A Coven of Her own

by Saskia Walker

  Cullen, however, ignored Fox’s remark. “The ship will take me from you, but I will return.” He put his hand to his heart.

  Think, think, she demanded herself. She never let herself get fazed by anyone and it wasn’t going to happen now. What would Grandmother Hanna say? She clamped her eyes shut, searching deep.

  Look into their eyes and see the lies.

  That’s what her grandmother always said to her when she was a child. If you don’t trust people, look into their eyes and you will see the truth. You will know whether they lied to you or not. Her eyes flashed open and she steeled herself to look deep into Fox’s silvery eyes.

  Instantly, she knew he was lying. But as she stared, she saw his true form morph, saw him as he’d been in her time, outside The Witch’s Brew Cafe. Her heart thudded against the wall of her chest.

  She looked beyond him, at the ship, and the waves crashing against the Bedruthen Rocks beyond. Her vision blurred. She pushed back damp strands of hair lashing across her face.

  Black clouds crowded in, a terrifying peal of thunder rolling overhead. The sky seemed to crack open with a flash of lightning. Her hand went to her mouth. “Oh, my God. What the hell?

  Within the lightning strike, it was as if the ship had changed, or a curtain had been pulled back, revealing its true nature. No longer a sturdy wooden vessel of the historic age, it was a dark black galleon with blood red sails. The seamen who stood with a rope ladder hanging over the side morphed too. They appeared to have demonic faces, their eyes black, their skin charred.

  Sunny’s body vibrated, shock and fear rushing through her.

  Thunder cracked loudly overhead, and lightning struck all around.

  Cullen was at her side, shielding her.

  “Don’t go. It’s a trick. It’s not what you see.”

  Fox shook his head at her, smirking. The winds buffeted his body, but he was not deterred by the weather conditions. He stood strong and fierce and threatening, as if somehow in league with the dangerous seas crashing all around them.

  Icy cold water was rising around her legs, and when she looked around she saw the tide was right into the very edge of the cave.

  “Cullen must leave,” Fox bellowed at them, yanking the rope to hold the floating rowboat against craggy shoreline.

  “What trickery is this, Nathaniel?” Cullen asked, as if torn between an old friend and a new one. He turned his attention back to her. “What is it you see, lass?”

  Sunny looked at him imploringly. Who would he believe, his childhood friend, or a “wench” he’d met the night before? “Don’t go there, Cullen. It’s not what you see. It’s a trick.”

  Fox crowded in on them, heaving the rowboat after him. It lifted and tossed in the waves and he was struggling to control it. “Why would you mistrust me? I am your oldest friend.”

  Cullen’s white cotton shirt was clinging to his body, drenched with rain. He flicked back his wet hair, clearing his vision, addressing Fox directly. “Why would she lie to me, tell me that, and what have you to gain by my passage?”

  The doubt was there and Sunny leapt on it. “Exactly, explain yourself.”

  Fox loomed over Sunny, smirking at her.

  Apparently he was enjoying sparring with her. Sunny pushed back her shoulders, smirking right back at him. If he wanted to fight, she’d show him what she was made of.

  “Merely helping out an old friend.”

  Sunny shook her head, clutching Cullen’s hand. “I don’t understand why he’s doing it, Cullen, but I know you shouldn’t board the ship.”

  “My, my,” Fox said, “you are a plucky little soul. This is turning out to be rather interesting.”

  Cullen turned to her. “Describe what you see!”

  “Step behind me,” she shouted over the roar of the sea. “Look at what I see.” She felt as if she was clutching at straws, but she acted on instinct, beckoning him closer.

  He moved behind her. “I see only the ship I expected.”

  Willing him to see it as it really was, she put her hand back over her shoulder, reaching for him. He rested his hand over hers, and immediately leapt back. “Lord almighty, Nathaniel, what treachery is this?”

  Sunny’s hopes soared. He’d caught sight of what she saw.

  Fox growled like a beast. He shifted suddenly, thundering over and wrapping his hand around the back of Sunny’s head, jerking her toward him, forcing her to look into the depths of his bleak and terrifying eyes.

