Episode 4 of The Witch’s Key: “I’ll See You Tomorrow” AND Death’s Awakening Cover Reveal & Wallpapers
Welcome back to the blog! Today, I have the 4th Episode of my original story, The Witch’s Key, for you!
If you’re just now catching up, you can start the story here.
Also, as a special treat today, I have a cover reveal of the brand new, amazing cover for Death’s Awakening, the first book in my Eternal Sorrows Trilogy. Scroll down beneath the episode to see the cover and to download your FREE desktop, phone, and tablet wallpapers!
Watch My Reading Of Episode 4 Here
Episode 4: I’ll See You Tomorrow
I did the stupid thing and looked behind me, just to be absolutely sure Kai was talking to me, which of course he was. There was literally nothing behind me but the door to the house.
What in the world was he doing here? Did he know what I’d done?
My hands immediately went clammy, and I started to sweat.
“I don’t want to be late for school,” I said.
“This won’t take long.” His voice was deeper than I’d anticipated. “I’ll walk with you.”
By this point, my heart was beating about a thousand beats a second, and I felt like I was about to pass out.
How could he possibly know? What powers did this guy have, exactly?
I nearly tripped over my own feet as I joined him on the sidewalk. He towered over my five-foot-four-inch frame, and I wondered if this guy had some kind of superhuman strength. As the daughter of two natural-born Slayers, I had exceptional speed and some innate magical talent, but I wasn’t gifted with strength the way some others were.
Maybe I should start bringing some kind of weapon with me to school. Or would that get me kicked out? Yeah, probably not a great idea for the principal to find a silver dagger in my backpack.
Of course, until I figured out what he was, I wouldn’t know what type of weapon would hurt him, anyway.
“I’m guessing you just want to introduce yourself,” I said, stalling as we walked toward the school. “Just part of the Newcastle High welcome committee, right? They always send the sweetest, most non-intimidating students to make sure us newbies feel safe. Well, it’s super nice to meet you. I’m Lenny, by the way. Not that you asked.”
He didn’t look amused.
“You already know what I want to talk about,” he said. “You’re messing with things you don’t understand, and it’s going to stop.”
Well, now that just made me want to dig deeper. He obviously didn’t have me quite as pegged as he thought he did. You can’t just tell a rebellious teenager to stop. That was nothing but more temptation.
“Or maybe you want me to stop because I understand more about what’s going on than you want me to,” I said, stopping to look him in the eye. I had to look up quite a bit to get there, but hopefully I managed to look somewhat menacing, despite the height difference.
Okay, well, apparently that was amusing to him.
He smiled. Or maybe smirked was a better word for it.
“You’re what? Seventeen? A witch with her first key who thinks she can take on the world? I’ve seen your kind before. You need to stay out of this before you get yourself killed.”
I lifted my chin in defiance.
“And who exactly do you think you are? We’re in the same grade at school, so that makes you what? Eighteen, maybe? Unless you flunked a few grade levels trying to understand the basics of how to be a decent human being,” I said. “Oh, but wait, you’re not human, are you? I may not be skilled enough yet to know what the heck you are, but I can guarantee you I didn’t grow up in a small town like this, and I know a lot more than you think.”
“You stole my straw yesterday, didn’t you?” His eyes narrowed in on my face, which was probably turning pink right about now. He took a step closer, causing me to take a step back toward the wrought iron fence behind me. “But you obviously didn’t find the information you wanted from it. Can’t you see you’re in over your head. Even from day one.”
He was standing so close, I couldn’t breathe. He was right about me, and I didn’t want him to be.
How was it that he could see me so clearly, and I couldn’t see the truth about him at all?
“Who are you?” I whispered.
He put a hand on the fence behind me and leaned down, so close I couldn’t see anything beyond those dark eyes of his. They seemed to be looking inside me.
“I’m not your enemy,” he said. “Don’t make me change my mind on that. You’ve had enough trouble this year. I’m sure the Council would like to keep it that way.”
His words knocked what was left of my breath from my lungs. It was like he’d physically punched me in the stomach.
He knew about me. About my parents.
“How do you know about the Council?” I asked. “About my trouble? Are you a Slayer?”
“Word gets around the community when something like that happens,” he said.
For the first time since I’d laid eyes on him, he had a human expression on his face. Sorrow. Empathy.
