Scornful Sadie (Dark Sorceress Trilogy Book 1)

by Felicia Tatum

  “Sadie,” Mel was saying. “We need to go. You don’t want to keep that hunk of man waiting.”

  “Oh, Mel,” I chuckled. “You have such a way with words.” Walking away from the gardens, I directed myself toward the sidewalk.

  “You need to get those powers moving in him. Oooh!” she squealed. “Maybe you could sex him up and it’ll open the floodgates for him to become a sorcerer.”

  Horrified, I stopped in my tracks. “What?” I spun on my heel and glared at her. “Stop.”

  “You know you want to,” she teased.

  “Want to what?” Aiden said as he hurried down the walkway.

  “Nothing,” I said quickly. “We were talking about how hungry I am.”

  He grinned, his eyes sparkling as the smile reached them. “Good. I have dinner waiting.”

  Surprised, I smiled. “Oh. Well, ok. Let’s go.”

  Mel cooed, “Oh, she’s starving, Aiden. Please take good care of her.”

  He chuckled awkwardly. “Ok.” His eyes asked the questions I knew he was mentally asking.

  I glared at her for the innuendo and took his hand. “Let’s go.”

  As fast as I could, I practically dragged Aiden from Mel. She was determined to interfere with my love life, and I wasn’t going to let her. One of my best friends or not, she wasn’t going to scare Aiden away or embarrass me.

  “What was that about?” he hissed once we got inside.

  “Nothing,” I said. “Mel likes to be silly.”

  “She seems cool, though.”

  “I love her, but don’t listen to anything she says,” I instructed him.

  He laughed and gripped my hand tighter. “You got it.” He pulled on my arm, leading me toward the stairs.

  “I thought we were eating?” I questioned. “Isn’t the kitchen that way?” I pointed behind me, but I really wasn’t sure. The tour Grandma gave was quick and I had other things on my mind.

  He glanced over his shoulder. “We’re eating in the room.”

  Dragging my feet, I climbed the first few steps slowly. “Why?”

  He dropped my hand and flung his hands around. “Why can’t you just come with me? Don’t ask questions for once and come on.”

  Confused, I furrowed my brow and took another step. “Gee, ok.”

  “Thank you,” he snapped.

  What was with him? I followed him the rest of the way to the room, my anger rising a little more with each step. Why was he mad I was asking a question? Since when did Aiden get grumpy with me? By the time we got to the door, I was steaming.

  “Listen, I dunno what the deal is, but all I wanted to know is why we were eating up here. Why did you get all snappy with me?” I said the moment he turned the knob.

  The door swung open and inside were candles. Lots and lots of candles. A small table was set up in front of the window with two plates on warmers.

  He turned, grinning shyly. “Sadie Tabors, would you please be my date for the evening?”

  I’m an asshole. “Date?” I stuttered out of my shocked mouth.

  “Date,” he repeated. “I wanted to surprise you. Tessi helped me set it up when you ran off with Mel,” he explained. “I know there’s a lot going on, and I would have asked you first, but you were gone. We haven’t had a real date, Sade. I want you to know how special you are to me, and this isn’t ideal, but it’s better than nothing.”

  Still stunned, I nodded. Stepping closer, I took his face between my palms. “It’s perfect, Aiden.” Then I stood on my tippy toes and gently brushed my lips against his.

  He guided me in and shut the door softly behind us. Waving my hand the length of it, I sealed us in. No one was going to disturb us on our first date. He pulled out my chair, something I wasn’t expecting, and sat nervously in front of me.

  “What’s wrong?” I giggled.

  He rubbed his hands together. “I dunno. I need to make a good impression.”

  I laughed loudly this time. “You’ve already made an impression, Aiden.”

  “But not on a date,” he said. He was more adorable than I could have ever imagined.

  Grinning, I lowered my gaze. “Well, you already impressed me.”

  Clutching his chest, he gasped. “Oh, don’t get all sappy, Sade.”

  I threw my napkin at him. “Shut up.”

  He waved to the food in front of us. “Eat up. I have other plans after.”

  I raised a brow. “Intrigue.”

  He grabbed a fork and motioned for me to do the same. We ate in silence, since we both slept through lunch and were actually starving. When our plates were clean and our bellies stuffed, he stood and reached for me.

  “What now?” I asked.

  He squinted his eyes and grinned, holding a finger to his lips and shushing me. He took the remote from the table, punched a few buttons, and music drifted around us. He pulled me close, with one arm around my waist and my hand held in the other.

  “What are you doing?” I asked in a panic.

  He tugged me closer, our bodies pressed against one another. “I’m dancing with you.”

  “Why?” I asked lamely.

  “Because I want to.”

  Dumbfounded, I had nothing to say. He started to sway, so I moved with him, surprised at how much I actually enjoyed it. I’d never danced with anyone before. School dances weren’t my thing for the brief time I attended, and going out on the town definitely wasn’t something I enjoyed.

