Elora and the Crow Book Ten (EBOOK)

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Elora set the mortar on the altar and lit the three black candles, studying the spell book in the dim light. “Okay, Lilianna, come here.”

The crow flew from her perch atop the bookshelf and settled beside the burning candles on the altar. Elora slipped into her robe and buttoned it before pulling her hair into a loose bun at the top of her head.

“I think this is the one,” she said to Lilianna before reaching out and smoothing the crow’s midnight black feathers with her fingertips. Lilianna rubbed her beak along her fingers, and Elora smiled before dipping her fingers into the stone mortar and scooping up some of the flower paste. Lilianna cawed indignantly and backed away with wings flapping when Elora tried to smear the paste on her head.

“Look, I get that you hate being dirty, but if you don’t let me do this, the spell won’t work,” Elora said.

With a very human look of resignation, Lilianna took several steps forward, her talons clicking on the wooden altar. Elora smeared the flower paste along Lilianna’s head and down her back as Lilianna made another soft caw of disgust.

“Hang in there, Miss Prissy,” Elora said with a laugh, but the laugh sounded nervous and shrill even to her. Lilianna cocked her head, staring quietly at her with her dark eyes.

Elora sighed. “Yeah, okay, I’m nervous. This is a super old spell, and I’m not entirely certain it’s the right one. I don’t want to turn you into something else by accident.”
Lilianna made the rattling/clicking sound she did only when she and Elora were alone. While she didn’t specifically know if this was true or not, Elora had always thought that the clicking was Lilianna’s way of trying to soothe Elora when she was upset.

She wiped the paste from her fingers and stroked Lilianna’s sleek chest. “This will work, sweetie. I know it will. Are you ready?”

Lilianna cawed and nibbled at Elora’s fingers. Taking another deep breath, Elora turned to the spell book and spoke the incantation. As she recited the words, she could feel the intoxicating power building inside her. Her pale cheeks flushed with colour, and she stared with wonderment at the blue light glowing from her hands. The power grew stronger, an addictive rush that Elora could chase forever and never tire of. Nothing felt as good to her as performing magic.

She chanted the spell a second time and then a third time until the candle flames burned so brightly she had to squint. The blue light surrounding her hands pulsed and deepened, and an answering glow of blue emanated from the paste on Lilianna’s head and back.

Lilianna stared into the candlelight, her dark eyes reflecting the flames. Sweat dripping down her back and her whole body trembling, Elora shouted, “By my power, flame and flower, return her to her genuine form.”

Blue light shot out from Elora’s hands and bathed Lilianna in its soft glow. Lilianna cawed, the sound filled with pain.

Elora winced but shouted again, “By my power, flame and flower, return her to her genuine form!”

The power surged within her. Her heart rate shot up, and her hands shook wildly as her entire body flooded with the electrifying and oh-so-addictive magic that ran through her blood.

“By my power, flame and flower, return her to her genuine form!” Elora shrieked as Lilianna screamed, and the blue light surrounding her turned blinding.

Lights exploded in Elora’s head, and pain instantly annihilated the power. She screamed and grabbed at her skull, falling to her knees as the agony made her back bow and her teeth snap together with a hard click that she felt more than heard.

The pain swelled in her head until she was sure she would die. That her brain would simply turn to jelly and ooze out her ears. She cried out when the brain-melting pain disappeared as quickly as it appeared, and she collapsed on the floor before the altar.

She kept her eyes closed. The only sound was her harsh panting and the faint rock music drifting through the ceiling from her neighbours upstairs.

“Shit, that hurt,” she groaned, rubbing tentatively at her temple. “I think I might have given myself brain damage. At the very least I …”

She sat up straight, staring frantically at the altar. “Lilikins! Lilipad, are you… well, shit.”

Still very much in her crow form, Lilianna sat on the altar, staring unblinkingly at her.

“It didn’t work,” Elora said. “I can’t believe it didn’t work.”
Lilianna cawed softly as Elora crawled over to her. She was at eye level with Lilianna, and she gave the crow a glum look. “I’m so sorry, honey. I really thought this would do it.”

