You're about to read an excerpt from the novel One Last Show by Tari Riley.
This novel is available in e-book and paperback on all major retailers. This includes (but is not limited to): Amazon, Kobo (incl. Kobo Plus), Apple Books and Barnes & Noble.
If neither of those is an option for you, you can also request a copy at your local library (this mostly applies to English-speaking countries).
I hope you enjoy this small excerpt and that it makes you curious about the rest of the novel!
Thank you for your interest.
Until next time,
Tari 🌙

2 — Emma

Emma’s fingers drummed on the table as she pondered which attack would be most efficient for the battle she, Annie and Maddie were about to fight. Their figurines were carefully placed over a map of a forest’s ground with smaller ones scattered around them representing their enemies.

Goblins. Of course they’d find goblins in the forest. Why couldn’t they reach a tavern in peace?

“I told you we should’ve taken the monk’s offer!” Annie said, throwing her hands in the air. “Now, we’re going to have to fight these little bastards, and it’s all your fault, Raven.”

Maddie rolled her eyes, twirling some blonde hair between her fingers. When she played Raven, she really got into character. “Did you really think I was going to let a man guide us to fortune? Absolutely not.”

Emma glanced at Aleena, their game master, who sat at the head of the table. She had her black hair in a bun on top of her head and her dark eyes filled with delight. Aleena loved the battle sequences during these sessions.

“How far away from them are we?” Emma asked.

Aleena stood from her chair and narrowed her eyes on their figurines, mentally counting the number of squares between them. “The closest one to you is two meters away. The others are three, five and three meters away. Have you rolled your dice yet?”

Around the table, everyone nodded, and after Aleena registered how much each of them rolled, it was time to start their battle. 

Maddie, the one with the highest roll, was the first to attack, followed by the goblins, Annie, and finally, Emma. Emma was always terrible at rolling her dice, but this evening she was almost certain they were cursed.

“Did you seriously roll a four again?” Annie asked.

Emma shrugged. “At least it’s not a one.”

As Aleena sat, the battle began. It wasn’t supposed to be a long one—goblins weren’t the worst enemy they had encountered while playing this game—but it still took them longer than they expected. Between spells, attacks, and unexpected moves from their enemies, they barely made it out of the battle alive. Once it ended, the three of them high-fived around the table, satisfied with the result.

“Should we take a break now?” Aleena asked. “I feel like this is a good moment to stop before you continue your journey.”

“Sure,” Maddie said while she redid her ponytail. “My grandma baked us tons of cookies this week.”

“I’ll go get the kettle ready, then,” Aleena announced, leaving the dining room table towards the kitchen. “Does everybody want tea?”

“Yup,” they all replied in unison.

As Maddie and Aleena disappeared into the kitchen to get their evening snacks ready, Annie and Emma left the table and crashed on Aleena’s living room couch. Emma checked her phone to see she had exactly zero notifications, but when she glanced at Annie, she typed away on her phone with a silly smile on her face.

“Who are you texting?” Emma asked, scooting closer to her friend.

Annie put her phone face down, trying to sound nonchalant as she said, “No one.” Her cheeks betrayed her, and that was enough for Emma to know who Annie was texting.

“Is it Charlotte?” Emma asked, her tone teasing.

Annie shrugged and saved her phone in the pocket of her jeans. “Maybe. But before you say anything, we’re just getting to know each other. Nothing is going to happen.”

“Because you don’t want anything to happen, I know,” Emma concluded. She knew of her friend’s aversion to the idea of a serious relationship.

Aleena and Maddie returned then, each carrying a tray with cookies and four different mugs with steaming hot tea. Emma leaned away from Annie and grabbed hers—a dark purple mug that matched her shoulder-length hair—and blew on it several times, its warmth grounding her in the here and now. They enjoyed their cookies and tea in silence for a while, until they decided it was time to catch up with one another about what each of them had going on in their lives.

This had been Emma’s routine for the past two years, and she couldn’t be happier about it. Tuesday nights were tabletop roleplaying game time at Aleena’s house, where they all got together to play the quest and story designed by Aleena. It all started when Maddie found out Aleena had been kicked out of her old party after breaking up with her now ex-boyfriend. After that, she recruited Annie and Emma, two loners who were together during school lunch, and once the four joined forces, they never looked back. Now, every week, they got together to play what was a complicated and intricate story Aleena had woven together, filled with mysteries, secrets, and of course, lots of fun.

“By the way,” Maddie said, adjusting herself on the couch next to Aleena, “I have a request to make.”

Annie rolled her eyes. “I already said I’m not wearing a dress to prom, Maddie. I want to wear a suit.”

