The Cursed Witch

by Chandelle LaVaun

  He chuckled deep in his throat and it did things to me. “Are you threatening me?”

  I shrugged one shoulder as nonchalantly as possible. “Hang around and you’ll find out.”

  His eyes flashed. “Are you asking to hang out with me?”

  “I’m asking to know you,” I heard myself whisper back.

  He grinned and it took my breath away. “Well—”

  “All right, class, gather around,” Ms. Kelly shouted for the whole class. “Just for a second. Come on over.”

  Riah backed away, dragging me with him. A few steps later, he uncurled my fingers and gently guided me into a chair. I gasped as he slid around the end of the table and took the seat directly across from me. Under the table, his long legs stretched all the way across. Our legs touched and it felt like I’d been struck by lightning…and he didn’t move away. My body was on fire, melting like I’d been burned at the stake. I hid my trembling hands in my lap and tried to rein in the runaway emotions of my heart and its chaotic beating.

  Riah sat like a statue, completely unmoving, but his eyes were locked on me. The bright white lights overhead made the angles of his face sharp enough to cut with. I turned slightly and slid my leg under his – he hissed and his golden eyes blazed with heat.

  But before I could fully process any of it, Ms. Kelly cleared her throat and rubbed her palms together. The rest of the class was seated around me. “Okay, I have some great news. Our class has won a field trip to a theme park in Florida called Hidden Kingdom.”

  The class gasped and sat up straight. Questions fired at her from all over the room.

  She waved for them to quiet down. “And the better news? We leave Wednesday! The day after tomorrow. But don’t worry, we’ll be back in time for the Yule Ball.”

  The whole class erupted with cheers and excitement. Students jumped up and high-fived each other. Riah looked at me through dark lashes and hooded eyes. His pale blond hair was pulled back, the top half of it tied behind his head. He ran his thumb over his bottom lip and I couldn’t stop looking.

  “Now, this is a school trip so there will be an assignment…” she laughed as the class groaned. “There are printouts here of your assignment, so come on up and take one. There are also permission slips that your parents will need to sign, so grab one of those as well. If you have any questions come and find me. Otherwise, get to work.”

  Riah stood but his golden gaze was locked on me. He smirked. “Well, you want to hang out, what did you have in mind?”

  Butterflies danced in my stomach. Is this actually happening? “I don’t know. I’m new here. Got any suggestions?”

  He picked his camera up off the table and grinned. “Let’s go take some pictures.”

  Chapter Forty-One

  Saffie

  Riah pulled his car to the side of a tree-lined street in front of a white two-story wooden house and parked. He turned in his seat and reached through the opening between us to grab his camera off the backseat. His long blond hair slipped over his shoulder and brushed over my arm. I leaned forward and inhaled through my nose, savoring his burning ember scent. It made my pulse flutter.

  As he started to turn back I realized just how far into him I’d leaned. I cleared my throat and looked out my window. “So…is this your house?”

  His deep chuckle filled the silence of the car. “You thought I was taking you home? To take pictures?”

  “I told Savannah that’s not what you meant.” My cheeks warmed. I peeked up at him and shrugged. “It’s a residential street, what else am I to think?”

  He grinned and there was a wildness to it that sent butterflies bouncing through me. “I live on the opposite side of town. Closer to you, actually.”

  “You do?”

  “Near the wharf, yes.”

  For some reason, this made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside and it made no sense. “Oh, hence why you were there that night.”

  He winked and threw his door open, then climbed out.

  I grabbed my camera, scrambling to get out and catch up with him. “So, where did you take me?”

  He glanced back at me then turned to look straight ahead and pointed.

  I frowned and followed his gaze — my breath left me in a rush. Across the narrow street was a short stone wall cut into the side of a hill in the shape of a crescent. At the edge of the sidewalk were two stone pillars with writing etched into it. A lone leafless tree stood tall and proud in the center.

