by K Loraine
Gripping the pentacle, I read the words aloud, knowing I don’t have things set up correctly. I’m not observing the ritual I should, and this likely won’t work. But still, I say them.
“Twisted lives and souls of fear.
Past lost now to be here.
Open mind and gate to face,
Bring me truths only life can place.”
My stomach turns, and I think I’m going to be sick. Everything is wrong as this magic flows through me. I stare at the walls, my vision going spotty, reminiscent of a migraine. I’m not sure what’s happening, but I don’t think it’s good.
“Oh, God,” I groan. My head throbs, that same red-hot spike as the one that took me down on Samhain driving through my brain with crushing force.
Skin clammy, teeth clenched, I lurch for the sink, but find the room completely different. Where there should be a modern, yet small, kitchen, I find a wooden table, dried herbs, cold candles. The electric light is gone. The modern locks have disappeared from the door and instead have been replaced by a large slab of wood used to secure the latch.
“What the ever-loving hell?” I mutter.
The day turned to night while I was busy working magic, and my thoughts go to my vampire. Is he still here? Are we safe?
I run for the small trap door in the kitchen, the only place he could be, and pull it open. “Silas?” I call into the darkness. “Silas, are you here?”
Instead of him responding, the front door bursts open, pulling my attention from the cellar and to the cloud of dust dancing in the sunlight. Wait, sunlight? It was just dark. The sun had sunk fully below the horizon. I should know. I have a vampire hiding out in the house.
A woman stands in the doorway, her clothing strange. Like something I would expect from a historical re-enactor for the tourists of Salem. But why is she here in this house off the beaten path? I’m not sure how to respond to her.
“Who are you?” I shout, grabbing a broom from where it’s propped up against the wall. I brandish the bristled end and prepare for a fight. I might not be tall, but I’m spry. My broom is knocked from my hands with a quickly tossed spell. The bristles turn black and then to dust. Shit.
“Oh, God, I’m sorry. I just…how did…how did you get in here? This house is warded.”
“You touched it.” Her voice is harsh and filled with rage as what I thought was sunlight radiates from her. The power dies down until it disappears completely, leaving the room in the darkness only true night can create.
“I didn’t touch anything.”
Her eyes are like daggers on me. “You touched my book.”
Her book? She is terrifying in her powerful rage. Is she working with Thea to find the cursed witches? “What are you talking about?”
“You are in my house. This is my sanctuary. My secret. How came you to be here?”
I hold up my hands, a gesture of surrender I hope she understands. “I was placed here under the guard of the Salem coven. Their leader put me here to protect me.”
She cocks one hand on her hip, then with a wave of her hands, every candle in the space illuminates and a fire bursts to life in the cold hearth. Stepping into the light, she raises one dark brow and says, “That is impossible. The only leader of the Salem coven is standing in front of you this very moment, and I most assuredly have not given my blessing for you to enter this house.”
“Sarah?” I ask, my voice shaking with the shock of what I’ve just realized. The woman standing in front of me, ready to blast me into the wall, is Sarah Good. My ancestor. My soul’s previous owner. “You’re Sarah Good.”
“I am. Who are you?”
I swallow hard. “Natalie.”
“You stink of poorly controlled magic, Natalie. And what are these strange garments you wear? Are you some kind of whore?”
“No. I’m a witch. Like you.”
She clenches her teeth and balls her hands into fists. “Words like that should not be spoken outside of these walls. There is a great deal of danger stirring in Salem.”
She motions to my clothes, frowning at the slinky fabric. “This is strange. What is it made from?”
“Um, silk? I don’t know.”
“You do not belong here. I can feel the difference in your aura. When did you come from?”
She said when. She knows it all. I swallow past the lump in my throat. “Nearly four-hundred years in the future.”
“Ah, so there are still witches after this. The Blackthornes do not get their way.”
How do I tell her they kill nearly all of the Salem coven? “They don’t. But there is a lot…” I trail off, unsure where to stop. “I have to get home. Back to my own time. I’ve been cursed and I have to break it if I’m going to live.”
“Cursed?” She leans in and stares into my eyes. “Ah, yes, there it is.”
“All I know is I have to face my darkest fear and survive.”
“You will not. That is the nature of the fear in our hearts. A premonition of our future death.”
“Well, that’s comforting.”
“It wasn’t meant to comfort.”
“Can you at least get me home so I can see this out without the danger of being tried as a witch in Salem?”
“Until we can lift this curse, there will be no spell we can work to move you forward.” She sizes me up and frowns, one hand on her ample hip. “Your clothing will never do. We must blend in, not stand out. We are already wearing targets just because of who we are.” A softly whispered chant flows from her and winds its way around me, changing my clothes into a rough woolen skirt and a tight corset top. The fabric is abrasive in comparison to what I’m used to, but I have to fit in here. Who knows how long I’ll be stuck in the past. It may even be permanent. If I’m going to survive, I have to make the best of this situation.
“I can’t die here.”
