Nightwish (An Echoes of Eternity Novel Book 1) by Sydney Bristow Read Free Book Online Page B

Delphine along a righteous path. I always felt betrayed that she found more in common with Zephora, the first witch in our line, than me.”
    Seeing my confusion, Grams said, “Zephora lived during the Salem Witch Trials. She created the magical rules we live by: the number of abilities we have, the strength of those gifts, the age females receive their powers. She created ghouls, shapeshifters, and almost every other paranormal creature, so she could rule every entity on Earth. She had every paranormal gift you can imagine and almost unlimited power. But in the end, she was limited to human form.”
    “What about demons? I saw one leave a human body.”
    “Demons are under Lucifer’s purview, but Zephora surely was able to swap bodies with other humans.”
    “Is she still alive?”
    “No, thank goodness. But every mother in our line has used her exploits as a cautionary tale for our daughters not to abuse their abilities.” She slowed her pace. “I followed that example, but Delphine was intrigued by Zephora, not afraid of her. I’m certain she has tried to commune with her. Whether or not she has succeeded, I cannot say.”
    The story made goosebumps form on my skin. “How did Zephora die?”
    “She was burned at the stake. Other than Delphine, no woman in our line wanted to think about Zephora for fear that we might allow her to cross back into our dimension. But I suspect I’ll learn more about her when I visit the other side.”
    “Is that possible? Could she really find her way back to our plane?”
    “Every person on Earth is composed of energy. When we die, our energy doesn’t always leave with us. From what I’ve learned of our line, when we cross over, we retain at least two-thirds of our power. The other one-third of our powers may remain behind, which allows some of us, depending upon our abilities, to communicate with those in this dimension. Every witch has been told, whether true or not, that Zephora has never given up hope to one day reclaim human form and attempt to rule humanity.”
    “You said Alexis came first,” I said, trying to steer the conversation back to our family.
    “It’s the reason I wanted you to learn martial arts…to develop strength of mind, body, and spirit. You also needed it for structure, discipline, and confidence because when it comes to your sister, you will need it. She has a deep dislike for you, but I’ve not known her well enough to figure out why. Since you received your powers today, you’ll need to harness what you’ve learned in martial arts to control and maximize the abilities you’ve been granted.”
    “So when I woke up this morning, I got three paranormal powers?”
    “Yes.”
    I couldn’t remove the huge smile on my face. “That is so cool!”
    Grams exhaled, annoyed by my lack of focus. “But your sister is more powerful than you because—”
    “She’s three times stronger than me. But why did I get powers on my twenty-first birthday? Why not when I turned sixteen? Or sixty?”
    “The reason each firstborn female in our line acquires our powers after her first period is because it’s considered a rite of passage. Now it’s almost a curse: but children were much more mature in the seventeenth-century. Siblings will often fight out of envy or jealousy, so Zephora decided to stretch out the amount of time sisters obtain their abilities.” She paused. “At one time Zephora was virtuous and responsible, but somehow, she lost her way, turned evil and unrepentant.” She shook those thoughts aside. “Nevertheless, she considered twenty-one must’ve been an acceptable age.”
    Grams paused. “Do you feel any different from yesterday?”
    “No. But it’s been a crazy day. Oh, wait. I felt Alexis reading my mind.”
    “Good.” Grams released a relieved smile. “A normal human can’t detect that sensibility.”
    “Why do only girls get these abilities? Why not guys? Don’t they have gifts? Aren’t there any wizards