“It’s not that.” Maddie cleared her throat and placed her mug on the coffee table before glancing at the three of them with soft eyes. “So, there’s this new girl in my class, Breona. She’s a new transfer and doesn’t have any friends, so I was thinking she could join us?”

“You mean, join us at school or join us here?” Annie asked.

“Both?” She flashed them her most charming smile. “She seems really sweet but very shy. I think she could use our help. We could take her under our wing and help her fly.”

“Did you steal that from Emma’s poetry notebook?” Annie deadpanned. When Maddie lifted her mug and shrugged, Aleena laughed. “I mean, I have no problem with someone else joining our quest. But does she even like to play this? This is not like playing Scrabble, Maddie.”

“Or Uno,” Emma added.

“I don’t mind having another player,” Aleena said, “but it’s important she’s comfortable joining us.”

“I can talk to her,” Maddie said. “She could join us next week or something and see if she’d like to be a part of this. And I know we’d make her feel comfortable. We all started somewhere. I knew very little about this and look at me now.” She lifted her chin to the ceiling while resting her fist under it. “I’m an expert.”

“Maddie’s responsible for creating the next quest,” Aleena said, hiding her mouth with the brim of her mug. “We’re pretty close to the end of this one.”

Emma pouted. It was fun to get together and play these characters. The four of them disconnected from the world for two hours and became completely different people. Emma was Delia, a witch searching for her family after being torn apart from them when she was little. Maddie played Raven, a charismatic faerie princess who wanted to explore the world before returning home to fulfil her duty. As for Annie, she played Nighter, a fugitive warrior with a dark past neither Emma nor Maddie had been able to piece together yet. She was the strength of the group, their best fighter. Aleena had created this quest so they could end it in their last year of high school, but Emma didn’t want it to end. It was one of the things she’d miss the most once she went to university.

She’d miss her friends so much.

Maddie shook her head vehemently and shoved a chocolate cookie into her mouth. “I’m not creating any quest. That’s what you love to do.”

“True.” Aleena smirked. “I like to torture your characters.”

“I’m still upset about the goblins,” Annie said. “Couldn’t it be, like, a giant lizard?”

“That was an option, but Maddie rolled too high.”

“Always blame the dice, never the player.” Maddie raised her hands. “But we’ve defeated them so it’s all good.”

Annie rolled her eyes and Emma laughed. This got Annie’s attention, who looked at Emma, clearly scheming something.

“Speaking of joining new things,” Annie said, “is anyone joining the school musical?”

“There’s a school musical?” Aleena asked as her eyes widened. “Why is it that after I leave that school they start doing cool things?”

“Shouldn’t have transferred, then.” Annie pouted, earning a frown from Aleena. “I’m just joking. But we miss you.”

“We really do,” Maddie said, wrapping an arm around Aleena’s shoulders.

Aleena glanced at each of them, her features drowning in sadness. Emma knew if it had been Aleena’s choice, she would still be with them at their public school, sharing lunches and stupid jokes any chance they got. However, because of how her grades were, her moms decided to transfer her to a private school at the beginning of the school year so she could have a better chance at improving her grades and achieving her academic goals. Now, they only saw her in person during these two hours a week but they were in constant communication in their group chat.

“I miss you all too,” Aleena said. “It’s not the same without you there.”

Annie cleared her throat to send the sad atmosphere away and focused back on the crowd. “Anyway, I’m joining and we had our first meeting this week and there’s, like, five people? Miss Lee is trying very hard to get people to join the organisation committee, but I think she’s failing miserably. She hasn’t recruited Emma, for instance.”

“I’m not joining it,” Emma said. “I have too many things on my plate.”

That was a lie, and Annie knew it. Now that Miss Lee was their new English teacher after Mrs Jones retired, Emma was free of the newspaper club, mostly because they had no teacher to take over the only club Emma truly enjoyed belonging to. Now, with her favourite teacher gone, and without a reply to her application for the internship at the local newspaper, Emma had a lot more free time on her hands, and she spent most of it working at the restaurant to try and save up money for university.

“But you’re a good writer,” Maddie said, her voice tentative. “I think you should give it a try.”

“I don’t want to.” Emma leaned against the couch, trying to bury herself in it. “I don’t think I’d be a good fit.”

“Why not?” Aleena sipped her tea. “I mean, your poetry is incredible. You’ve won several school awards because of it. I’m sure you could use those skills for songwriting.”

Emma eyed Aleena. For her to know this information, someone around the room had to have told her about it. Annie had been bugging Emma since Miss Lee put the papers up last week, so she had to be behind it. From the way Annie continued to study her cookie as if nothing else in the world mattered, Emma knew she was the culprit.

“Is this an intervention?” Emma asked. “Because if it is, I’m not interested.”