  My chest tightened. My breaths hurt. I had never seen this, but it felt familiar. I’ve been here. The thought made no sense. I had not been there. I’d never seen these stones…yet something in the back of my mind told me that was a lie.

  Despite the bitter chill in the air, sweat dripped down my throat and spine. My hair felt damp at the nape of my neck. The sky above was cloudy and gray, yet bright sunshine stung my eyes. There were houses on either side of us and thick black power cables running over our heads. Trees lined the top of the little hill, stones and boulders decorated the ground. I looked up from the stone wall, to the grass-less hill it was cut into, and my heart sank faster than a rock in the ocean.

  Images I couldn’t understand and couldn’t explain filled my mind. I saw rope tied around a tree branch. I saw people huddled around me. I heard their cries and their screaming. I saw feet swaying in the air. I didn’t want to see this, I didn’t want to be here. I felt hopeless and broken.

  Yet rage consumed me. The kind of rage that burned deep in my heart and would bleed from my eyes. The kind that made me want to scream until my voice broke and my throat was raw. The kind that inspired heinous thoughts I’d never thought of before.

  The kind that haunted me.

  My pulse quickened, my heart pounding like a hammer through my veins until it was the only thing I could hear. I balled my fists at my sides and dug my nails into my skin. I clenched my teeth and hurried across the street. On the ground, in front of the tree, the words We Remember were marked in the stone. The inscription on the pillar to my left read Proctor’s Ledge, and the one on my right said 1692.

  Riah stepped up beside me, his tall body casting a shadow over my face. His big hand landed on my shoulder and he squeezed. “Saraphina, are you okay?”

  “No,” I whispered. But the heat from his hand was breaking through the rage cloud in my brain. “This is where it happened…where those innocent people were hanged.”

  “Yes,” he growled while he rubbed gentle circles against my shoulder with his thumb. “This is where their own kind betrayed them.”

  “Why did you bring me here?”

  He hugged me tight to the side of his body. “Everyone needs to see this. They need to see where it really happened, not the spot downtown.”

  I frowned. “Why is there a memorial downtown if this is where it happened? Why have two?”

  Riah sighed. “History has a way of getting lost over time, details missed and forgotten. But a few years ago some historians and the descendant of a victim discovered the true location and this memorial was erected. Yet taking down the other one felt…a dishonor.”

  “That’s true.” I smiled and leaned my head against him, reveling in the warmth and comfort of his body.

  But then my gaze landed on an inscription on a stone and my heart stopped. My feet carried me away from him before I’d even realized I’d moved. I crouched down in front of the stone with her name on it, then traced my fingers over the letters.

  “Bridget…” I heard myself whisper.

  “Ah yes, Bridget Bishop. The first victim,” Riah said from right behind me. His voice low and raspy. “I hope her soul is at rest.”

  “It’s not.”

  “Pardon me?”

  “I saw her spirit…right after our séance…she spoke to me…”

  She knew my name. She said she knew me. How is that possible? What am I missing here? I had no idea but my heart hurt just thinking about her. Tears I couldn’t explain filled my eyes.

  I sniffle
d. “Why do I feel like this? I didn’t know these people.”

  Maybe you do, in a way? I was a witch, perhaps that was why this felt so personal. Bridget and Elizabeth’s spirits had come to me, yet none of the other spirits had actually tried to talk to me. Cooper had told me that Elizabeth was in The Coven in those days, perhaps Bridget had actually been a witch. Perhaps that was why they’d come to me, because we were one in the same. Maybe this was a witch thing.

  Riah took my hand and lifted me to my feet, then pulled me into his chest. His muscular arms wrapped around me tight. I felt his fingers run through my hair. “What was done here was atrocious beyond compare. The hunt of innocent souls. Do not judge harshly on yourself for feeling their heartbreak as your own, for that only shows the light in your soul.”

  I pulled back and looked up at his pretty face. “That was beautiful.”

  He smiled down at me. From this close I could see every speckle of light in his golden eyes. He reached up and tucked my hair behind my ears. “I am sorry for upsetting you. I merely thought you would like to see this—”

  “I did,” I said in a rush. “Thank you for bringing me here. Genuinely.”

