As the whispered their promises and tears fell from their eyes, I casually searched the guests for Aiden. Skimming over the heads, I finally found him in the middle, watching me.
Sharply inhaling, I almost lost my balance when he winked at me. Those eyes, so deep and blue as the ocean, tore through me and opened me up, leaving me raw and exposed. Dragging my eyes from his, I took a few breaths to calm myself and Juniper gave me a look telling me I wasn’t being as subtle as I thought. Composing myself, I redirected my attention to the ceremony.
Scott finished his vows and placed the ring on Liv’s finger. They smiled and held hands the rest of the time, turning to Grandma to finish up. She closed it up, pronouncing them husband and wife.
Scott grabbed her around the waist, yanking her to him as he lifted her veil. She giggled loudly, then he dipped her as he kissed her in a way no sister should have to witness.
Everyone cheered as they continued to kiss for what I guessed was longer than they should have. The parents all dried their eyes and Grandma patted hers. When they finally parted, they turned and held their conjoined hands out for everyone to see.
More cheering, followed by screaming.
There in the back, behind all the guests, was the water fae from Charleston. She had friends this time, all decked out and throwing magic and abilities around like it was nothing.
I dashed from my spot, dropping my flowers along the way. Forgetting about who was watching or what they would see. These idiots were ruining my brother’s wedding and I wasn’t about to let them get away with that.
Stopping in the middle of the aisle, I hiked my dress up my thigh and grabbed my dagger. Gripping it in my hand, I angrily assessed the situation.
“You brought a dagger to my wedding?” Liv screeched beside me. I hadn’t even heard her come up.
“You better be glad for it,” I said curtly as I slashed the stomach of an incoming being. All held a mixture of auras, blurring together and making it hard to tell who was what.
All the guests froze, so I knew someone cast a spell on them, but I couldn’t stop long enough to know who. I headed for the water fae, still pissed she got away last time.
“Sadie Tabors,” she taunted. “Oh, Sadie Tabors!” She kept a bubble of water protecting her, flowing strongly enough no magic could penetrate.
Stopping feet from her, I felt the water drops splashing my bare legs. “Don’t hide behind your water magic. Come out and fight.”
She laughed and drenched me to the bone. Kicking my shoes off, I held my hands up and forced my power to her. It deflected, as I thought it would, but hope wasn’t completely lost. I allowed it to wrap around the water, securing the bubble in magic completely. It began to fill with water until she stopped her power and glared at me.
“Are you trying to drown me?”
I shrugged, leaving her there and rushing to help my family. Grandma was fighting off an unbound who clearly had shifting abilities, because he changed every time she got close to him. Sending a wave of power with a snap of my wrist, I froze him in place while she took care of him.
Scott and Liv fought a vampire mixture. Liv obviously gained some new powers since I saw her last, as she sped around as fast as any vampire I’d ever known. She quickly came up behind him, using her powers and her strength to disarm him, literally, and threw it across the yard with his weapon. He howled in pain, his eyes turning blood red in anger. Running toward him, I stabbed him in the heart with my dagger, severing his life force.
“How?” Scott asked. “That’s just a dagger.”
“It’s infused!” I called, as I searched the yard for more intruders. Juniper and Mark stood over the remains of two women, while Grandma held her arms out, ready to fight anyone else who showed up.
“I think they’re all gone,” I yelled. “Except this one we need to talk to.”
We all gathered in front of the water fae as she growled and snarled at me. I shook my head as I laughed.
“You’re pathetic. Who are you working for? Is it Bram?”
Her eyes widened when she heard his name, telling me everything I needed to know.
“What does he want from me?” I questioned.
She was silent. I tapped my fingers on the bubble, sending sparks of magic inside and shocking her. She screamed in pain.
“Answer me!” I demanded.
She didn’t respond, so I continued my attack. She eventually fell to her knees, holding her hand up to stop me. “He…wants…you…to…join…him,” she said through clenched teeth and uneven breaths.
My head snapped to lock gazes with Grandma and she nodded. She was right. Yet, again.
“I’m going to let you go,” I said. The fae glanced up stunned at my words. “I want you to give Bram a little message.” Crouching to eye level, I gave her my most menacing look. “Tell him if he wants me to stop sending his minions and come after me himself.”
Poking the magic, I freed her and she was gone in seconds. Turning to my family, I saw them all gawking at me. “What?” I asked.
“You tortured her!” my mother cried from somewhere behind everyone. She wasn’t magical, so she’d been hidden during the fight.
“I needed answers,” I shrugged. “We have to get this cleaned up and get these people out of here.” Taking Liv and Scott’s hands, I apologized. “I didn’t know they would find me here. I’m so sorry.”