She takes my hand and squeezes before her gaze zeroes in on my throat. “It would appear you have already taken a step toward death with your choice of partner.” Her fingers brush the place Silas marked me. “Vampire.”
“I’ll thank you to take your hands off her, Sarah.” Silas’ voice booms from the trap door, his large frame casting shadow over the floor. Shock hits me square in the chest. How does he know her?
“Silas Blackthorne,” she whispers.
“Blackthorne?” I ask, my voice breaking as I look from her to the man I’d begun falling for. “You’re a…Blackthorne?”
“Natalie, please—” He steps forward, arm outstretched, but Sarah grips my elbow and murmurs an incantation, transporting us both out of his grasp and somewhere I’ve never seen before.
13
Natalie
I have to blink a few times to make out the shapes in the dimly lit space where Sarah has taken me. “Where are we?” I ask. The air is dense and heavy with moisture, smelling of mold and earth and moss.
“This is the only place I have been safe in the last few months. The magistrate dares not come to this secluded island, lest he be drowned and leave Salem without a savior.” She looks around and smirks as, with a simple wave of her hand, a candle appears between her fingers and sparks to life. “I suppose one might call it a rock more than an island.”
A cold fist of apprehension sits in my chest. No. This isn’t safe. This can’t be safe. It’s the same place I watched her be taken. “You can’t be here. They’ll find you here.”
She closes her eyes and releases a long breath. “They will find me no matter where I hide. I am simply attempting to buy myself a small amount of time.” Her palm rests on the swell of her belly I hadn’t noticed before. My heart lurches. She was pregnant. How could I have forgotten?
“Hiding me probably won’t help your cause.”
“Silas Blackthorne has his sights set on you. There is no other way.”
Tears well in my eyes, and I swipe them away, anger and frustration burning in my chest. “He played me.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“He made
me think he was someone else.”
“He is a handsome devil with a penchant for doing whatever possible in order to vex his family.” She cocks a brow. “Bedding a witch would be exactly that.”
Something doesn’t feel right about this. “How do you know him? You sound like you’ve spent…time with him.”
“Only time his father had me locked away after they killed my husband. They wanted me under their thrall so I would do their bidding. A witch in their grasp would give them more power than they should ever have.”
“How did you escape?”
She swallows. “Silas released me, then their slow hunt began.”
“Why would he release you?”
“I am uncertain. I believe it was a power play against his father. Perhaps he wished to prove he could once again find me. But he was too late. What is done is done and cannot be changed. The end of the vampires has been set into motion, no matter what end I may meet.”
“No. It hasn’t.” I force myself not to shout my retort. I need Sarah to understand the situation her magic got us all into. “They survive, and your spell ends up giving them more power rather than less. They can walk in the sun if the blood you bewitched hits their lips now. You created a monster rather than a poison.”
Her eyes widen and lips part, shock overtaking the mask of calm she’d been wearing. “What?”
“After the trials, there was no one left with enough power to recreate your spell.”
“That cannot be. It was meant to live on in the bloodline of the hunters.”
I shrug and let out a harsh breath. “I don’t know, but what you thought would be a weapon of mass vampire destruction turned into a way for them to kill us without any need for respite from the sun. Now, the carrier of the spell is hunted for her blood.”
She shakes her head. “No. No. No. This was not my intention.”
“Your magic dies with you. The only saving grace is your legacy.”
“My daughter has little skill for witchcraft. Neither will this child. Their father has not a drop of magical blood in their veins.”
I nod. “I know. We all know. My family line has long been studied by the covens all over the world. Believe me, we’ve tried everything to replicate your spell. All we’ve ended up doing is killing the carrier or the witch. Sometimes both.”
“So, the Blackthornes have won. After all of this, they still emerge victorious.”
I reach out and take her hand, but she flinches away. “Can you teach me? Show me what you did that we’re missing?”
“As you said, it is the power that will be missing. Without enough strength, it will not matter what knowledge you have.”
I sink to the cave floor, my skirts puffing up around me in a cloud of dark fabric. “Then there’s nothing we can do but fight.”
“It is what we have always done.”
“What about a way to reverse the spell in the blood? Just make it normal.”
She frowns, her fingers tapping against her collarbone as she ponders my question. “I am not sure. The spell was never meant to be unraveled. But perhaps it is not as challenging as we are considering.”
“What do you mean?”
“Perhaps it is a matter of a transference of power.”
Prickles of apprehension work their way across my nape. “Transference?”
“Yes. Blood to blood. Soul to soul. You are linked with me by more than heredity, are you not?”
“How did you know?”
“You hold my talisman. My pentacle. No other soul has the ability to access its magic. I ensured that when I sealed a part of my spirit inside.”
A soft gasp is my only response. Part of her soul, my soul was sealed away. Gran was right. Part of me was always missing. I pull the pentacle from under my bodice, the chain around my neck warm from my body.
Sarah stiffens, her eyes wild and frantic. “Someone is here. Someone has breached my wards. This should not be possible.”
I know exactly who it is. I can sense Silas in a way I’ve never felt before. “He’s here for me. The curse brings us together.”
