St. Croix Falls Book 2
Cursed
By Melody Personette
This is a work of fiction. The characters and events described herein are imaginary and are not intended to refer to specific places or to living persons alive or dead. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher except for brief quotations embodied in critical reviews.
Copyright © 2020 Melody Personette
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 9781089771883
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter One:
Chapter Two:
Chapter Three:
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Dedication
To all of those who supported me by reading Wayward and encouraged me through the writing of Cursed. Thank you so much, it means so much to me!
Author’s Note
Hi! If you want updates, bonus content and sneak peeks you can join my newsletter at www.melodypersonette.com.
Chapter One:
Mia’s legs felt like lead as she shut the white picket fence around her home and made her way down the sidewalk to the house on her right. Mia still wasn’t sure if her mom had done this on purpose or not, but they had ended up moving into the house with her nymph best friend on one side and the boy she used to love on the other.
As she walked down Rhett’s side-yard, she could hear the sound of metal clashing against metal and huffs of breath. She stopped just before turning the corner to the back of the house and gave herself a minute to watch.
Joelin, a huge Sidhe made entirely of muscle, sat on a plastic lawn chair near the back door. He was the brawn to Ryker’s brains with short dark blond hair and sky-blue eyes. Ryker had a thinner, more athletic frame which made him quick on his feet and very good with a sword. He and Rhett were sparring in the middle of the backyard at the moment, both of them quite a sight to behold. At the moment, Joelin was sipping pink lemonade her mom had brought over yesterday and was staring down at Rhett’s phone.
Neither Ryker nor Joelin knew anything about modern technology since they hadn’t spent the last ten years in the human world like the rest of the Fae in St. Croix Falls had, so tech fascinated both of them. Joelin the most though. He loved cell phones and loud music.
Mia slid her attention to Ryker and Rhett sparring in the middle of the backyard. Ryker found shirts to be inconveniencing when sword-fighting, so he often didn’t have one on, showing off a toned body. Sweat coated his skin as he made sparring look like a dance with Rhett. Thankfully Rhett did wear shirts. Mia wasn’t sure she could concentrate or get through any of their training sessions if he didn’t. Today he wore a pair of cargo pants, a plain tee and no shoes. Rhett’s trusty sunglasses hung from the unbuttoned upper part of his t-shirt as sweat glistened on his forehead and made his shirt cling to him.
They moved with such grace and poise it made Mia envious. She always felt and looked clunky and clumsy with a sword in her hand. Rhett had reassured her time and again that it was because while she had been a skilled swordswoman, she had been much better with hand to hand combat and her magic.
Joelin glanced up and spotted her. He grinned and waved. Mia forced a smile and waved back, hoping he wouldn’t give her away. Too late. Rhett saw Joelin’s movements and his leafy green eyes shifted to her. She dropped her hand and her smile faded, but she still must have been distracting enough because Ryker caught Rhett off guard. He twisted Rhett’s sword out of his hand and then kicked him onto his back with that stupid superior grin on his lips. Uph, Mia hated that smile.
She folded her arms as she walked over.
Ryker didn’t even bother to offer a hand to help Rhett up. He stepped back and swiped his sword through the air before plunging it into the grassy ground as he turned to Mia. His eyes assessed her apparel and his lips curled in disgust when he got to her flip flops. Mia grinned at him, raising a foot and wiggling her toes. “Like them? Just got them last week with Angie at the mall.”
He scowled. “Very impractical. You should be taking this more seriously. It’s been five weeks, and you’ve made no progress.”
Mia shrugged. “It’s not my fault you’re a lousy teacher.”
“Ouch,” Rhett said, on his feet now. “I guess that means I’m a bad teacher too.”
Mia turned her accusatory gaze at him. “I guess so.”
The smirk on his lips faded when he realized she was serious. He sighed, unclipping his sunglasses from his shirt. “We’ll get you there. It’ll just take time.”
“Time is something we do not have the luxury of having,” Ryker said.
Rhett shot him a glare as he walked between both of them and headed to his patio where a metal table stood with an assortment of weapons on it. He set his sunglasses and sword down. They’d been training for five weeks almost non-stop. So far, Mia hadn’t felt so much as a stirring of her magic since the night Ryker unbound the power within her. Rhett had tried giving her some sort of special herb that was supposed to heighten Sidhe magic, Ryker had tried making her angry enough to lose control. Nothing worked and yet. Every. Single. Day. They tried again and again to get her to access her magic.
Mia was starting to think she didn’t have any magic to use in the first place. When she’d tried telling Rhett that, he had snorted and said she had more magic in her pinky finger than any Sidhe did in their entire body. She wasn’t sure what that meant but... it pretty much guaranteed that no one was going to give up on her accessing her power. Especially not Ryker. Mia was pretty sure that if she didn’t figure out this magic thing soon, he would start trying more drastic measures.
Rhett smirked and folded his arms. “I think it should have been obvious by now Ryker. We don’t care what you do or do not have the luxury of having. Mia can have all the time she needs to train.”
