by Mona Hanna
Chapter 4
Hallie got ready to go to work the next morning. She smoothed down the skirt of her long dress, made sure she had her things in her small bag, then headed to the front door. She lived in a medium-sized, relatively expensive home, which she was able to rent because her employer knew the landlord. All of the furniture was finely crafted, and the rugs and other decorations had all come with the home. There was a settee and armchairs of a deep maroon fabric in the front room, along with an ornate dining table and chairs, a bookshelf, and wooden cabinet. She was happy there.
She was about to turn the handle on the front door to leave when there was a loud knock. She froze for a moment, worried it was Nicholas. It had taken her a long time to calm down after what happened last night. She stayed still a moment longer, then opened the door a little, peering out. She nearly fainted at who she saw.
Sean.
She pulled the door open wider, staring at him. It was him. He was more built, his red hair was a little longer, but it was him. She couldn’t believe it. He just stood there, looking her up and down, as if he was surprised at her appearance too. His green eyes flowed over her, his lips parted slightly. Hallie swallowed loudly, and he met her gaze.
His expression softened, and he looked at her fondly. “Hallie,” he said, and she nearly melted at how deep his voice had gotten.
She took a deep breath. “What—what are you doing here?” she finally asked, her voice light and breathy.
He moved forward slightly. “I wanted to see you. I got back home a little while ago, but they said you’d left. I got here as soon as I could. I—I’ve been thinking about you. I’ve been thinking about you a lot.”
She took in a breath, then remembered he’d left without a word to her and hadn’t so much as written since. She felt anger rise inside of her, and she tightened her grip on the door handle. “Then why didn’t you write? Why didn’t you try to talk to me? All those months, and you weren’t off the ship once? What, were you too busy running around with other women? Why should I even talk to you! You stopped caring about me a long time ago.”
She started to shut the door, her heart breaking at what a mess she was making of things, when Sean slammed his palm onto the heavy wood. He took a step forward, making Hallie step back into the house. He shut the door loudly behind him, then reached forward and held her face in his large hands. She couldn’t breathe. Her heart was racing, and she felt weak and shaky all over. He stared at her, so closely, so strongly, then moved his hands down and put them around her waist. He brought her up against him, then leaned down and buried his face in her neck.
She sighed, putting her arms around his shoulders, sinking one of her hands into his hair. Oh, how she’d dreamed of this.
He kissed her neck. “Hallie,” he breathed, kissing her neck again. “I’ve been dreaming about you. I’ve longed for you. You don’t know how hard it was for me to stay away. I’ve wanted you so much.”
She sighed again, melting against him, unable to believe he was there. She felt so many emotions and sensations she’d forgotten how to feel. She hadn’t so much as kissed a man, but here he was, the man she loved with her whole heart.
He straightened, still holding her, and gazed down at her.
She bit her lip. “I missed you,” she said, her eyes filling with tears.
Suddenly he picked her up in his arms and carried her over to the settee to the right of the room. He sat down with her in his lap, brought his hands to her face, and wiped away her tears with his thumbs.
She sniffed loudly, then wrapped her arms around his neck, snuggling up to him. He held onto her closely. She kissed him on the neck. “How could you leave me like that?” she asked, sniffing again.
He rubbed her back while she nestled close to him, kissing her hair every so often. He finally sighed deeply. “I was hurt, Hallie,” he said. “You told me to leave you alone—you said you didn’t want me. I didn’t know what to think, but I knew you were right: you weren’t going to become strong while I was beside you. I was holding you back. So I left, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to stay with you, wanted to be by your side. Every day I was apart from you hurt. But it was necessary. I just wished it wasn’t.”
His voice broke on the last word, and Hallie lifted her head to look at him. She looked into his eyes and gently trailed the fingers of one hand down his cheek. She was late for work, but she didn’t care—all she wanted was him. She moved some of his hair away from his forehead, and he smiled, looking down. She was aware of his hand on her waist, his fingers gently caressing her side, and she felt heat inside of her. He swallowed loudly, biting his lip. Her breath caught in her throat.
