Forged in Darkfire

  Contents

  TITLE PAGE

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  End of book stuff

  Copyright

  FORGED IN DARKFIRE

  An Amber Lee Mystery Novella

  By Katerina Martinez

  A memory that kills. A witch on the run. An innocent hanging in the balance.

  Her hair smelt like honey and cinnamon. He tried his best not to get involved with her, kept her away for the good of the coven they were both a part of - or at least that's what he told himself. But he couldn't keep her far enough away, and now she's involved. Damien Colt never thought his family would find him and his sister Lily, but when his past catches up with him he must act or let an innocent woman be consumed by a foul spell that was meant for him.

  Damien must decide if keeping the world away from his most vulnerable self is more important than having blood on his hands, and he must do it fast. The Dark Fire waits for no man.

  CHAPTER 1

  The wind had a cold bite tonight. Where Damien Colt had been standing, with one foot in the sand and another on a rock, staring out over the San Francisco bay, there was no defense against the chill and the smell of salt and marine life. The water was dark and choppy, and a mist had rolled in so thick it had all but swallowed the entirety of the Golden Gate Bridge and its bright orange lights.

  Until about a moment ago Damien had been watching, and waiting. Waiting for his Coven to arrive and watching the mist devour the bridge like some impossibly huge beast eating another. Until about a moment ago the sandy, rocky walkway had been quiet and empty. Still, save for the lapping of the water on the rocks. But he had thrown his own voice into the silence and broken the magic of the place when Lily called him up.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, “But I have to stay here. My boss is making me close up; says he has a show to get to or something.”

  “And there’s nothing you can do?” Damien asked.

  “What can I do? I either close up or I get fired. What do you think I’m gonna do?”

  “And what about Natalie?”

  “What about her?”

  “I’m supposed to meet her… on my own?”

  “I don’t see what the problem is.”

  Damien looked around for signs of anyone approaching and lowered his voice. “What am I supposed to do with her?” he asked.

  “Talk to her? Get to know her? I don’t understand what your issue is with her. She’s sweet, and she’s a part of this Coven too.”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “But nothing, Damien. Suck it up and hang out with her. You need social interaction with someone besides me. As soon as I’m out of here I’ll give you a call and if you’re still together I’ll come down and get you.”

  He heard footsteps and spun around. There, coming up along the walkway, was a woman. She had her hands buried deep in the pockets of a long coat she was wearing and the wind was tugging at her hair and the purple woolen scarf wrapped warmly around her neck.

  It’s her, he thought.

  “She’s here,” he said down the phone, “I’ve gotta go.”

  “Da—” is as far as his sister got before he hung up.

  He put the phone into his jacket pocket, tucking his hand in there too for warmth, and stepped off the rock to intercept the incoming Witch. The rumble of distant thunder caught his attention and he turned his eyes to the clouds as he walked, checking for signs of potential rain, but he was no closer to figuring out whether bringing an umbrella would have been prudent by the time Natalie came to within talking distance.

  “Hey,” she said. Her voice carried and seemed to skip along the water, across the bay. He wondered if someone on the other side of the bridge had just heard her soft voice come sailing over the misty ocean.

  “Hey,” he echoed. They shook hands. Hers was warm while his was cold.

  “Where is everyone?” Natalie asked.

  “Sorry,” he said, “Lily just called; she’s stuck at work so she won’t be coming down here. Neither will the others.”

  “So it’s just you and me?”

  “Yeah, seems like it.”

  “That’s okay,” she said, smiling. There wasn’t a lot of light on the rocky beach by the San Francisco trail save for a faint yellow glow from the nearby car park; light that seemed to have managed to escape the fog’s grasp. It was only barely enough light for him to make out the smile on her face, but Damien didn’t need the light to know she wasn’t entirely disappointed by the fact that no one else would be able to show up.

  For a few weeks he had known about the little crush she had on him. The first time he had felt it was during a get-together Lily had thrown for the Coven. It wasn’t a big party or anything, just a quiet shin-dig at their place; a couple of Witches drinking a few beers and watching a few movies. He had met Natalie a few times before—during her initiation a few weeks prior to then—but they had never really spoken much until that night.

  When a girl falls asleep on your shoulder during a movie, he had thought, it must be because she likes you.

  And the idea of it—of her liking him—terrified him, only he couldn’t tell her why.

  “I don’t know,” he said, unsure whether to look at the bay or the yellow fog by the car park. Anywhere but her eyes. “Without them around I’m not sure what we’re hoping to get done tonight.”

  “Oh,” she said.

  “Do you want to, maybe, reschedule?” He looked at her then, and he saw her smile vanish from her face like many grains of sand pushed along by a strong wind.

  “I, uh… I guess we can,” she said.

  Damien felt like someone had reached into his heart and squeezed it tight when he saw her face change. She was a beautiful girl, really she was, and sweet too, but it wasn’t that. It simply wouldn’t have been right for him to get involved with someone in his Coven. He knew in his heart of hearts it would have only spelled danger for him and everybody else if he were to allow her feelings for him to develop any further. And yet here he was; standing in front of a girl whose heart it felt like he had just broken.

