Scornful Sadie

by Felicia Tatum

  Chapter Nine-Wedding Crashers Be Gone

  Stopping in the middle of the aisle, I hiked my dress up my thigh and grabbed my dagger. Gripping it in my hand, I angrily assessed the situation.

  “You brought a dagger to my wedding?” Liv screeched beside me. I hadn’t even heard her come up.

  “You better be glad for it,” I said curtly as I slashed the stomach of an incoming being. All held a mixture of auras, blurring together and making it hard to tell who was what.

  All the guests froze, so I knew someone cast a spell on them, but I couldn’t stop long enough to know who. I headed for the water fae, still pissed she got away last time.

  “Sadie Tabors,” she taunted. “Oh, Sadie Tabors!” She kept a bubble of water protecting her, flowing strongly enough no magic could penetrate.

  Stopping feet from her, I felt the water drops splashing my bare legs. “Don’t hide behind your water magic. Come out and fight.”

  She laughed and drenched me to the bone. Kicking my shoes off, I held my hands up and forced my power to her. It deflected, as I thought it would, but hope wasn’t completely lost. I allowed it to wrap around the water, securing the bubble in magic completely. It began to fill with water until she stopped her power and glared at me.

  “Are you trying to drown me?”

  I shrugged, leaving her there and rushing to help my family. Grandma was fighting off an unbound who clearly had shifting abilities, because he changed every time she got close to him. Sending a wave of power with a snap of my wrist, I froze him in place while she took care of him.

  Scott and Liv fought a vampire mixture. Liv obviously gained some new powers since I saw her last, as she sped around as fast as any vampire I’d ever known. She quickly came up behind him, using her powers and her strength to disarm him, literally, and threw it across the yard with his weapon. He howled in pain, his eyes turning blood red in anger. Running toward him, I stabbed him in the heart with my dagger, severing his life force.

  “How?” Scott asked. “That’s just a dagger.”

  “It’s infused!” I called, as I searched the yard for more intruders. Juniper and Mark stood over the remains of two women, while Grandma held her arms out, ready to fight anyone else who showed up.

  “I think they’re all gone,” I yelled. “Except this one we need to talk to.”

  We all gathered in front of the water fae as she growled and snarled at me. I shook my head as I laughed.

  “You’re pathetic. Who are you working for? Is it Bram?”

  Her eyes widened when she heard his name, telling me everything I needed to know.

  “What does he want from me?” I questioned.

  She was silent. I tapped my fingers on the bubble, sending sparks of magic inside and shocking her. She screamed in pain.

  “Answer me!” I demanded.

  She didn’t respond, so I continued my attack. She eventually fell to her knees, holding her hand up to stop me. “He…wants…you…to…join…him,” she said through clenched teeth and uneven breaths.

  My head snapped to lock gazes with Grandma and she nodded. She was right. Yet, again.

  “I’m going to let you go,” I said. The fae glanced up stunned at my words. “I want you to give Bram a little message.” Crouching to eye level, I gave her my most menacing look. “Tell him if he wants me to stop sending his minions and come after me himself.”

  Poking the magic, I freed her and she was gone in seconds. Turning to my family, I saw them all gawking at me. “What?” I asked.

  “You tortured her!” my mother cried from somewhere behind everyone. She wasn’t magical, so she’d been hidden during the fight.

  “I needed answers,” I shrugged. “We have to get this cleaned up and get these people out of here.” Taking Liv and Scott’s hands, I apologized. “I didn’t know they would find me here. I’m so sorry.”

  “You didn’t tell us you were in danger,” Scott chided. “Why not?”

  Grandma spoke up as she shook her fists and began cleaning up the mess we’d made. “I didn’t want to worry anyone. It was I who told Sadie of Bram,” she said. With a flutter of her hand the beings began disintegrating into the ground.

  “Who is Bram?” Juniper asked.

  “We’ll discuss it later,” Grandma answered. “We must finish up the reception.”

  “We need to cloak this place,” I said. “Liv, Scott, and Mark. I’m going to need all of you. The stronger, the better.”

  We joined hands, all dropping our heads to our chests and releasing our spells simultaneously. The power surged from us, creating a swirl in the middle of our circle then extending up and out. We covered the whole area, locking the protection around us. They’d already found us, but with this safeguard, we’d be untraceable if they returned.

  We released our grips, and Grandma came to us. “Your father is casting to wake them. Everyone needs to go back to where they were,” she instructed. “Sadie, dry yourself.”

  “I’ll help!” Elsie called, zipping over. Using her fae magic, she created a vacuum tornado around me. Warm air swirled over me, taking the water with it as it dried me completely. Smoothing my hair the best I could, I nodded I was ready. We hurried to the front and at once everyone was back to normal, seemingly in the dark of what happened. Everyone clapped and cheered for Scott and Liv. Once they made their way to the reception, the rest of us started our trek from the altar.

  Once I was halfway down the way, I realized the grass was cool on my feet. My shoes were gone. Keeping my face as straight as I could, my eyes surveyed the area where I kicked them but they were gone. Once I was past the guests, I saw Aiden standing to the side of the house, one shoe dangling from his finger as he squinted his eyes at me.