  Once I became comfortable, I rested my head on his shoulder and allowed the music to wash over me. He moved his hand from my waist up to gently run his fingers through my hair. He dropped my hand and wrapped his other arm around me, holding me even tighter. I snuggled closer, resting both hands on his back as we moved around the room.

  He hummed in my ear, the vibration moving through my cheek and down my neck. He sung a few of the lyrics, his voice soft and husky in my ear. I moved my head slightly, finding his lips waiting for mine. He moved against my mouth, the sensation stronger than ever before.

  Dizzy and delirious on all that was Aiden, I clutched him tighter as he kissed me into oblivion. My head spun as his touch sent tingles down my body. Our dancing stopped and we simply enjoyed each other’s touch. His kiss was like fuel for my body. Every part of me was in overdrive as my heart beat like a drum and my muscles grew weak.

  I didn’t know how much more I could take.

  He broke free, kissing along my jaw and down the nape of my neck. Each touch of his lips turned my mind into a little more mush. Each kiss was one more second I was closer to collapsing into his arms.

  His stubble scratched my face and neck, but I didn’t care. He continued on until I was mad with desire. I snaked my hands to his hair, clenching the ends in my fists and driving his mouth back to mine.

  I kissed him with all that I felt for him.

  When we finally broke free, we both fought to control our breathing. He held my hand in front of his, locking our fingers and grinning. “Wow, Sade.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed.

  We stood there, allowing our lust to simmer and the fire to fade to a slow burn. We spent the rest of our date watching a movie, curled in each other’s arms on the bed. The events and stress of the prophecy were forgotten for a short time.

  Mark slammed his hand on the table, rattling the contents and causing a few people to jump. “This isn’t working!” he screamed.

  I stood and pulled at his extended arm. “Mark, come here.”

  He was red faced and you could practically see the steam coming off his head, but he stepped to the side to speak with me. “What, Sadie?”

  “Why are you so frustrated?” I questioned. “We know about Clorva—not much, but enough—and we know Bram wants me to open it. Why are you still acting like this and screaming at everyone?”

  He ran a hand through his hair and gave me the saddest look I’d ever seen on him. “Sadie, I can’t let anything happen to you. You’re Liv’s sister in law. My friend, my wife’s friend.
This Clorva stuff is a lot more serious than you seem to think. If you accidently unlock it, Bram will have access to the whole realm again. Do you understand how bad that could be? And this team,” he said with anguish as he waved his hand at the table. “Isn’t preparing like they should.”

  “Mark,” I said gently. “It’s ok. I know what unlocks it, and I’m being careful. You don’t need to worry about me; I can take care of myself. We need to figure out who else has been resurrected.”

  “Yeah,” he nodded. “Let’s go back. I have some info on that.”

  Dread filled my stomach like a bad virus. I didn’t like the way he said info.

  “Ok, listen up,” he commanded. Mark was far from the sorcerer I’d met years ago. He was a leader, a take-charge-of-any-situation guy, and he demanded everyone give him the respect he deserved. “We’re getting nowhere on the Sorcerer Wars. No one that survived documented anything that’s useful for this situation, so we’re going to move on. Melanie, do you have the information on the Spain energy surges?”

  She nodded. “Yes, sir. It seems there was another resurrection. We can’t be sure who it was, but it’s suspected it was Pryce or Wolfe.”

  He groaned, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples. “They’re going in order.”

  “Order?” I asked.

  “The order they came into power. They’re resurrecting according to the same order,” he explained.

  A redheaded guy spoke up. “I believe it’s to ensure maximum power, sir.”

  “Explain,” Mark snapped.

  “If they resurrect in the same order they were originally made, the power will work similarly and they’ll all have maximum usage. The power they possess isn’t what they had before. It died with them years ago. They’re pulling from the universe, from nature and sorcerers around them. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of their followers are sacrificing themselves to fuel it.”

  I joined Mark in rubbing my own temples. None of this was good. In fact, it seemed to be getting worse the more they spoke. “What do we do?”

  Mark shook his head. “I have no earthly idea.”

  I patted his back awkwardly. “I’m going to go now. Let me know if you discover anything else.”

  He nodded in agreement before spouting out instructions for the sorcerers seated at the table. I rushed from the room, overwhelmed with all that was happening. The Six were going to be resurrected. All of them. I no longer had to worry about Bram, but multiple dead sorcerers back for vengeance.

  Could I truly do this? Destroy them? It’d taken all my strength to pull myself from Bram’s binds…but more than one? I didn’t know if I could possibly manage this.

  I made my way back to my room and found it empty. I threw myself on the bed, covering my eyes with my arm. My head was beginning to pound right behind my eyes, and it was far from pleasant.