“No one said anything about an intervention but now that you mention it,” Annie adjusted herself on the couch and looked at Emma, “maybe we should do it. It’s been too long, Emma. Don’t you miss singing? Don’t you miss writing songs?”

“I don’t,” she lied. “I don’t do that anymore.”

The mere thought of sitting in front of a piano and writing lyrics to a melody contorted Emma’s heart in ways she never thought possible. That used to be such a big part of her, a part she loved and cherished, a part she had to shed once she started high school. Emma used to love it. Now, she had moved past that.

She wrote poetry to pass the time and to make sense of her feelings. Now, it was merely words on paper. No melody, no rhythm was attached to it. As much as she tried to make it whole on her own, she knew something was missing. It always would be. It would never come back.

Annie patted Emma’s knee, looking at her with her beautiful brown eyes and a comforting smile. “Just think about it, will you? I’m sure you’d like to join the team. Marco is there too, so he’d be one more familiar face there. You wouldn’t be alone.”

When Emma didn’t reply, Maddie sighed and got up from the couch, placing the cookies back on the tray and taking them to the kitchen. Aleena collected the rest of their mugs, and Emma grabbed her phone, trying to distract herself from the loud thoughts plaguing her.

Emma had made up her mind as soon as Annie asked her about this the first time. She wouldn’t join the school musical organisation committee. It didn’t matter if she had familiar faces to hang out with. She’d be busy, and she was sure she wasn’t the right fit for what they needed anyway.

“Well, should we return to our game?” Aleena asked, returning to the living room, followed by Maddie.

“Yup!” Emma jumped from the couch, glad for the opportunity to escape a possible ambush from her friends. “Let’s hope we make it to the tavern without having to fight more goblins.”

Surrounded by the laughter of her friends, the four of them returned to the table to continue their quest and enjoy the rest of their evening in each other’s company.

Need more One Last Show? Read Chapter One here or get One Last Show at your favourite retailer or directly from my store.

You're about to read an excerpt from the novel One Last Show by Tari Riley.
This novel is available in e-book and paperback on all major retailers. This includes (but is not limited to): Amazon, Kobo (incl. Kobo Plus), Apple Books and Barnes & Noble.
If neither of those is an option for you, you can also request a copy at your local library (this mostly applies to English-speaking countries).
I hope you enjoy this small excerpt and that it makes you curious about the rest of the novel!
Thank you for your interest.
Until next time,
Tari 🌙

1 — Dylan

The paper pinned on the bulletin board was calling Dylan’s name. Despite its emptiness, he found that it presented more possibilities than ever. He read its title over and over again before glancing at the blank lines asking him to write his name on them.

Auditions for the new school musical! Sign up if you like acting, singing and/or dancing. Don’t wait for your chance to shine!

It was tempting. Dylan wanted to write his name on the list, but the lack of any other names prevented him from doing it. And having his name out in the open for everyone to see wasn’t something he was excited about. He should be focused on the baseball team and their upcoming pre-season games, not on signing up for this stupid school musical.

Focus on what’s important. His father’s words echoed in his mind. To his father, the most important thing was baseball. Baseball would open doors to Dylan’s future. Baseball would help him go to a prestigious university. Baseball would help him get a good career. Dylan knew signing up for this school musical would be a distraction; something he couldn’t afford right now, not when he was so close to reaching his goal.

He sighed and fixed the bag over his shoulder, biting his lip. Was he really considering auditioning for the school musical? The idea was so ridiculous, Dylan wasn’t sure what to make of it. It had been so long since he last played the piano, since he last sang out loud to anyone. What if he wasn’t good at it anymore? What if he sucked and trying would make him a joke to everyone around him? He wasn’t sure he could live with that. His father certainly couldn’t.

Someone approached the board with a polite good morning to Dylan before writing their name on the paper sheet hanging next to the audition call.

Do you like the magic of musical theatre? If you’re interested in participating in the school’s musical organisation, sign up now! We’ll meet every Thursday at 4:30 pm in the school auditorium.

As opposed to the audition paper, this one had a few names. Dylan recognised the first one on the list, Marco Fiore, who stated to be interested in sculpting, painting and working on the school musical sets. There was also Annie Garcia—twin to Dylan’s teammate, Finn—who was interested in working on the lighting and sound portion of the play. The last name had been added by the guy standing next to him. Joshua Cooper. Interested in composing the school musical’s songs.

Dylan held a small chuckle. Creating a soundtrack wasn’t a one-person job. Even if Joshua was incredibly good at composing and writing lyrics, it was still a lot of work.

“Considering auditioning?” Joshua asked, clicking his pen with too much excitement for Dylan’s taste. “I hope people join. It’d be a shame to have everyone to work behind the scenes, but no one to work on the scenes.”

“The musical might not happen if that’s the case.”