“You always were beautiful,” he said, “but now…” He lowered his head and kissed her neck, but it was different than before. This time her entire body was humming, and his lips moved slowly, his tongue gently touching her skin.
Before she could stop herself, she let out a moan.
He looked at her, his eyes bright and a smile on his lips. He brought his mouth close to hers. “Have you ever kissed a man, Hallie?” he whispered, his lips barely an inch away from hers.
She shook her head, worried her voice would only be a whimper.
He smiled again. “Good.” Then his lips pressed against hers, soft but firm, warm, delicious, and she felt her body tingle all over. His mouth moved against hers, inviting her to do the same, and his tongue sought entrance into her mouth.
She didn’t even try to stop moaning then, moving her tongue with his, clutching his shirt as she felt like she was on fire. What about my magic? But she didn’t care about getting too emotional—all she wanted was his body pressed against hers, his hands on her, and so much more. They kissed for what felt like an age, until they couldn’t breathe, and finally separated.
Hallie gasped when she saw what her magic had done. Her skin was glowing, a silvery light emanating from all over her, even her hair. She whimpered, embarrassed, but Sean just laughed.
“That’s amazing,” he said, and she buried her face in his chest. He laughed again. “Don’t be shy. It’s lovely,” he said. “Are you still hiding your magic? Oh, Hallie, I want you to let it out. I want all of you. Every last inch.”
She only whimpered again, and he kissed her hair. She glanced at her arm and saw the glow was beginning to fade. She had certainly cooled things down. Probably for the best, she thought, but she didn’t mean it. She wanted that feeling again, but she’d rather not light up when she felt it.
They sat for a long time, and then they eventually moved to the table and chairs on the other side of the large room. Hallie sat across from Sean, holding a mug of tea, and wondered what to say to him. She thought he looked amazing.
He smiled at her, reaching across the table and touching her arm. “We have a lot we need to talk about,” he said. “I want to know all about your life. I know something about what you do from your parents, but I want to know everything. And you can ask me anything.”
She gazed at him. “Promise me you’ll never leave again,” she said, knowing it was foolish the moment she said it but unable to stop herself from doing so.
He smiled crookedly. “I promise, from the bottom of my heart, to never leave your side. My Hallie. My darling.”
Her eyes filled with tears, and she wiped them away. He moved to the chair next to her and put his hand on her arm.
She laughed. “What am I going to do, Sean?”
He frowned slightly. “About what?”
She smiled. “I’m actually happy. I’ve never really been happy before. How do I cope with that?”
He kissed her forehead, then held her hand in both of his. He looked at her fondly. “Are you safe, Hallie? Are people kind to you here? Do they bother you?”
Suddenly images of Nicholas entered her mind, and she became tense all over.
Sean’s hands tightened on hers. “What is it? What happened?”
She looked at him, not wanting to tell, but she did anyway. �
��I met a man last night who knows about my past. I think he knows what happened when I was younger. I don’t know if he wants anything, but he frightened me. He was cruel. I’m afraid of him.”
“Did he hurt you? Did he touch you?”
“No, no. I got away from him. But something about him… I keep thinking he’s not going to just leave me alone. I don’t know. Maybe it’s nothing.”
They settled into an uncomfortable silence. Sean released her hand, clenching one of his fists.
Hallie leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “Don’t worry—it’s alright. I know how to get away from people now.”
He relaxed slightly, his hand unclenching, and then he scratched his head. “If you see him again, tell me. We’ll face him together.”
Hallie nodded, feeling her eyes become moist again. She rose and sat in Sean’s lap, snuggling up to him as his arms went around her. She sighed. “I have to go to work,” she said.
Sean groaned. “You really don’t. You’re horribly ill and have to stay home.”
She giggled. “I’ll be back later. I’ll meet you here at four o’clock. Alright? I’ll be waiting for you.”
