The Cursed Witch

by Chandelle LaVaun

  Riah leaned back against the column then slyly peaked over his shoulder to Cooper. Then he turned back to me and even though there was a smirk on his face, there was a sharpness in his eyes I hadn’t seen before. “Pot calling the kettle black, it seems.”

  “What? No.” I shook my head. “No, that’s just Cooper. He’s just—” a witch who happens to be a Coven member and was just teaching us how to kill demons. But I couldn’t say that to Riah. I wasn’t allowed to tell humans the truth about me or the world. Because I was a witch, which was going to take some used to even thinking.

  Riah arched one eyebrow. “Just…?”

  “Just…friends.”

  “Friends. Right.” He pushed off the column and stopped in front of me, so close that I felt the heat rolling off of his body. He looked down at me and his breath swept over my face. He was over a foot taller than me yet his mouth seemed so close. “I better get upstairs to my friend. I’d hate to keep her waiting.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Saffie

  “Who does a yard sale in December?” Gigi grumbled from the backseat, behind Savannah. “Don’t they know it’s snowing?”

  I spun in my seat to look at her. “What is a yard sale?”

  She didn’t look at me, she was too busy eyeing the guy on the corner holding the yard sale sign. “It’s where people gather up stuff they own but no longer want and then sell it from their front yard.”

  “Well you know it’s Christmas season,” Cooper said from the seat behind me. Gigi and I both turned to him. He shrugged. “Maybe money is tight and they need some extra cash to buy presents?”

  “Oh.” Gigi frowned and glanced back at the sign guy. “Then I hope it works for them.”

  Savannah drove her truck into the left lane then rolled her window down. “Excuse me!”

  The light was red so none of the cars could drive. The sign guy hurried toward our truck.

  “Where’s the yard sale at?” Savannah yelled out her window. The guy answered but I couldn’t hear. Savannah must have because she nodded. “Thanks!”

  “Savannah, what are you doing?”

  “Nothing…” but she was grinning from ear to ear.

  Cooper scoffed. “I know that look. My sister makes that look and it’s never a good thing.”

  “Hey, have a little faith in me, y’all.” Savannah winked at us over her shoulder then made a left turn once the light turned green.

  It was Sunday afternoon, the sun shined bright in the pale gray sky and snow fell in heavy chunks. The four of us were in Savannah’s truck on our way to lunch. I was still trying to wrap my head around everything Cooper had told me…especially the part about me being a witch. And the part about Landreia and Savannah being witches. And the part about Gigi being something called a shifter and turning into a penguin whenever she chose.

  I kept waiting for it to be a dream, for me to wake up and have none of this be real. But the crazy thing was…it felt real. Out of everything that had happened to me since waking up on the wharf, finding out I was a witch just clicked. It made so much sense. All of my confusion and fear was explained away by one simple word: witch.

  And it means I’m not a total weirdo.

  Cooper was really awesome, too. He was kind and funny, and there was something about him that just made me feel comfortable and safe. I closed my eyes and shook my head at my own train of thought. Shut up, brain. Though it wasn’t wrong. Although they were both tall blonds with pale eyes, they were complete opposites. He’s nothing like Riah. There was nothing comfortable about the way Riah made me feel.

  Savannah made a right turn and then cleared her throat. “Hey, uh, Gigi? Shift for me and stay that way?”

  “Oh God, what are you gonna do?” She shook her head.

  “Faith, my friend.”

  “Fine. But remember a Coven member is sitting beside me soooo choose your actions wisely.”

  Cooper chuckled like this was the most entertaining idea he’d ever heard.

  Gigi closed her eyes and took a deep breath. A shadow wrapped around her…and then a penguin sat in her place. She squawked and flapped her flipper things. Savannah’s grin couldn’t have been any wider as she rolled down her window as well as the one behind her where Gigi sat. The car sped up. Cooper frowned and watched Savannah closely. I sat sideways in my seat, not wanting to miss whatever it was that was about to happen.