“Let’s hope that isn’t the case, then.” Joshua ran a hand through his dark brown hair, moving it away from his eyes before flashing Dylan a polite smile. He fixed the bag strap on his shoulder and walked away, disappearing in the crowd around the corridor. 

In about five minutes, the bell would ring, and Dylan’s first class would start.

He had five minutes to decide. If he didn’t do it now, he was afraid he never would. Dylan opened his bag and scrambled to find his pencil case. He pulled it out and opened it, his heart jumping. I’m really doing this, he thought as he searched for a blue or black pen, but none appeared to be within reach.

As he caught a glimpse of something that appeared to be his favourite blue pen, someone bumped against him, and he clutched the pencil case close to his chest, preventing it from falling.

“Watch where— Dylan?”

Dylan’s eyes widened as he stared up at the voice. He shut his pencil case as quickly as he could and shoved it back inside his bag. He crossed his arms, trying to sound nonchalant when he asked Eli, “What are you doing here so early?”

“I could ask you the same,” Eli said, looking up to fix his short dark hair, followed by his glasses. Dylan noticed he was wearing cologne. Not the obnoxious deodorant he liked to put on after baseball practice, but something softer and nicer. “I’m looking for someone.”

Even his clothes looked different than usual. Where was Dylan’s sweatpants, T-shirt-wearing teammate? Apparently, he had been replaced by someone who knew how to wear the same colour on both socks and owned a pair of jeans. A very rare occurrence for Eli, Dylan had to admit.

“Have you seen Lili?” Eli asked, looking at the crowd ahead, his golden beige skin flushed from running all the way here.

“Who’s Lili?”

“Liliana,” he said, pronouncing her name with care. “I got tickets to a concert, and I know she likes the band, so I want to ask her out. Do you know where she is?”

Liliana was from Dylan’s English class. She sat in the front row, on the opposite side of the room to Emma and Marco, and he had never spoken to her. All Dylan knew about her was that she was a good student, but she rarely opened her mouth to participate in class.

“She’s probably inside the room already,” Dylan said, gesturing to the end of the corridor. “You know—”

“Thanks.” Eli walked backwards, a huge grin on his face. “I owe you one.”

Dylan watched as his friend sprinted across the corridor, swerving through the crowd to avoid bumping against someone again. Dylan sighed and faced the empty paper in front of him, biting his lip again. He almost did it. He almost wrote his name.

If he had, that would have been the biggest mistake of his life. One small moment of hesitation had saved him. However, the same might not happen next time. While this paper remained here, empty and calling his name, Dylan would always be one step closer to giving in and trying to succeed at this whole thing.

He knew he needed something like this, something that spoke to a part of him he had neglected for a long time, a part of him he missed and wanted to rescue. It was the part that risked, that dreamed, that dared to believe. The part that only cared about having fun, about creating good memories to later remember.

This was Dylan’s last year at high school before university. This was his last chance at doing something different, something he chose for himself. Could this be it?

As the bell rang, Dylan shook his head, a sad smile greeting his features. Maybe not.

With certain steps, he walked to his classroom, grateful to have something to focus on instead of the demanding pound of his heart, begging him to follow it for once.

Need more One Last Show? Read Chapter Two here or get One Last Show at your favourite retailer or directly from my store.

You're about to read an excerpt from the novel A Spark of Magic by Tari Riley.
This novel is available in e-book and paperback on all major retailers. This includes (but is not limited to): Amazon, Kobo (incl. Kobo Plus), Apple Books and Barnes & Noble.
If neither of those is an option for you, you can also request a copy at your local library (this mostly applies to English-speaking countries).
I hope you enjoy this small excerpt and that it makes you curious about the rest of the novel!
Thank you for your interest.
Until next time,
Tari 🌙

Alice walked to her aunt's flower shop with music as her only company. The sun painted the skies in hues of orange and purple, drowning the old buildings around her in a dim light. In the distance, a waxing moon peeked from behind the green mountains, its appearance slow and calculated.

She enjoyed her life in this quaint town. Alice didn't know much else; she had grown up here. She knew these streets like the palm of her hand, understood its customs and people.

That didn't mean they understood her.

As most businesses closed up shop for the day, some would remain open for a few more hours. The local tavern was one of them, with its wooden slacks decorated with fairy lights and small carvings of animals and flowers. The owner set up the outside tables for the evening, going to each of them to drop an ashtray before disappearing towards the inside of the establishment to grab something else. In the small corner restaurant, an employee wrote the menu on a charcoal board hanging on the wall. Alice wondered if anyone would stop by since they rarely got any customers. They blamed their location—they were too close to the flower shop—but they refused to move elsewhere. After all, the business on the other side of the flower shop, a coffee shop, thrived with customers.