He put his hand on the back of her neck and began kissing her, making her wish she could stay there all day. They finally parted. Hallie left Sean to walk to work while he went to explore the town. She doubted she would be able to concentrate very well that day. Not when her heart was singing.
***
Nicholas watched Hallie and the red-haired man part ways at the front of her house. He stood behind a tree in the wide street, having used his magic to make himself invisible, a gift every warlock or witch had along with being able to magically transport. His core gift was being able to control fire and water. Other magical people had other core gifts.
He scratched his chin, thinking about how to trap the girl. He’d thought he’d overpower her, the fact that she was too scared to use her magic probably making her easy to catch. But there was always the risk she’d fight back, and his magic was no match for hers.
But what if he trapped the man she seemed so fond of? Then he could force Hallie to come to him, and he would be able to continue with his plan. Nicholas didn’t know if the man was a warlock, but it didn’t matter—his own powers were quite strong. He watched the man walking down the street in the distance. He started to follow.
Chapter 5
Brayden sat up in bed, waiting for Ariel to return to him from cleaning up.
She walked back into the room, wearing her long dressing gown and smiling at him. She sat beside him on the bed. “She didn’t bother me during the night.” Ariel placed her hand on her stomach. “Maybe the disturbances have stopped.”
Brayden half-smiled. “You always call our baby ‘she.’ How can you be so sure?”
She sighed. “I’m not sure, but I just feel like she’s a girl. I don’t know. What does that matter?”
Brayden bit his lip. “Ariel, I was thinking something last night, and I want to tell you. It’s just a theory—I can’t be sure—but I was thinking…”
“Our baby’s a High Witch, isn’t she!” Ariel exclaimed, throwing herself into his arms. “I knew it Brayden, I just knew it! That’s why she has so much power! Darling, she’s just like me! Oh, I’m so happy.” Ariel began kissing him all over his face and neck, her arms around him.
Brayden started laughing. He pushed her back gently, putting his hands on her arms, trying to get her to calm down.
She frowned at him. “What is it?”
He looked at her fondly, loving her enthusiasm. But they needed to talk about this rationally. “I just—we need to discuss this. How can this be possible? What does it mean? I love that you’re happy, but, Ariel, this can’t be! I mean, how can she be a High Witch? Unless it’s because… you… you died.”
Ariel winced, shutting her eyes, a harsh sound coming from her teeth. She brought her knees up to her chest and rested her head on them, not speaking for a long time.
Brayden kissed her forehead, hating that she was reliving the memory. He sat beside her quietly and started rubbing her back. “I’m sorry, Ariel,” he said. “I’m so sorry.”
She nodded, looking up. “I know you are,” she said. “I just hate thinking about it. But explain what you mean. How does me going through the test make our baby a High Witch?”
There were a few moments of silence while Brayden thought. He scratched his head. “Well, I was wondering if maybe you’re further along than you thought. That maybe instead of being three months along, it was more like four. Give me a moment to explain. You remember how I told you that a new High Witch is born the instant one dies, at that exact moment?”
She nodded. Brayden continued. “Well, the fact is, because you were dead for a few moments, a new High Witch should have been born at that time. There should have been a new one to replace you. But you came back. There can only be three High Witches at once—there are only ever three. I don’t know if it’s possible for four to exist at the same time, so maybe a way to get around this is that you became pregnant with the new High Witch. So she exists as a result of you dying, but she’s not here yet, so the rule isn’t broken. Does that make any sense at all?”
Ariel thought for a while, staring at her hands, her brow furrowed. Then she looked at him, her eyes full of concern. “Do you think I was pregnant when I went through the test?” she asked.
Brayden nodded. “I think so. I’m not sure. I don’t know how else it could work.”
Ariel looked down again, and Brayden leaned close and put his arms around her. She sniffed loudly, something she always did when she was upset. They sat together, holding each other, the sadness of what Ariel went through settling over them. Ariel began to cry quietly.
