The Tithing by A. Zavarelli EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author: A. Zavarelli
- Language: English
- Genre: Gothic Romances
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
WILLOW
“Blessings!” Cordelia sings as she presents a three-layer chocolate
cake onto the table before me.
As the youngest Wildblood sibling, it is her privilege to deliver the cake
to the birthday recipient each year, an honor she has always loved and
cherished. But this year, even my youngest sister seems to be aware of the
dark shadow looming over the festivities. In place of her vibrant smile is a
notably tamer one, and the lightness she injected into her tone was forced–
much like all the moods around the table this evening.
It is the eve of my twenty-second birthday. The entire family has
gathered for the occasion, just as we have every year. My mother and father
are opposite me, smiling somberly, while my grandmother Celeste gathers
plates for the cake from the kitchen. The rest of the seats at the table are
littered with more of the Wildblood spawn—my sisters Raven, Winter,
Aurora, and now Cordelia, who quietly slips into her place beside me.
They are all trying very hard to convince themselves this is just another
birthday. This morning, I received a large stack of pancakes delivered to me
in bed. And this afternoon was spent in the company of the Wildblood
women. They painted my nails, braided my hair, and watched all my
favorite movies with me. There was tea, fine European chocolates, and gifts
aplenty as we all set aside our thoughts and acted as if it was just the mark
of another year gone by. But we all know it’s not. Tonight, the energy has
noticeably shifted as the hour draws nearer.
Tomorrow, I will be chosen.
As if to remind me, the crescent-shaped birthmark on my breast seems
to warm with its own energy. It’s the same mark every Wildblood woman
who’s been chosen has carried, an inheritance from my ancestor Elizabeth
whose traits have passed down from generation to generation as if by some
unwritten decree.
Even after all these years, my sisters and I have the same red hair and
blue eyes. The laws of genetics can’t alter these traits. Though my father
has no trace of red hair in his family, we still inherited. It is believed to be a
part of the magic. The lore.
The Wildblood curse and honor.
We will appear in Elizabeth’s image as a reminder to the Delacroix
family that she can’t be killed. She will live on through every Wildblood
woman birthed into this world and never be erased.
A shiver moves over me as my grandmother directs us to gather our
hands around the table. She’s a wise woman—one I admire deeply—and I
feel her strength as she sets her eyes upon me.
“Mother Goddess, may you protect and watch over our beloved Willow
in the coming year. Bless her with courage, honor, and wisdom. And above
all, please bless her with strength and protect her from evil.”
At the conclusion of the last sentence, my mother promptly bursts into
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