  The sharpness in his eyes suggested he didn’t believe me, or maybe it was the way he kept scanning my face. I smiled through the lump in my throat. I placed my hands on his hips then pushed up on my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his cheek. Hot electric energy shot through my body and buzzed through my veins. There was a fire scorching in my chest.

  Our lips were so close. It would be easy to just — no, Saffie! That’s not what this was about! You said you wanted to know him, not kiss him. Stick to your word.

  I jumped away from him and spun around so he wouldn’t see my cringe at the sudden loss of his touch or the blush burning my cheeks. I cleared my throat and strolled along the memorial wall. “So…Riah…”

  “So…” his voice was velvety yet smooth and unraveled me in a way I didn’t want to dissect just yet. “Saraphina…”

  I bit my cheek to stop myself from groaning. There was something about the way he said my name…it did things to me. It was his voice and the cadence of his speech, but it was also so much more than that. He was the only person who called me by my real name and I didn’t want him to stop.

  Focus, Saffie. I sighed and shook my head. I knew that I had feelings for him, feelings I had not looked too hard at yet, but I barely knew him. And that was the point of this today. My mission was to try and get to know him, even if only a little bit. Riah didn’t strike me as a guy overly forthcoming on his life so I was going to have to ask questions.

  I glanced over my shoulder — CLICK.

  Riah lowered his camera and gave me a completely unphased grin. “Okay, maybe one picture of you?”

  I smiled so hard my jaw hurt. “Guess Savannah was on to something after all, eh?”

  He arched one eyebrow. “Eh?”

  My cheeks warmed and I knew I was blushing.

  CLICK.

  I gasped and my jaw dropped. He hadn’t even held the camera up to his face. He shrugged one shoulder and grinned. I pressed my lips together and narrowed my eyes at him, but it was no use. There was no fighting the smile on my face.

  “All right, Zachariah…” I lifted my camera up to my face and looked through the lens at his beautiful face. “Does anyone call you Zachariah?”

  His face softened — I snapped a picture.

  His smile vanished but I still saw a hint of it in his eyes. He looked off into the distance and I snapped another picture, but if he heard it he ignored it. “Not anymore.”

  I lowered my camera and frowned. There was something in his voice I hadn’t heard before, a softness…an innocence. “Why not?”

  “My brother Malachi was much older than me…” He didn’t look at me and his voice sounded far away. “When I was born, he wanted my name to be Riah but my mother thought I needed a more proper name…so Zachariah.”

  I felt his unease like it was my own. My chest tightened. Whatever happened, he didn’t want to talk about it. To give him space, I turned and pretended to focus on the pictures I was taking, even though I couldn’t have said what they were of.

  “Malachi was the only one who called me Riah…after he died, I asked everyone to call me that. I’d always preferred it, anyway.”

  My throat and eyes burned with the need to cry. Of all the things he could have said, I had never expected that. I went over and took his hand in mine. He’d comforted me when I was losing my emotions, I would return the favor. “I’m so sorry.”

  He looked down at our entwined hands then met my eyes. “Thank you.”

  “How long ago?”

  He sighed and the broken sound told me more than his words could have. “Centuries.”

  I squeezed his hand tight between both of mine. “I cannot imagine. That must be hard for you and your parents.”

  “I never met our father. Neither Malachi nor my mother ever spoke of him either.”

  And you don’t want to either. “So it’s just you and your mom?”

  His golden eyes darkened. “She spends most of her time with her boyfriend.”

  “Do you like him? This boyfriend?”

  “Sometimes more than my mother.” For some reason, that made him smirk crookedly. “He’s been around as long as I can remember, he practically raised me.”

  “Are they going to get married?”

  “No.” His eyes twinkled like this was the most amusing question I’d ever asked. “My mother does not like commitment and he…well…he does not favor monogamy. But it works for them.”