Lilianna stretched forward and groomed Elora’s hair with her beak before spreading her wings and shaking her body. Wet and sticky flower paste splatted Elora’s face, and she wrinkled her nose. “I deserved that.”

Dejected beyond belief, she blew out the candles and climbed to her feet. Dizziness washed over her, and she grabbed the altar, steadying herself as she took a few deep breaths. Lilianna landed on her shoulder, clicking softly at her, and Elora nodded. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just kind of exhausted. I’ve never felt the magic so strongly before. I can’t believe the spell didn’t work.”

She stared at the altar and then the ceiling. “At least I didn’t singe the ceiling or set anything on fire this time, right?”

Lilianna groomed her hair again, and Elora patted her sleek feathers. “C’mon, Lilipad. It’s late. Let’s have a shower and go to bed.”

* * *

Elora was much too hot. She shoved the quilt to her waist, but even the cool bedroom air didn’t help. Lilianna was crowded against her back, and the bird was even warmer than usual.

“Lilikins, move back,” she muttered, burrowing her head deeper into the pillow.

Lilianna snored softly before flinging one arm over Elora’s waist and cupping her breast. She elbowed the bird in the stomach. “Lilianna, you’re too hot. Are you trying to set me on…”

Elora’s eyes popped open, and she stared at the big hand cupping her breast through her sleep shirt. The fingers were long with short blunt nails, and thick blue veins ran across the back of the hand.

Her sleepiness evaporated, and she turned her head, the tendons in her neck creaking like an old barn door and stared at the man pressed up behind her in the bed.

“What the fuck?” she whispered.

She studied his face in confusion, her gaze traveling over his sharp cheekbones, wide nose, and square jaw. Dark stubble covered his skin, and his narrow lips were relaxed in sleep. His ink-coloured hair was thick and on the longish side, curling at the nape of his neck and around his ears.

“I’m having a dream,” Elora said, her voice faint and full of shock. “Time to wake up, Elora.”

The man’s eyes blinked open. He stared at her, his irises so dark, it was almost impossible to tell where they ended, and his pupils began. He smiled sleepily at her, revealing straight white teeth, before leaning forward and rubbing his nose along her hair.

He froze, his eyes widening and his hand tightening on her breast. He stared at Elora before releasing her and lifting his hand into the air. He stared at it like he’d never seen a human hand before as Elora slid out of bed on legs that felt like rubber bands.

She stumbled away as the man jumped out of bed and whooped loudly. “Holy fuck, you did it!”

She shrieked when he ran across the room and picked her up, hugging her tight and whirling her around until she pounded on his back. He set her down and cupped her face, his eyes wide with delight. “You did it! You fucking did it, you beautiful, wonderful, amazing little witch!”

He gave her a hard, smacking kiss before letting her go and dancing around her bedroom. She backed away and reached for her ninth-grade spelling bee trophy on the bookshelf near the bathroom door. She raised it over her head. “Get out of my apartment, you naked dancing weirdo.”

The man stopped dancing. “Elora, it’s me.”

Elora didn’t want to stare at his naked body. She especially didn’t want to stare at his dick. But it was kind of hard not to when he had the abs of a bodybuilder and the dick of a porn star.

The man either didn’t notice or didn’t care that she was staring at his dick. He put his hands up in an ‘I’m perfectly sane and not at all dangerous’ gesture and said, “Elora, it’s me. Lilianna.”

Shock washed over her in a tidal wave, and she sagged against the wall, her trembling legs no longer able to support her weight. “Lilianna?”

He nodded. “Yes. The spell worked, little Elora. You’ve turned me back.”

“I, but you… you’re a boy,” she said.

He grinned. “You noticed.”

Her gaze dipped to his cock again, and when it visibly hardened, her cheeks went hot and scarlet. “You’re supposed to be a witch. A female witch.”

“Surprise,” he said.

She stared into those midnight dark eyes, feeling like she teetered at the edge of a deep chasm. She opened her mouth and then closed it. She opened it again, and he gave her an encouraging look. “Are you okay, little witch?”

She swallowed hard and said, “I showered with you.”