  “You know what,” he said.

  Instantly he caught her attention. “Yeah?” she asked.

  “It’s really cold and we’ve both come all the way out here. Do you… want to get some coffee?”

  The Bay Beach Bistro wasn’t far from where they were standing. All they had to do was cross the car park and they would find it; even if the thick fog surrounding the area would make them believe the world didn’t exist beyond their tiny corner of beach. Going somewhere warm to at least get out of the cold didn’t sound like a bad idea to him, and by the way her face seemed to have regained its smile, a hot drink didn’t seem like a bad idea to her either.

  The car park across from the beach was devoid of people and played host to only a handful of cars. The fog did a good job of swallowing both light and sound, so it wasn’t until Damien and Natalie had walked along the adjoining path and gotten closer to the cafe that they heard signs of life besides their own.

  Until then they may as well have been the only two people on the planet.

  The warm air inside the quaint little beach bistro hugged Damien and bid him welcome as he entered. Inside, the air was heavy with the smell of freshly baked bread, cinnamon, coffee, and—somehow—honey. It wasn’t until he was walking behind Natalie toward a booth in the corner of the building that he realized the cinnamon and honey aroma was coming off of her.

  How could her scent have been so powerful it squashed al
l others?

  Damien took a seat in the booth, squirmed out of his pea coat, and placed it on the side. Natalie did the same, only she reached over with her coat and placed it above Damien’s instead of dropping it at her side. She was smiling when she did it, but he didn’t question it. A gesture he was supposed to pick up on?

  “I’ve never smelt that perfume before,” he said. “What is it?”

  “The one I’m wearing?” she asked, “It’s just something I learned to put together. All made from natural stuff.”

  “You did that yourself?”

  “Oh yeah, totally. Lily gave me this—”

  “Evenin’,” said the waitress, interrupting whatever Natalie was about to say. “What can I get ya?”

  “I’ll have a hazelnut latte,” Damien said.

  “And I’ll have a caramel hot chocolate if that’s okay?”

  “Fasho,” said the waitress, “Either of you two kids tryna eat?”

  Fasho? Tryna? Damien searched Natalie’s face for an answer, but she only smiled.

  “Nah,” Natalie said, “That’s it for now. Good looks, though.”

  Good looks?

  The waitress took their orders and headed back toward the counter, stopping along the way to take an order off another patron sitting on a stool nearby. When she was out of earshot, Damien turned to Natalie and cocked an eyebrow.

  “Don’t come to the bay often?” she asked, sensing his confusion.

  “I don’t. I live on Fulton Street, by the Alamo park, and I work nearby too so I don’t have to come down here often. Did that waitress just ask if we were trying to eat?”

  Natalie smiled and shook her head. “That’s just how they talk on the bay. I grew up here. My dad was a fisherman.”

  “But I’ve never heard you use those words before.”

  “I’ve learned to switch between bay speak and regular speak,” she said, proudly. “Maybe I can teach you some day?”

  There was that hopefulness again. He knew she wasn’t just trying to be friendly; only a fool would have missed those cues. But he couldn’t bear to see her smile disappear again. Seeing her here, now, cheeks flushed from the sudden change of cold to hot, her tumble of brunette hair perfectly framing her face and cascading down to her shoulders… in another life he would have sold his arm for a girl like her.

  But not in this life.

  She was off-limits. It hadn’t been an imposition placed on him by Lily, either. He had just decided he wouldn’t get into a relationship with her. Because if he did and the relationship didn’t work out, what then? A lifetime of awkward Coven meetings, that’s what. He couldn’t have that on his conscience. Lily had worked too hard to set them both up in San Francisco only for Damien to screw it up.

  He nodded and smiled. “So, how, uh, was your day?”

  Natalie sighed, unraveled the purple scarf from around her neck, and pulled off the black gloves she had been wearing. “Not great,” she said. “I had to rush through the last part of my last assignment to get it handed in before Christmas break. I’m officially free from school now, but these last few days have felt like a marathon sprint.”

  “I bet,” he said.

  “How about you? What have you been up to?”

  “I’m still interning for a junior graphic designer at Project12,” he said, “I impressed my boss with a logo I made for a small publishing firm today, so that was pretty great.”

  “Oh wow, congratulations.”

  “Yeah, I’m hoping they’ll give me a real job… you know, one with real money. But I’m not in a hurry yet.” Damien looked around, lowered his voice, and asked “How are you with your Magick?”

  “Learning,” Natalie said, matching the volume of Damien’s voice. “I’m still new at the whole thing but I’ve read every book Lily gave me and I practice every night. She gave me a few advanced spells to do, including a binding ritual, but I put together a few little ones and came up with this...”

  She brushed her hands through her brunette hair, shook the locks loose, and the sweet aroma of cinnamon and honey came rushing out, overpowering every other scent in the air. Damien didn’t want to say it, but he was impressed. When Lily discovered Natalie she had the Magical ability of a ham-sandwich, but now—only a few short weeks later—she seemed as confident and as capable as he was.

