“YES!” Tegan shouted excitedly in my head. “Keep it on and I WILL find you. Just get back in the tunnel!”
The demons thrashed and dropped to the ground. They kicked their legs to try and run but Tegan still had them in her grip. For now. She was wildly powerful but any second and the time difference would be too much for the connection to hold.
I looked over my shoulder and spotted the opening for the tunnel sparkling like the North Star. I charged forward. I’m coming, Tegan. I’m coming!
A shadow moved off to my left and then a Seelie Knight popped up out of nowhere. I cursed and dug my heels in harder. My legs screamed and burned but I pushed faster. His golden body armor glistened in the sunlight. In my peripheral vision I saw the tip of his sword blade as he charged right for me. He pushed off the ground and lunged.
I cursed. I couldn’t fight off a Knight on my own. I wasn’t good enough of a fighter, I was too rusty. My magic was too weak. I threw my hand out to try again to summon spirits but again blue light just fizzled and cracked.
But then a bright white light flashed in front of me. TEGAN! I gasped and dove forward, then slid right for the light just as the Knight swung his sword. His blade crashed against the white light and black smoke erupted out of him. He shrieked and burst into flames. The orange flames turned bright white and then the Knight was gone.
What the hell? What was – I frowned as the smell of fresh rain wrapped around me. Raw power pulsed through the air and I recognized it in an instant. I looked up over my head and saw the faint glowing outline of a six-foot-tall sword. “Tennessee?”
“Yes, he’s here—” Tegan coughed in my mind and her magic flickered.
Behind me the demons snarled and lunged for me as her hold vanished. They dove ten feet closer before Tegan’s rainbow magic caught them again, pinning them back in place.
“Saffie, run. Now. I can’t hold them. RUN! Get in the tunnel, Saffie! NOW! GO!”
“I’m coming!” I scrambled to my feet, then charged for the tunnel opening. As I jumped through, I pushed out with my magic. Bring me home.
Chapter Eleven
Saffie
My feet slid over the vine floor of the tunnel but gravity and Tegan’s magic had me flying. I looked up and my gaze landed right on Riah. His eyes widened. I heard him call out my name but I was already slammed through the other side of the tunnel wall. Over his shoulder I spotted a squadron of Knights racing off in the other direction, jumping through a different opening — and then I crashed into a mound of fluffy white snow.
I squealed and groaned as the snow touched the bare skin on my arms and chest. Right as I jumped to my feet a wall of ice-cold air slammed into me. I hissed and wrapped my arms around myself. Snow fell from the sky. It was gorgeous but I was still sleeveless and barefoot, I was not dressed for winter. I shivered and my teeth rattled together. Goosebumps spread across my skin. My feet burned from the cold. I rubbed my palms together and summoned my magic, then flicked golden glitter mist down toward my toes…and black fuzzy Ugg boots appeared on my feet. The warmth made me sigh with relief but when I tried to change my outfit my magic fizzled and faded.
I’d been using too much too quick.
Witch’s Shock was dangerous. I needed to stop using my magic so it could rest.
Which meant I needed to either get back in the tunnel somehow or find warmth. I wrapped my arms around myself and glanced around. I stood under an oak tree canopy with strings of white lights on every branch. It was breathtakingly beautiful and very romantic.
And eerily familiar.
I frowned and slowly turned around – and my breath left me in a rush. It was my school. In Salem. The one I attended with Savannah and Gigi, from when my memory was gone. I’m back! We did it! I’m BACK! I squealed and spun around in circles looking for Tegan…but she wasn’t there. No one was. That didn’t make sense. Tegan had been the one who got me out of that wheat field, the reason I was here. She should’ve been here already. She’d said she was tracking me—
“Saffie?”
I gasped. “Tegan! I’m here. I’m in Salem. I’m back—”
“No, you’re not back,” she said into my mind. A faint rainbow mist wrapped around my body, taking the chill out of the air. “If you were we’d be having this conversation face to face.”
“I don’t understand. This is the school I’ve been at all month. I recognize it—"
“I know. Cooper’s here with me and said the same. But you’re not in our time. You have to get back in that tunnel, Saffie. I can’t travel through time. You know this.”
The mention of Cooper filled me with mixed emotions, but I pushed those aside for now. I shook my head and rubbed my arms. “I can’t use my magic, Tegan. I’ve used too much too quick. Can you see me? Look.”
I flicked my hands and tried to summon any kind of magic but it just flashed and popped.
Tegan cursed. “Don’t you dare give yourself Witch’s Shock, Saraphina Proctor,” she practically yelled at me.
“I’m trying but I have to use my magic to get in and out of the tunnel and…” I pushed my hair back. “How am I supposed to get to you?”
“I’m working on it. I promise, okay? Just hang in there for me.” And then she whispered, “I’m gonna have to use some risky magic so I need to be very careful.”
My stomach turned. “Tegan…”
“I know. Listen, I’m trying to pinpoint the tunnel for you here but Salem is a shitstorm of fae energy so give me a second. I’m going to drop our connection and focus on it. Stay RIGHT HERE. When I find the tunnel, I’ll reconnect with you, okay?”
I licked my lips and nodded. Fear coiled inside of me. “Okay.”
“I promise I will you get you home, Saffie. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay…”
And then her rainbow magic vanished and the bitter cold crashed down around me again. Tears threatened to spill but I refused to let myself give in to those emotions. Tegan didn’t make promises lightly. And she’d never let me down yet. I trusted her. If she said she’d get me home, then I just had to do my part to help.
Metal shrieked from behind me. I spun toward the sound and frowned. The back door of the school opened and a tall figure rushed out into the snow. Someone with wide shoulders, long legs, and long pale blond hair. Someone whose gold eyes shined brighter than the North Star against a black sky.
Oh no.
Riah.
And not the current Riah, the one who I knew was a liar and a monster, but the one who played me. The one who lured me in with smiles and tender touches. Yet even still, as he stormed through the snow toward me, the sight of him still took my breath away. Tears burned the backs of my eyes. Tears of rage. I wanted to punch him in his stupid pretty face.
Wait a damn minute.
I know that outfit.
His pale blond hair was half tied up with the rest hanging down his back. My chest burned and I reminded myself to breathe, that I couldn’t feel like that for him anymore. I remembered thinking he cleaned up nice and the memory sent sharp pain through my chest. That black cashmere sweater still hugged the muscles in his shoulders and arms as deliciously as I remembered from that night. I’d forgotten he’d swapped out his boots for shiny dress shoes and I hated the way that sight made my heart flutter.