“I’m sorry for what you went through, Lenora. I don’t want anything else to happen to you here,” he said. “Just stay out of it. Don’t keep digging into my past or trying to find out anything about me. Leave it alone, and I’ll do my best to make sure you’re left alone, too.”
His eyes locked on mine for a long moment before he pushed off the gate and started walking toward the school, leaving me standing there with my mouth open and my heart racing.
“Wait,” I shouted, somehow managing to find enough strength in my legs to follow him.
He stopped, but he didn’t turn around.
“You know my name. My past. Apparently, you know everything about me, and yet you won’t even tell me the most basic thing about who you are or how you know all of these things?” I said. “Not exactly fair play, is it? You can’t expect me to just turn away from that and pretend there’s nothing going on here. What do you know about those missing girls, Kai? Did you do something to them?”
His entire body tensed. Before I could even blink, he’d grabbed my arm and pulled me tight against him. One second, he was at least six feet away, and the next, he was almost on top of me.
And I thought I was fast.
“How did you do that?” I asked, breathless.
“I’m not going to warn you again. Let this go,” he said, loosening his grip on me.
His dark eyes met mine, and I could see just how much this meant to him. He was serious about it, but there something more reflected in his gaze.
He was scared.
But of what?
Before I could say another word to him, I blinked and he was gone again, mixing in with the crowd of students already entering the school.
**
I was still just standing there in a daze when Peyton found me a few minutes later.
“Everything okay?” she asked. “You look like you’ve already had a rough morning, and it’s not even eight yet. Did you have bad dreams last night, too? Because I’m telling you, I had some really weird ones last night. Something about a cat in the woods. It was crazy, and strangely compelling when you think about it.”
“How is a cat in the woods compelling?” I asked, not exactly wanting to offer up information about how my day was going so far.
“Because it was a tiger or something. I was trying so hard to find it. I mean, it was just a dream, but my whole body hurts this morning, like I was really running in my sleep,” she said with a yawn. “I’ll be fine, though. I just downed a double-espresso at home before I got here. With any luck, that’ll kick in any minute.”
Brandy joined us as soon as we hit the main entrance to the school, but she gave me a strange look.
“What?” I asked. “Do I have something on my face?”
“Nothing you want to talk about this morning?” she asked.
What now?
Was everyone just determined to grill me about my business today? These people barely knew me.
“Not that I can think of, why?”
Her jaw dropped open, and she smacked my arm. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said. “I saw you talking to Kai on the way in this morning. He was practically all over you. I have never, and I mean never, seen him get close to anyone like that. Since when are you guys a thing?”
Peyton screamed and grabbed my arm. Apparently, that espresso had just kicked in.
“What? You talked to Kai this morning and you weren’t even going to mention it to us?” she asked. She pushed me over to a corner, and they both blocked me in completely. “Tell us everything.”
“Don’t leave anything out, either,” Brandy said. “This guy has been a mystery since he first got here. We need details.”
“Ooh, what’s happening here?” Olive asked, her eyes twinkling as she approached.
I felt like some kind of caged animal.
“Lenny’s dating Kai,” Peyton said. “We’re trying to get her to spill the beans about it.”
“Oh, come on,” I said, my cheeks warming. “We’re not dating.”
My mind was spinning, trying to come up with any kind of story that would make sense. I didn’t exactly want rumors flying about me dating Kai Richards. The guy was already angry enough as it was.
“Well, you were definitely talking to each other, and getting up close and personal from what I saw,” Brandy said.
“As of yesterday when we left Sir Bean, you had never so much as talked to him. What happened last night that you aren’t telling us about?” Peyton said. Her eyes narrowed, but then she broke out in a huge smile. “I’m so excited for you. I mean, I knew you were pretty, but I had no idea you were such a siren. No one has been able to get his attention in six months, and you bag him in a day.”
I groaned.
“I haven’t bagged anyone,” I said. “We just ran into each other on the way to school this morning, and I introduced myself. While we were walking, I tripped and snagged my backpack on the fence. He helped me untangle it. It was totally innocent, and completely embarrassing. He probably thinks I’m such a clutz at this point and will never talk to me again.”
“Oh,” Brandy said with a pout. “Well, dang. I thought maybe you guys had made a connection or something.”
“I wish,” I said with a laugh that I was sure came off sounding too fake.