“You didn’t tell us you were in danger,” Scott chided. “Why not?”
Grandma spoke up as she shook her fists and began cleaning up the mess we’d made. “I didn’t want to worry anyone. It was I who told Sadie of Bram,” she said. With a flutter of her hand the beings began disintegrating into the ground.
“Who is Bram?” Juniper asked.
“We’ll discuss it later,” Grandma answered. “We must finish up the reception.”
“We need to cloak this place,” I said. “Liv, Scott, and Mark. I’m going to need all of you. The stronger, the better.”
We joined hands, all dropping our heads to our chests and releasing our spells simultaneously. The power surged from us, creating a swirl in the middle of our circle then extending up and out. We covered the whole area, locking the protection around us. They’d already found us, but with this safeguard, we’d be untraceable if they returned.
We released our grips, and Grandma came to us. “Your father is casting to wake them. Everyone needs to go back to where they were,” she instructed. “Sadie, dry yourself.”
“I’ll help!” Elsie called, zipping over. Using her fae magic, she created a vacuum tornado around me. Warm air swirled over me, taking the water with it as it dried me completely. Smoothing my hair the best I could, I nodded I was ready. We hurried to the front and at once everyone was back to normal, seemingly in the dark of what happened. Everyone clapped and cheered for Scott and Liv. Once they made their way to the reception, the rest of us started our trek from the altar.
Once I was halfway down the way, I realized the grass was cool on my feet. My shoes were gone. Keeping my face as straight as I could, my eyes surveyed the area where I kicked them but they were gone. Once I was past the guests, I saw Aiden standing to the side of the house, one shoe dangling from his finger as he squinted his eyes at me.
###
The reception followed, though no one was really into it anymore. Olivia and Scott’s special day was ruined because some crazy, resurrected sorcerer wanted me to be on his team. To help out with the reception, I joined Elsie behind the tables as we kept things filled and cleared. It didn’t last long, an hour or two at most, and I thought I was fine as far as Aiden was concerned.
I was wrong.
A throat cleared from behind me as I stood with my back to the crowd, chatting with Elsie. Bouncing around, I stopped when I saw Aiden on the other side of the table.
“Sadie,” he said, holding up both shoes. “Did you lose something?”
Looking down, I sounded surprised when I gazed back up at him. “My shoes! How di
d you get them?”
He chuckled. “Come with me?”
Biting my lip, I gave Elsie a worried glimpse before nodding. “Sure.”
Making my way around and over to him, I smiled awkwardly. “Where we going?”
“This way,” he said. He led me outside, where a few people sat and chatted, but mostly it was empty. He handed over the shoes and I slipped them on.
“How did your shoes get over by the house when you were up there with the wedding party?” he quizzed.
“I kicked them off, didn’t you see?” I asked. I hoped he saw through my lies and asked more questions.
Please remember, Aiden.
“No, you didn’t,” he said, shaking his head. “I was watching you.”
“You were watching me?” I inquired. Hope soared in me, my heart fluttering in response.
“I,” he said shyly. “Yeah.”
Smiling, I lowered my head.
“You look really pretty,” he whispered. “Why did you kiss me?”
Peering into his eyes, I lost my ability to breathe. And speak.
“Sadie?” he asked after I failed to answer.
“Oh,” I said, shaking myself out of my Aiden trance. “I…don’t know,” I lied. “You reminded me of someone.”
He grinned. “Will I remind you of him again?” he said flirtatiously.
“Maybe,” I flirted back.
“Sadie!” Juniper called from the doorway. “Bouquet toss!”
“I don’t want it,” I called back.
Aiden took my hand, his touch thrilling me. “I won’t forget the shoes, Sadie, but if you want to keep your secrets, I’ll play along. For now.” He pulled it to his lips and left a lingering kiss on my fingers. Dropping it, he strolled inside while I watched him, fighting to make my lungs work properly.
“Sadie!” Juniper was running toward me. “What happened?”
“I forgot my damned shoes and Aiden found them,” I hissed. “I didn’t say anything, but didn’t deny, either.”
“Do you think he remembers anything?” she asked, directing her eyes back to the reception inside.
I shook my head. “No, not yet.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I know this has to be hard. I don’t know what I’d do if Mark didn’t know who I was.”
“It sucks,” I conceded. “A lot.
“I guess so!” she exclaimed. “He’s going to be staying at Anna’s house with you.”
“For how long?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.
“The boys talked him into staying for a month,” she said cautiously.
“I’m only staying another week or so,” I lied. I couldn’t knowingly leave here with Aiden not remembering me.
