by Lorna TedderRites of Passage Trilogy, Book 3

Think Practical Magic meets Sarah Addison Allen meets a Southern Gothic reckoning of buried secrets, ancestral magic, and midlife truth.

About the Book

A seasoned witch and High Priestess returns to her rural Southern hometown to care for her aging mother—but what begins as an act of compassion quickly becomes a reckoning. As her mother’s memory falters, long-buried secrets claw their way to the surface, including traumatic childhood events and a decades-old murder that threatens to destroy everything she’s built.

Haunted by prophetic visions, tangled family dynamics, and the shadows of generational trauma, she must decide whether to confront the truth or let the past consume her. With the help of an old friend gifted in Deathwalking, she finds the courage to face the darkness she fled—and to break the silence that’s held her hostage for decades.

Read It Free — All Chapters

The complete novel, free to read right here.

1. Chapter 1“The visions returned last night. Nightmares. The same ones I always have whenever I plan to…”
2. Chapter 2“I try not to stumble into more thorns.”
3. Chapter 3“Well, good. I’m tired of running him off every time he comes around here…”
4. Chapter 4“To my surprise, the dentist’s office is a refurbished bungalow from a century ago…”
5. Chapter 5“Everything is exactly as it was a few minutes ago. Maybe a few more people in the hallway…”
6. Chapter 6“Back at my mom’s house, all I really want is a nap, but I’m positive that would make me a bad…”
7. Chapter 7“Lauren, you are gonna go on a date with Dixxie, aren’t you?”
8. Chapter 8“I’m halfway across the backyard, feet buried up to my calves in grass that needs to be mowed…”
9. Chapter 9“I pick my way, barefoot, through the tall grass along the fence row…”
10. Chapter 10“He turns his back to me and stares out into the distance at his mom’s grave…”
11. Chapter 11“After focusing on the trees and fence, my vision is drawn back to what lies between them…”
12. Chapter 12“Virgil tightens his grip around his cane and leans hard onto it…”
13. Chapter 13“Virgil!”
14. Chapter 14“I’m not a time traveler, but staring at the oak-paneled walls straight out of the 1970s…”
15. Chapter 15“Lisa answers on the first ring. ‘Oh, finally got your attention, didn’t I?’”
16. Chapter 16“I scan the restaurant, beyond the lines of people at the salad bar and the dessert bar…”
17. Chapter 17“I’m not sure what day it is. It’s been a month. Longer. I think it’s Thursday today…”
18. Chapter 18“I know I should, Virgil, but I just can’t,” says a voice I don’t recognize…
19. Chapter 19“I’ve lost all track of time. I don’t know where June went, and I was aware of July only…”
20. Chapter 20“Before I can take her hand and gently lead her back to her chair, someone knocks at the…”
21. Chapter 21“I step barefoot into the grass and let out a ridiculously loud sigh. I won’t put my shoes on.”
22. Chapter 22“Suddenly, I’m standing in a house full of antiques. All dark wood…”
23. Chapter 23“The bonfire crackles in the backyard at a safe distance from the house, barn, and sheds…”
24. Chapter 24“I bound to my feet. My mom notices immediately.”
25. Chapter 25“Virgil punches at the fire. Flames lick the air and die back down…”
26. Chapter 26“If I were back at my old house and it hadn’t been swallowed by a sinkhole…”
27. Chapter 27“I lose my focus and twist to look at him. Barely breathing, he stares into the flames…”
28. Chapter 28“Instantly, the bonfire blazes upward with a whoosh…”
29. Chapter 29“Somewhere, a bubble pops. Like wind, but not quite…”
30. Chapter 30“Well,” Virgil says. He hangs onto my arm to steady me, but I can feel the tremor of anger…
31. Chapter 31“Mama? Mama!”
32. Chapter 32“Lauren? Honey, wake up.”
33. Chapter 33“Woah, there!”
34. Chapter 34“Okay, boys, we’re done. Have a good day.”
35. Chapter 35“Inhaling deeply, I tell myself this breath is cleansing and relaxing…”
36. Chapter 36“In the past, I’ve done all sorts of enchanted forests, ancient temples, fluffy clouds…”
37. Chapter 37“I stiffen, both standing tall on my shadow farm and here cross-legged on the ground…”
38. Chapter 38“Wait here,” Virgil instructs as he leads me to a painfully familiar ICU waiting room…
39. Chapter 39“I pace for the next fifteen minutes before I’m too tired to go on…”
40. Chapter 40“Dix!” I shove my phone into my pocket and scramble to throw my arms around his neck…
41. Chapter 41“Laurie? When we reach the ground floor, we’ve got to move.”
42. Chapter 42“My breath catches. ‘It’s me, Lauren.’”
43. Chapter 43“I glance around to make sure no one’s listening…”
44. Chapter 44“Hey, baby.”
45. Chapter 45“Virgil stops in front of me as I look up at him from the bench…”
46. Chapter 46“I wake to the pounding on the front door, the one no one welcome here uses…”
47. Chapter 47“I follow Everett back to the house and watch from the back porch as he goes inside alone…”
48. Chapter 48“I’m shaking all over as I walk into the house, but I’ve promised Virgil the truth…”
49. Chapter 49“Virgil stops the car in the middle of the one-lane field road…”
50. Chapter 50“Less than an hour later, after picking up my car from my mom’s house…”
51. Chapter 51“I wake with a start. My breaths come so hard and fast that my chest hurts…”
52. Chapter 52“I grab my car keys and jam them into my jeans pocket on my way out the front door…”
53. Chapter 53“Virgil?”
54. Chapter 54“Instead of sitting in a local restaurant, I should be back at my mom’s place…”
55. Chapter 55“Mama won our little game! She finally connected with me again—to buy me lunch.”
56. Chapter 56“The chatter among my daughters and their partners suddenly dies down.”

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