Prologue

A Great Rites Novel

Remington DiDonato

I call myself a witch. Now, this isn't some complimentary title I can interchangeably use with Wicca or Wicce; this is the real thing. In this world, there are Cailleachs, or true witches, and there are those who practice religions such as Wicca and believe they are magickal because they have connected with the Goddess and God. These are not Cailleachs. Cailleachs don't receive their mystical powers from fake Gods in mystical realms filled with happy unicorns and nature spirits. Cailleachs get their powers from the ancient Daoine Sidhe, a race of ultra powerful faeries. Not the kind of faeries with sparkly wings who run around helping humans. No, the faeries of the Daoine Sidhe are cruel, ruthless, and evil. They are the supreme rulers of the universe, humans just don't know it yet.

Aniella Force

Ash O'Brien murdered Kane Hale, plain and simple. Ash had always been a trouble maker, thinking he could conquer the world with a swish of his finger. But, this was going too far. Kane was a nice kid, not that I'd ever talked to him, but he was well liked by mostly everyone in the school. He didn't do anything to deserve what happened to him, torn up into little pieces like a wild animal. No one else knows that Ash killed him, but I do. There's no evidence against him, except for the disgusting knot I get in my stomach every time I look at him, and perhaps the way he looked extremely guilty when Breck Hanson, Kane's best friend, threw the news paper article describing Kane's death onto our lunch table. It is a school wide thought that one of my friends killed him, for we're outcasts, and we remain within ourselves. They've said that our parents are breeding psychopathic killers as we speak, but this isn't true. I lead a normal life, with the exception of the burning love I have for my best friend since I was five. But, that's normal. Right?