“At least now he knows who you are,” Peyton said. “That’s a step forward, right? Now you have an excuse to talk to him again if you see him in the halls. To say thank you.”
She was sweet to try to be encouraging about it, but Kai had made it clear he wanted nothing to do with me. He probably wanted me gone from the school, to be honest. But I wasn’t going anywhere, and now that I’d had a few minutes to recover from our encounter, I was more determined than ever to figure out what was going on in this town.
We Thornes didn’t intimidate easily.
But it was obvious I was going to need more information about him if I was going to get to the bottom of all of this. I needed a plan, but the bell rang, I had to settle for homeroom, instead.
“Hey, before I forget, you’re all invited to my house this afternoon after school,” Peyton said. “We can go swimming, veg out by the pool, watch some TV, and just hang out for a while. My parents won’t be home until late tonight. They’re at another one of their business conferences in the city, so I’ve got the house all to myself. What do you say?”
“You already know I can’t resist your impromptu pool parties,” Brandy said. “I’ll be there.”
“I just need to run home and grab my bathing suit first,” Olive said. “But I’ll have my mom swing me by your house as soon as I can. I don’t have to work this afternoon, thank God.”
“Lenny, what about you?”
I smiled. “I’m there,” I said. “I don’t actually own a bathing suit, though. I can just put my feet in or something.”
Peyton laughed. “You can have one of mine,” she said, linking her arm in mine as we walked toward homeroom. “This is going to be so much fun. I’m so glad you came to school here, Lenny.”
“Me, too,” I said.
And I realized that even though Kai had pretty much scared me half to death this morning and there were some weird things going on in this town, I was more grateful than ever to be surrounded by new friends.
Maybe this really was the fresh start I’d needed all along.
**
After school, Peyton gave me a ride over to her house, which was on the other side of Newcastle. The “rich” side, according to Brandy, and as soon as we drove up to the gate that surrounded Peyton’s house, I decided rich was an understatement.
This was generational wealth.
I wouldn’t have even thought anyone in a small town like Newcastle had this kind of money.
Actually, the only houses I’d ever seen like this were estates in Europe owned by centuries-old vampires. Just who were Peyton’s parents, anyway?
“Wow, your house is beautiful,” I said.
Peyton scrunched her nose as she pulled her Audi sports car through the gate. “It’s impressive, but it’s not exactly the homiest place in the world,” she said. “My parents are rarely ever here, which means I’m alone a lot. I prefer going over to Brandy’s house. It’s not as big, but their house really feels like home, you know? Did you know she has six older brothers?”
“Brandy does?” I asked, my eyes wide.
“Yep. All of them handsome and all of them overprotective of their pretty younger sister,” Peyton said with a laugh. “They’ve all graduated and moved off to college or new jobs now, but when they were all home, that house was filled with laughter. It still is, because her parents are the coolest ever, but I know she misses her brothers.”
“And you don’t have any brothers or sisters?” I asked.
She parked in a huge garage that housed five other cars. I tried not to gape.
“Sadly, no,” she said. “Which is not for lack of trying on my parents’ part. They wanted a house full of kids, but it just didn’t work out. I’m actually adopted, but I don’t talk about it much.”
“Oh, wow. I had no idea,” I said.
That got my imagination going, though. If she really was descended from some line of magical beings I couldn’t identify, maybe she had no idea about it. Were her parents vampires? Why the heck didn’t Uncle Martin tell me there was so much supernatural activity in Newcastle?
“It’s not really a big deal, but there are times I wonder who my real parents are,” she said, a sad expression darkening her features for just a moment. “But I know how lucky I am to have been adopted into this family, and I love my parents. I just wish I could see them more.”
“What kind of business are they in?” I asked. “You said they were off at some conference today?”
“For the past three days, actually.”
She opened a door through the garage and led me through an elaborate mudroom to the kitchen, which was immaculate and gigantic. White marble countertops. A walk-in refrigerator. Copper pots hanging above the island. This was a real chef’s kitchen, but I suddenly understood the sadness in her voice when she talked about her parents being gone all the time.
This felt more like a showroom than the cozy kitchen Martin and I shared.
“They’re interior designers,” Peyton said. “I’m sorry to sound bummed out about it. I actually never tell anyone I’m adopted, but for some reason, I feel like I can trust you. That’s not weird, is it? I mean, I know we just met.”
