood and went to the kitchen counter to grab a handful of paper towels. “What time is it?”
“Almost eight, which is why I woke you up. Your father and the rest should be back soon.”
Cara rubbed her aching neck and shoulders, wincing as she did so. “Damn, they’ve been gone for almost an entire day.”
Jaelle’s face creased into a tight frown. “I know. There’s trouble brewing, I can smell it. And somehow or another, it has to do with you.”
Cara rolled her eyes. “Oh please, not you too, Jaelle. Everyone’s so busy looking out for me, but I’m a grown-up now! I can take care of myself.”
“You’re the last blood descendant of the greatest Queen the Tribe has ever known. We have to protect you.”
Cara sighed. She’d been hearing that her entire life, and at nineteen, she was sick of it. She hadn’t asked to be the last female of Queen Carida’s line. There had been other Queens from other families within the Tribe, and some had been almost as powerful, why couldn’t everyone leave her alone and go protect one of those young women?