The Broken Witch

by Chandelle LaVaun

  Deacon stopped a few feet in front of my soulmate. I couldn’t see his face or hear his voice, but I saw the tension in his back. Henley’s red eyes sparkled with excitement. Her mouth moved near Tegan’s ear, and I wished I was the one out there to know what they were saying. Tegan cocked her head to the side and dropped her hand to the hilt of the dagger strapped to her thigh.

  “If either of them move toward him, you attack with everything you’ve got, understand?” I gripped the top edge of the wall to stop myself from running over there. “Emersyn, douse them in flames if you must, got it? Do not let him get hurt.”

  “I’m not losing two family members,” Royce said with a growl.

  Deacon’s power of persuasion poured out of him. I had no idea what he said, but it made Tegan’s grin widen and my stomach turn. She raised her right hand, palm facing Deacon.

  “Get ready,” I whispered. Something was about to go down.

  Tegan flexed her fingers, and Deacon lifted five feet in the air. She raised her hand, and he flew up even higher. He flailed his arms and legs, but he just hung there.

  Tegan shook her head and then I heard her voice in my mind say, Silly Devil, your tricks don’t work on me now.

  Emersyn gasped. Several people behind me cursed. Tegan had said that to all of us, because she wanted us to know what he’d failed to do. She wanted us to know she’d won.

  Except this was far from over.

  “GO!” I shouted without taking my eyes off Deacon.

  Everyone charged into the courtyard, running full speed with weapons drawn. Tegan spotted them in an instant. She flicked her arm to her right, and Deacon flew through the air. Red lightning shot out around him, like he was trying anything he could to break his fall, but it was no use. He shot like a comet across the sky.

  My Coven-mates had told me to stay hidden, but I couldn’t just let him fall. I didn’t have time to catch him in the air, so I summoned the water in the fountain’s pool to raise up and cushion his impact.

  “Deacon!” Emersyn screamed.

  Henley threw her hands up over her head and screamed something in a language that had to be demonic. The demons surged forward, racing right toward my friends.

  My stomach tightened into knots. It took everything in me not to rush to their aid. But I had to try their plan. I had to.

  Tegan narrowed her eyes and scanned each of our Coven-mates.

  She’s looking for me.

  To my surprise, it was Emersyn at the front of the line. She ran straight for her sister. A spider demon jumped in front of her, but Em threw a ball of fire right in its face. The demon shrieked and burst into flames. Larissa stepped up behind her and swung her dagger right through its stomach, turning the monster to ash. Emersyn didn’t even break stride. Tegan watched with an amused smirk on her face, but when Em finally got up to her, she turned to water and reappeared on the opposite side of the courtyard.

  My jaw dropped. So I hadn’t imagined that at the beach. “How does she do that?”

  Easton barreled toward her, covered head to toe in his metal armor with his sword raised in the air. Lily and Larissa were right behind him, shooting their magic at my soulmate.

  My heart skipped a beat. Maybe several. I didn’t know who to root for. I wanted us to win, but I didn’t want her hurt. Except Tegan’s magic intercepted each attack before it got anywhere near her. Her magic swirled around her like a protective forcefield.

  Larissa fired her lightning, but rainbow mist shot it down to the ground. The cement rumbled and cracked. Lily raised her palms, and pure, blinding sunlight aimed right at Tegan’s eyes. A bright orange ball of flame appeared out of nowhere and sucked in Lily’s sunshine.

  Tegan was barely even paying attention. Her gaze was searching the courtyard. It was her magic protecting her, almost like it was acting on its own volition. The idea made my skin crawl with fear. Though I wasn’t sure who I was afraid for—her or us.

  I glanced over to the fountain to see if Deacon had gotten up and found him fighting a horde of spider demons with Emersyn by his side. A little way over, Cooper, Braison, and Paulina trapped demons between them as they sliced them into extinction one by one. Willow and Chutney stood back to back, zapping demons out of the sky with their lightning.

  Where’s Royce?