  “You did that?” he asked. “On your own?”

  “Yeah. But this is a trifle compared to what you can do,” she said, smiling.

  “I don’t do much myself, but thank you.”

  “I call modesty.”

  “I really don’t, though. All I do is call the elements.”

  “And that’s nothing to you? The Guardians themselves listen to you. That’s like having a phone line to a God. Actually, I was wondering if, maybe…” she trailed off.

  It was coming. Damien knew then before the words left her mouth what she was about to ask, and sitting there across from her, drinking in her delicious perfume and watching her long, dark eyelashes flutter, he knew he wouldn’t have a choice in his answer.

  “I don’t know if it’s such a good idea,” he said.

  Natalie paused and nodded. “Yeah, I understand. I’m still very new and—”

  “It’s not that,” he said, “It just takes a toll, you know?”

  He wasn’t exactly lying; calling the power of the Elements came as easily as thought but it did leave you feeling drained after. Nothing a bite to eat couldn’t fix, but for the purposes of deflecting, he was happy to stretch the truth.

  “Takes a toll?” she asked, “I don’t think you’re being totally honest with me.”

  “Oh?”

  “No. I think you want to keep the magick all to yourself,” she said, grinning.

  “I don’t. I wouldn’t.”

  “It’s either that or you’re trying to protect me from harm, which—nice as it is—I don’t need you to do. I would rather you just teach me.”

  “I’m not a Master.”

  “You’re more experienced than me, so that makes you my Master.”

  Damien shuddered, but it was a warm, excited kind of shudder. The kind that made him tingle and shake all over. He couldn’t tell whether it had been what she had just said or the way in which she had said it, but he couldn’t say no. Not now. If he did, he would be a dick.

  “Alright,” he said, “I’ll show you.”

  Natalie smiled. “Just so we’re clear; you’re going to teach me how to talk to the Guardians?”

  Damien nodded and smiled. “Sure,” he said, “What’s the worst that could happen?”

  CHAPTER 2

  If someone had asked him whether he was enjoying his quality time with Natalie, he would have found himself hard pressed to say no. All told, Natalie was sweet, funny, beautiful, and a Witch. He would never have to hide his true nature from her, or that of his sister, simply by virtue of that fact alone. And yet, every second he spent in her presence was even more nerve-wrecking than the last.

  Was he really so afraid of coming clean to her about the boundaries of their relationship or was it… something else?

  Whatever it was, Damien hadn’t been able to sit still since they sat down at the booth. Their conversation had been pleasant enough and their drinks warm and welcome on a cold night such as this. But his mind was elsewhere. In fact, all night his mind had been on the moment of their parting.

  And the time had come.

  “So, what do you want to do?” she asked.

  “I can take you home if you want?” Damien said.

  “Are you sure?” she asked, “I wouldn’t want to put you out.”

  “I don’t have a car or anything but we can share a cab?” He had noticed she wasn’t heading for the car park.

  “Okay, awesome. And, actually,” she said, spinning and raising her finger as if she had just remembered something, “My roommates aren’t home. They’ve all gone home for Christmas break, so… do you think you could maybe… come up and show me a little of that el
emental Magick? Only because I wouldn’t want tonight to go to waste.”

  She had a point. They had both cleared their schedules to participate in a little Coven bonding tonight only to have been bailed on, and Lily had said she would come down and see them once she got off work. All Damien had to do was keep Natalie entertained for as long as Lily was busy and everything would be okay.

  At least until the next time their paths crossed.

  Don’t be a dick, Damien he thought to himself. But he couldn’t help shake the feeling that the stars themselves were aligning in some strange way, plotting to have Damien and Natalie alone for some reason only they understood. What scheme were they hatching?

  When they stepped out of the Bay Beach Bistro the nearby ocean spray reached out and touched them with icy, salty fingers. They turned their faces away from the cold and headed down the asphalt path away from the beach ending at the foot of a main road and only a few minutes’ walk from a row of waiting cabs.

  The ride was spent mostly in silence. San Francisco was quiet and devoid of all life, it seemed. The fog clung to the roads and buildings like a blanket, obscuring all but the faint glow from street lights and buildings. Were it not for them, it would seem like they were driving on a road to nowhere.

  The cab eventually slid to a halt. Natalie paid the man, though Damien put up a fight before submitting and slipping out of the cab. They were somewhere downtown, now, surrounded by tall buildings he couldn’t see the tops of and streets which seemed to disappear after a few feet. He watched the cab drive off and vanish into an orange cloud, leaving only the faintest impression of two red lights in its wake.

  A few moments later the fog took them too.

  “Do you live here?” Damien asked.

  “Sorta,” Natalie said, pulling an ATM card out of her purse. “If we’re going up to my place we’ll need some groceries so I thought we’d stop here and get some. My fridge is empty.”

  “Can you at least let me pay for them? I wasn’t even given a chance to pull my wallet out and pay the cabbie.”