The problem, Alice suspected, wasn't in her aunt's flower shop, but in the antiques store across from the restaurant. It was another place in town where magic hid in plain sight. As she crossed the town square, she glanced at its window shop, her eyes tracing the aura emanating from the objects on display. Some of them had a warm golden energy, while others carried something heavier and colder, their aura an icy silver. She shivered. This store never inspired a sense of trust or safety in Alice, and she avoided it as much as possible. However, everyone else—humans and magical beings alike—seemed to enjoy it and some even visited it often.

Alice stopped at the flower shop's entrance, saving her headphones in her backpack and checking her surroundings. Despite the busyness of the town square, very few people came to look for flowers this late in the evening. Still, one could never be too careful. If the wrong person stopped her, the damage could be astronomical.

She spotted the plaque with the word open hanging from inside and knocked. Alice's aunt wasn't at the counter nor was she doing inventory, which could only mean she was in the back room.

Alice knocked again, this time louder, and shielded her eyes to get a better focus on the inside of the shop. After noticing some light piercing through the back door, she turned on the door handle and stepped inside the premises.

The shop was smaller than its exterior made it out to be. Besides a wooden counter and a back wall covered in flowers of all different shades and sizes, everything else was space for vases and gardening tools.

"I'm here!" Alice dropped her school bag and took off her jacket, closing the door behind her. She turned the entrance plaque to show the word closed and locked the door.

"You're late!" her aunt screamed from the back room and a loud clang followed. "Damn it! You weren't there before."

On the furthest wall, Alice spotted flickering lights flying above the flowers, forming shapes like constellations. Most people would think of them as fireflies, but she knew very well they were not.

"Is everything alright?" Alice pushed the back door open, facing her aunt as she picked a couple of metal dishes from the floor, her dark curls falling from her headband.

"Everything's fine," she said, puffing some hair away from her face. "Just some housekeeping gone wrong. Where's Xavier?"

Alice looked over her shoulder, her eyes catching the golden hues of the sunset outside. After what happened today at school, she was looking forward to his company on the walk back home. It was rare for people to speak to Alice at school, let alone be so comfortable to bring up the fact that she was a witch. She didn't like that. She especially didn't like how easily that information was available despite her attempts to hide it.

"He has swimming practice today," Alice said.

Her aunt furrowed her brows, studying Alice carefully. "Since when?"

"Since today?" Alice gulped and grabbed a small peacock feather from a nearby counter, her fingers grazing over the smooth surface, admiring the shape and colours. "What are we doing today?"

"Do your parents know Xavier is not here with you?"

"Why does it matter, Vi?" she said, dropping the feather back in its place. "I'm here in one piece, no one followed me and I'm alright."

Victoria sighed, placing the dishes on the counter before fixing her headband and moving her hair away from her face.

"You know," she said as she wiped her hands on her apron, "I'll talk to your parents about this. This was not the deal they made with Xavier."

"You mean the deal my parents made with his parents?" Alice rolled her eyes. "Vi, I'm fine. Really. I don't need Xavier to be around all the time. It's not good for our friendship."

"Right." Her aunt didn't believe a word she had just said. She picked up the dishes again. "In this case, your safety is more important than your friendship, and a deal is a deal. Why are you late, though?"

Victoria gestured to a couple of gardening tools behind Alice, and she grabbed them, extending them to her aunt. There was no way she was going to tell her aunt about Isaac. Or their conversation. Especially not the latter.

"I took longer at school." Alice shrugged. "Next time I'll text."

"You know I don't have a cellphone."

"You should, though."

Her aunt narrowed her eyes on Alice, waiting for her to break and reveal whatever information she was withholding. When she didn't, Victoria glanced at one of the plants nearby, its flowers blooming back to life as a ball of light flew from one of its buds. Victoria gestured with her head to Alice, and the light stopped in front of her, revealing a tiny fairy with wings like a dragonfly, and a dress that reminded her of dandelions.

"That's new," she said, reaching the tip of her index finger towards the fairy's torso. She moved away, flying to sit on top of her finger instead. Alice narrowed her eyes, inspecting the fairy closely. "Is she new?"

"Yes," Victoria said. "She brought a letter. For you."

"A letter? For me?"

Alice's heart picked up pace. It was rare for her to receive any sort of correspondence. She didn't have any friends—Xavier didn't count—and she only exchanged texts with him and occasionally her parents. Letters were an even rarer occurrence since that wasn't a typical practice in this realm anymore.

For the past couple of months, Alice had been eager to receive one. She had been working hard to prepare her application for the University of Nadalan in Otherworld, hoping to get accepted in the Alchemy Major they offered. So far, she had only performed the theoretical tests, all under the scrutiny of Xavier, Victoria and a Council member, but she was hoping this letter would bring good news.

