His taste lingered. I couldn’t get caught up in Aiden drama, though. Tessi and Mel were in danger. Dressing quickly and tossing my dark hair into a ponytail, I unzipped my bags and began pulling out my weapons.
Locking the belt around my waist, I began filling it with potions and charms, my stake, and an extra dagger. I put my favorite in the top of my boot and was ready to go.
“What are you doing?” Santos said from my door.
“Gotta go to Charleston for a few.”
“With full on battle gear?” he chuckled. “What’s going on?”
“She had a visit with some water lady this morning,” Aiden said. “Who randomly appeared in her bedroom.”
“What were you doing in her bedroom?” Santos accused.
How did I forget he was here when magic happened and didn’t freak? “Listen, no time for that. Aiden, there’s a lot to tell you, and we will eventually, but right now I have to go get Tessi and Mel. Santos, we didn’t protect this house like Mom’s and she got in. Told me Bram was going after my friends in Charleston, so I have to stop it.”
“Then let’s go.”
“You’re not coming with me,” I declared.
“Yes, I am,” he asserted.
“How are you getting to Charleston in one day? You can’t get there before whatever water chick was talking about happens. And how did she make that water sound when she came in?” Aiden asked.
Pressing my finger to his lips, I shook my head. “No time. Anything you see will be explained. Wait for me.”
I lifted my hand as I prepared to transport to my old apartment, and at the last second, Santos grabbed onto my jacket and came with me. We landed just outside the apartment and once I regained balance, I hit him hard in the chest. “What are you doing?!”
“You’re not doing this alone,” he said. “Let’s go.”
Handing him my extra dagger, I rolled my eyes in frustration. “Here. Stay behind me.”
The door was open. Not a good sign. Kicking it the rest of the way open, I called for my friends.
No answer.
Cautiously, I stepped in and scanned the area. No one was around, but the place was a wreck. The couch was overturned, pillows strewn all over the room. The few pictures on the wall hung sideways, and the vase from the table was smashed to pieces. The TV was blown up, parts lying in various parts of the living room and kitchen.
I headed to the workroom, looking in every direction every few steps for any surprise attacks. Opening the door, I gasped upon seeing Tessi sprawled in the floor, blonde hair matted with blood.
“Tessi!” I cried. I dropped to my knees, found her pulse, and sighed. At least she wasn’t dead. I rolled her over slowly, seeing a nasty cut on her face to go with the bleeding bash. “Santos,” I hissed. “You have to take her to Grandma to heal her. I have to find Mel.”
“Will you be ok?” he whispered.
I nodded. “Careful,” I instructed when he lifted her in his arms. He was gone in an instant and I assessed this room. No Mel, but all our research was gone. The map was missing and our computer holding the files on all the fights was gone.
Had Tessi hidden them when she heard the intruders, or had they stolen them?
I heard grunting from one of the bedrooms and I tiptoed from the room. It had to be Mel. I snuck my way to her door, listening carefully. Another grunt, followed by a painful groan.
Kicking the door in, I sent my magic in and froze everyone present. Mel was being beaten by two huge men with white auras. Were all the rogue unbound working with Bram?
Touching her, I unfroze her and grabbed her hand. “Come, Mel. We have to get out of here!”
“Sadie?” she asked. She grabbed her stomach as she tried to get up. She finally stood, wrapping her arm around my shoulders for help. “They’re coming out of it.”
“You ready?” I asked.
She nodded.
I gave them one last glance, imagining them both bursting into flames, and popped out, the smell of smoke fresh in my nose.
###
Sending waves of magic out, I felt for Santos and followed his path. We landed in Grandma’s kitchen, where Tessi was laid out on the table with Grandma hovering over her. I clutched Mel as she started to fall. Helping her to the floor, I cradled her head as I told her to lie down.
Santos rushed to me. “Is she ok?”
“Internal injuries,” I said and winced. Placing both hands on her stomach, I closed my eyes and sent my healing energies through my palms. Heat rushed through me, warming me all over as it swirled and healed her body.
Mel moaned and cried out beneath my touch. “Stop! Let me die!” she screamed. She began thrashing about, eager to get away from me.
Santos straddled her body, holding her arms down at the wrist. “Hurry, Sadie,” he said through clenched teeth.
“I’m trying,” I hissed back. “It’s hard to do when she won’t stop moving.”
He held her stronger. I kept on, focusing on healing what was done. The damage was more extensive than I imagined and I found myself growing weak.
“Grandma,” I called. “Is Tessi healed?”
“Yes,” she said as she crouched beside me. “I took her to the spare room. She won’t wake for a few hours after that nasty head injury. Let me help you.”
She sat next to Mel, placing her hands on either side of mine. Our energies combined, the force causing Mel to shriek in horror moments before passing out. I cried for my friend, knowing the pain I was creating within her as I mended her broken body. We continued to work, healing her spleen, her intestines. The unbound beings hadn’t been easy on her, their blows bursting blood vessels and rupturing her pancreas. We spent a good thirty minutes healing her, my power slowly depleting any energy I had. I focused my strength, determined to not collapse before she was better.
