Page 1 of Hexmate (Widdershins Supernatural Academy #1)

Chapter 1

Caden

“ W hat do you mean, you’re not my mother?”

I stood there, heart racing, staring at the woman who’d raised me my entire life. She was my mom, she always had been. So why was she saying this now, just after my high school graduation? It was only yesterday I’d donned my graduation gown and walked with my classmates out of the school, thinking I had nothing but a bright future ahead of me. Did I do something wrong? Were my grades not high enough? Had she secretly hated me the entire time and I just never knew?

“I was hired by your father to raise you,” she replied plainly, as if she wasn’t shattering my entire world with every word she spoke. “And now you have been raised, so it’s time for you to meet him.”

“Meet him?” I balked, taking a step back. “You said he was dead!”

The words hung in the air like a challenge, heavy with unspoken truths. My mind raced, trying to piece together the fragments of my life that now felt like a lie. She—this woman who had been my mother, or so I thought—turned away, her expression unreadable. I wanted to scream, to demand answers, but my voice caught in my throat. What the fuck was going on?

Before I could muster the courage to speak, the room around me began to shift. The walls blurred, the floor tilted, and a sickening sensation of weightlessness gripped me. I stumbled, reaching out for something, anything, to anchor myself. But there was nothing.

When the world stopped spinning, I found myself standing in a grand, dimly lit hall. Towering stone pillars stretched toward a vaulted ceiling adorned with murals of creatures that defied explanation—wings, fangs, eyes that glowed like embers. The air was thick with the scent of old books and something metallic, like blood.

Fear welled up inside me, panic filling my chest so quickly that I found it impossible to breathe. My eyes darted frantically around the room, searching for an exit, a familiar face, anything to make sense of this nightmare. But all I saw were shadows dancing on the stone walls and flickering candlelight that cast an eerie glow over everything.

“Welcome home, son,” a deep voice echoed through the hall.

I spun around, heart pounding, to face the source of the voice. A tall, imposing figure emerged from the darkness, a lit cigarette glowing between his fingers. As he stepped into the light, I gasped. His features were hauntingly familiar—the same sharp jawline, the same blue eyes that I saw every time I looked in the mirror. But there was something inhuman about him, something that made my skin crawl.

“Who are you?” I managed to choke out, though I feared I already knew the answer.

He smiled, revealing too white teeth that glinted in the candlelight. “I am your father, Damien. And this,” he gestured broadly to the grand hall, “is where you truly belong.”

I shook my head, backing away. “No, this isn’t real. This can’t be happening.”

“Oh, but it is,” he said, moving closer. “You’ve reached adulthood and now it’s time for you to prove yourself.”

Damien’s eyes gleamed with a predatory intensity as he advanced towards me. Every instinct screamed at me to run, but my feet remained rooted to the spot.

“Prove myself?” I echoed, my voice barely above a whisper. “What do you mean?”

He chuckled, the sound devoid of any warmth. “My dear boy, you come from a long line of powerful witches. But power must be earned, not given. You will face trials that will test your mettle, push you to your limits, and reveal your true potential.”

My mind reeled. Witches? Trials? This had to be some elaborate prank or a vivid nightmare. But the cold stone beneath my feet and the acrid smell of smoke in the air felt all too real.

“And if I refuse?” I asked, trying to muster some defiance.

Damien’s smile turned cruel. “Refusal is not an option. You will either prove yourself worthy of the Cromwell name, or you will be cast aside like garbage. I have no use for weakness in my bloodline, and I will not tolerate its continuation. If you refuse me, I’ll refuse your right to live. Plain and simple.”

A chill ran down my spine at his callous words. This man - my father - was clearly dangerous and unhinged. I had to find a way out of here.

“I-I don’t understand,” I stammered, trying to buy time as my eyes darted around for an escape route. “What kind of trials? And what do you mean by witches?”

Damien took a long drag from his cigarette, the ember glowing an unnatural purple in the dim light. When he exhaled, the smoke formed eerie shapes that seemed to move with purpose before dissipating.

“Magic, boy. Real, raw power that flows through our veins,” he said, his voice taking on an almost reverential tone. “The kind of power that can reshape reality itself, the kind our family is known for throughout the world. But it must be honed, controlled. The trials will push your abilities to their limits.”

As if to demonstrate, he snapped his fingers. Instantly, writhing vines burst from the stone floor, coiling around my legs. I yelped in surprise and fear, trying to pull away, but they held fast, thorns digging through my jeans and into my skin.

“Stop!” I cried out. “I don’t have any powers! I’m just a normal guy!”

Damien’s eyes narrowed, his expression darkening. “Don’t lie to me, boy. I’ve been watching you. Those ‘lucky coincidences’ with plants growing unnaturally fast in your garden? The way animals seem drawn to you? That’s magic, raw and untamed.”

I froze, my mind racing. Those strange occurrences I’d always brushed off as flukes... could they really be something more? But before I could process this revelation, Damien continued.

“Your power may be weak now, but with proper training, you could become formidable. That is, if you survive the trials.”

The vines tightened around my legs, and I winced in pain. “Please,” I begged, “I don’t want this. Can’t you just let me go?”

Damien’s laughter echoed through the hall, cold and mirthless. “Let you go? Oh, Caden. You’re my son, my blood. You don’t have a choice in this matter.”