“Sadie,” Santos called, pulling me from my freak out.
Looking to him, I noticed a tall man standing with him, their hands interlocked. Must be Jackson.
“Santos,” I said, holding up a finger to signal it’d be a second. Directing my attention back to Juniper, I said, “We’ll talk later.”
She nodded and waltzed back inside. Strolling over to Santos, I smiled brightly.
“Sis, this is Jackson,” he introduced.
Jackson held out his hand. Taking it, I said, “Nice to meet you, Jackson. I’ve heard about you.”
“And I you,” he chuckled. “Santos was always raving about this extremely magical sister he had, but she never came. I was beginning to think he imagined you.” He bumped into Santos to let him know he was kidding, and they stared at each other adoringly.
“I’m real,” I laughed. “I was away for a bit.”
“I’m really glad to finally get to meet you.” He grinned. “Santos means a lot to me.”
“I can tell and I’m happy for you both.”
They grinned at me. Santos leaned in so only we could hear him. “Did I see Aiden with your shoes?”
Closing my eyes, I threw my head back and groaned. “Yes!”
Jackson raised a brow in confusion.
“I kicked them off when I was chasing that water fae and forgot. He knows something was up,” I explained. Since Jackson wasn’t asking questions, I assumed Santos filled him on everything.
“Do you think…?” Santos asked.
I shook my head, anticipating his question. “He didn’t seem to.”
“I saw him kiss your hand,” he pointed out, grinning mischievously.
Heat crept up my face and I cursed myself for allowing Aiden to make me blush with just a mention of him. “Yeah.”
“She’s blushing,” Jackson giggled. “She must really like him.”
“Oh, you have no idea,” Santos started. “She was fifteen when they first met, and you should have seen them tiptoeing around each other. They had it so bad.”
Growling, I stepped closer. “Shut up.”
They laughed loudly and Jackson said, “She’s a feisty one.”
Santos rolled his eyes. “You have no idea.”
Furrowing my brow, I glared at him.
“We should go finish this up so we can talk about our new problem,” Santos sighed. He gave me a stern, older brother look. “You should have told me.”
“Why?”
“Because,” he said. “You’re my baby sister. I could have protected you.”
I snorted. “Protected me? I can take care of myself.”
“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should,” he said softly. “I know you’re stubborn and are stronger than any of us, but sometimes it’s nice to have someone have your back. We have your back, Sadie.”
Swallowing hard, I nodded. “I know.”
“Aiden is staying at Grandma’s with me. Are you coming there or staying here?”
“I’m not staying here,” I briskly replied. “Dad’s mad.”
“He missed you.”
I shifted my weight and picked at the invisible lint on my dress. “I know, but I don’t owe anyone any explanation. I’m an adult.”
“You are,” he agreed. “He doesn’t mean it maliciously.”
I didn’t reply. As a few cars started up, I lifted my head. “Is it over?”
“I think it’s getting there. Let’s go in,” Santos suggested.
We all trekked in together. I came in last, taking my time in hopes I wouldn’t have to encounter small talk with anyone. The few remaining guests were chatting with the bride and groom, wishing them well and giving advice they probably didn’t want. Hanging back in the kitchen, I hopped up on the counter and signaled Elsie.
“You could help me clean,” she scolded.
With a smirk, I said, “I will when they all leave.”
She understood what I meant and hopped up beside me. “So, who were those people?”
I shook my head. “I wish I knew.”
“Some were unbound.”
“Yeah, it worries me,” I admitted.
“I’ve never heard of a Bram,” she pondered.
“He’s been dead,” I hissed. “Some dark sorcerers resurrected him.”
Her eyes grew large. “Holy shit.”
“Indeed,” I nodded. “Grandma doesn’t even know much about him.”
“This should be fun,” she remarked sarcastically.
“Loads.”
Once everyone was gone except for Aiden, who was assisting Mark with something outside, I squinted my eyes and kicked my leg, sending powerful energy around the room to clean it spotless. “All done!”
Elsie giggled and thanked me before hopping down and going to find Kyle.
“How’d you do that?” he said from behind me.
I turned to see Aiden standing in the open door.
“Umm…do what?” I asked.
“Clean everything in here before we got finished,” he marveled. “You got finished quicker!”
“I’m good at cleaning,” I lamely replied. Jumping from the counter, I smoothed my dress. “Do you need help out there?”
He shook his head. “Mark is taking a few things to his car and we�
��re finished.”
“Cool.” Why was I being so incredibly awkward around him? It was like I was fifteen again.
Scornful Sadie (Dark Sorceress Trilogy Book 1) Page 7
