Sorceress Awakening by Lisa Blackwood

me?”
    “Forgive me for the lie, but the gargoyle
told me to say nothing of magic. So I thought it best if you believed you were
Lily. Your uncle came up with the idea about losing your memories in a near
drowning—a half truth is easier to accept than outright lies. And brain damage
explained why you would need to learn our language and details about our world.”
Gran paused again, and looked down at her hands. When she looked up, she gave
the gargoyle an intense look. “I’m interested to hear the reasons why the
gargoyle wanted you to know nothing about magic. That was a curious
stipulation.”
    Lillian followed her grandmother’s gaze.
Gregory balanced on his haunches, one hand braced against his bent knee, muzzle
bowed until it touched his chest, eyes focused unseeing on the ground. At the
moment, he looked about as talkative as a stone.
    “Right. Better luck next time.” A cold
sweat broke out along Lillian’s back. She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the
gargoyle’s reasoning—her gut told her there was more amiss then just bad guys
trying to kill her. She returned her attention to Gran. “What do you know about
the creatures who attacked me?”
    “Not enough. They call themselves the
Riven. We don’t know their agenda, but they are a gathering of evil-tainted
magic wielders. Before, we speculated they were led by vampires. Now after your
attack, we know that to be true.”
    “Why attack me? Why now?”
    Gran broke eye contact and glanced out the
window. “This isn’t the first time they’ve made a move against us,” she said,
her voice strained. She took two deep breaths and when she spoke again, her
voice had smoothed out. “Six years ago, we were caught unawares. There had been
rumors of a dark underground movement, one that could unbalance our community
and expose us to the humans, but no evidence was found to back up our theories.
Then the disappearances started. At first, we thought a blood feud had broken
out between the Clan and the Coven.”
    “Wait,” Lillian interrupted. “So the Coven
is made up of your people—the witches. But this Clan, who are they?”
    “We of the Coven are descendants of the few
ancient human bloodlines gifted with magic. The Clan is a mix of the other
magical races, many of which were once enemies. But our diverse peoples banded
together for one simple reason: survival. The Clan’s numbers were always less
than ours, but now they are many, many fewer. While they may not age, the
dwindling magic has killed many of them. If they don’t find a way back to the
Magic Realm, all the Clan will perish in time.”
    Lillian rubbed at her temples. “So the
unicorn is Clan, and my brother is Coven. And the Clan and Coven are allies?”
    “Now we are, but that wasn’t always the
case. At the thought of another blood feud, members of both Clan and Coven
became paranoid and defensive. The Council gathered to put a stop to this, for
a blood feud would expose us to the humans. The last time such a thing happened
was long ago and ended with members on both sides burning at the stake. The
Council ordered an investigation. The order was barely three hours old when we
were attacked. The Riven showed us how woeful our defenses were against them.
We lost eighty percent of the Council in one night.”
    Lillian waited while her grandmother
gathered herself.
    Both grief and anger glinted in Gran’s
eyes, the two emotions melding into a steel-hard resolve. “Nothing like this
had ever happened before. Individually, we didn’t know what to do against such
a powerful new enemy. For the first time in recorded history, the entire
membership of the Clan and the Coven came together, like a herd seeking safety
in greater numbers. When we did, we saw how many were missing. At first we
thought those absent were dead, hunted down by the Riven. But later we learned
the truth. Better had they been dead.” Gran sighed bitterly.
    “Some old and trusted friends, ones we
never thought had a