He stepped closer, and I could smell the acrid scent of his cigarette smoke mingling with something darker, more primal. “The first trial begins now. Free yourself from those vines, or they’ll crush you.”

Panic surged through me as the vines constricted further, their thorns digging deeper into my flesh. I struggled against them, my hands clawing desperately at the writhing tendrils, but to no avail. The more I fought, the tighter they seemed to grip.

“I can’t!” I cried out, tears of frustration and fear welling in my eyes. “I don’t know how!”

Damien’s face remained impassive, his cold blue eyes boring into mine. “Then you’ll die here, a failure and a disappointment. Is that what you want, boy?”

The vines crept higher, wrapping around my waist now. I could feel my breath being squeezed from my lungs. In desperation, I closed my eyes, trying to focus on anything but the pain and terror coursing through me. But no matter how much I concentrated, prayed, or begged, they didn’t loosen their grip.

“Please! You have the wrong person! I’m not what you think I am!”

“You are exactly who I think you are,” Damien said, his voice cutting through my panic. “You just lack the proper motivation.”

With a flick of his wrist, a ball of fire appeared in his palm. The flames danced menacingly, casting twisted shadows across his face. “Perhaps a little heat will encourage you to tap into your abilities.”

Terror gripped me as he brought the fireball closer. The vines tightened further, and I could feel my consciousness starting to slip away.

As the fireball drew nearer, the heat seared my skin. Primal fear surged through me, and suddenly I felt something shift deep inside. A strange tingling sensation spread from my core to my fingertips. Without thinking, I pressed my hands against the vines and focused all my fear, desperation, and newfound energy into them.

To my astonishment, the vines began to wither and crumble beneath my touch. They loosened their grip, falling away into brittle pieces. As the last tendril released me, I collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.

Damien extinguished the fireball, a cruel smile playing on his lips. “There it is. Your first taste of real power.”

I stared at my hands in disbelief, still feeling the residual energy coursing through my veins. “What... what just happened?”

“You tapped into your innate abilities,” Damien scoffed, looking more irritated than ever, even though I’d survived his onslaught. “Green magic, it seems. The weakest of the powers.”

Still trembling, I struggled to my feet. “I don’t want this. I never asked for any of it.”

Damien’s expression hardened. “What you want is irrelevant,” he snapped, his eyes flashing dangerously. “You are a Cromwell, and you will learn to harness your powers, no matter how pathetic they may be. You will uphold the family's reputation, or you will be killed.”

I flinched at his harsh words, still reeling from what had just happened. My legs felt weak, and my skin stung where the thorns had pierced it. Blood was soaking through my jeans, and I felt like I was going to pass out. “But I don’t understand. Why now? Why keep me in the dark all these years?”

Damien took another long drag from his cigarette, regarding me with cold disdain. “Your mother - your real mother - was weak. But she couldn’t even survive the simple act of giving birth. Pathetic.” He spat the word like it was poison. “I sent you away, expecting you to be just as weak as she was. And it seems I was right.”

My head spun with this new information. “So, she’s…”

“Dead,” Damien cut me off. “And this family is better for it.”

A chill ran down my spine at the casual way he spoke of her death. What kind of monster was this man?

“Now,” he said, dropping his cigarette in front of me and grinding it into the floor with his glossy leather shoe. “You have two more trials to complete.”

I stared at the smoldering cigarette butt, my mind racing. Two more trials? I could barely survive the first one. And this man - my father - seemed to have no qualms about killing me if I failed.

“What are the other trials?” I asked, my voice trembling.

Damien’s lips curled into a cruel smirk. “Eager, are we? Very well. Your next task is to prove your worth under the watchful eye of your peers.”

“My… peers?”

“You will go to Widdershins Academy, and you will study,” he said, already turning away from me. “And at the end of your studies, you will prove your worth to me and the family.” He stopped, glancing back at me with those cold, blue eyes. “And should I not find your power… satisfactory… then you will be cast out of this family and this mortal coil.”

My blood turned to ice as his words sank in. If I didn’t impress him, he was going to kill me.

“Have fun at school,” he said, casually waving as he walked away. “And don’t darken my doorstep again until you are worth my time.”

I stood there trembling as Damien disappeared into the shadows. The grand hall suddenly felt oppressive, closing in around me. My mind raced, trying to process everything that had just happened. Witches, magic, trials... it was too much. Nothing was familiar and the world I’d known only a moment ago seemed lost forever. How was I ever going to get back?

Suddenly, the air shimmered, and a portal materialized before me. Through it, I could see a sprawling Gothic campus under a stormy sky. Widdershins Academy, I presumed.

“Step through,” Damien’s voice echoed through the room, although he was nowhere to be seen. “Or face judgement now.”

With a sigh and no other choice, I did as I was told and stepped through. The portal snapped shut behind me, leaving me standing on damp grass. Rain pelted my face as I took in my surroundings. I found myself standing in a circle of stones with a pathway leading toward campus. In front of me was a wrought-iron gate that swung open. Above it, in curling black iron, it read ‘Widdershins Academy est. 1724’.

Tears rolled down my cheeks as I hugged my arms around my torso. What the fuck was going to happen to me now?