Sara

The moment I hit the cool morning Portland air, I felt more at ease. The mark burned in response, and I winced. Thankfully, the walk was short, and I was in the comfort of my warded shop in minutes and hoping that would stop the burn, but it only made it worse.

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The bell at the top of my door dinged, and I turned to see who the hell was in my shop this early. I hadn’t even opened the store yet, but standing there was Jerick with his arms crossed. I groaned and walked towards him.
I do not want to deal with this today.
“What do you want?” I snapped. “I really thought I was clear last night.”
“I wanted to give you one last chance, Sara,” he said. “You know I have to go back to the council tonight with an answer.”
“I already told you, I’m not doing it,” I said.
“You know what that means. They will force you or worse,” he said, shaking his head.
“Marcus, we both know this isn’t right. We shouldn’t be forced into this position,” I said. He was persistent, and we’d grown up together so I knew deep down it was malicious that he wanted to do this. It was protection for both of us.
“We’re a good match. The council thinks so, and so do I,” he said, taking a step towards me.
“The Warlock council or the Witch Council?” I crossed my arms as I spoke. I already knew the answer. The warlocks controlled everything from business in the mundane world to everything in the magick one. Except vampires. They hadn’t gotten them to do what they wanted just yet.
“You know what one,” he said, his semi handsome face twisting at the question. He ran a hand through his light brown hair. “I’m trying to look out for you, Sara.”
“I can look out for myself,” I snapped and felt the heat of my fire magick bubbling to the surface. The last thing I wanted was any council telling me what to do and who to love.
The beads of sweat on his skin told me he was feeling the temperature rise in the shop too and he knew exactly what that meant. If he kept pushing, I’d lose hold of it and fire would do what it wanted.
That was what it did, no matter what I tried to do. It always won.
“Go home, Marcus. I’ll live with whatever the councils have in store,” I said and turned my back on him. A strange ping of pain pushed through my neck. It made me stop in my tracks and put my hand on my neck. The purple blotch appeared a few weeks ago and it never seemed to heal. After an especially erotic dream.
I heard the ding of the bell letting me know Marcus was gone and I was alone in my store again. The pain settled into a pulse lining up with my heartbeat and I sat on the chair behind my counter.
The store was small. Not really something most people would even take the time to build, but for me, this was my life. A little store with all the things the magick community needed and something that was mine and not my families.
My phone buzzed and I picked it up. The picture of my older sister smiled back at me. Great, she’s probably going to tell me I’m an idiot for not following the rules.
“Hey, sis,” I answered with a smile on my face.
Her eyebrows knitted together and she sighed. “You aren’t sleeping are you?”
“That obvious?”
“You look like a zombie,” she said and shook her head. “When are you marrying Marcus?”
“I’m not. I told you, Annie, I’m not going to be some warlock wife so he can steal my powers and keep me locked in a mansion.” Even as I said it, I realized how privileged I actually was. The fact the warlock that went to all the trouble of securing a marriage with the council was one I knew and trusted. Many just got shoved into something with someone they didn’t know or, worse got claimed at the games.
“It could be worse,” she said, as if reading my thoughts.
“I know, but this can’t be it. I mean the council would make me give up my shop and just be a baby making machine,” I said.
“You don’t know that. Kian and Haric are on the council now. They wouldn’t let Sanir do that to you. Especially with your family ties behind you.”
“Sanir is an old, bitter man who hated his wife and his youngest daughter. I don’t think he’d give two shits about me, even if our father was once head of that council,” I said. Sanir was getting ready to give control over to someone new, but it was hard to imagine it going to anyone but either his right hand, Reign or River, the son of one of his closest allies.
“Maybe, but he seems to be open to at least giving us good placements. Think about it Sara. Marcus is a good match. He’s kind and he’s powerful. With any luck, he’ll be high in the council in a few years.” She sighed. “That means stability for you and your future kids.”
“Who said I wanted kids?” I snapped without thinking, my fire flickering a nearby candle.
“You act like it’s the worst thing ever,” she said. “I love my boys.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.” I felt a sting of regret in my words. Annie was always a good big sister. She protected me when we went through the two required years at The Order of Fate, from our mother. She said it was to learn to protect ourselves from demons. I always thought it was so she didn’t have to talk about our father after he died.
“I know, Sara.” She smiled, and I pulled a dark stand of hair out of my face.
“Look, I’ll think about it, okay? That’s all I can promise right now.”
“No matter what you decide, I love you and all I want is for you to be safe,’ she said.
Me too, sis.

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Chapter Two