Chapter 1
Emily POV
Emily Bennett sighed as she examined herself in the mirror. She knew this day was going to come—her grandmother, Georgia Bennett had told her herself—but she'd never expected the time to pass so quickly. And she'd been regretting this day for years now.
She was at the Salem Bennett age when she was required to court; so the long line of witch descendants after her were to be born and brought up. She knew what was coming for her future lineage, and she was to have a child. The problem was, though, was that she wasn't not to have a true, loving mental attachment with a man. Her grandmother had explained to Emily when she was about the age of 12, saying, "Emily, you must be with a man for only a false relationship, so you may have a child, and so our witch blood runs through their veins."
In Emily's mind, the translation of the plan was: hook up with a guy, have babies, and break the poor guy's heart.
Now Emily was 17, and now she would have to face this mission like her ancestors before her.
She went over to Katherine Pierce's room to wake her and help her get ready for today's annual Founder's Ball. Kat was planning to go with Stefan Salvatore, and even though Emily knew that Katherine was toying with both Damon and Stefan Salvatore, along with the other men she used to play with, Emily could really tell that Miss Pierce was very fond of Stefan.
Emily knew that. She'd been with Katherine long enough to realize Stefan was the most to her liking by far. She'd been working for Katherine for a while now, nearly five years. She'd owed Katherine, for Katherine had saved her life—or in other words, spared it.
Emily Bennett was with her mother, drinking tea. Her older brother, Max, was sitting on our porch, in a fancy suit, and struggling with his tie. He was waiting for his new love interest.
He talked about her all the time, and today, my mom and Emily were going to meet her and get to know her over dinner.
Max mentioned this girl many many times, and it would drive Emily so crazy she was almost tempted to perform a hate spell on both of the lovers, even though she hadn't met this girl yet.
Then a beautiful young girl swept around the corner and started toward our house gracefully. Maxie stood up, walked over to the girl, and linked arms her with her proudly.
When they walked over to us, I got a closer look at what the girl looked like. She had wavy, long brown hair and chocolate brown eyes that could make a man melt inside. No wonder her brother fell for this girl.
"Mom, Emily," Max said, "this is Katherine."
Katherine smiled, showing off her pearly whites.
My mom gave her a polite nod. She put down her tea and stood up. I did the same. "Shall we get acquainted inside? The chef's making dinner."
"Of course." Katherine replied, her beautiful voice matching her looks.
But I remembered perfectly that we never made it inside.