"Do you think it's from them?" Alice asked, following the fairy as she flew across the room, plopping herself on top of a small flower pot. "Do you think I got in?"

Victoria said nothing. She kept moving objects from one side of the back room to the other, occasionally stopping to curse under her breath and fix her headband. She shouldn't have gotten bangs. Hair as curly as hers would not deal well when forced to do anything it didn't want to.

"Where's the letter?" Alice said and moved her hands to express her question to the small creature.

The fairy shoved her hand inside a flower bud, causing some pollen to fly nearby. She pulled the smallest envelope from inside; it fitted on the tip of Alice's finger. Carefully, the fairy placed it on the wooden table and threw light from her hands towards the envelope.

Alice took a deep breath, her eyes widening as the small envelope grew in size until it was big enough for her to grab it. It would always amaze her how this spell worked. Once she mastered it, she would make everything tiny in size and carry it in her backpack everywhere she went.

"I'm opening it!"

No answer. She picked the envelope up, its surface still warm from the spell. Her thumb traced the golden edges and the impeccable cursive handwriting on its front. Alice stopped.

She recognised this handwriting.

"Vi?" She searched for her aunt in the back room. "I don't think this is from them."

Alice pondered not opening it. If she didn't, then she wouldn't know what was inside. She was sure she would not be pleased with it. However, she had no other option. With her stomach churning in fear, she opened the envelope, pulled out the letter and read it.

Oh no, she thought as soon as she was done reading it. "Oh no."

"Is it from them or not?" Vi asked as she stepped inside the back room, placing a couple of pots on the counter. When her eyes met Alice, panic took over her. "Who is it from?"

Alice couldn't speak, couldn't move her feet. She extended the letter to her aunt and waited for it to be snatched away. Vi took the letter and mumbled the words under her breath as she paced around the room, growing more distressed by the minute.

"Gloria is coming to visit you," she said, a tone between bewilderment and something Alice assumed was fear. "This is not good."

"Not good at all."

Alice liked Aunt Gloria. As a kid, she liked her stories from the Otherworld, how she always seemed brave and smart and how she never took no for an answer. As she grew older, she realised that her aunt wasn't very nice. She didn't like her siblings and she made it known. Nothing was ever good enough for her standards, including Alice's education in the human realm. She only appeared to like Alice, but that was because she was a powerful witch and interested in studying Alchemy in the Otherworld.

Except, Alice wasn't a powerful witch. She couldn't summon magic or cast a spell. All she knew were the rules of magic, but practising them was out of her reach.

"She's probably aware of your application," Vi said, returning the letter to Alice. "She wants to see the progress of your magic."

"There's no progress," Alice said, pouting. "It's even worse than what it was."

The last time Aunt Gloria visited, Alice summoned light with her bare hands to show her skills to her aunt. She had received a big round of applause. She had been showered in compliments. Alice had never felt so worthy of magic.

Now, she didn't feel worthy of it. She was a shame to all witches.

"I'm sure until then, you'll be able to figure something out. She's only coming during the next New Moon, so until then, we'll keep practising. Alice," her aunt searched for her eyes as she rested a hand on Alice's shoulder, "I know it seems impossible now, but you'll be a master of your craft someday. You just have to work for it, okay?"

Alice was tired of listening to that. Everyone kept telling her that she should keep practising, that she should keep trying, that she would achieve greatness if she didn't stop. She had been doing it ever since she was six and for what? No matter how much theory she knew, she would never be able to summon magic.

Whenever she tried, she was back in that miserable place, a reminder of what she had done, of what she would never be, of who she was born to be. She was failing her magic and yet, she wasn't entirely human.

"Come here." Vi wrapped her arms around Alice, pulling her in for a hug. They stood there for a while as the fairies flew around the back room, gracing the flowers with their light and energy, sprouting them back to life, bringing colour to their petals.

Alice wished she could have that too. She wanted something to bring back colour to her life, to bring back her purpose to the surface. Someday, her aunt said. How many somedays did Alice have before she could feel like herself again?

Need more A Spark of Magic? Read Chapter One here or get A Spark of Magic at your favourite retailer or directly from my store.

You're about to read an excerpt from the novel A Spark of Magic by Tari Riley.
This novel is available in e-book and paperback on all major retailers. This includes (but is not limited to): Amazon, Kobo (incl. Kobo Plus), Apple Books and Barnes & Noble.
If neither of those is an option for you, you can also request a copy at your local library (this mostly applies to English-speaking countries).
I hope you enjoy this small excerpt and that it makes you curious about the rest of the novel!
Thank you for your interest.
Until next time,
Tari 🌙

"I need your help."

