He looked up and his gold eyes met mine. My heart stopped. My feet froze in place.
Riah.
Butterflies danced in my stomach at the sight of him, just like they had last time.
His long pale blond hair fell over his shoulder. He stood with my Olli cradled like a baby in his arms, big brown eyes staring up at him like he too was dazzled by Mr. Martin. Excitement rushed through my veins. I’d been looking for him for days, I could not believe he was finally crossing my path.
And then he looked back to me and grinned, his smile as warm as summer sun. He had a pep to his step as he walked over and stopped in front of me. “Hello, Miss Saraphina.”
I smiled up at him, unable to stop myself. “I thought I told you you could call me Saffie?”
“You did…” he sat Olli back down on the snow, then peeked up at me under thick eyelashes and my heart fluttered. “However, Saraphina is too beautiful of a name to not speak.”
“Thank you.” Heat filled my face. I bit my bottom lip and twirled a strand of my red hair around my finger. “It is nice to see you again, Riah.”
He took a step closer. “You as well.”
I looked up and met his gold gaze. “Here I thought you’d left town. I haven’t seen you around.”
“I am sorry.” He grimaced and shrugged. “My father grew ill on the voyage over. I have been tending to him. This is my first outing since we met.”
I gasped and pressed my hand to my chest. “Oh, Heavens. I apologize for teasing you such—”
“No,” he whispered and pressed his finger under my chin, forcing my eyes up to meet his. Then he tucked my hair behind my ear. “You have nothing to apologize for. Plus, I rather like knowing you were looking for me.”
“Well…yes, I was.” Again, heat rushed to my face. I knew I had to be as bright as a springtime apple. “But I am so sorry to hear about your father. How is he faring now?”
He took a deep breath and then let it out. “The worst of it is over. But I fear it may take some time before he is better.”
I hopped forward and hooked my arm around his. “Come with me.”
He chuckled. “Where are we going?”
“To my good friend Elizabeth Bishop’s home. She’ll have just the right thing to help your father heal,” I said with a grin. “I owe you a favor.”
“Oh, that is not necessary—”
“I insist.” I squeezed his arm and smiled. “My Olli is my dearest companion, and you helped me find him so I am ever in your debt.”
The warmth radiating off of his body felt like a fire and smelled like one too. There was something about the way he looked at me, the way his gaze seemed to see all of me at once. “It is I who shall be indebted to you for eternity, but I thank you for helping my father. What…what are you giving him?”
A witch’s potion, brewed by our Potion Master Card and specifically crafted for human consumption. But I could not tell him that, no matter how much I wanted to.
I cleared my throat. “Just something to help him heal, that is all.”
“That is a lot, so thank you.”
The heat in his stare burned through my veins. I struggled to breathe with him so close. Zachariah Martin was the single most handsome male I had ever laid my eyes on. I knew I was soft on him but this flutter in my pulse and the butterflies in my stomach were of no use. I could never pursue something more with him.
The Coven had a rule about that.
No romancing the humans. The Emperor said it was temporary, just for now, because tension was high and witch hunts were prevalent. Perhaps one day Riah and I would be free to follow these feelings, but for now I had to restrict it simply to friendship.
Which is a shame, for I do like the way he looks at me.
Chapter Eight
Saffie
My own memories were out to destroy me. Sixteen-year-old me had been over the moon smitten with Riah. I’d been damn near in love with him…I’d known it. I’d been fighting it. I wasn’t sure which memories, which emotions, hurt the most – when I fell for him the first time, or the second time.
The second my heeled boots hit the floor of the tunnel, my ankles rolled as the heel caught between the vines. I cursed. My memories were coming in rusty and blurry. It’d taken me too long to remember I could change my clothes and then I’d used that to try and get to him. But then it’d backfired, and my heart was struggling to force those thoughts of him out.
“Stop,” his deep, rough voice barked from behind me.
“Go to hell,” I whispered.
“I’m already there.”
I spun around and hated the tears pooled in my eyes. “Just leave me alone. You won. You got me. You reeled me in and broke me. Congratulations,” I screamed.
“If you’d just let me—” he stopped and shook his head as a muscle in his jaw flexed. Those gold lines on his face flashed. “If you’d just let me explain.”
“You keep saying that but haven’t explained anything. Because it’s just another one of your tricks—”
“Tricks?” His cheeks flushed deep pink. He threw his arms out to the sides. “Look around, Saraphina. There’s no one else here. It’s just you and me. I haven’t explained yet because it’s complicated and needs to be in private.”
I bit my lip and laughed, but it hurt my heart. “In private. Why would I go anywhere in private with you ever again?”
“I’ve never hurt—-. I would never hurt you.”
“You already did!”
He flinched like I’d slapped him. “No. I protected you. You’ll see, just hear me out—”
“You protected me?” I flicked my magic over myself again and I was back in that purple gown he’d forced me to put on. “You kept me alive long enough to hand me over on a silver platter to the very man who ruined my life, who stole everything from me.”
His face fell. The shattered look in his eyes sent my pulse flying. It made my heart warm to him…it made me want to believe him.
“I can explain—”
“FINE.” I took a step forward and pointed to my face. Then pointed to his. “What do these gold lines mean? Explain that.”
I knew what they were, what they meant. When I discovered I was half-fae as a child I’d made it my priority to learn about my fae side to protect myself from them. My mother and Uncle had helped. I’d read about the slave markings. Althea the High Priestess had told me the Seelie would steal young witches to do their bidding and how the ones who captured them were heavily rewarded.
Riah opened his mouth, then shut it.
I hope you choke on your gold coins. I took another step forward, rage fueling my veins. “What do they mean? Tell me.”
His shoulders rose and fell like he was struggling to breathe. He was quite the actor. “I can explain—”
“Admit it, you felt nothing—"
He grabbed me by the back of the neck and dragged my mouth to his. I meant to fight him off, I meant to stop him, but when his lips crashed into mine my heart surrendered. Our lips collided together and fire exploded inside of me. His mouth tasted like smoke. He was intoxicating in all the worst ways. His armor vanished and then I was pressed tight to his bare chest. His skin was hot to the touch and soft as silk. His other arm wrapped around my waist, his hand tight on the small of my back.