“MA’AM! WHAT? WHY? HOW? WHO THE – WHAT JUST—” I slammed my mouth shut since the English language was failing me.
She stood in her brown Ugg boots right at the edge of the silver glittery line. She looked completely normal yet normal people didn’t just materialize out of thin air.
“Who are you?” Landreia shouted and jumped in front of me with her wand out.
“Ms. Kelly…our photography teacher?” I frowned and shook my head. “What?”
“I know that.” Landreia sighed. “She came by tonight to give me a present for Saffie.”
Gigi squawked behind me.
I closed my eyes. “Gigi.”
“Sorry, sorry,” she said in a rush. “I’m back now. I’m back. I’m cool.”
“Well I’m not!” I put my hands on my hips and stared at our teacher. “What the hell is going on and who are you really?”
Ms. Kelly looked to be in her mid-twenties, but if I’d seen her outside of school I would have thought her to be my age. Her red hair was tied behind her head. She smiled. “I am sorry to have frightened you. But I saw that you had made it here—”
“You saw? What does that mean?”
“This silver line? It ends here.” Ms. Kelly smiled and pointed to the line she shouldn’t have been able to see. “Because this is the last spot Saffie was at in this realm.”
“IN THIS REALM?” I was hollering now and I didn’t care.
Landreia shook her head. “Who are you really?”
Ms. Kelly walked up to me then reached up and pulled the henbane crown right off of my head. She took a step back then leaned down and blew on the crown – and it vanished. Like a gust of wind blowing a leaf. It was just gone. She looked up to me and winked. “Henbane is dangerous. I appreciate you for your devotion to Saffie and commend you on your abilities with your craft, but I don’t want to see you wearing these crowns for too long, okay?”
I nodded. “What do you know about…all this? Who are you really because you are definitely not a photography teacher?”
“I do love photography, it is a hobby of mine I don’t often make time for.” She smiled.
Light flashed behind her light eyes and then they shined bright lavender, just like Saffie’s. Glittery white and gold magic swirled around her body. Her red hair fell in wild, windblown waves halfway between her knees and ankles. A crown made of crystals and shells appeared perched on her head. The air smelled of salt and warmth radiated out of her.
My jaw dropped. “Who the hell are you?”
“I am Keltie.”
Landreia gasped. “Oh my Goddess.”
I frowned. “Your name sounds familiar but I can’t place it…?”
She chuckled. “I am not surprised, time has a way of erasing things.”
“She is a goddess of the ocean,” Landreia breathed. “As old as the world itself.”
Keltie pursed her lips and shrugged. “This world, perhaps.”
“Why…why are you here pretending to be—”
“That is a story for another day.” She winked. “I wasn’t going to interfere but then I was surprised your spell worked.”
“But it didn’t, it ended.”
“Oh, it did work. But Saffie is no longer in your realm.” She stepped back then made a glowing white circle in the air. “She went through here.”
“Went to where?” Landreia groaned. “Is she safe?”
Keltie’s face fell and I hated it. “I am afraid the answer to that is most likely no, but it was a necessary evil that I can’t yet explain to you. She has been taken into the Seelie tunnels.”
“WHAT?” I screamed.
Gigi whined. “Why?”
“By whom?” Landreia sighed. “And why? Why would the Seelie fae want Saffie?”
“Because she is Seelie fae. Or half. Her mother is very much arcana.” She grimaced. “You are not going to like this, but it was Riah who took her.”
We all gasped. NO.
“Riah is Seelie, but he is also a Commander of the Knights. It was his job to bring her into the Seelie tunnel.”
“What did you have me give her?” Landreia tapped on her finger. “The jewelry.”
Keltie smirked. “Months ago I gifted the young High Priestess jewelry made by me to serve as a…tool of sorts. So that she could call on me if she needed me. I went to The Coven earlier this evening and told them that Riah was going to take her into Seelie and I could not stop him. They could not stop him. So instead, Tegan had me give my half of the jewelry to Saffie so that Tegan could find her.”
My jaw dropped. There were things to be said but no words were coming.
And then Ozzy Osbourne sang from my coat pocket. I cursed and dove for it – only to pull it out and find Cooper Bishop’s name on my screen. My heart stopped.
Keltie chuckled. “You ought to answer that, they’ll have things to say to you.”
I answered and put it on speaker. “Hey, Cooper, so we didn’t find her—”
“I would be shocked if you had.” His voice sounded sleepy and rough and I hated the way it did things to me. “Sorry for the delay. I got your message but needed to speak with Tennessee first before calling.”
“Keltie is here.”
“Hi, Cooper,” Keltie purred.
He snorted. “Hey, Keltie. Busy night for you, too, eh?”
“Isn’t it always,” she said with a sigh.
“Keltie told us Riah took Saffie into the Seelie tunnel. How can we help get her back?”
Cooper sighed. “You can’t.”
“WHAT? WHY NOT?”
He chuckled and it made my pulse skip. “Savannah Grace, you are a riot. Because you are a civilian. Because you are not Seelie. Because we’re already working on it. And mostly, because Tennessee said so.”
I groaned. “So what? We’re just supposed to do what while she’s in danger?”
“Nothing. You do nothing, Savannah.”
I scowled.
“Savannah…say it so I know you heard me.”
I huffed. He didn’t need to keep saying my name like that. “I will do nothing.”
“Good girl,” he said with a laugh and my cheeks warmed. “I promise you, we’re working on it. Saffie is family. I know you want to help, but at this moment we need you to do nothing. Go home. Return to normal life. Let The Coven do our job, including keeping you safe.”
“Yes, daddy—” I slammed my hand over my mouth and heat radiated out of my face. OH GOD, WHY DID I SAY THAT? What is he doing to me? Oh God. Can I die now?
Cooper chuckled deeply. “Goodnight, Savannah. Happy Christmas.”
Chapter One
Tegan
New Year’s Day, 2019
The second the bright light of my portal faded I knew something was very, very wrong. Beside me, Tenn’s energy sharpened and made the hairs on the back of my neck stand tall. Everything was white. For a split second the Vampire Kingdom of Avolire flashed in my mind and I braced myself for Queen Sweyn’s army to attack…but it was too cold. Too calm. Too quiet.