  She saw an offer there.

  He nodded. “What would you trade to save him?”

  Sunny stared right back at him, determined not to let him see she was unnerved. “So...he does need saving!”

  Cullen shoved his arm between them, prying them apart. “Unhand her or I will be forced to take action.”

  “What would you be willing to trade?” Fox said, ignoring Cullen.

  “It’s negotiable,” she shot back, increasingly unsure.

  Fox tightened his grip, his fingers clawing into the back of her neck. A moment later, Cullen’s fist landed in the side of his face and his grip on her slackened. Fox staggered back and collapsed into the water.

  Struggling to his feet, he glared at Cullen, wiping his face.

  Cullen drew his sword.

  They circled one another, both of them battling the rising tide to stay upright as they faced each other off.

  Beyond them, Sunny saw the crew on the dark galleon had gathered in numbers and were baying at the pair of them, a horrible creature-like sound that wrapped itself up in the wailing wind and ran right through her like a howling demon.

  Fox looked furious.

  Sunny looked at Fox’s belt, but saw no weapon. A grim thought occurred to her...perhaps he didn’t need a weapon.

  A fierce gust nearly took her off her feet. She felt the sharp rock face at her back. Turning sideways, she clung to it, desperate to ground herself.

  ​”Nathaniel, you are my oldest friend,” Cullen bellowed. “I have no reason to distrust you, but I must insist you explain what’s going on here.”

  “Perhaps he’s changed,” Sunny shouted, grappling for time. “This man has lived a very long time. I’ve seen him in my world, two hundred years from now. Why does he have this power to travel through time, and why does he want you to go abroad so desperately?”

  Cullen looked torn. “I have explained it to you, Sunny. I have a debt of honor to pay.”

  She shook her head. There was more to it. Her frustration was growing by the moment, she could see the time slipping away as clearly as if there had been an hourglass hanging right there in the sky. Even though she didn’t fully understand why, she knew her chance to save him was hanging by a thread.

  “I cannot squander this chance, lass. If you’ll not come with me, I must leave now.”

  “You can’t board that vessel, you saw its treachery!”

  “Don’t listen to her, Cullen, she’s wrong in the mind. The ship is sound. She’s trying to turn you against me. She doesn’t understand we are friends and I’m working for your benefit.”

  Cullen looked from one to the other of them, but he didn’t lower his weapon and Sunny clung to the hope he believed her.

  “Can’t you see the dark galleon, the red sails?”

  Cullen looked where she pointed. “I did, for a moment, but now I see only my true ship awaits, and they are rolling the rope ladder in.”

  “He’s lying to you every time he opens his mouth.” Maybe it was just a gut feeling. Maybe it was her grandmother’s voice echoing in her mind, telling her to turn to look in his eyes again. Maybe it was superstition. Maybe she’d been trying to teach her how to face up to people, but Sunny knew it was important that she’d remembered that now. She had to unveil his treachery to Cullen.

  She reached out and grabbed Fox’s arms. “Let me look into your horrible soulless eyes again. I will see the truth and you’ll show me the reason why, you can’t hide it from me!”

  Fox roared with anger and la
shed out, striking her, throwing her backwards with the ferocity of his blow.

  She landed flush against the rock face.

  She cried out. Pain shot up her back, her skin stinging wildly.

  She grappled for purchase with damp hands, her fingers sliding on the mossy surface of the rock face. When she looked back, Cullen had his sword at Fox’s throat.

  “No! Not that again.” Remembering what happened in the marketplace, Sunny wasn’t taking any more risks. Especially not with Mr. Creepy Weirdo Timelord here.

  The men negotiated, shouting above the roar of the wind.

  “I have never known you strike a woman before,” Cullen bellowed.

  “Step aside, Cullen. Let’s see what the lass will do to keep your sorry hide.”

  Cullen growled.

  “Put aside your weapon,” she cried out. “Viscount, why not transfer his passage to the next ship?”