  Savannah sped the truck up even more toward a two-story yellow house with people clustered together in the front yard. There were tables with objects covering them and signs. I glanced to Savannah to find her smile gone, in its place a look of panic.

  She slammed on the brakes in front of the house with yard sale and poked her head out her window, then shouted, “you have any haunted amulets?”

  Gigi-penguin squawked over and over, thrashing around in the back seat.

  Savannah hung out her window and looked to the open window next to Gigi. “I’m getting the spell reversed, Greg! Give me a second!”

  The people at the yard sale gasped. Several people dropped what they were holding. They all paled and looked at us in confused horror.

  Gigi-penguin went absolutely nuts in the backseat, screaming and flailing around.

  “Fine,” Savannah groaned. “We’ll try the next one!”

  Then she sped off down the road away from the yard sale, cackling like a madwoman. Cooper threw his head back and laughed. I snorted then burst into laughter so hard my chest hurt. I gasped for air but couldn’t catch a breath. Gigi changed back into her human self and she had tears running down her cheeks from laughing.

  Savannah rolled to a stop at an intersection then turned in her chair and wagged her eyebrows. “I mean, you’re welcome.”

  Gigi had tears running down her face as she laughed silently. She tried to speak but snorted instead.

  Savannah looked to me with a wide grin. “This is just a little taste of how much fun being a witch can be, Safferalla.”

  I shook my head and coughed from laughing so hard. “I like this much better than the seances and demons.”

  A loud ring blared from behind me, then Cooper pulled his phone from his jeans pocket. He was laughing so hard his eyes were watering, but he answered the call. “H-h-hey T-Tenn…s-s-s-sorry.” He hung his head and laughed. Then he wiped his face and put the phone back to his ear. “Sorry. Goddess, wait ‘til you hear what just happened…”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Saffie

  Savannah and Gigi paused beside Savannah’s truck, which was parked out front of Coven Headquarters. It was late Sunday night and we were all headed home to get ready for school after a long day of practicing with my magic. So it was basically the best day ever. Though I was now insanely jealous of anyone attending this witch school they’d told me so much about. But human school was still super exciting for an amnesiac.

  “Saff, you coming?” Gigi frowned with one foot raised up on the step-bar.

  I looked up at the black, cloudless sky filled with twinkling stars and sighed. It was too perfect of an evening to be inside a car. “I’m gonna walk, it’s not far from here.”

  Savannah scowled. “Did you forget about those demons from last night?”

  My stomach tightened. I hadn’t forgotten at all, I just wanted a chance to get Cooper alone. Wasn’t sure how to broach the subject but asking him to walk me home seemed like a reasonable start.

  Coop chuckled. “I’ll walk her home, you girls go on.”

  Gigi climbed into the truck then leaned out the passenger window. She pointed to me. “Fine, but you text us the second you get home. Okay?”

  I grinned. “I will.”

  Savannah leaned in front of her and shouted, “If you don’t I will hunt you down,”

  “I promise I will let you know when I get home.” I chuckled and shook my head.

  Cooper turned to me and arched one eyebrow. “Shall we?”

  I smiled and nodded. “Let me just put my address into my map on my
phone. I basically know the way but I want to be sure.”

  Cooper chuckled and bumped my shoulder with his arm. “Come on, I know where you live.

  For a few minutes we walked in comfortable silence – well, not entirely comfortable. I was trying to figure out how to ask him what I wanted to ask him.

  Cooper chuckled. “All right, out with it.”

  I jumped and looked up at his handsome profile. “Out with what?”

  He looked both ways at an intersection, then smirked down at me. “I get the sense you want to say something. So…out with it.”

  I sighed and relief rushed through me. “So…yeah, I was actually wanting to ask you some questions.”

  “Go for it.”

  “Umm…” I licked my lips. “Coven members have extra, special gifts and powers…like what?”

  That wasn’t my real question but I did want to know.

