“Wow, beautiful name.” Landreia rubbed her hands together. “Now, what are you doing out alone in the middle of the night without proper clothing on? What happened?”
I opened my mouth then shut it. Fresh tears poured down my face. I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
She tucked her jet-black hair behind her ears and nodded. “All right, well…can you tell me where you live? Or your parents’ phone number?”
I shook my head harder. “No. I…I…where am I?”
Landreia’s eyes widened. “You’re in Salem…”
“And…where is Salem?”
She blinked then reached out and took my hands in hers. “Why don’t you tell me what happened so I can help you?”
“But I don’t know,” I cried and my body trembled. “I woke up out on the rocks by the water and that little white lighthouse thing…I was alone and dressed like this…and…and…I don’t remember anything… Besides my name.”
A muscle in her jaw flexed but she stayed calm. “The only thing you remember is your name?”
I nodded. “Saraphina Proctor, that’s my name. Saffie is my nickname. But that’s it. There’s nothing else and—”
“Okay, okay. Breathe, Saffie.” Landreia squeezed my hands. “Is there anything else you remember? Did anything else happen since you woke up on the wharf? Does anything hurt?”
I chewed my bottom lip and glanced up and down the street. “There was a…a…wolf…and a m-m-man.”
“A wolf?” She narrowed her eyes. “A man…and what did this man do?”
“I don’t know. He was sitting on the steps down there and then followed me.” I curled in on myself and buried my head in my hands. I still felt his eyes on me. “He just…disappeared.”
“I don’t know about the wolf, but the man is probably long gone by now since you’re with me.”
No, he’s not. I didn’t know how I knew that, I just felt it.
A loud wailing sound pierced through the silence of the street and I jumped.
Landreia put her hand on my knee. “It’s all right, that’s just the police.”
I frowned. Police? What is that? Just then bright red and blue lights flashed from the street to our right – the one she’d found me on. The lights sparkled off the windows of the buildings so I couldn’t tell where it was coming from until a few white cars flew around the corner and parked in front of us. The sides of the cars read POLICE.
My heart leapt up and lodged in my throat. Police? What is that? Who are these people?
“Who are they?” Landreia frowned and pointed to the men getting out of the cars. “Police officers are the people sworn to protect the rest of us. They’re going to help you.”
“Oh.” Help. Help is here. I made it. Fresh tears poured out and I sagged against the stone steps. “Okay…good.”
I watched as the five police officers dressed in matching dark blue uniforms walked toward us. For some reason, even though Landreia said they were here to help, my nerves exploded inside me. My stomach tightened and turned. I wrung my hands together but they were still trembling.
The officer parked the farthest away, a young looking blond man, glanced to his left and grinned. He walked a few feet over, then stopped. “Hey, man, how are ya? Haven’t seen you in a wicked minute.”
I followed his gaze to see who he was talking to and my stomach dropped.
It was HIM.
The guy I kept seeing. The one following me. The pretty one with the long blond hair and the black hood hanging over his face. I gasped and sat up straight. That’s him. That’s HIM. I opened my mouth to tell Landreia that this was the guy following me when I realized he wasn’t empty handed. He had three bags draped over his arm and one of them said the name of the liquor store I’d seen him go into.
What? What’s happening right now?
As he walked up to the police officer and shook his hand the two of them laughed. I couldn’t hear his voice, but I saw his face light up and his golden eyes brightened. And then he laughed.
What am I seeing right now? What is happening? He knows the police officers?
He tapped the officer on the arm and smiled…then walked away. He didn’t look at me once. Didn’t even glance back in my direction. Landreia was speaking to me and the officers were only a few feet away, but my mind was spinning. Nothing made sense. Did any of that actually happen?
Chapter Four
Riah
I leaned against the streetlight just ten feet away, watching her. Paramedics hurried over with their modern medical gadgets. Three of Salem’s finest squad cars sat in the street between us, the flash of their red and blue lights reflecting off every window setting a tone of intimidation. The officers draped in human-made weapons and loitering on the sidewalk had come out in great numbers to put up a strong, fear-inducing front for anyone who might’ve tried to harm this young girl.
Not that anyone or anything would get near her with me here.
Not that any of their human weapons would work on the likes of me.
Their naïve human minds could not process what I was nor what I could do, though even if they could they’d be no match for me. I glanced down at my right hand to the raw amethyst ring on my pointer finger – the one I should have had on before Saraphina arrived. The one that cloaked me, that made me invisible to the naked eye. The silver metal glistened under the light above me, yet still I remained unseen even as they passed right by me.
If only I had been wearing it as I was supposed to. We wouldn’t be here right now. She would have no reason to fear me. But I hadn’t had it on yet. I’d been preparing it, for Saraphina was not like the humans surrounding her. She was so much more than any single one of them or all of them combined. My cloaking ring required special attention for it to work on her…if she had arrived two minutes later I would have had it on. Or if I had just put it on the moment I saw her running up the wharf — I cursed and pinched the bridge of my nose as the memory flashed in my mind.
The sight of her long red hair flowing in the wind had captured me. It’d been too long since I’d seen her. I had not been ready. Then again, I had not been ready the first time I’d seen her. I looked over at her face and my chest tightened. We stood surrounded by modern civilization and police officers, but I was seeing something else entirely.
I saw a snow-covered town, wooden homes, and horse-drawn carriages. I saw the moon hanging bright in the black sky. I saw Saraphina running up the path without her coat and fear radiating out of her. The air had been bitterly cold, much worse than it was this night. Prince Thorne had just given me my first order as his Knight – a protection detail for a young half-breed living among humans and the other half of her genetics.
The year had been 1691. Three-hundred-twenty-seven years ago on this exact date. The fifth of December. That was the night she’d stolen my heart and changed me forever. She was supposed to be a part of my job, yet she’d captured the very pieces of my soul with one sharp-eyed smile. There’d been no turning back for me. My duty to mine Prince had taken a backseat to my love for her.