Isaac couldn't believe the words that left his mouth. A week ago, if someone were to tell him he would be asking Alice for help, he would have laughed. In which situation would he need a witch's help? None. His life was perfectly fine without any magic, and he didn't want anything to do with it. He was popular, part of the swimming team, and he was sure he would go to a prestigious university by the end of the school year. At least, that was him a week ago.

Today, he wasn't so sure.

"Let me guess," she closed her locker and turned to face him with an amused smile, "you need my help to improve your grades. What subjects?"

He laughed. Yes, he sucked at most subjects, but he would never study more than necessary. He didn't need to improve his grades; he just had to be sure he wouldn't fail any class. That, and his outstanding performance in the swimming team would get him far.

"That's not the case." He cleared his throat and glanced around the corridor, moving closer to her. Suddenly, he didn't know how to bring it up. "I need your help with other things."

"Such as...?"

"Such as... magical things."

Alice rolled her eyes, annoyed. "I don't sell drugs. If you want that, find someone who's always high. Not me."

She fixed the strap over her shoulder and turned around, leaving Isaac behind. He blinked slowly, trying to understand what had just happened. Yes, he expected Alice to reject his offer at first, but after mentioning magic, he at least expected her eyes to shine. Instead, he got the cold shoulder, and now she thought he was into drugs.

Great, he thought. What now?

He pondered for a while, glancing between both ends of the corridor, wondering if he should go to his car or after her. His urgency to solve this matter spoke louder. Isaac sighed and went after Alice, half-walking, half-running until he caught up to her.

"What do you know about merfolk?"

She glanced at him sideways for a while and shrugged. "The same as everyone else. They have a fishtail instead of legs and like to swim. They probably live in the ocean, I don't know. Merfolk are not of my interest."

"Why not?"

"Why do you care, Isaac? Did you bet with someone that you could annoy me for a certain amount of time before I lost my patience?"

He knew she was deflecting answering his question, probably to keep her identity hidden. Isaac knew Alice was a witch. Everyone knew. Even if she didn't walk around showcasing her abilities and doing magic tricks for everyone to see, she had done it in the past. That's what he heard, at least.

When it came to Alice, people liked to spread rumours, and her being a witch was one of them. How people came to that knowledge, he didn't know, but right now, Isaac wanted desperately to believe that one was true. He was betting his life on it.

He gulped and glanced at the corridor again. If he got caught speaking with her, he could kiss his hard-earned reputation goodbye. No one spoke with Alice. No one. He was starting to understand why. The rumours didn't help, but her personality was bad too.

Isaac took a few quick steps forward and stopped in front of her, causing her to almost trip on him. He caught the brief surprise in Alice's dark eyes and held her gaze for as long as possible. It could help assert his dominance over the situation if he wasn't so focused on how dark her eyes were. He couldn't distinguish where her irises started and her pupils ended. He was looking at a pool of darkness, disrupted by the occasional reflection of the fluorescent lights that reminded him of stars. He had never noticed she had such pretty eyes.

Truth be told, Isaac never lost much time staring at Alice. She moved like a shadow, and he rarely noticed her. Until recently, that was.

"Now we're doing a staring contest?" She crossed her arms over her chest. "I have somewhere to be. Don't make me waste my time, please."

"I know you're a witch, and in this case, you're the only person who can help me," he whispered, hoping his voice carried all the urgency he was feeling. "I need your help to deal with... a situation."

Alice's expression grew sombre. Whether she was upset, disappointed, surprised, or all of the above, Isaac didn't know. However, he wanted to hide. Perhaps asking for her help while exposing her origin had been a bad idea.

Her eyes traced the space around his figure as if she was outlining him. Isaac gulped and fixed his posture, puffing out his chest to appear taller than he was. He wasn't short by any means, but the way Alice studied him was excruciating and it made him feel small.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, she stared straight at him.

"You're a merfolk. How fun." It didn't sound fun coming from her, though.

His eyes widened and he took a step back, shocked. "How do you know?"

"I just do." She shrugged. "Besides, you asked for my help and mentioned merfolk. It could be a coincidence, but we both know you'd never ask me for help unless you didn't have any other option."

"Do witches read minds?"

"Are merfolk always annoying?"

"I don't know." Isaac rubbed the back of his neck in frustration and paced around. How had she been able to read him so quickly? Was that some sort of spell? How powerful was she? "Are you inside my mind right now?"

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I don't read minds. Witches can't read minds." She cleared her throat and fixed her posture. "What do you need my help with anyway?"

"I need you to help me not turn into a merfolk every time I come in contact with water." When she raised an eyebrow, he shook his head, ready to reassure her. "I can pay you. I can do what you want. I can make you popular, introduce you to Liam, pay you with money, anything. Just please, help me."