  “A wide variety of things, really.” Cooper shrugged and kept his eyes on the sidewalk in front of us, and I suspected he was watching for demons. “Both of my sisters have elemental magic – water, fire, air, and such. My brother has psychic visions. My father can manipulate emotions. My mother can duplicate herself. My uncle has limitless physical strength.”

  My jaw dropped.

  “Let’s see…The Coven also has moon powers, sun powers, communication with animals, ice powers, manipulation of light and shadows, a lie detector—”

  “Wow. Those must be amazing to have.” I couldn’t even imagine having that kind of power. “What about you?”

  Cooper blushed and it made me smile. “I’m the Star Card, so I’m a bit of a compass, both literally and figuratively. I can do some star manipulation but it’s not super useful so I haven’t really worked on that skill. My coolest gift, in my opinion, is my dreamwalking.”

  I frowned and the hairs on the back of my neck stood tall. “Dream walking?”

  “Yeah, I can enter people’s dreams – “

  “I knew it. You WERE in my dream,” I said before slamming my hand over my mouth. Heat rushed to my cheeks. “I mean…”

  Cooper stopped us at an intersection as a few cars drove by. He just stared down at me, neither admitting nor denying.

  Go on. You already said it. I pursed my lips. “The first night I woke up here, I had this dream about this guy chasing me with mismatched eyes but then it cut off and I saw you.”

  He smiled softly and nodded. “I know.”

  The sign lit up saying we could walk but I just stood there on that corner staring up at him, waiting for him to explain. Because I sure as hell didn’t know what to say to that. I couldn’t decide if him being in my dream was weird or comforting. I either had some kind of premonition or he walked into my dream before we met. Honestly, I prayed for the latter.

  He exhaled roughly and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Sometimes when a witch is in extreme duress, I can sense it, so I follow the feeling…on that night, it led me to you.”

  My heart fluttered. “So you were really in my dream? That was really you?”

  “Indeed.” He grimaced. “I’m sorry it took me so long to get here. The Coven was in the middle of a war and I had to focus on keeping my family alive.”

  “Oh no, everyone okay?” I squeezed his arm. “Do you need to get back?”

  There I was being selfish and greedy with his time and The Coven was in peril.

  But he just shook his head and grinned. “They’re all fine. That war ended Friday, hence why I arrived here Saturday.”

  “Ohhhhh.” I sagged with relief. I’m not endangering anyone by keeping him here. Good. But then something clicked in my mind. “Wait…Star Card? Like the tarot cards?”

  “Exactly like those.” Cooper grinned. “All twenty-two members of The Coven are Marked with a particular major arcana card from a tarot deck. Mine is the Star.”

  Butterflies filled my stomach and my pulse skipped beats. I’m the star card. I gasped. The medium reading. The spirit told me The Star was coming to help. Same for Death, Empress, High Priestess, and Emperor. She was right. The Star did come to help me. Maybe…maybe that meant the other cards were coming to help me, too. All the hope I’d stashed away deep down inside rushed to the surface.

  Cooper ducked down to meet my eyes. “What are you thinking about over there?”

  “My medium psychic reading.” I peeked up at him. “She, the spirit, used the tarot cards to tell me some people were coming to help me.”

  His eyebrows rose. “Oh…and who did she say?”

  “You,” I whispered for some reason. “Along with the Death Card, Empress, High Priestess, and Emperor.”

  A strange expression passed over his face but it was gone faster than I could blink. I didn’t have time to dissect it, or know if I’d imagined it at all.

  “Well here I am, forget all those other guys,” he said with a wink and a smirk. “So, who was the spirit? Did you get a name?”

  I nodded. “Elizabeth Bishop.”

  His face fell.

  My pulse quickened. “What? Who is that? You know her?”

  He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his head. “Not personally. She was the Hierophant Card a few centuries back – the Hierophants are psychics. So it totally makes sense for her to come and talk to you.”