  I scanned the chaos until I spotted him in a face-off with Henley. I gasped. Henley blasted Royce in the chest with white lightning. He rolled away then scrambled to his feet. He raised his dagger in the air and charged at his sister. But as he brought his weapon down in a perfect arc, Tegan appeared out of thin air right in front of him. She met his dagger with hers. Sparks flew when the blades touched. Tegan flicked her free hand, and Royce flew backwards. He slammed into Easton, and they tumbled to the ground in a tangled ball. Lily screamed and charged at her, but Tegan vanished in a puff of smoke. Lily crashed right into a spider demon.

  Damn it. This isn’t working! I bounced on the balls of my feet, ready to move. Tegan may have been wondering where I was, but she wasn’t distracted. I knew she wouldn’t be. She was too smart for that trick. They underestimated her. I didn’t. I wouldn’t. Every time someone got near her, she turned to water and relocated. I had no idea when or how she’d learned to teleport, but I did know there was no way to compete against a target that wasn’t fully tangible.

  Demons popped up out of nowhere in an endless stream. If my gang only focused on Tegan, they’d be overcome within minutes. I couldn’t let my friends get hurt for a failing plan. I plucked my dagger out of my left boot and tightened my other hand on my sword, then charged into the battle. I was halfway into the courtyard in the blink of an eye.

  Finally, Tegan said into my mind with a chuckle.

  Henley screamed again, and an army of demons surged forward.

  My magic sang with anticipation. My body tingled with energy. I shut my brain off and let my instincts take over. I spun and ducked, slicing my weapons in a whirlwind of metal and pain. Demons shrieked as I sent them back to the hell they came from.

  “Together!” I screamed to my friends.

  We had to regroup, to fight as a whole. Spread out, we had no offense and far too many holes in our defense. My team reacted instantly, understanding my command. They raced over to where I was and fell in behind me. There still had to be a dozen or more demons gunning right for us. Henley stood over to our left, cackling and ordering the demons to attack. Tegan was in front of us but way in the back, just watching—and it made me nervous.

  “With me!” I dropped to one knee and thrust my palm out in front of me. My magic shot out in green lightning bolts. “NOW!”

  They listened without hesitation, shooting their own brand of power alongside mine. Together, we blasted demons to dust. Within seconds we annihilated everything non-human in sight. Henley screamed at the top of her lungs, her cheeks flushed and her hands in fists at her sides. Three more demons popped up behind her. That was when I realized what was going on. The shadow demon inside Henley had opened some kind of portal to its own dimension and was channeling them into our realm.

  I cursed. Without taking out Henley, we’d never close that portal. But if that portal stayed open more than a few minutes, it would burn a hole in the dimension wall and become a permanent Gap—just like the one on the fairy fountain. We had to stop her.

  “Guys, we have to aim for Henley,” I whispered over my shoulder.

  “What?” Royce cried. “We are NOT killing her! We don’t know she’s lost yet!”

  I shook my head. “We’re aiming to disarm, not kill. If we knock her out, she won’t be able to bring more demons through.”

  “And if she’s still alive, the portal will close itself immediately.” Cooper moved to stand beside me. “Ready when you are, boss.”

  I really hated when they called me that, but damn, it felt nice to hear Cooper treat me like he used to.

  Tegan frowned and glanced back and forth between us and Henley. She was onto us. We had to act fast. I slamm
ed my hand onto the cement ground and pushed with my magic. The earth rumbled and shook like an earthquake. Henley gasped and wobbled on her feet. She swayed and dropped down to her knees.

  Tegan threw her hand in the air. Lightning shot out of the clouds and struck the ground. Thick, dark clouds swirled over our heads. Thunder rolled and cracked. Wind slammed into us so hard we stumbled back a few steps. I pushed against her wind with my own, but it wasn’t a game we could keep up. Tornados dropped out of the sky in between us and Henley. They tore through the courtyard.

  “Give me your magic. We have to hit Henley!” I shouted over the roar of the winds. “Now!”

  Ten hands landed on my back. Their energy tingled through my body like I’d been plugged into an electrical socket. I clenched my teeth and channeled all of their magic into mine, then shot it across the courtyard at Henley.

  Then everything happened in slow motion.

