Page 15 of Dark Desire
My eyes darted around and I moved backwards towards the edge of the crowd, hoping to do this subtly. It was a huge risk, but if I didn’t get that necklace, I’d never return home.
With my gaze fixed on the necklace as they started to tie the woman up, I whispered a motus spell in Latin until the necklace appeared in my hand. I shoved it into my bag, but when I lifted my head, my eyes met a woman’s shocked face beside me. Her mouth was hanging open. I raised my hand to plead with her, but before any words could escape, she screamed, pointed at me, and shouted, “Witch!”
Shit.
Twisting away, I tried to flee but dirty hands grabbed at me, forcing me back towards the posts.
“Wait! Stop! This is a misunderstanding!” I panicked, but none of them would listen. My body was pulled and tugged in different directions, and angry faces hissed in mine. I felt the tight pinch of something on my wrists as I tried to wrestle free. I was so screwed. I had no choice but to prove them right and attempt to escape with magic. I began to chant an incantation to break the chains around my wrists, but a cloth was stuffed in my mouth, and my eyes widened. Double fuck.
My back slammed against a wooden post, and my arms were chained behind it as I began to scream, the sound muffled by the filthy rag in my mouth. Tears streamed down my face as I desperately turned my head to look at the other witches. They appeared almost serene, as if they had expected this. The one wearing the necklace locked eyes with me as they lit the hay and straw poking out between the wooden logs at her feet, and she smiled.
“Shan’t have fear, sister. We die with integrity.”
My head shook as I whimpered against the gag when the man moved towards me with his flame. I could feel the heat of the fire on my face and the anguished cries of the witches around me as they burned slowly to death. I squeezed my eyes shut and thought of that creature I saved from this very fate. Saving him had brought me here, ready to burn as he should have. The Fates had a twisted sense of humour to punish me like this.
As the flames engulfed my feet, I felt the throbbing of my temple and cried out with relief. Instead of resisting my magic, I surrendered to it immediately, squeezing my eyes shut and letting it carry me away from this hell.
“Darcie?”
I shot up from the cold, damp ground, panting heavily. My eyes widened as I looked out at the gentle lapping waves a few metres ahead on the pebbled beach I was lying on.
“Are you okay?”
I spun to my left to see Badger, the local fisherman, crouched beside me, staring at my face with deep concern. Falling back onto the beach, I closed my eyes, slamming my hands over my face.
“Oh, thank fuck for that!” I whispered. “I’m back.”
“Back? Where ’ave you been?” he asked as he grabbed my arm and helped me to my feet. I realised I was still wearing the weird brown cape over my clothes. Feeling panicked, I quickly delvedinto my bag to check I still had the necklace and breathed out a sigh of relief when I did.
“Right here. But not quite. Just…around,” I said, rubbing both my temples with my fingers. I was going to have a migraine for days after that. Talk about traumatic pasts.
“Okay,” he said, dragging the word out as if he was considering whether to have me committed. I mean, I probably should have been a long time ago, in all honesty. “Well, Evie has been really worried about you. She had us all looking for you now that the celebrations are over.”
“Evie?” I shouted, turning back to the village to find the streets were much emptier and cleaner than before. “What time is it?”
“Just gone two in the morning.”
I slammed my hands into my hair and gripped my messy curls. “Nooooo!”
I’d missed my chance for the summoning spell to be used at the most powerful point of the night.
“Are you sure you are okay, love?” Badger asked again, taking a hesitant step away from me as he did. I swallowed down the feelings of failure. I’d have to wait until the next full moon, and even then, there was no guarantee the witches of St Wythren would answer me. This had been the perfect night for that. And that’s if the Seekers didn’t get to me first.
“Yeah. Sorry,” I said, forcing myself to stop acting like a lunatic. “I suffer from these migraines, you see. They cause me to pass out sometimes. I came down here for some peace away from the crowds, and I must have passed out for a few hours. Poor Evie. I didn’t mean to worry everyone.”
“You poor thing. Let’s get you back to Evie’s, yeah?”
I nodded as he helped me walk back to my boss’s house in a daze. Evie fussed over me for a good half an hour, making me drink a cup of tea and wrapping me up in blankets. She didn’t even comment on the strange cape I was wearing becauseshe was too busy asking why I smelled of smoke and forcing paracetamol down my throat.
“You should go and see Dr Marshall about these migraines, Darcie. That is not normal! I‘ll book you an appointment tomorrow and say it’s urgent.”
“Please don’t worry yourself with it, Evie. I’m fine. They don’t happen that often. Can we talk about this tomorrow? I’d really like to go to bed, if you don’t mind. I’m exhausted.”
“Oh, of course! Go, go. You poor thing! And don’t even think of coming into work tomorrow. You should spend the day resting.”
I paused halfway up the staircase. “Oh shit! Evie, I am so sorry. I barely took any pictures tonight. I got a few of the start of the celebrations but–”
“I’m not even worried about that. Go to bed, young lady. Get a good night’s sleep.”
