Chapter 29

“Seriously, I can't show up tonight wearing this thing,” I complained.

Luna raked her eyes up and down the gown as if admiring a precious work of art. “Why not, it looks good on you.”

I heaved a sigh. “This dress, if you can even call it that, would not look good on anyone.” Frustrasted, I flung my arms out impatiently. “C'mon, the jokes over. Let's be serious now.”

She frowned. “I am being serious.”

“Okay, I admit it. Sending your little feathered friends to go murder-crazy and dive-bomb me was pretty epic. Except for the part where I nearly got my eyes pecked out. That part sucked."

Fun time was over.

"Now get it off," I added dryly.

“Did you know that besides being a symbol of death, crows actually have the ability to remember human faces?” Luna began, as if trying to prove a point. I shook my head in astonishment as she continued. “Yeah, they also have the ability to conspire with each other. All that cawing isn't just noise. They're communicating.”

I lifted both brows in surprise. “So why should that matter to me?”

The smile on Luna's peaceful face turned sinister. “It matters to you because I showed my faithful crows a picture of Serenity. And since they have the means to describe her in detail to other crows once we attack, she'll have nowhere to hide.”

"You win, I'll wear the stupid dress," I moaned, finally getting the point. "Sounds like you've thought of everything.”

“There's one thing I almost forgot,” Luna shouted, snapping her thumb and forefinger together. “I'll be right back.

Leaving me all alone in the creepy rose garden, I started to hear the faint caw of a single crow. “Must be the one that got away,” I mumbled, realizing it was probably perched nearby in a tree just studying me. The mere idea of being watched by a bird with beady little eyes gave me the squeamies.

Suddenly an enormous white crow landed directly on my shoulder. I gave a yip of surprise, supressing the urge to swat at my head when Luna returned carrying a large black pouch. “Oh, I see you've met Artemis.”

“I thought white crows were just a myth,” I whispered, frozen in place. I didn't want to scare it, or give it an excuse to display any antagonistic behavior all up close and personal. I liked my nose right where it was.

In the middle of my face.

Luna held out her arm invitingly. The majestic crow swooped down, landing delicately on her wrist.

“Normally I consider it an omen of bad tidings, but the fact that Artemis chose to show herself to you without me present, tells me that she has a message for you.”

I cocked my head to one side in doubt. “And what might that be?”

“You'll have to find out the meaning for yourself. Crows are often bringers of prophesy. But if you ask me, I think she's telling you to watch your back.”

As if in agreement, Artemis fluttered her ivory wings and cawed twice in a row. Luna stroked her along her back, whispering to the bird so I wouldn't hear.

Narrowing my eyes, I said, “What do you mean, watch my back?”

“Last night I sent Artemis out on a little scouting expedition once I learned the location of the Witches Ball. I think she's trying to warn you that Serenity is not working alone.”

I sucked in my breath. “Who could she be working with?”

“There's only one way to find out.” Luna sighed heavily. “Are you ready for tonight?”

I glanced up at the full moon already beginning to turn blood red. “I was born ready.”

We tucked our full skirts around us and gently folded ourselves into the Fury. Determined, I tore out of the driveway and took Vermontville Hwy to I-96, putting the pedal to the metal. With no stop signs and ignoring the speed limits, I wasn't going to let nothing slow me down."

(QUE VIDEO)

“If only my mom could see me now,” I grinned, singing the lyrics to a familiar tune. "I'm on the Highway to Hell."

Taking exit 122, Hell, Michigan was located deep in a part of the state known as Murder Mitten. The tiny blink-and-you'll-miss-it town of consisted of less than 100 residents, two streets, three buildings, and measured only two square miles.

But tonight, size didn't matter.

With help from well over a thousand witches, they were sure to pack a whole lotta hell in such a small area.

I followed a group of women dressed in long black formal gowns down a winding side road to a dilapidated old theater. The name proudly lit in recently replaced red light-bulbs read, The Plaza.

Parking the Fury next to an adjacent corn field, I got out, surprised that there weren't more cars choking the narrow country roads.

Maybe they'd all taken their broomsticks to get here.