  My eyes widened. “Wow. Well, good for them.”

  He arched one eyebrow. “Really? Not the reaction I usually get.”

  I met his golden eyes and shrugged. “Just because I cannot imagine sharing my heart with more than one person does not mean I judge those that do. Happy is happy, right?”

  His smile widened and it took my breath away. He lifted my hands and pressed a kiss to the back of my hand. “And what would make you happy, Saraphina?”

  My heart stopped. The answer rushed through my mind like a tornado but the strength of it took my breath away. It didn’t make sense for him to be that answer when I barely knew him. I didn’t dare speak it, I was too afraid to even think it. But he was waiting for an answer. I smiled up at him. “You’re huge. Could you lift me up? I’d love to see this from the sky.”

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Saffie

  “Yes, you heard that right. There are assigned seats on the plane.”

  Everyone groaned. Today was the day. Our field trip to Florida. To a theme park. Savannah and Gigi had shown me videos online of what a theme park was because I hadn’t known. But Cooper had actually been to this exact one before, so last night over dinner he’d told us about Hidden Kingdom and all the cool rides. I was beyond excited…and I needed this. I needed an escape from reality. I needed to mentally check out. Finding out you were a witch did something to you. I still didn’t know how to handle it or what to do with myself.

  I still didn’t know myself.

  Witch and amnesiac were too much.

  “Show me you can follow the rules on the plane and I won’t make us stay in one big group at the park.” Ms. Kelly narrowed her eyes at us. “Show me you deserve freedom. Okay?”

  Everyone nodded. There were only about twenty-five of us in total.

  “When I call your name, come get your ticket then get on the plane—”

  “Ms. Kelly?” Savannah held her hand high in the air, her swirling tattoo on display. “What about the hotel tonight? I’m assuming you’ve assigned us to rooms as well?”

  She nodded. “I have, but I’ll tell you those when we get to the hotel. That way if anyone misbehaves, I can change the rooming plan. Consider yourselves warned.”

  I frowned. Somehow I had not yet thought about this hotel situation. Since waking up with amnesia, I hadn’t slept at any house besides Landreia’s. My stomach turned and t
ightened. What room would I be put in? Who would I share it with? I glanced at my two friends and prayed it was with them. I figured it would be. She knew my situation and she knew I was not friends with any other students besides Riah – and I doubted she’d have co-ed rooming plans.

  Riah. Wait, where is he? I scowled and glanced around the section of seats by our gate. He was not standing with us, but he wasn’t standing anywhere. I scanned everyone in the chairs, lingering by the garbage can, and in line to get on the plane. He wasn’t there. My heart sank. He is coming, isn’t he?

  Savannah bumped her shoulder into mine. “Looking for Riah?” She wagged her eyebrows.

  “What? No.” I shook my head far too dramatically to be believable. “Definitely not.”

  Gigi gave me an exaggerated wink. “Okay.”

  “Peter,” Ms. Kelly called out and held up a piece of paper. “Ned.”

  Savannah chuckled under her breath as the two boys raced up to get their tickets. “I saw him walking from the parking lot when my parents dropped me off. So, lover boy is here.”

  “Chris, Chris, and Chris,” Ms. Kelly called out while giggling.

  “He’s probably in the bathroom,” Gigi whispered. “Or grabbing a snack.”

  “Saffie is a snack.” Savannah chuckled. “Or brooding in a corner somewhere.”

  Ms. Kelly cleared her throat then her gaze turned to us. “Savannah, Gigi, and Saffie.”

  Savannah squealed then dragged me and Gigi toward Ms. Kelly. We each took our tickets from her and headed straight for the open door that led to our plane. The flight attendants in their matching navy-blue suits smiled at us as they scanned our tickets. Once they were handed back to us, I followed my friends through the open door and into a narrow gray tunnel.

  I’m getting on a plane. I’m FLYING.

  My pulse quickened with each step.

  Savannah lifted her ticket. “I’m in seat 33F. What did y’all get?”