Rhett turned around to go through the weapons. While he wasn’t looking, Ryker shot her a dirty look like she’d made Rhett say that, but Mia just smirked smugly back. She may still be mad at Rhett and confused about her feelings for him, but she didn’t mind shoving it to Ryker with him. He was the only reason she and Rhett had gotten along the past few weeks: their mutual distain for the Seelie Fae.
Rhett cleared his throat as he turned back around to face them. His eyebrows furrowed when his gaze landed on her. “So... let’s get started then,” he said, glancing at Ryker.
Ryker scowled but stepped back folding his arms too, waiting for Mia to fail. Joelin looked up from the phone and sipped his pink lemonade.
Mia’s face warmed at having all their attention on her. She stepped up anyway though, deciding to focus on the person she knew and –despite everything he’d done – trusted: Rhett. He took her attention as a go ahead and stepped forward, touching her arms with his hands. Her skin tingled at his touch. “This is going to work,” he whispered to her. “Trust me.”
“Yeah easier said than done,” she muttered, s
tepping away and breaking their skin contact.
Rhett’s frown deepened, but he didn’t say anything about it. He shoved his hand through his hair. “Alright. So I think I know why you’ve been so resistant to magic these past few weeks.”
Mia’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh yeah? Please enlighten us”
His frown kicked up at the sides into a slight grin like he found her annoyance funny. That look on his face made her even more annoyed. “You don’t remember having your magic. You don’t remember being half Fae, and you’ve only known about all this for a few weeks. In this world you remember, magic is portrayed as a fantasy for children and meant for fairytales. So, what’s the first thing you think of when you hear the word magic?”
Mia humored him. “Little fairies with wings... evil witches... Peter Pan... I don’t know... Cheesy fairytale stuff I guess,” she said with a shrug.
Rhett pointed at her, grinning ruefully like he’d just won the lottery. “Exactly! Magic to you is make-believe. Fairies and flying boys and all that. But it’s none of those things.”
“Then prove it,” Mia said, throwing her arms out. “Show me what real magic is.”
Rhett’s grin widened, and he winked at her. She rolled her eyes. “Come closer and I will,” he murmured.
Mia’s face heated at the suggestion in his tone and the fact that Ryker and Joelin were watching their every movement and listening to their every word. She shook her head. Rhett cocked his head and stalked closer to her. “Don’t worry, I don’t bite,” he said. “I just want to show you what real magic is.”
“I...” Mia stammered, pretty sure her face was bright red now. “I don’t know if that’s really what... I mean, I don’t know if this is the right time for...”
Rhett laughed. He flicked his wrist and held his hand, palm up, to her face. “Calm down Mia. As if I would do anything in front of two Seelies,” he said the word with such distaste it made Mia flinch. “I just wanted to show you. Look.”
He nodded down at his palm. Reluctantly Mia glanced down. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw a black rose grow from his skin, thorns and all.
“How did you do that?” she breathed, as he gripped the stem and held it out to her. Careful not to touch the thorns, Mia took hold of it and held it up to her nose. The rose had a distinct sweet smell with an undertone of bitterness.
Rhett smirked, tipping his head to the side as he watched her. “Magic.”
“Well yeah,” Mia answered, giving him a no duh look. “But how?”
“That’s what we’re here for. To teach you. You can do that too Mia. And so much more.”
She shook her head but couldn’t stop a grin from curling her lips. “No... I can’t do that.”
“Why not? The only reason you can’t is because you doubt yourself. You’ve done this and more your whole life...”
Mia’s smile slipped, and she stepped back, twirling the rose in her fingers. “I don’t remember it.”
“You don’t need to remember,” Rhett insisted. “It’s muscle memory. Instinct.”
Mia gave him a doubtful look. “Muscle memory for magic?”
He grinned. “Why not?”
“Because that’s ridiculous.”
A heavy sigh came from the porch and then Ryker strode over, scowling. “This is pointless. You have no idea what you’re doing.” Mia wasn’t sure if he was talking to Mia about her lack of magic skills or Rhett about his lack of teaching skills.
It wasn’t Rhett’s fault that Mia didn’t want anything to do with any of this. All she had wanted was a nice normal Summer. Go to parties... go shopping with Angie... maybe even pick up her blogging again. She’d pretty much shut her blog down since the whole realizing she’s part Fae situation. Mia didn’t have time for it and after everything that had happened, it didn’t feel as important as it used to be. But she still missed it… Maybe once all this blew over, she would get back to it. And get back to watching more movies. She missed that too. The last thing she wanted to be doing was standing in Rhett’s backyard trying to learn magic.
“She’s doing her best,” Rhett snapped, shooting Ryker a glare.
Ryker glared right back. “I wasn’t talking about her. I’m talking about you. You promised you could teach her, but that was a lie because I haven’t seen any progress in the last few weeks.”
“Hey, look,” Mia said, throwing her hands up to catch Ryker’s attention. “This is all new to me. I’m learning as fast as I can.”
“Not fast enough,” Ryker snapped. To Rhett he said, “Move. I can get through to her.”