Silas strides toward us, his eyes blazing with anger and fear. “You took her,” he snarls. “You dared to take her from me after all I sacrificed for you?”
“Sacrifice? Is that what you call it? You set me free only to be hunted down like a dog by your father.”
My body and heart call out to join him, to cross the short barrier between us and let him wrap me in his arms. But then I remember the truth. He’s a Blackthorne. He is responsible for the devastation of my kind. He lied to me.
“Get out,” I say. “You are not welcome here. I want nothing to do with you ever again, Silas. Do you hear me? You lying bastard.”
He holds out a hand, pain lashing across his face. Then he clenches his jaw and shuts down. “Natalie, you don’t understand. You’re not safe here. We can’t keep the past from happening.”
“Silas,” Sarah says. “You…you are not from this time. You have traveled here with her?”
He nods and takes another step toward us. “Presently, the Silas you know and believe betrayed you is imprisoned in the tower at Blackthorne Estate. I will forever bear the mark of the witches as a reminder of my father’s displeasure. He would have killed me if I hadn’t been his sole heir.” He lifts his shirt and exposes the pentacle burned into his flesh. Sarah’s fingers fly to her lips, a small gasp of surprise coming from her. “I did everything possible to save you, to stop the madness my family created. But I was too late.”
My heart breaks for the guilt in his voice. “Silas,” I whisper. His eyes lock on mine, desperation flitting through them.
“Let me protect you this time,” he says.
“Take her, secret her away,” Sarah orders, her voice cold and clipped. “You are correct. She will not be safe with me. I am hunted. She is not.”
She takes my hands, whispering so rapidly I can’t make out the words, but heat spreads through me and I feel the surge of power inside. Her power. “Sarah,” I say. “You can’t. You need some way to defend yourself.”
She smiles and shakes her head. “You think me powerless now? No. But I have more than enough to share with you. Go with him. Find a way to free yourself and take back our future.”
Then she shoves me into Silas’ arms and in a whirl of wind and light, she vanishes. My vampire tightens his hold around me and turns up my chin so I can look nowhere other than his eyes.
“I know you’re angry. But now is not the time for arguments. We have to get to shelter before daybreak. Then you can exact your rage as you see fit, and we can commence with the making up part of the evening.”
I’ll give him credit. He’s a confident bastard.
14
Natalie
“How many people know about this place?” I ask as Silas leads me into a modest house tucked among the trees outside of Salem. I’d kept my eyes closed for the duration of the time he’d held me in his arms and ran so fast my hair is nothing but a tangled rat’s nest.
“Only two. My cousin, Cashel, and myself.”
Cashel Blackthorne. I’ve heard whispers of the name as the covens have grown more concerned about the unrest in vampire world. “How far did we travel?”
“Over fifty miles. It will buy us a few nights if we’re lucky. That should be enough time to figure out how to get us home.”
“And then we can go our separate ways?” I ask. I hate that I’m asking rather than stating this as fact. I shouldn’t be unsure. He lied. He’s a Blackthorne vampire. I shouldn’t want him.
He doesn’t answer me; instead he turns away and runs a palm across the back of his neck. I do the same, facing the large stone fireplace and tracing the lines of mortar between the uneven rock. The sound of shutters slamming catches me off guard and I flinch, turning toward the noise with my heart in my throat.
Silas slams the windows closed, bolting them from the inside. His anger fills the room, making the air crackle with the energy of hi
s aura. “An old fashioned sun-proof room?” I ask.
“As it were. I needed a way to escape. This was my only option.”
I take a few moments, wandering the living area. It’s plain, simple, with wood floors and walls. Three wrought iron chandeliers hanging high above us each house six tall candles. I call my power to me and light the wicks with a touch of magic. We’re cast in a warm glow. It would be romantic if I hadn’t just crushed our future with one question.
“Don’t waste your magic with trivial things like candles. I do know how to light a fire.”
I shrug. “It’s easy.”
“And we don’t know how long you’ll hold that power Sarah shared with you.”
“Don’t tell me what to do,” I say, angry that he’s right, but unwilling to admit it.
“I’m sorry I kept my name from you.” He isn’t looking at me. Instead, the man is seated in front of the cold fireplace, elbows on his knees, fingers steepled in front of him.
“And I’m sorry I brought you into this. I’m sorry my curse pulled you in. If it weren’t for that, we would never have been in this situation.”
His dark eyes find me, hurt behind them. “And we would never have met.”
I swallow. “Yes.”
“Is that what you really want?”
I don’t know what to say. Being without him doesn’t sound right. Not by a long shot. “I’m…not sure.”
“It isn’t what I want. After we return, I’ll do everything in my power to make you see we belong together. If fighting for you here and now isn’t enough, I’ll prove my worth time and time again until you can’t deny our connection.”
“I just don’t know how it can work. We’re so different.”
He stands and crosses the room until he’s so close he’s almost touching me. “Are we? Our bodies are compatible. Or was that my imagination?”