  There was a swirl of water bubbles in the air, and then Tegan appeared, blocking our shot. She clasped her fingers together and summoned our magic into her hands. There was a flash of light as the energy fused together in a ball of magic the size of my head. It barely grazed her skin before she pushed it off into Fantasy Forest beside her.

  My gaze followed the arc of the magic bomb as it soared between the trees. There was a flash of bright fiery red hair, then an ear-splitting scream that would haunt my nightmares forever.

  “SAFFIE!”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Tennessee

  “Saffie!” I gasped and sank to both knees. No! No, no, no. How could I be so reckless?

  Tegan’s eyes widened, and for a moment, I saw a glimmer of the girl I thought I knew. But then she smiled, and a piece of my heart broke. The girl I loved just blasted an innocent person with an insane amount of magic, and she smiled about it.

  Henley jumped up and grabbed Tegan by the elbow. They vanished faster than the blink of an eye.

  “NO!” Cooper cursed and slammed his fists into the cement.

  Saffie. I jumped to my feet and sprinted across the courtyard with my heart in my throat. Please be okay. Please. My Coven-mates’ footsteps echoed against the pavement behind me. I ran straight to the spot I’d seen Saffie appear in, the place where Tegan had aimed that mega ball of magic. I stepped off the cement and slid between two trees. The dirt was dense under my weight as I walked into the manmade forest.

  My friends sprinted ahead of me, disappearing into the darkness of the forest and calling out her name over and over. Lily ran by with pure sunshine pouring from her outstretched palms. The forest around us was drenched in light like it was morning.

  There were no lights among the trees, and the sliver of moon hanging in the sky only lit up the tops of the branches. I stopped next to the base of a tree and crouched down. The rough bark under my fingertips reminded me of similar, but entirely different, moments like this. I’d been in this very spot many times fighting demons and guarding the Gap.

  I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I had to stay focused. I raised my sword and willed my magic to shine through it, illuminating the blade. Light radiated out of it in a helpful three-foot radius. Normally I didn’t need my eyes. I could use my other senses to guide me. But I was a jumbled mess inside, and nothing seemed to be working correctly. Tegan had dropped a bomb inside me, then ran away before it had time to blow.

  Saffie was nowhere in sight. A gust of wind whipped through the trees and blew my hair out of my face. The air was crisp and cool, like autumn was trying to push summer out of the way. I pressed my palm into the dirt, hoping the earth would speak to me, and found it damp. Yet there hadn’t been any rain. I frowned and raised my sword over the spot. The dirt shimmered like golden glitter under the light from my sword. I ran my finger through it then brought it to my nose and sniffed. It smelled like wildflowers in full bloom. Saffie. My stomach turned.

  Light flickered in my peripheral vision. When I looked, I found Emersyn holding a flame in her palm like a torch. Her eyes were wide and burning with pain that echoed my own.

  “Is that her blood?” she asked.

  I swallowed. “I think so. SAFFIE?” I yelled out.

  The silence was deafening.

  “Oh my Goddess!” Chutney screamed from within the darkness. “OVER HERE!”

  I leapt into a dead sprint, racing toward the sound of Chutney’s voice. Emersyn’s ragged breathing wasn’t far behind. The heat from her fire tickled the back of my neck. Lily’s sunlight lit up Chutney’s back, her brown hair like chocolate.

  I ran to her side then slid to a stop. In the small circle of Lily’s sunshine, it looked like midday. The greens of the bushes and leaves thrived in color. I saw the deep red of Emersyn’s wound. I saw the grimy demon blood stains on Deacon’s white jeans, and the dents in Easton’s armor. I saw the vibrant color in each of my friends’ eyes. I saw the squirrels sitting in the massive tree a few feet in front of us.

  But I didn’t see Saffie anywhere.

  “Chutney, I thought you saw her?” Deacon asked the question I’d been thinking.

  She shook her head, and her ringlets bounced around her shoulders. “No, but the animals led me to here.”

  Deacon scratched his head and spun in a circle, eyeing the forest around us. “But why?”

