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The girls snorted at my baffled expression.
I allowed myself to be dragged upstairs and prodded with hair tools and makeup brushes without comment, the laughter and small talk fading into the distance. I couldn’t help but worry about the future. The issue with Trystan was nowhere near over. With my intuition zinging through me warningly, I knew fate had me lodged within her tight claws with no inclination to let me go soon.
* * *
Despite the dwindling sunlight, the beach glowed from the roaring bonfire, spitting flames and magick as the Coven gathered around it. From across the circle, Elaine waved at me, her nose crinkling as someone tossed her stunning wreath into the ashen pit. At her side stood her younger sisters and brothers bursting with youthful excitement, and my heart dipped with longing for my own siblings.
Singed balsam fir and star anise erupted in a cloud of smoke. Dressed in a forest-green cloak etched with black runes, Liliane stepped into the center of the circle, her eyes bright with excitement.
"Let us begin with a prayer to Hecate, thanking her for the blessings she has shown us this year,” she declared, her voice loud above the sound of crashing waves.
As the Coven joined in, the incantation slowly built into a crescendo. Sparks flew from the snapping of wood as the Goddess received the Coven’s sacrifice, swirling the woodsmoke above us in acceptance.
I felt the shift in the atmosphere as the wards buzzed anew, magick filling the beach and spreading throughout the Coven’s borders around Salem. A slow breath fell from my lips as the witches stepped away from the circle.
Beside me, Willa wrapped a familial arm around my shoulders. “That’ll take a few hours to fully encircle the town, but now we get to move on to the fun part. We always start with the Christmas tree lighting to show good faith to the mortals in town before we branch off for a pub crawl, and then we return here for refreshments, food, and general mayhem.”
“Sounds great.”
The merriment was catching. Even Tabitha had let down her silvery braids as she talked quietly with Elaine, who stressfully watched her siblings run down the beach.
Instead of joining the procession of witches back up the beach, I lingered near the water, staring out at the black waves. As I watched the ebb and flow of the tide, an undeniable pull of something eerie latched under my skin and yanked tight like a string.
It felt like the amulet’s addictive possession from the night before. With the talisman stowed amongst my things, I almost wish I had adorned it as my spine straightened, turning towards the edge of trees lining the pale sand dunes.
There was dark magick encroaching from the darkness.
I edged towards the source, my boots sinking into the sand. Pausing at the edge of the woods, the magick beckoned me closer.
“Jade, you coming?” Genevieve’s voice sounded over the roaring in my ears.
Indecision warred within me, but my feet refused to leave the beach.
“Go on without me,” I yelled back when I heard it.Feltit.
The sand shook as a pounding vibration moved down the beach, like what I imagined a medieval battalion of horses riding into battle to sound like. My head whipped around too late, as the first wave of vampires hit, slamming into the Coven, their screams piercing the chilled night.
Trystan and the Boston Court.
Dread settled in my bones as my magick rose to the surface. I felt transported to Samhain, that same helplessness souring my stomach until bile rose in my throat.
No. This time, I wouldn’t fail.Couldn’tfail.
Possessed by the memories of the past, I charged the beach, my feet dancing above the sand as I sent swirling blasts of magick at the wall of vampires descending on Salem’s lands. I used each grain of sand as a weapon, blinding the vampires as stakes made from broken tree limbs and flaming embers flew towards the horde.
The vampires slowed at our assault, the other witches regrouping and forming their own line of defenses. Children’s screams sent chills down my spine, and I changed course to follow them.
One of Elaine’s sisters huddled behind a bleached tree trunk, and I lifted her to her feet.
“Everything will be alright. I’m going to put a protective spell on you, and then I want you to run up to Liliane’s house. Can you do that?”
Her tear-stained face looked up to me with terror, but she nodded. “I can t-try.”
“Good girl,” I breathed, imbuing the spell over her as quickly as I could manage.
Ushering her to scurry along the waterline, I watched as she ran up the hill to the house, untouched. A sigh of relief escaped before I checked the beach for more children. Distracted, I didn’t notice the vampire until it was too late.
When the creature tackled me to the ground, I sent a pulse of power towards him, knocking him to his back before Tabitha landed the killing blow with the small athame dagger in her grip.
