“It’s just you out here,” The Knight in the middle sneered. “You’ll be coming with us.”
“My memory is back,” I said with a growl, arching one eyebrow. “You should have got me when you had the chance.”
I threw my hands forward and a wall of translucent glowing blue bodies rushed out of me like a tsunami. They crashed into the rows of Knights. Spirits attacked at my command and without mercy. I grinned and pushed more spirits into my enemy.
Warmth slid down my spine and made me shiver.
“Saraphina,” his deep voice cut through the madness.
I gasped. RIAH. He hovered in the air ten feet behind me, looking tall and terrible. For a moment, I saw a glimpse of the black hoodie falling over his eyes and my traitorous heart fluttered. I wanted so badly to let myself feel happy to see him. But this wasn’t him. This was Seelie Knight Commander Zachariah. The Riah I knew was a fake. An imposter. A snake in the grass.
With a snarl, I threw my arms forward and sent my wall of spirits right at him — but they swerved around him…without touching him at all. My breath left me in a rush. What? Why? What just happened?
He held his palms up and cocked his head to the side. He gave me that sideways grin I loved so much and I just wanted to scream. “Saraphina—"
“Stop saying that,” I shouted through clenched teeth.
He narrowed his pretty gold eyes. “That is your name.”
“Not for you—”
“What shall I call you then—
“You. Don’t,” I snarled and balled my hands into fists. “You lost the right to speak to me.”
I flicked my fingers and gold magic shot in a perfect straight line at his face. He sighed and dodged my attack. I cursed and threw more at him, one after another, but each one he dodged just by leaning over or ducking his head. He wasn’t even trying.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Saraphina.”
“You already did,” I growled back and shot more magic at his face.
He winced and tipped his head to the side to miss my attack. “I’m not going to fight you.”
“What’s wrong, am I too distracting today?” I waved my hand over my body and I was suddenly back in that plaid skirt outfit he’d loved so much. “Do I look dangerous?”
His eyes widened and his lips parted.
“Or was it lethal?” I flicked my magic over myself again and it was the leather pants combo. I saw his face that day I’d chased him down outside of school in Salem when he’d flirted with me over my thigh-high boots. I used to need a wand to perform this kind of magic, but being a Card came with perks. A quick flick of my wrists and I was in those thigh-high boots and tulle skirt that lifted with the breeze. “Maybe I look like a cute fairy from another damn realm? Huh, Riah? What’s wrong? You suddenly don’t like playing dirty?”
“Please just stop running from me and let me explain.” He shook his head and ran his hand through his hair. Then he threw his arm out to the side and an opening into the tunnel appeared beside us. “Look, there’s the tunnel. You don’t want to be stuck in 1944 in the middle of World War II, you want back to the future to be with your friends in The Coven. Just step inside and we can talk—"
“Talk?” I screamed. “What is there to talk about? You want to talk about what you did to me? How could you do that? How could you kiss me and then betray me? Was breaking my heart part of your job description—”
“I wasn’t faking that.”
“Oh, so you did it for fun,” I growled through clenched teeth.
He groaned and tugged on his hair. “NO. That’s not what I meant. That…with you…it wasn’t part of the job—"
“Bullshit!” I shouted and my wings fluttered behind my back. This conversation was a waste. He was a liar. He’d proved that. He’d wrapped me up like a present and then handed me right to my worst enemy. “I don’t believe you.”
I thrust my arms forward and golden glittery magic slammed right into his chest. He grunted and flew backward, flipping upside down. I dove for the tunnel opening but I felt the warmth of his magic beating against my back.
“Saraphina, please!”
Chapter Seven
Saffie
December 21st 1691
“Saffie? Wherever are you going?” My mother caught me at the front door. She put her hands on her hips and arched one eyebrow. Her silver eyes shined. “The Coven is beginning the Yule ritual promptly at sunset—”
“I know, Mother—”
“You’ll be upset all year if you miss it.”
I grinned. She knew me well. “I am not going to miss it, Mother. I will be back in time.”
“Where are you going? I do not like you going off on your own in times like this.”
Olli, my best friend and spotted hound, whined at my feet.
I chuckled. “Olli and I are going down to Uncle Leyka’s to see if he needs assistance for this evening.”
“Shouldn’t you leave Olli at home until he can behave himself?”
I gasped and covered Olli’s long reddish-brown ears. “Olli goes where I go.”
She sighed and stepped aside, unblocking my path to the door. “But if you see Althea or Aurelia—”
“I know, Mother. They are not my penance. I am not in The Coven. I am to leave them alone.”
She frowned and nodded. “Very well. Be careful. I want you at the ritual thirty minutes prior to sundown.”
“Of course.” I skipped toward the door, pausing only to press a kiss to her cheek. “Try to enjoy the holiday, Mother, for we do not know how many we shall have left!”
With a giggle, I bounced out our front door with Olli skipping alongside me. Snow had already begun to pile up on the ground so his little legs sank until his belly dragged the snow. He did not mind, my wild little hound. Nor did I, for that matter. The chill was sharp and bitter but there was something about untouched blankets of snow on the village. There was something so peaceful about it. I wrapped my coat tighter around my body and hurried along.
It was Yule. The winter solstice. One of the few times of the year The Coven let civilians participate in their rituals. I’d been counting down the days since the equinox and Samhain. Mother was too nervous about the dangers of the days. The Putnam twins, Althea and Aurelia, were up to something and it had the whole village in a fit. Not to mention the demon attacks had risen and now the humans were at each other’s throats.
The word witch was whispered in the shadows. Except they weren’t talking about us.
Olli pressed his long snout to the snow and charged ahead of me with his dipstick tail curved like a hook. I smiled as he hunted whichever poor squirrel or rabbit dared to exist here. He never hurt them. He simply enjoyed the chase. I stopping trying to make him quit when the Fool Card told me they liked it.
I shook my head. “Olli, slow down. You’re going to slip on the ice and —”
A large person walked around the corner of Mr. Redd’s home and Olli lunged for him. The person, I assumed a man by the sheer size of his shoulders, crouched down and caught Olli in his arms, then stood back to his full height.