Its vibrant blue feathers fluffed up as it shook its foot, dropping a little package onto me. It cocked its head, repeating its soulful song. The dark creatures, who had moved into the shadows, came forward once again as the little bird took to the air.
The dark creatures finally came for me, but I placed my hand against my chest, over what I had been given. The power of what lay there surged through me. From my body emerged a bright light that the creatures screamed and thrashed away from before evaporating.
Finally I was alone. I opened my hand and there was the bracelet Jet had given me for my debutante ball. It was his most precious belonging; passed from mother to daughter for countless generations, infused with magical powers and properties; his gift that had just saved my life. I kissed the bracelet, the stones sparkling their brilliance around the empty cell.
‘Thank you, Jet,’ I whispered, remembering how I’d felt when Jet had placed the bracelet on my wrist for the first time and how I’d felt when Ezra told me I must put it away so I would forget all about Jet, so that we could create a future together.
And then I remembered Violet’s parting words to the world, ‘Never stop believing in love.’
I cried out, my pain echoing from the cell and out into the tunnels that spread like tumours under the earth.
Love. Once its sweet, magical essence had filled me, shone from me like a beacon of light. Once Ezra had loved me. He’d been my first love. I remembered back to our first night on the boat when he’d told me, ‘Don’t forget, if you are ever lost, follow the Northern Star – it will help you find your way home.’
I stared at the bracelet, searching for the promised star, but there were no stars, nothing to lead me home. I was all alone. Pain rippled through my body.
From the depths came another memory – the morning I had danced with Jet after my debutante ball, when he’d given me his mother’s bracelet. The bracelet that I’d hidden away at home, beside my own necklace – the pentagram; hiding my powers – my birthright.
I closed my eyes and heard the sea roar below where we had danced. The sky turned pink and the sun broke over the horizon, blessing us with a new day. Jet had pulled me close and spoken to me, his words altering our relationship forever.
‘I don’t know what our futures will bring, but you need to remember that I love you. I will always love you. And I will be here for you, waiting for you, hoping that one day you will choose me. Because I know that I could make you happy.’
For a few blessed moments, I was filled with a love; not my first, but a love that was deeper and stronger – found in the depths of the seas. It was the memory that I’d called upon to get rid of the dark spirits. And now, in the dark night of my soul, it brought me untold comfort.
I opened my eyes. In that moment I knew that I had no magical powers left to call on. My fire had died. I was all alone. Max would return. Noah would return. I would no longer be able to keep them away. Tears streamed down my face. Soon my life would be stamped out. I would never see my family again. I would never meet my baby niece or nephew. I would never see Jet.
I clutched my heart as the bitter truth revealed itself to me. I didn’t just care for Jet – I loved him. Not like a friend. Or a lover. Both lover and friend. Someone I wanted to be with forever. His words returned to me then, as though he’d spoken them.
‘Remember that I love you. I will always love you.’
And in that moment I knew three things all at once.
Firstly, Jet had sent me the bracelet to protect me, to fill me with energy that was not my own, energy that belonged to the women who’d created him, the women who had loved him.
I also knew that Noah would return, Max would return and the dark forces would return, and that they would fight my powers with everything they had, until I died.
Lastly, I knew I would do anything to keep the promise I had made to myself – that no matter what happened to me, no matter how bad my life got, I would choose to believe in love. Always.
THE END
Note from the Author
Thank you for reading The Witch Born to Smoulder, the fourth book in the Inferno series.
If you enjoyed reading this, I’d be very grateful if you could recommend this book to others and leave an honest review on Amazon, BookBub and/or Goodreads.
Recommendations help give books the chance to succeed, enabling writers to keep writing.
I’m excited to let you know that the fifth and final book in the Inferno series, The Witch Born to Scorch, is available to pre-order and will be published in June 2020.
To pre-order, go to:
http://mybook.to/WitchBorntoScorch
Or search:
The Witch Born to Scorch on Amazon.
Here’s a little teaser.
Get Ready to Scorch
A power laced with darkness and light. A tyrant who won’t stop until she burns. To put an end to the evil, she’ll have to decide what kind of witch she wants to be.
Eva’s no longer hiding her true identity, but she’s fighting for her life. Inside her rages a battle of two forces, one that thirsts for revenge and another that seeks freedom.
When she’s condemned as a witch, Eva must dig deeper than ever before to find the strength to save herself.
With the return of the dark days of witch persecution and an evil mayor hunting her, she must decide what’s important to her and whom her heart truly belongs to.
Will Eva fight for her freedom, or will she choose revenge and become
