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Tyghe waved his hands and her arms lifted in a stretch, allowing the panicked feeling to subside. “Thank you. The names of the people in the room when I was punished are Aaron Winston and his brother Thaddeus. Alexandria, Elijah and James Gryffin. Also, Robert Abbott and that wretched woman who hated my grandmother, Hester Maris.”
The room fell silent and Sarah opened her eyes. “What is it?” She felt a nervous laugh bubbling in her throat. “Please tell me none of you are the descendents of Hester. Fate could not be that cruel.”
Lorie stood, pulling her into his arms as if he’d done it a million times. He smiled, but his eyes were full of regret. “No, sweet Sarah. We aren’t related to Hester.” He spoke over his shoulder without releasing her. “Tucker, you have your information. Callie? You and Tyghe will look through those boxes, scour the old Fairbanks homestead if you have to, but find that brooch for Sarah.”
A sound of surprise came from Harrison. “Look who stopped being shy. Okay, boss man, what do I do?”
Lorie wasn’t laughing. “You keep working on a way to break that spell when we find book number two.”
“And what are we doing?” Sarah sensed the undercurrents, but she wasn’t entirely sure what they meant. They obviously knew something they didn’t want her to discover, but what? The location of the people she’d threatened? Were they trying to protect them from her? Her suspicion should have sent her out of his arms, but she wasn’t moving.
She almost heard her grandmother’s voice in her head, asking if Sarah could blame them after what she’d revealed her plans. She couldn’t. And right now, in Lorie’s embrace, her treacherous body didn’t care.
Lorie shared a look with Con before answe
ring. “We’re going on a treasure hunt, Sarah Blackwood. And you are my key.”
Chapter Four
Magic was all around her, though not the kind that Magians usually understood. This was human magic. And it was astounding to behold.
Lorie and Con had decided against using traveling spells. Instead, they had indulged Sarah’s desire to see the modern era. They’d rented a motorized vehicle they called an SUV and taken her to lunch at a roadside diner filled with a fascinating mix of people and food, all of which she thoroughly enjoyed. Especially the desserts.
It was a whole new world. In more ways than she’d ever imagined. While they drove, they shared what they knew of the history she’d missed. The vastness of the small group of colonies which had become a powerful civilization that seemed to rival Rome itself. As impossible as it sounded, she couldn’t deny the proof before her eyes.
Everything was different. There was noise and music. Shouting and laughter. Life, colorful and astounding, bloomed all around her. Chaos—but a wonderful and welcome chaos.
The kind where not one single person she saw was screaming, “Death to the witch!”
It was only when they drove out of the city, leaving the glass and metal skyscrapers climbing high into the clouds, and headed into the countryside, that she began to recognize where she was. Home.
Her grandmother had always insisted that their neighbors, the Puritans, were good people at heart, though they took themselves too seriously. But then, so did the Magians. When she lived, Sarah had seen a dozen matches denied, despite their clear magical connection, for the sake of a name. A family name.
She had watched some go mad with the grief of finding, and losing, their heart’s desire. But even after she’d finished her debut, knowing she would have no family of her own—she saw the rules begin to change. Glimpses of a return to what they called the old ways. Ways the Magians of lesser houses had followed for ages. Honoring the magic, and the Magian, by allowing true triads to form regardless of station. A genuine communion brought lasting power into the family…and love.
To experience that connection was every girl’s dream. Even Sarah’s. Aaron Winston, on the other hand, had been her nightmare. He was just prominent enough to make her life difficult. To delay deliveries to her family home and cause the older women to whisper when she entered a room. If it weren’t for Thalia and her grandmother, Sarah would have never gone outside, never been part of the community—not if it meant having to listen to the vulgarity and endless threats that inevitably came with Aaron’s confrontations.
He wanted her. He hated that he wanted her. He hated the societal rules that prevented him from merely taking what he wanted. She did not realize until it was too late just how much he despised his own desires.
“Sarah? Is everything okay? Where were you just now?”
She’d been staring sightlessly out the window, lost in the past. She saw the road sign and her body tensed. “I was where I am now. Salem? Do you think the book is here?”
Lorie, who was in the driver’s seat, bit his full lower lip the way she wanted to every time she saw it. “Possibly. Harrison might be the greatest witch of our generation, but I’ve perfected locator spells. Especially when it comes to books. I thought we might stay at our family’s place while we check it out. It’s empty, so we won’t be disturbed.”
Empty? She shifted in her seat, suddenly very much aware of the two men closed in with her. Con was in the backseat, lounging. She glanced at him casually over her shoulder, not surprised to see his green eyes fixed on her. Was he still upset?
He winked, momentarily dispelling her concern. “I think we’ve had enough human tourist role-play for one day, babe. Though I have to admit, seeing it all through your eyes has been…enlightening. Still, I’m ready to spend the evening at the Salem house. You’ll love it. We’ll make sure of that.”
“That sounds acceptable.” Wicked. The way he was looking at her, the tone in his voice—it sounded wicked. “Are there enough rooms for us?”
“For what he has in mind?” Lorie chuckled. “Probably not.”
Sarah chewed the inside of her cheek to restrain herself from smiling while they watched. But why? Denying herself was one feminine habit she wanted to abandon. There was nothing coy or shy about what she was feeling. Knowing that she could be taken from this—from them—at any moment only made her needs intensify. She wanted to experience as much as she could before she was lost again. She wanted a memory so powerful that no amount of suffering could make it fade. And she wanted it with them. “How close are we?”
Con groaned and sat up behind her. “You’re killing me. But impatience is the magic word.” He chanted the spell beneath his breath and Lorie joined him. Sarah watched through the front window of the SUV as the road was replaced by a drive up to a large, rambling white house.
“How did you do that?”