  Ahhhhhh. “And it fits that she’d know you were coming. Man, all this witch stuff really just calms all of my fears. Does that make sense? Like it’s a lot less scary now.”

  He opened his mouth then shut it. He frowned. “Ya know, I was Marked as a toddler. I’ve never not known. I can’t actually imagine what it’s like. I can’t fathom what this has been like for you.”

  “Terrifying. Confusing…”

  “I’m so sorry you’re going through this, Saffie,” he said softly.

  I shrugged and waved him off. “It’s not your fault.”

  His face hardened and for the first time I felt a flicker of fear toward him. That big old teddy bear persona vanished and I saw the stone cold warrior that he was. Fire poured from his pale green eyes. “When we find who did this to you…they will pay,” he growled.

  But I preferred the other side of him, and I didn’t want to talk about me or what happened to me. Ever since he arrived, I’d been riding a high of excitement and I wasn’t ready for that to die. I narrowed my eyes at him playfully. “So…if you’re the star card…can you teach me about constellations?”

  He grinned. “Like no one else could. Come on, let’s take our eyes to the skies.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Riah

  Nothing made me more dangerous than Cooper Bishop.

  I loathed the very air he breathed and the ground he walked on. I wanted to rip his bones from his flesh and feed his veins to rats. I wanted to set him aflame and warm my fingers by the fire. I wanted to drag him into the tunnels and deliver him to my king to torment for his own amusement. I wanted to drop him in the outer bands of my realm and watch him try to claw his way out.

  Damn it.

  I leaned my back against a tree and squeezed my eyes shut. Breathe, Zachariah. He is in The Coven. Kill him and you unleash war. Kill him and she will hate you forever. I inhaled through my nose and held it in. Calm down. He has not harmed her in any way. He has not touched her.

  The sound of her musical laughter carried through the wind and my eyes flew open. My breath left me in a white cloud. I balled my hands into fists and my knuckles cracked. Every muscle in my body was tense. Don’t kill him. Don’t kill him. Don’t kill him.

  I stepped out from behind the tree but remained in the shadows at the edge of Salem Commons Park. Saraphina and Cooper Bishop were in the middle of the park, lying on their backs in the snow, side-by-side.

  Can they get any closer?

  Does he have hearing problems that make it so he cannot leave space between them?

  The air around me swirled with glittery silver — shit. I looked down at my hands and found my own magic seeping from my palms. This male’s p
resence was unraveling me. I was not used to this, was not prepared to feel…like this.

  I knew the name of this green-eyed monster but I was helpless to stop it.

  It was not fair that he got to be beside her, to make her laugh, to make her smile. It should have been me and there was nothing I could do about that. I gripped the bark of the tree beside me and it crumbled between my fingers. Every part of me wanted to storm over there yet I knew I could not. If I did…then all of these three hundred years were for nothing. I would have failed in the worst of ways.

  So instead, I glued myself in place. The magic of my people allowed me to hear their voices even from this distance…though I wished it hadn’t. I did not want to hear. Cooper was The Star Card in The Coven so he’d taken her out here in the dark of night to show her the damned stars.

  “And what’s that one?” Saraphina asked.

  Cooper frowned. “Which one are you looking at?”

  “That one, the squiggle.” She lifted her hand up to point and the sleeve of her oversized black sweater slid down her arm to reveal pale, lightly red freckled skin with a tattoo of —

  I gasped and leapt forward, clearing half the park before I caught myself. My gaze latched onto her left forearm and my heart sank. My body turned to ice. Every muscle inside of me tightened into knots. I could not breathe. Could not think.

  Because I knew that mark…the Roman numeral XIII.

  It was a Mark. From the Goddess herself…claiming her as one of Her own.

  For The Coven.

  My breath left me in a rush and I staggered back. The world spun around me. My stomach lurched like I was going to be sick. No, this cannot be. It cannot. This was not part of the plan. This is not what was supposed to happen. This is not what Prince Thorne had prepared me for.

  Saraphina Proctor had been Marked for The Coven.