“Sadie, I can finish this. She’s almost healed,” Grandma said.
I fell back into strong arms, unable to hold myself up any longer.
“I’ve got you,” he cooed in my ear.
Aiden. I snuggled into him as he wrapped his arms under my legs and around my body, lifting me and carrying me to my room. Using too much power in a short amount of time was exhausting to a sorcerer, and between the traveling and the flames, then the healing, I’d run myself ragged. Aiden carried me easily, his strong arms securing me tightly against him.
He smelled like woods and oranges, the mixture taking me back to the first time I got lost in his scent. The way his bright blue eyes created a flurry of butterflies, the feel of his chest under my fingertips, the way I’d run after he leaned in to kiss me.
“I’m sorry I ran away,” I murmured.
“What?” he asked, kicking my door open. He took me to the bed, laying me out and peeling my boots off. He unhooked my weapon belt, laying it all on the table beside me. “When did you run away?”
Peeling my eyes open, I stared at him. “The kitchen. You’re so beautiful.” I closed them again, the movement too much for my depleted body. I felt his fingers on my cheek, smoothing my hair from my face.
“It’s ok,” he said. “That was a long time ago.”
Groaning, I stirred in an attempt to move. “Do you remember?”
He lay beside me, his long body stretched out inches from mine. He snaked his arm around me, stilling my movement. “Sadie, yes. I remember the night we ran into each other in the kitchen and you ran your fingers over my chest. You looked so gorgeous that night with your flowing hair and large, brown eyes. So innocent, so sexy, and so very Sadie. I remember it.” His voice grew a little more husky with each word he spoke. His voice flowed over me, calming me and making my heart soar. “I don’t know why I only recall bits and pieces, but I know there’s so much more to us. Sadie, I’m here. Rest.”
Curling up, I rested my face under his chin and locked my fingers with his. “Aiden,” I sighed.
Ever so gently, he kissed the top of my head, one hand running through my hair softly. The action
relaxed me enough to let my guard down and allow my energy to recharge. Sleep was the only way this would happen, and doing so without my dagger would normally make me nervous, but in Aiden’s arms, I felt perfectly safe. He held me as I drifted to sleep. His words raced through my mind.
He was remembering.
Aiden was remembering me.
I woke with a startle when Aiden moved away from me and off the bed. Reaching for my knife, I panicked when it wasn’t there. Sitting straight up, I searched the room for lurking danger and only relaxed when Aiden spoke.
“Sadie?” he said, resting a knee on the bed and leaning toward me. “Are you ok?’
I nodded. “Yeah. I’ve woken up in some bad situations. Freaked me out that I didn’t have my knife.”
He nodded in the direction beside me. “It’s on the table.”
Looking at it to reassure myself I was safe, I turned back and smiled. “Thanks, Aiden.”
He stood and grinned. “You’re so beautiful when you just wake up. Do you feel better?”
His compliments made me blush, the heat rising and covering my cheeks. Knowing he saw it caused more embarrassment and a never-ending cycle of blushing.
Pathetic.
“I feel a lot better,” I said. Jumping to my feet, I stuck my dagger in my back pocket and stretched my arms above my head. “I need to go check on Tessi and Mel.”
“Your friends?”
“Mmmhmm,” I replied.
“You healed her, right?” he asked. He stretched, too, his arms bulging in places I didn’t remember them doing so before. His shirt rose, showing the flat, smooth skin on his lower abdomen.
Abdomen. Remembering. Aiden was remembering! The conversation we held moments before I slipped into oblivion was coming back to me. He lowered his arms, looking at me expectantly.
“Aiden, you remembered the kitchen incident!” I squealed.
“Ok,” he said, obviously confused, but went with it. “Yeah, I told you that.”
“Do you remember anything else?”
He shook his head. “No, but the more I’m with you, the more my mind wants to remember. You’re so familiar…a memory etched so deeply within me that it consumes my heart. Your smell takes me back, brings me happiness, but I don’t know why. Vanilla icing has made me smile this stupid, goofy grin for years, and it’s because of you. I didn’t know until I got a whiff of you. Your touch is like a long, lost caress I didn’t know I missed so much. When you kissed me…I’d never felt my heart beat so fast. My stomach never felt so upset and so excited at the same time. Your voice is like my favorite song, stroking the memories I know are there but won’t reveal themselves. Sadie…I know you, but I don’t.”
Walking slowly to him, I allowed his sweet words to wash over me. Resting my hand on his cheek, I smiled softly. “Aiden, you do know me. And everything will come back in time. Keep doing what you’re doing.”
