Scornful Sadie (Dark Sorceress Trilogy Book 1) (19 page)

He nodded his head a few times. “I understand…but you’re here to make sure that doesn’t happen, so…why can’t you tell me?”

I bit my lip as I contemplated his words. He had a point. “True.”

“Is it bad?”

I closed my eyes and leaned back on the armrest. “Possibly.”

He unzipped my boot, taking my foot out and pressing his fingers along the bottom. Massaging gently, he pushed and pulled my skin through my socks, making my feet feel like they were in heaven.

I moaned against my will and felt him tense. “What?”

“Nothing.” He gulped and took my other boot off, doing the same to my other foot.

By the time Aiden’s hands were done with my feet, my head was lolled to the side and I was half asleep. I hadn’t realized how exhausting all of this had been for me, but keeping my eyes open was hardly possible at this point. He carefully lifted my feet and secured one arm under my leg. Taking the other and placing it around my back, he lifted me easily and kissed my forehead.

“You’re so beautiful, Sadie.”

I forced my eyes open. “You called me Sadie.”

He grinned a half grin and carried me to the bed. “I did.”

“Why?”

He placed me on the side he’d been on, tucking the covers around me. “It was a serious moment. I wanted you to know I meant it.”

I turned to my side as he crawled in beside me. He dimmed the light and lay his head inches from mine.

“Isn’t it early for bed?” I asked sleepily.

He chuckled. “Oh yeah, it’s a little after noon, but doesn’t matter. We’re gonna take a nap. All of this can be dealt with later.”

Resting one hand under my cheek, I put the other on the pillow beside my face. Aiden reached up, curled his fingers in mine, and locked them in place. My eyes closed then, no longer allowing me to will them open, but I felt him smiling as he lifted my hand to his lips, placing the softest of kisses on my fingertips.

Pounding stirred me from sleep seconds before the door burst open and flew into the wall. Aiden and I both sat straight up, and I desperately searched for my dagger.

“Sadie Tabors!” Mel screeched. “You’ve been asleep this whole time?”

Realizing the fear of danger was misplaced, I relaxed and rubbed my tired eyes. “Hi, Mel.”

Aiden flung his body back on the bed, covering his face with the pillow.

“You just left us to shack up with the boy? How could you?” she kept on.

Cursing her in my head, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and faced her. “Mel, calm down. I didn’t leave you. Grandma sent y’all to your room and I had to go do some stuff concerning this Bram situation. Then I came up here and fell asleep. I blame jetlag.”

“We transported here, Sadie. You only get jetlag when you fly.”

Lifting my hand, I gestured into the air. “In a way, we did fly.”

She rested her hands on her hips and tapped her foot. “You didn’t let me or Tessi know anything.”

“There’s nothing to tell,” I responded. “Is there something wrong?”

She threw her hands up in frustration. “Only that we were waiting around for you and you were sleeping with the boy!”

“Mel,” Tessi said from somewhere in the hall. “Don’t be so upset.” She appeared beside her, giving me a grim smile and rolling her eyes.

We were used to Mel’s over-dramatics.

“We sat around doing nothing,” she whined.

“Not true,” Tessi said. We got everything unpacked and we toured the castle. We barely even had time to realize Sadie wasn’t around.”

Mel lowered her eyes. “I guess.”

Mel was acting out, and while it wasn’t completely out of character, it seemed to be more than usual. “Let’s go for a walk, Mel.” I jumped up, finding my boots tossed in the floor and slipping them on. Turning to Aiden, I said, “I’ll be back in a bit. Wanna go find food when I get back?”

He grinned that sexy grin which caused my knees to grow weak and nodded. “Sure thing.”

I winked at Tessi as I passed and grabbed Mel by the arm. “Show me the castle.”

“You didn’t see it?” she asked, surprised.

I shook my head. “I had to go have a meeting with Grandma and then Allison. No time.”

“I’m sorry,” she said as we started down the hall. “I didn’t mean to flip out.”

“You can talk to me, Melody,” I said gently.

She sighed. “You’re keeping something from us. And I don’t like it. I know you were on your own for years and Tessi and I are still new to this, but we’re a team. We work together, and I don’t like you not telling us the whole story.”

Dammit, she was right.
“Ok. You have a point. I’ll tell you, but you can’t say a word to anyone.”

She held her hand over her heart. “I promise.”

“You know about the Bram visit and how he said I’m the key? Well, I’ve been thinking about it. And I’ve been reading up on Clorva. That place is old, Mel. So old. I can’t let anything happen to my family, to you, so I’m going to open it when I have enough intel. I’m going to destroy The Six and close it off.”

She gasped. “By yourself?”

I nodded. “I’m the dark sorceress. The prophecy says my power grows, and I’ve already proven I can escape Bram’s binds. I can do this.”

“Sadie,” she said cautiously. “I know you’re a badass and everything, but this seems bigger than that. You can’t go into a different realm that you didn’t even know existed a few days ago, and kill a powerful sorcerer that was resurrected from the dead. I mean, who knows if he can even be destroyed? There are too many ifs in this.”

I shrugged and said, “I’m not asking your permission, Mel. You wanted to know what was going on and this is me telling you. I’m doing it.”

“How do you unlock it again?”

“By accepting who I am and revealing my deepest secret.”

“Who you are? The dark sorceress?”

“I dunno,” I said. Looking at her, I stopped and realized we’d made it out of the castle. “Where are we?”

She grinned and tossed her long hair behind her shoulders. “The gardens. Aren’t they beautiful?”

Beautiful, indeed. The gardens were rich and vibrant with life. Roses, gardenias, lilies, and a plethora of other flowers grew wild around our feet. I was almost afraid to walk, scared I’d step on one of the beauties. The fragrance of them all was overwhelming. “There are a lot of flowers.”

She chuckled. “Lucas said your grandma really enjoys them.”

Laughing, I nodded in agreement. “That she does.”

We stood admiring the nature before us. She wandered around, running her fingers over the soft petals of the lilies. “So, what’s your secret?”

“What?” I asked.

“Your deep secret. You have to reveal it. I think you’ve already accepted who you are.”

“Oh,” I said. “I dunno.”

“Sadie,” she scolded. “You have to know.”

I shook my head. “I really don’t.”

She rolled her eyes but dropped it. “Well, tell me about Aiden, then.”

“We knew each other as teenagers. He was with my family for a few months, and we grew close. I was scared, though, and didn’t tell him how I felt. He ended up with a memory wipe from the last head of the council. That was when I realized how much I cared for him, and it was too late. No one could find him, but when Grandma came to the apartment last week, she told me they’d found him. He remembers me, us, now,” I explained.

She cocked her head. “How did he remember? You can’t come back from a memory wipe.”

“He’s not entirely human….”

“What?” she snapped. “He doesn’t have an aura, so I’m pretty sure he is.”

“He’s…his power…it’s dormant.”

“Dormant,” she repeated.

I nodded.

She wiggled her finger around in the air in front of me. “You’re keeping something from me again.”

Growling, I clenched my hands at my side. Why could she read me so well? “He’s an elite.”

Her brows rose as she stared at me, unblinking. “An elite…as in…
an elite?
”

I nodded again.

She covered her mouth. “Holy shit.”

Grinning, I said, “Yeah.”

“Why’s he dormant?”

I shrugged. “No clue, but he is. He’s shown no signs of abilities.”

She pondered the words. Taking the time to do my own thinking, I wondered myself why he was dormant. Was it meant to be that way? Were all of the Crimson Calamitous’s descendants dormant? Did anyone in his family even know where they came from? Would he gain his abilities later on? Was he simply bound, or did it run deeper?

“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.