Rhett stood his ground. “No way. Last time you tried to get through to her, it didn’t work out.”
Mia flinched. The last time Ryker had tried to get through to her had been at the falls after Mia ran away from the dance. That wasn’t a night Mia cared to reminisce about.
Ryker rolled his eyes and gave Rhett’s shoulder a shove, forcing him back a step.
Rhett’s eyes flashed with rage, but surprisingly he didn’t act on it. “Calm down, prince,” Ryker sneered. “I’m not going to hurt her. Now move.”
Mia’s eyes widened as she watched Rhett step back grudgingly. A week ago, that would have never happened. Rhett had been playing over-protective guard dog to Mia since the moment Ryker had declared she needed to train. And now he was just giving up control to him? Did he really think Mia was such a lost cause?
Smirking, Ryker stopped in front of her. “It’s foolish of him to think he can train you. Though our magics are similar, Unseelie magic tends to be a bit unrulier and darker, whereas our magic is pure.” Wow. Said like a true superior jerk. He then nodded at her flip flops in distaste. “First of all, take those things off. They’re blocking you.”
Mia’s eyebrows shot up, giving him a doubtful look. “My flip-flops... are blocking my magic?”
He scowled. “Just do what I say.”
Mia’s face scrunched up. She would rather train with Rhett. At least she semi-liked him... Actually, that was her problem. She liked him too much. Mia was still mad at him for lying to her about her past, but she still couldn’t shake the feelings she had for him, no matter how hard she tried. With Ryker on the other hand, every bone in Mia’s body rebelled against the idea of listening to him. Mia glanced at Rhett who gave her a slight nod, urging her to listen. Just this once.
Mia relented and kicked her flip flops off.
“Good. Now close your eyes.”
She folded her arms. “You mean like two weeks ago when you told me to close my eyes and then you swept a stick under my feet and made me fall on my butt? I thought I broke my back or something it was so painful!”
Ryker rolled his eyes. “I was testing your reflexes. Obviously, they could use some work. I promise your little boyfriend that I wouldn’t touch you and I keep my promises. Just close your eyes and pay attention.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Mia muttered as she closed her eyes, mostly so she wouldn’t have to see Rhett’s reaction to what she had said.
“Whatever you say. Now breathe in and feel the Earth beneath you. Feel the dirt and the grass under your feet. The trees around us.”
“This isn’t the right way to teach her,” Rhett muttered from nearby.
“Shhh,” Ryker snapped.
“Just saying... It’s easier to learn to reach for the magic already within us then to channel from without.”
“Shh,” was all Ryker said.
Mia frowned but did as he said. The only time she’d ever truly connected with nature the way Ryker was trying to get her to, was when she ran. She already knew this wasn’t going to work. Mia only ever felt what he wanted her to feel when she was running.
“Do you feel it?” Ryker asked.
Mia shook her head.
“Well then concentrate. You’re not trying.”
“I am.”
“No, you’re not. Try harder.”
“Do or do not, there is no try,” Rhett called from across the yard.
> Mia couldn’t help it. She snorted out a laugh and peeked her eyes open to find him grinning at her.
Ryker let out an exasperated sigh and shot Rhett a warning glare. “Shut up and let her focus. Look at me,” he commanded, turning to Mia.
Mia watched as Ryker closed his eyes and breathed in deep. He held his hands out palms up. Her eyes widened when she saw two orbs of light spring to life in his palms. They pulsed faintly, hovering above his hands. Ryker opened his eyes and held them out to her. “This is a simple parlor trick. Children can do it by the time their three. All you have to do is let the energy from the ground feed you and channel it into your hands.”
Maybe for him.
“Now close your eyes.” Ryker stepped in front of her, blocking her view of Rhett. Mia scowled but closed her eyes again.
“Feel the earth beneath your feet, sinking into your skin. Reach out and feel everything around you. It’s all connected, and you can tap into it. You can’t get ahold of your magic until you can grasp the basics. This, Mia, is the most basic thing they teach to Seelie children. Feeling the magic all around them. It allows them to get a feel for what they’re searching for within themselves.”
It? Mia didn’t even know what it was. She had no idea what he was talking about. The whole magic thing felt too abstract to her. The Fae seemed to be able to do so many different things. Glamours to hide their true appearances, make plants grow... even though flower and tree nymphs could do the same. Rhett had insisted those were two very different things. He said those two abilities came from different sources in each race. Nymphs could connect with the plants, whereas Fae could simply use them and manipulate them to their will.
As far as she could tell, there was no magic around them. Maybe it was different in Faerie, but here... magic didn’t exist except for in the Fae living in St. Croix Falls.
But she would try. For her own sanity. If she didn’t at least try, Ryker wouldn’t let her leave. Mia took a deep breath and cleared her thoughts, trying to go all Zen. Maybe she should try to take some yoga classes or do some meditation in the mornings. She wiggled her toes deep into the dirt, feeling the cool grass tickle her feet. A warm breeze blew through, kissing her skin and running through her hair.
Cursed Page 1