He nodded in my hand, his facial hair tickling my palm. He was an older version of himself, and like a fine wine, only got better. He was more attractive as a man than as a teenager, and he’d sent my heart into a flurry of flutters back then. Now? Yeah, I thought it was probably going to stop all together out of overuse.
“What were you asking me again?” I chuckled.
“You healed that girl. She was dying and you fixed her.”
“That’s not a question.”
He raised a brow and cocked his head.
“Ok,” I said. Taking my hand from him because I couldn’t think straight with his nearness, I balanced on the bed frame. “Yeah, I healed her. It’s one of my powers.”
“See? I should be freaked out by that, but I’m not.”
I giggled. “It’s probably a good thing. You’re going to remember me doing much more than that.”
“Soon, I hope,” he whispered.
I took his hand, squeezed it, and reassured him he would. For his sake, and mine, I hoped I was right. “Let’s go check on everyone.”
He followed me out of the room. I hurried across the hall to where Tessi rested and found the room empty. I tried the next door and found Mel sitting up, looking around in confusion.
“Sadie!” she yelled. She stood gingerly, her strength not yet renewed. “What happened?
“I saved your ass,” I joked. “We have a lot to talk about. Let’s find Tessi and I’ll introduce you to everyone.”
She nodded and we all started down the hall. I found Tessi in the kitchen, talking to Grandma and sipping tea.
“Hey,” I said to announce our arrival. “Tessi?”
“OhmygodSadie!” she said all in one breath. She ran to me, throwing her arms around my neck and squeezing the life from me.
Patting her back awkwardly, I said, “I’m happy to see you, too.”
“You saved us,” she said. She reached for Mel and wrapped an arm around her. “We were going to die.”
“I got a tip.” I shrugged. “Let’s introduce you to everyone. Tessi, Mel, this is my grandma, Aiden, and my brother, Santos.” I pointed in the direction of each person. Directing my attention back to Grandma, I asked, “Where is everyone else?”
“Scott and Liv left for their honeymoon last night, Kyle and Elsie are on the trail of a rogue unbound, and Mark is on his way over,” she explained. Glancing to my friends, she smiled warmly. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Tessi’s smile fell and she stared in admiration. “You’re…Anna Tabors.” Looking to me, her mouth fell open. “Sadie Tabors.”
I nodded. Did she just make the connection? “My grandma.”
“She’s head of the council,” she hissed at me like I didn’t already know.
I nodded again.
“And a famous sorceress. No wonder you’re so good at it!”
My eyes locked with Grandma’s, and we both tried and failed to contain our laughter. Leaving my friends, I went to stand beside her. “Learned most of what I know from her.”
Tessi was still in shock or something and said nothing, only stared. I instructed them to sit at the table. “Girls, I got a warning early this morning about an attack on you from that water fae we encountered a few weeks ago.”
“Her again?” Mel groaned.
“Yep,” I said. “She also crashed my brother’s wedding with some friends.”
Grandma nodded at the empty seat and I took it, then she explained everything she knew about Bram and his resurrection. Tessi and Mel listened intently, both wide eyed with deer-in-headlights gazes. When Grandma finished, she placed a hand on my shoulder, comforting me because she knew what was coming.
“Wait…wait…wait,” Mel screeched, throwing her hands up in the air. “One: there’s possibly six original sorcerers coming back from the dead? And two: Sadie is part of a prophecy?!”
Before anyone could answer, Mark showed up looking disheveled and spastic. He glanced at my friends, doing a double take, and then backing away as he attempted to assess the situation.
“Mark, this is Melody Lynn and Tessi Andrews,” I introduced. “They’re my friends from Charleston. They were attacked early this morning.”
“Oh,” he said, visibly relaxing. “So I can talk around them?”
“Both are sorceresses,” I explained. “And we filled them in on Bram just now.”
“Good,” he said, smiling at both politely. “Anna, I had the meeting with the research team tonight.”
“And?” she questioned. Tomorrow she would head back to the council headquarters in England. In the past it moved around, but she’d insisted on protecting a compound so they didn’t have to constantly be on the run from unknown dangers. With all the power the council held, it had been stupid of them to keep moving.
“Have you heard of the Sorcerer Wars?” he asked. Each word was enunciated, dropping from his lips like poison.
She paled. “No. They weren’t real.”
He nodded. “They were. He’s wanting to bring them back. And there’s been activity in Africa. We think another resurrection is hap
pening.”
She clutched the edge of the table and sat carefully. “They’re all going to come back.”
He nodded, then shifted his eyes to me. “And the prophecy.”
Snapping my head, I locked our gazes. “Is there more?”
He grimaced. “We found…it’s a letter that Jake found in one of the books. It was tucked in there, so we don’t know how legit it is, but it’s definitely old. Old old. It said the dark sorceress would be in her early twenties with features to match her title. Meaning dark hair, dark eyes. You match all of that, Sadie.”
Scornful Sadie (Dark Sorceress Trilogy Book 1) Page 9