  I sensed a presence seconds before I heard the voice. “Sadie Tabors,” she groaned in a scratchy, liquid filled gasp.

  I jumped up, seeing the fae from Charleston standing near the window, blood pouring from her mouth and her stomach. “What?”

  “Sadie Tabors,” she said again. She attempted to move toward me, but stumbled and fell, spilling blood everywhere. “Quick.”

  I hurried to her, crouching and grabbing her shoulders. “Let me heal you.” What was I saying? She’d tried to kill me how many times?

  She shook her head. “You can’t. Bram…punished…me.”

  “For the warning about my friends?” I asked.

  She nodded. Coughing deeply, blood poured from her mouth in large quantities. “They’re after you,” she strained to get out.

  “I know,” I told her.

  She shook her head no. “You don’t understand,” she said. Her voice was growing weaker and it was harder to understand her. “They’re coming.”

  “Coming where?” I asked.

  She peered up at me, her eyes growing dim. Watching her die was hard and sad. She may have been bad to me in the past, but she’d tried to help me, too. She didn’t deserve to die because of me. “Here. The Six.”

  “No,” I said adamantly. “No. Bram and one other are all that have been resurrected.”

  She sputtered more blood. How much more could her body have? “Tricks,” she choked out. “Coming. Tomorrow.”

  Her head lolled to the side with that last word, her eyes losing the small amount of light they contained. Tears fell before I realized what was happening. What had he done to her to make her bleed out? The stab wound wasn’t enough; he’d had to have done something much worse internally to cause that much blood to spill from her body.

  Aiden found me cradling her lifeless body, tears streaking down my face.

  “Sade?” he asked worriedly. “What happened?”

  “Bram did this to her,” I sniffled. “Because of me.”

  He smoothed my hair back, tucking it behind my ear. “Oh, Sade. I’m so sorry.”

  Heaving and trying to catch my breath, I continued to cry while he went for help. Grandma and Mark appeared not long after, both silently assessing the situation.

  Mark bent near me, taking my hand off her face. “Sadie, you can’t do anything else for her. Let us bury her in the gardens.”

  I nodded numbly. How could I have let this happen? I was supposed to protect innocents, and while she was far from innocent in the real world, she definitely was a pawn in Bram’s games. It wasn’t fair.

  He took her body, disappearing from the room without another world. Grandma used her magic to clean the mess, but the carpet was still tinged with her blood. A reminder of what I’d caused.

  “Sadie,” she said gently. “Tell me what happened. How did she get here?”

  Rubbing my eyes dry, I stood. “I don’t know. I was lying on the bed, taking a break, when she showed up and started talking. She was pouring blood out of her mouth and side. She said the Six are all resurrected, Grandma. She said they’re coming here tomorrow.”

  She shook her head furiously. “No, that’s impossible. We’d notice that much energy.”

  I sniffled, starting to sit until I realized that I was covered in the fae’s blood. “She said it was a trick,” I said. “I didn’t even know her name and she died because of me.”

  Grandma took my shoulders in her hands and shook me. “This isn’t your fault.”

  Grimacing, I nodded. “Yes, it is.”

  She shook her head. “No, Sadie. You can’t think like that. She wasn’t forced to work for Bram.”

  “How do you know?” I asked. “Maybe he’d threatened or cursed them all to work for him. The look in her eyes as she was dying was regret. Regret isn’t what you feel if you’re doing something you want.”

  Aiden wrapped his arms around me from behind. “Sade, listen to me. You didn’t know this would happen. She warned you about Tessi and Mel. They would have died if she hadn’t come to you. And you were there for her in her final moments. You couldn’t have saved her if you tried.”

  “I did try,” I choked out, fighting more tears. “She said healing wouldn’t work because she was being punished for helping me.”

  “That was her decision,” Grandma said. “You can’t blame yourself. Don’t let this make you do something stupid, Sadie.”

  I nodded. “I need a shower.”

  They both released me, allowing me to trudge my way to the bathroom. I threw my clothes in the wastebasket, setting them on fire while the water heated up. The bloodstains may come out, but the memories would remain. I allowed the water to wash over me, the hotness scorching my skin and cleansing it of her life. The tears were swept from my face and down the drain. I stayed under the water until it grew cold, thinking of what was about to happen. Bram and the rest of The Six were coming for me. In less than twenty-four hours. I wasn’t prepared. I had no clue how to defeat any of them, much less all of them.

  I may not survive.

  Their power was greater than we expected. Bram had sent the dying fae to me as a sadistic ga
me, I was sure of it. She was too weak to do any traveling of her own, if she even had that ability. Once my bones grew cold and I was shivering, I shut the water off and wrapped the towel around me. I didn’t even bother to dry my body.

  I opened the door to see Aiden leaned against the frame, waiting for me. “Sade.” He took me in his arms, drenching his clothing, and held me close. “We’re going to a new room,” he whispered.