  Twigs cracked from behind the big tree, and the squirrels scurried down the branches. Wings fluttered softly, and then a thin, pale figure stepped out from behind the tree. “Because they’re my friends, too.”

  I gasped and dropped my sword. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, even though it was right in front of me. “Saffie?”

  “Oh…my…Goddess…” Lily whispered and stepped forward. She raised her hands and pushed more light into the forest.

  “H-how?” Cooper stuttered and leaned against a tree for support. “I don’t— How?”

  Our little fairy friend who had always been about two feet tall now stood taller than Chutney. She was no longer little at all. She had to be at least five and a half feet tall. Saffie moved forward until she stood in the middle of all of us. She still had that fiery red hair that flowed down to her hips and had flowers braided into it. She still had light pink translucent wings flapping behind her back. She still had big lavender eyes that actually made her look related to Deacon.

  She looked the same…just human sized. Actually, if not for the wings and pointed ears, she would pass as a human.

  “Saffie…are you all right?”

  “All right?” She turned to face me, and her smile was wide. “I am BIG again!”

  “Again?” Emersyn frowned. “You used to be this size?”

  Saffie nodded and looked down at her legs with a grin. “I am part human, like you, Empress. This was how big I was when…when I was…cursed.” She closed her eyes and shook her head.

  Cursed. I knew that was what she was going to say, but hearing it still hurt. I wanted to know about her past now more than ever. However, I knew this wasn’t the setting for that.

  I cleared my throat. “But are you hurt? Are you in pain?”

  She pursed her lips like she was thinking, then she shook her head and smiled. “Nope. Nope. Nope. I feel great!”

  “Hey, not to be rude here…” Easton shifted his weight around. “But can we take Saffie home with us and finish this conversation later?”

  Saffie’s face lit up. “You would let me come with you?”

  Emersyn frowned. “Of course we would. We’re your friends.”

  “Friends…” Saffie’s big lavender eyes filled with tears, and her lip trembled. She looked up at me, and there was pain behind her gaze. She opened her mouth then closed it.

  That was when it hit me. A piece of information I’d never really took the time to process or inspect. The question I’d never asked. I’d always assumed she stayed in the theme park by choice, but the look in her eyes told me there was more to the story.

  “Saffie…can…can you leave Hidden Kingdom?” I
asked.

  She bit her lip and looked around the group before returning her eyes to me. With a heavy sigh, she shook her head. “I am bound here, trapped by twisted magic I cannot break. Being little…being here…a curse.”

  My heart sank. “How long have you been trapped here?”

  “Three hundred years.” She peeked up at me with an odd expression and a little smirk. “I think it was worth it. I’ll find out soon enough.”

  Oh my God. I ran my hand through my hair and tried to process that. The theme park was definitely not that old. Hell, most things in Florida weren’t that old. And I had no idea what the other part was about. I had so many questions, but only one mattered at the moment.

  “Maybe you should try to leave now?” I asked. “Since you’re not little anymore—”

  “I tried,” Saffie said with a little voice. “As soon as I became big again, I tried to fly out…but I couldn’t. The curse is not gone. I can still feel it.”

  “We should tell Keltie.” Emersyn spun toward me with sparkling golden eyes. “Or Leyka?”

  “No. No, you can’t. Not yet.”

  “Why not?” Cooper asked.

  “Because by the First Quarter Moon’s last striking hour, mend the pieces to reclaim the power!” Her wings fluttered, and she lifted off the ground. “You only have three days left.”

  “Yeah, but Saffie, you—” Emersyn started.

  “I have lived here for three hundred years,” Saffie cut in. She winked one lavender eye. “You will understand very soon.”

  I cursed. The fact that she knew of our prophecy didn’t at all surprise me. I got the feeling our fairy friend knew a whole lot more than we realized. Living over three centuries would do that.

  “She’s right,” I said. “We have to focus on this prophecy, but after, we’re going to fix your curse. Okay, Saffie?”

  “I will try not to hope too hard,” she whispered.

  “Hope is not lost,” I whispered back. “Now…I think it’s way beyond time to bring you to our Lookout Tower. You’ll be safe there until we can free you of this place.”