  Fox lifted his hand. “Now we’re talking. You’re willing to do a deal?”

  Dig deeper, Sunny told herself. She was determined to keep quizzing him, to find out his motives. “Perhaps. What if I wanted to keep him a while?”

  Fox licked his lips. “What are you willing to offer in exchange?”

  Sunny hadn’t a clue what he might want, so she threw it back at him. “What’s on your table?”

  The wind suddenly dropped, the clouds dissipating.

  Fox tapped his fingertips against his chin as if he were enjoying the negotiation. “How about an agreed exchange of time?”

  Sunny swallowed. She quickly glanced at Cullen. He nodded, as if he understood. It was more than she did, but she did want him to stay with her. “Cullen stays with me.”

  “How long are we talking? A week? Ten days?”

  She had no idea what she was letting herself in for, but something pushed her on. She didn’t feel as if she had a lot of choice. She nodded. “Thirty days. Cullen must stay by my side for thirty days.”

  Fox’s smile made her blood run cold.

  “Agreed. And then you must stay by my side for thirty days.”

  A yawing chasm of uncertainty opened at her feet and she wavered. “Wait!” she demanded. “I didn’t mean here, I mean in 2020. We can’t stay here, where Cullen is seen as a criminal.”

  Fox shrugged. “I’ll let you find your way back there. I’m sure you have the ability to figure it out...if not, oh dear. But, given your heritage...”

  Beyond Fox, the sky cleared and she could no longer see the galleon clearly. The outline of the ship was fading, and it appeared as it had done before with white sails and tall masts above a wooden vessel and calm seas.

  “She has made a worthy sacrifice for you, Cullen.”

  Cullen looked at her and shook his head. “I’ll not let you do this for me.”

  “I’m afraid the deal is done. Enjoy the wench while you can, old friend. For I intend to, when my time comes.”

  “I didn’t mean...” Sunny stalled, the denial on her lips wasted.

  Fox raised his hand, silencing her. “Oh, I have more to ask of you than a quick tumble, my dear, as you’ll soon discover.”

  His lips parted and he seemed to breathe her in, because she felt a tug on her insides.

  Sunny resisted and staggered back.

  He was powerful, she realized, and wondered what the hell she’d let herself in for.

  And then he was gone.

  The rising tide around their legs slipped away, the waters racing out. On the distant horizon, the tall ship’s white sails were just about visible. The vessel had left without him.

  Cullen pulled her in against him, his eyes frantic. “You shouldn’t have done it. I will not allow him to take you.”

  “Maybe not, but I’ll figure out how to deal with him later. There’s no going back now.”

  She glanced around, her thoughts tumbling.

  Fox had indicated she’d know how to get back to 2020, and if she could figure it out, she could go to Celeste and Willow and ask for their help.

  “Right now we need to get back home,” she muttered and grabbed Cullen’s hand. They had to get back to the cottage, her anchor—that which was the same in both worlds.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Why the hell didn’t I say a year, Sunny wondered, ready to slap herself for being so stupid, or even five years? Fifty?

  Then again, it would’ve meant that many years in servitude to Nathaniel Fox, whatever that entailed. She shuddered at the thought. She muttered a silent prayer, hoping she could get herself out of it.

  “Did he hurt you?” Cullen demanded, easing her hair back from her face and staring down at her with concern in his eyes.

  “No.” She clung to him though, glad above all they were still together.

  “But he frightened you, and I will string out his guts with my bare hands for doing so.”

  Sunny laughed softly, her spirits lifting. “I’m hoping that won’t be necessary. Come on, let’s get back to the cottage.”

  “I have never known a lass as brave as you,” he said as they hurried along the edge of the bay.

  Brave or stupid? Sunny silently wondered.

  Dusk was rapidly falling and she had no idea what lay ahead. Her determination to get them back home kept her going, that and the presence of Cullen at her side.

  “I have no idea where you are leading me,” Cullen said in a bemused tone, “and I’m sure you have bewitched me. Yet I am fully content,” he added, the humorous look in his eyes assuring her he was happy with the situation. “I’m willing to see this future world of yours.”