In all his playthroughs of how this conversation would go, in none of them did Isaac expect to sound this desperate. He expected to be calm and collected, make a joke to get her to smile or gain her trust. None of that was happening. Alice had him in the palm of her hand, and Isaac hated it.

"No." Her answer was so blunt that Isaac took a bit to process it. "Don't you ever attempt to ask me for such a thing ever again."

"But... but you can help me."

"I can't."

"You're a witch!"

"And you're refusing to accept your true origins."

"It could ruin my life!" he said, trying his best to keep his voice down. "Look, I'm part of the swimming team, and I haven't shown up for practice in a week. If I skip two more weeks, I'm out. I can't afford that. I have worked too hard for this, and I'm not willing to give up now."

"Were you expecting me to feel sorry for you?" She muttered something under her breath as she walked closer to him. "You're not asking me to help you. What you are asking me to do is to betray my values for you, which is something I won't do. I barely know you."

"Everyone knows me," he said, slightly offended. Then, he thought better of it and added, putting on his best charming smile, "As I said, I am willing to compromise."

She shook her head and moved past him. "I'm not interested!" she yelled, picking up her pace.

Isaac went after her. "Just help me out. Please."

"No."

This was why she didn't have any friends. She was too demanding and lacked basic understanding and compassion for other people. Alice might have pretty eyes, but her personality was the worst.

He reached for her hand, attempting to stop her. If she could hear him out and understand his situation, then he would probably convince her to help him. He had to try again. Just one more time. He could afford to beg for her help once more before his self-preservation senses kicked in.

As soon as his hand touched hers, Isaac was taken aback by how warm it was. When he blinked, he was in a room surrounded by shelves with books, strange vials and containers. The low light burning from the candles made it hard for him to make out more shapes but he spotted a large table at the centre and some flickering lights floating here and there. The scent of fresh flowers overwhelmed him, and he couldn't think properly.

Someone wrapped an arm around Isaac's neck and he blinked again, finding his blue sneakers against the school's grey flooring as Liam laughed.

"Thinking of skipping practice again?" his friend said.

Around them, more people chuckled and laughed. Isaac battled his friend for a while until Liam loosened his grip around Isaac's neck and let go of him. He fixed his clothes, his eyes darting everywhere looking for Alice's figure.

"Who are you looking for?" Liam asked, following Isaac's eyes. "Do I know them?"

"You don't," Isaac lied, but he wouldn't be caught explaining what had happened.

He ran a hand over his face, trying his best to register what had happened. One minute he was here, the next he was somewhere else, but when he returned, she was nowhere to be found. Had Liam seen him with Alice? If he had, he would have commented by now. That offered Isaac some peace of mind.

For a while, at least.

"You got stood up?" another one of his swimming team colleagues asked, smirking. "You should have seen your face, dude."

Everyone laughed, giving Isaac blank stares, trying to emulate his expression from earlier. He laughed it off, trying to seem relaxed amongst his friends, but he was still freaked out. The worst part was that he couldn't tell them about this.

He couldn't tell anyone. If he did, his life as he knew it would be over.

"Let's get to practice," Isaac said and fixed the sports bag hanging from his shoulder. "I'm still sick, but I can watch. Does anyone need a ride?"

"Still sick?" Liam asked as his blue eyes scanned his features. "You look fine to me."

"Maybe he's lovesick." More laughter. More awkward smiles from Isaac.

He rolled his eyes and kept walking, followed by his friends as they made him the victim of their jokes. He could deal with that. Soon enough, they would forget all about it.

Isaac, however, would not.

"Are you coming to my party this Friday?" Liam wrapped an arm around Isaac's shoulders. "Maybe you could invite this mysterious girl that has you like this."

"There is no girl," Isaac said. "There is no one."

He dared to glance over his shoulder to where he last had spotted Alice. If she was there, would he leave his friend group to try and ask her again? Isaac simply couldn't stop trying. He needed her help.

Isaac didn't find Alice at the end of the corridor. He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. Some other time, then. He bumped his shoulder against Liam's, trying to focus on something that didn't turn his stomach upside down with desperation.

"You can count on me at the party," Isaac said, earning a huge grin from his best friend. "You know I never skip them."

"And that is the only way to properly live, my friend!" Liam laughed and everyone else agreed. "I have so many plans for it this time around. You're not going to be disappointed, I can assure you!"

They left the school building and walked to the parking lot. Isaac laughed at his friend's stupid jokes about the upcoming party, slowly returning to his usual self.

In the commotion of their excitement, Isaac didn't notice the shadow that followed him from a distance.

Need more A Spark of Magic? Read Chapter Two here or get A Spark of Magic at your favourite retailer or directly from my shop!