I wanted to hug her. She was just one of the most genuine and sweet people I’d ever met.
“It’s not weird at all,” I said. “I haven’t had a lot of chances to make friends in my life. It means a lot that you trust me.”
She smiled. “Okay, enough sappy talk. Come on, let’s go find you a bathing suit.”
When Peyton had said she had a spare bathing suit I could use, what she apparently meant was that she had a Nordstrom’s in her closet. She led me into a bedroom as big as the kitchen, through a private bathroom that rivaled the only spa I’d ever been inside, and into a closet twice the size of my bedroom at Martin’s house.
She opened one of the hundreds of drawers to reveal no less than ten bathing suits with tags still attached.
“Pick one,” she said. “I could never wear them all, and we seem to be roughly the same size. Sometimes, I think this is how my parents apologize for being gone all the time. Like all they ever really wanted was a doll to dress up.”
She gasped and put a hand over her mouth.
“I don’t know why I just said that. That’s a terrible thing to say.”
When she looked up at me, there were tears in her eyes.
I couldn’t help myself. I threw my arms around her as she cried.
“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I don’t know what’s gotten into me. I guess I’m just feeling extra sad about them missing my first day of school my senior year. I was trying to stay so positive, but sometimes there just comes a point where you can’t hold it in anymore. Do you ever feel that way about your parents?”
I tensed and pulled away as she wiped her eyes.
“My parents died earlier this year,” I said. “It’s not something I like to talk about, either.”
“Oh my gosh, Lenny. I had no idea,” she said, taking my hand. “Now, I feel like a real jerk.”
“It’s really okay,” I said. “You didn’t know.”
She shook her head and sniffed. “I should have. You said something yesterday about living with your uncle. I just didn’t put it together.”
“Let’s just go downstairs and hang out for a while,” I said, holding back tears of my own. “This has actually been really good for me. Having friends, I mean. It’s helping me feel like there’s hope for a life after what happened. It means more than I can tell you.”
She wiped at her cheeks again and put on her best Peyton smile, instantly warming the entire room with the joy behind it.
“No matter how dark things feel sometimes, there’s always something to be grateful for, isn’t there?” she said. “Right now, I’m feeling extremely grateful for good friends. Get dressed. I’ll meet you down there.”
**
I chose a black bathing suit—one of the only ones that wasn’t a teeny tiny bikini, thank you very much—and headed back down to the kitchen. By the time I got down there, Brandy was there in her bathing suit, and Olive and her mom had just arrived.
“Mom, this is the new girl I was telling you about.”
“So nice to meet you, Lenny.” Olive’s mom was a tall, thin woman with the kind of energy that seemed to fill up the entire kitchen. She gave me a warm smile and patted me on the back. “I’ve heard nothing but good things about you. Welcome to Newcastle.”
“Thank you, Mrs.–”
I could not for the life of me remember Olive’s last name, but her mom waved away the thought.
“Just call me Ms. Julie,” she said.
She placed a white baker’s box on the marble counter and gave Peyton a wink.
“Is that what I think it is?” Peyton asked.
“My new flavor just for you to test out,” Ms. Julie said. “But wait until everyone’s gone. I don’t want anyone else influencing your opinion. Text me later, okay? I’m just dying to find out what you think.”
“I will. Can’t wait.” Peyton hugged Olive’s mom like they must have known each other for a long time.
And I guess they had. Petyon had said they’d all gone to school together since kindergarten.
As I watched them, I wondered what that must feel like. To have had the same friends for a lifetime, really. A part of me definitely wanted that, even though I’d never really thought about it until now.
My parents had each other, sure, but they hadn’t been close to anyone else but me. They hadn’t even talked to Uncle Martin all that often. We were like a closed family unit, and even though it had seemed lovely at the time, I suddenly realized there was so much I missed out on as a kid.
“I’ll be back to pick you up in a couple hours,” Ms. Julie said. “You girls have fun. Be safe.”
“Thank you,” Olive said. “Love you.”
When she was gone, Peyton smiled and threw up her hands. “We’re alone,” she said. “Race you to the pool.”
With that, she ran straight out to the pool and jumped in. Laughing, we all followed her in and had the best afternoon I’d ever shared with girls my age in my life.
Later, Peyton gave me a ride home, and her eyes grew wide when she saw the house.