  Bewitched? Sunny shook her head. This was going to take some working out. She tried to picture him in her world, glancing down at his water stained suede breeches and his sword hanging in its sheath. He really didn’t know what he was letting himself in for, she thought, but something told her it was the right thing to do. His faith in her only seemed to confirm the notion. She held onto the feeling, she’d maybe need to feel that sure later on, when she had to figure out how the hell to get them back to the future.

  “We need to be at the cottage,” she reasoned, as they hurried along, “because that’s where we both were, when we wished.” And then it hit her. “Wait...” Her mind was whirring. “The librarian hinted to me that a white witch had lived here, years ago. She said witches grant wishes to those they favor. I didn’t believe it at the time, but...”

  Could it be true? She considered herself a methodical, balanced person, and the absolute chaos she found herself in meant her logical mind was grasping for any thread of reason it could latch on to.

  They glanced at each other as the implication sank in. “A wench wasn’t all I wished for. I also wished to stay here in Cornwall.”

  “And I wished for you to be real, to be with me in my life.” Her heart was full of hope.

  Cullen took the lead, pulling her by the hand with him. “It is meant to be.”

  Once more they made their way through the town.

  He glanced at the sky above the cluster of cottages huddled together at the rise of the bay. “Dusk is closing in, and the sea mist is rising by the moment. Let’s make our way back swiftly, before it gets any heavier.”

  The mist was rising, fast and wispy, and it trailed their footsteps as if it were so many eyes following them. Sunny shivered, as much from the feeling of being watched as that of being cold and damp.

  The streets were empty and candles were visible at the windows. Sunny ignored the tug of emotion when she saw the candlelight within the cottages, wishing that security were theirs, too. Like a mantra, she kept repeating her wish, to get them back to her time. She couldn’t face thinking about what would happen to her if it didn’t work. Cullen would be safe though and that thought made her stronger, because his life had now become as important as her own.

  The storm had driven the people inside their homes, which meant they could pass by without confrontation. The market square was deserted. The only signs of the earlier crowds were the remnants of t
he traders. Discarded vegetables and chicken feathers littered the cobbles.

  By the time they made it north of the hamlet, there was barely light enough to see the meadow, but she knew the direction well enough. Fox crossed her thoughts more than once as they raced to their destination, his presence lingering in the atmosphere around them.

  When it happened, she battled a rising sense of panic.

  When they reached the cottage, Cullen tugged gently on her hand. “Wait, the serving woman will leave shortly.”

  They stayed under cover of the foliage.

  “It’s my home, yet it looks different. It feels very strange.”

  Cullen gave her a reassuring squeeze. “I hope I get to see it in your time too.”

  “So do I,” she whispered.

  A lantern appeared at the window closest to the door.

  Sunny watched, enthralled, when the serving girl came out of the house, after her duties for the day were done, locking the door behind her.

  She stared at the basket the girl had hanging over one arm, the embroidered shawl she wore over her shoulders and her strange, old-fashioned dress, austere and black. Seeing the girl come out of her home felt so odd and yet strangely emotional. Sunny had been given a magical glimpse into the history of the cottage, a glimpse she would always cherish.

  “She’s locked the door. How will we get in?”

  “Nathaniel keeps a key hidden under a rock.”

  “Ah.” Was luck truly on their side, or was this part of some nefarious plan by Nathaniel Fox? She could only hope it was the former. A few minutes later, when they were sure the house was silent and empty, they made their way inside and back to the room where they’d met.

  Once there, she turned to Cullen and allowed her gaze to absorb his handsome face, barely visible in the gloom. “Are you ready to try, to see if we can make our wishes collide again, here in this magical place?”

  “Never more ready for anything.” He rested a kiss on her forehead.

  “I don’t even know if this will work, but I have to say this, in case it does...this might be your last chance to back out. I feel you have to be really willing, and believe in the possibility we can travel through time, and not just thinking you’re humoring some half-wit and you’ll be back at the shore ready to jump on another ship in the morning.”