“Darling, it’s okay,” Brayden said, stroking her hair. “It’s alright.”
She sobbed, clutching his shirt, her shoulders shaking. Brayden grew worried, her distress greater than he expected. She cried even longer, then finally looked at him, wiping away her tears. Her words were choked back from her sobbing, but she managed to compose herself. She grabbed Brayden’s hand. “I don’t want to die, Brayden.”
He looked at her in alarm. “What do you mean? You won’t—nothing’s going to happen to you. What are you talking about?”
“No, you don’t understand!” she exclaimed. “What about when she’s born? If you’re right—if there can only be three of us at once—what about when she’s born? Won’t one of us have to die so the rule isn’t broken? I don’t want to die! I can’t go through it again.”
She wailed, crying so loudly he wondered if she’d ever stop. Brayden held his love, feeling so much pain for her. His heart broke clean in two. Suddenly their child wasn’t the bright source of light like before, but her existence a source of danger. He held Ariel, desperately praying things would be alright. They had to be alright.
***
At lunchtime Brayden and Ariel visited his mother, Emily, to tell her what was happening. They sat around the table in the front room of her house, not speaking, allowing her to absorb the story. Emily reached over and grasped Ariel’s hand and squeezed it.
Ariel smiled at her, but her eyes were filled with sadness. She suddenly clutched the table, knuckles white, going completely rigid, and then she finally relaxed.
Emily gasped.
Brayden looked at her with worry. “The baby?”
Ariel nodded. “I was able to hold on this time, stop her from throwing me back,” she said. “She’s strong, though. She’s tough.”
Emily gazed at her in wonder, moving her light-brown hair away from her face. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” she said, her blue eyes wide. “To think, she’s using magic inside of you. It’s a miracle, Ariel. I know you’re upset, but don’t worry too much yet. We don’t know what’s really going on, and we certainly don’t know how this will work out.” Emily grasped Ariel’s hand again. “Look at what you faced before, and you came through that. You two can face anyt
hing. I’m sure of that.”
Ariel smiled a genuine smile and wiped away a few tears. Brayden felt more at peace also. His mother always knew how to make him feel better.
Emily went to the kitchen to prepare some lunch, and soon enough they were eating sandwiches and drinking cider.
They ate in silence, and after a while, Brayden spoke. “Before all this happened, Ariel and I wanted to research locating spells so she could find the other High Witch—the older one,” he began. “Do you mind if I talk about this?” He looked across at Ariel.
She shook her head. “No, it’s alright. I could use the distraction.”
He smiled. “Do you have any books with those kinds of spells?” he asked his mother. “Or do you know someone who does?”
Emily thought for a moment. “I have a couple of books. I’m not sure how much help they’ll be, but you can have a look. I think you’ll find all locating spells require you to know something specific about the person you’re looking for—something you can focus the spell on, otherwise it will have no direction. It will be difficult since you know nothing about the other girl, other than she’s a High Witch. But you may as well try.”
When all the food was gone, Emily brought out some cake for them all to eat, along with mugs of tea. They ate slowly, and Emily started to tap her fingers on the table.
Brayden smiled crookedly. “Mother, you’re doing that thing that shows you’re thinking. What is it?”
She frowned a little, then looked at Ariel. “I know you said you don’t want to go ahead with the binding spell for the baby, but I think you should keep it in mind, just in case. Soon you’ll start to show as the baby becomes bigger and stronger. Brayden used to kick me a great deal—heaven knows what your baby will do, if she’s anything like him. You’re not betraying your baby by protecting yourself. Your health matters too, you know.”
Ariel shook her head, looking down. “I don’t like the thought of it. I don’t know… I don’t know what to think anymore. I just want to focus on finding the other High Witch, and see if I can help her. If I focus on that, I might not worry about my future so much. I do hope everything will work out. Even if my girl’s hurting me, I still love her. She’s still mine. I’d do anything for her.”