“Wait. You live here?” she said, equal parts wonder and fear in her eyes. “Everyone says this is a haunted house. I didn’t even think anyone lived here anymore.”
“I moved in with my great uncle after my parents died. He, uh, keeps to himself a lot,” I said. “But it’s definitely not haunted.”
Looking at it from this perspective, though, I could see why people would say that.
It was a dark house in all respects. A massive Victorian painted a dark grey with back trim and a black roof. Even the windows looked dark with Martin’s thick curtains covering them and no light showing through from inside.
Maybe I needed to talk to him about installing some outside lights to make the place look more inhabited. Especially if I ever wanted to convince people to come visit me.
“So, I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said, opening the car door to get out.
Peyton touched my arm, and a flicker of warm energy flowed through me. I smiled. Definitely not fully human, but what? It was going to be fun to find out.
“Hey,” she said. “Thanks again for listening to me earlier. It was really nice to get that off my chest, instead of holding it all in for a change. It means a lot.”
“That’s what friends are for, right?” I said, smiling.
“Definitely,” she said. “See ya tomorrow.”
I waved goodbye as she turned around in our driveway and headed back toward her house.
I’d never felt so close to someone who wasn’t family before, and even though I really liked Brandy and Olive, too, there was just something about Peyton that felt so warm and true.
It was as if we were kindred spirits. Destined to be friends.
As I walked back into the house, I felt this warmth deep inside. It felt like hope and comfort for the first time in a really long time.
Like everything was going to be okay, despite Kai’s warning or the missing girls.
Somehow, it would all work out for the best.
But in the morning, as I strolled up, actually excited for another day at school, I noticed the scared looks on everyone’s faces as I passed. People were huddled together, whispering and holding hands. Some people were even crying.
I found Brandy and Olive holding each other near the picnic tables out front, and I rushed up, my heart racing.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, a black hole of fear opening in the pit of my stomach.
“It’s Peyton,” Brandy said, her dark skin stained with tears.
“She’s gone missing.”
Death’s Awakening Cover Reveal!
I’m so excited to finally get a chance to show you all the brand new cover for my book, Death’s Awakening!! This book was first published back in 2013, and it has had several covers since it was first released.
This new cover by Ravven, is my favorite so far! I hope you love it, too!
You’ll start to see this new cover showing up on the retailers soon. I’ll also be setting this book free for you to download over the next week or so, so stay tuned for news on that, if you haven’t had a chance to read it yet.
You can also read it free now on Wattpad.
This series is one of my favorites, but just be warned that this is a series about a magical global pandemic. If that’s your jam right now, I know you’ll love it! However, if you’re trying to avoid anything about viruses, you might want to skip over this one until after COVID-19 has calmed down.
Death’s Awakening Wallpapers
Cover art is done by the incredibly talented Ravven.
Instructions:
- There are 3 different sizes of wallpaper, each tailored to fit phones, tablets, or desktop (and laptop) computer resolutions.
- First, click on the image below or the link beneath it to open the full resolution file.
- Right click the image and “Save Image As” to save it to your PC. On a Mac desktop, you simply hold down your mouse on the image and drag it into a folder or your desktop to save the image. On many phones, you press down with one finger and an option will come up to save the image. If none of these work, take a screenshot of your phone and use that image!
- Apply the new image as your background or wallpaper! If you’re unsure how to do this, simply google “How Do I set a Photo As my Background on a XXX” and put your device in where the X’s are.
NOTE: If you are having trouble getting these to download on your phone, there are a couple of options. One is to try using a different browser! If you have chrome on your phone, try that instead! Or download it free from the app store. Another option is to click the image so it takes up the entire screen and then take a screenshot. This should also work! If you just simply cannot get it to work, email me and I’ll send it to you directly! (sarra@sarracannon.com)
Click here to download the full sized phone wallpaper.
Click here to download the full sized Desktop Wallpaper
Click here to download the full sized Tablet Wallpaper.
For links to purchase Death’s Awakening, click here. The new covers are not live yet, but they should be going up on the vendors (including new paperbacks) within the next week. Paperback links coming soon!
See you tomorrow!
I hope you enjoy this new cover, and I especially hope you are enjoying the daily chapters of The Witch’s Key. Check back every day for a brand new episode until the story is complete.