Witch's Bell Book One

Ebony was arrested. Everything but her heart. Its beat was strong and grounding. For Ebony Bell, her heart was suddenly as clear as a powerful bell.
    Something felt right. Deeply right. As if a long, powerfully-important lost memory had finally resurfaced.
    And then the arresting moment stopped, and Ebony found her own feet. She was still standing close to him, her feet positioned by his on the same step. She found herself looking into his face from a such a close distance, that it afforded a perspective she'd never enjoyed. No longer could she sum him up by his aggravatingly good looks, his annoyingly righteous expression, and the purely annoying look of disdain that would draw over his face each time he muttered a "right".
    She was looking at him now how you might look at the Earth from its surface, as opposed to looking at it from space. The perspective showed the grooves in his skin, the close shave of his chin, the slight slick of sweat against his brow, and the keen look in his eyes.
    For a witch that was meant to watch, Ebony was starting to realize she was just learning how to truly see.
    Just as she pulled up a hand, intending to reach out and touch that solid jaw, he reached out a hand to her – stoking the side of her cheek with the tips of his fingers.
    But then she heard the bell tinkle from the front door.
    'Ebony!' she heard her father shout from the front door, his voice brimming with that familiar grouchy, but welcome, strength.
    Ebony blinked quickly, as Nate stood back, turning to the sound – leaving her standing there alone.
    Heart in her mouth, she finally responded. 'Uh, dad?'
    She could hear him marching towards her.
    'I rang your father,' she heard Ben's voice filtering through from the front of the shop. His voice was still strict, but it had that slightly overwhelmed edge, as if he'd just realized he'd called the cavalry in for a street scuff.
    Calling her dad was like fishing with gelignite. He'd try and mobilize the force, like a general organizing his troops, in order to take the whole magical world on – until he found, and arrested, whoever had attacked his daughter.
    Only problem was, he was retired. Though he wouldn't see that as too much of a hindrance.
    'And I rang your mother,' her father said, finally bursting out from around the side of a bookshelf, and rushing over to her, face pressed.
    He apparently ignored Nate, who had shuffled further away from Ebony, and walked over to his daughter shaking his head. 'This type of stuff would never have happened in my day,' he sniffed. 'Summoning in the streets – we would have-'
    'Acted according to the Pact,' a very clear, very toned voice said from behind Ebony.
    Ebony turned slowly, like a pig on a spit, to see her mother standing on the stairs above her. How or when she'd gotten there, Ebony had no idea. Avery Bell was a witch of the Coven, she had more magic, and more mystery, than Ebony dared to imagine.
    Her mother had her head cocked to the side, a knowing look in her eye. Was that even a small smile growing on her lips, as she flicked her gaze from Ebony to Nate?
    Ebony, despite herself, blushed. But then she remembered the crux of the situation. She'd just been magically mugged by a summoned creature, probably brought into existence by incredibly strong evil. Even if Ebony hadn't been currently magic less, this would still have been an issue for investigation.
    But still, why was her mother here? Why now? What, had she finally felt a little guilty that she'd overreacted and sentenced Ebony to a punishment she really didn't deserve?
    Or was she here on behalf of the Coven – here to get all the facts from Ebony in case the being that had attacked her had been summoned by a witch. Even then, Ebony assured herself, her mother would no doubt find some way of blaming it all on Ebony.
    Really, if Nate hadn't been there, then who knows what would have happened to Ebony.
    Her face became hot with the sudden anger that flushed through her at the thought of her life-threatening situation. She had no power to defend herself, not because she was inherently weak, but because other people had snatched it from her.
    'Is there something you want to say to me, my little witch?' her mother said after a long moment of looking at her daughter's face. 'Or are you going to keep it bottled inside?'

Chapter Fourteen
    E bony's jaw set slowly, like water dripping onto a glacier. Her mother was goading her into having a fight, here and now.
    'Come