Summer sin northern witc.., p.1
Summer Sin (Northern Witch #4), page 1
Summer
Sin
Northern Witch #4
By K.S. Marsden
Northern Witch
Winter Trials (Northern Witch #1)
Awaken (Northern Witch #2)
The Breaking (Northern Witch #3)
Summer Sin (Northern Witch #4)
A Dark Fate (Northern Witch #5)
Copyright © K.S. Marsden 2021
Cover by: Lily Dormishev
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted be any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without prior permission of the author.
ISBN: 9781005594817
Chapter One
Mark picked absent-mindedly at the black material of his funeral clothes. His best trousers were stiff and uncomfortable, but some discomfort seemed in keeping with the day.
Only a few hours ago, they had been attending Eadric’s funeral, with a dozen witches and friends showing their respect for the pagan ritual.
At the time, Mark had been honoured to be a part of it, and had found solace amongst his coven. But as soon as it was over, he could feel the grief of losing Eadric nipping at his heels. Mark already missed his bright green eyes, and his gentle innocence... gone forever because Mark was foolish enough to drag him into the middle of a witch war.
Mark had tried to keep busy and distract himself, first with his coven; and then visiting Damian in the afternoon, allowing his boyfriend to be his sole focus.
Now though, as Miriam drove him home in silence, stray thoughts plucked at Mark’s mind. Eadric’s easy smile, and the surprising roughness of his skin when his hand brushed against Mark’s.
It was starting to get dark by the time Miriam dropped Mark off, in front of the big farmhouse that was home.
“If you ever need anyone to speak to...” Miriam trailed off. Despite protesting that she was trying to be his friend, she probably knew that teenage-Mark had a slew of friends his own age... “Fine, go, do your thing.”
Mark tried to smile his thanks, he knew Miriam was only trying to be nice, but it came off as a bit of an awkward grimace. “I do appreciate it.” He said, letting himself out of the car.
The spring evening was mild and calm, and Mark was in no rush to go inside, back to real life. He watched and waved as Miriam’s red Audi disappeared down the drive.
When he moved back to the house, movement caught Mark’s eye, as a curtain opened in an upstairs window. A pale face hovered, glowering down at him.
“What the-?”
Mark barged through Nanna’s empty kitchen, racing up the stairs, two at a time. His initial bravery faded, and he tentatively pushed open the door to the spare room, wary of the monster within.
“Michelle?”
“No, it’s sodding Voldemort. Who did you expect?” Came the waspy reply.
Michelle looked her usual angry self, scowling at Mark for daring to exist, never mind his audacity at being in her vicinity.
“Uh, don’t take this the wrong way, but why are you here?” Mark asked.
“Why do you think? Your psycho Nanna has kept me trapped in this house since we got back from London!”
“What? Why?”
“She’s worried I might go off the rails or cast dark magic.” Michelle growled. Holding out her hands, her frown deepened. “I can’t... I can’t draw on my magic in this prison. She’s even blocked reception for my phone – I haven’t been able to call for help!”
Mark paused; he knew how that felt. Only a few days ago, he’d had the freakish experience of having his magic out of reach.
“You need to get me out of here.” Michelle demanded.
“What... no.”
Michelle’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Seriously? I risked everything to rescue you from London; you owe me.”
“Er... this is nothing alike. You rescued me from a bunch of crazy witches who beat me up and were about to kill me.” Mark replied, the bruises were still achingly fresh. “You’re stuck with Nanna – who at worst, will overfeed you tea and biscuits.”
“I’m still trapped against my will.” Michelle snapped, snatching up one of the porcelain figures from the windowsill and throwing it at Mark.
It smashed into the door frame, and Mark backed away from her angry outburst, not wanting to test her throwing skills any further. “OK, OK. I’ll see what I can do.” He said, holding his hands up defensively.
Mark kept one eye on Michelle, and walked sideways down the stairs. He wouldn’t put it past her to push him down the narrow staircase.
“Nanna...?” Under Michelle’s scrutiny, his voice wavered. Mark coughed and called again. “Nanna!”
The living room door opened, and Nanna stepped through, still wearing her black funeral clothes.
“What’s up, kiddo?” She asked innocently.
“What’s up?” Mark echoed. “How about the bloody Wicked Witch of the West trapped in your house?”
Nanna glanced up the stairs, spotting Michelle hovering on the landing. “She’s dangerous.”
Michelle looked a little smug at the description.
“To us, and herself.” Nanna amended. “We can’t let a witch juiced up on dark magic loose.”
“So, Michelle is going to stay here forever?” Mark asked.
“Not forever.” Nanna shrugged. “She’s new to dark magic, I’m hoping her addiction won’t take long to break.”
“You’re forgetting, you old bat, I don’t want your help.” Michelle snapped.
“You say the nicest things.” Nanna replied. “Mark, can you please bring Michelle’s schoolwork home with you tomorrow. Then you can both train in white magic in the evening.”
“What!” Both exclaimed.
Mark was used to having Nanna to himself, and he wasn’t sure how he felt sharing her with this angry girl who was pissed off at the world.
“This is pointless, just let me go you crazy witch.” Michelle barrelled down the stairs, her murderous glare fixed on Nanna.
“Nanna, watch... out...” Mark’s warning faded.
Nanna threw up a hand with a careless gesture and Michelle stopped, stuck behind an invisible barrier. The girl’s mouth was opened in scream and slammed her fists against the magical blockade, all noise blocked.
“Thanks for the warning, Mark.” Nanna said drily. “I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t here.”
Mark grunted in response to her sarcasm. “Is this the part where you brag what a powerful witch you are?”
“Well, you do seem to need reminding frequently.” Nanna remarked, then nodded in Michelle’s direction, where the young girl was still flailing wildly. “She’s been having these outbursts all weekend; they fade after a few minutes. We’ll be back to sullen teenage silence in no time.”
“Holding someone against their will is illegal.” Mark pointed out.
“They weren’t thinking of magical rehab when they made those rules. Besides, I spoke to Michelle’s legal guardians.” Nanna rolled her eyes. “Her parents didn’t even notice she was missing.”
On the other side of the invisible barrier, Michelle’s tantrum began to fade, just as Nanna predicted. The girl looked exhausted; her rage dissipated into nothing.
“It’s late, you should get home before your parents ground you again.”
Chapter Two
The next day at school, Mark felt like he was the centre of attention, yet again. It seemed to be the new norm: in the winter term, everyone thought he had used dark magic to attack his classmates; and last term they all thought he’d been cheating on his boyfriend – who was coincidentally their new star striker.
Mark winced as he caught sight of his reflection in one of the windows. He was a bruised and battered mess. The lump on his head was going down, but there was no way to hide the graze across his jaw, and the wicked purple bruise on his face.
Mark wondered what story his classmates would make up this time; it was sure to be good. At least this time, Mark had his supporters back in place.
His best friends, Harry and Sarah, walked ahead. They were being extra-loud, to prove how extra-normal this was. And his boyfriend Damian stood at Mark’s side, his fingers nervously brushing his hand.
They had held hands on dates before, and Mark wondered if Damian would dare to do the same at school, especially now they were on a new level. Mark blushed again, as he relived last night, when he’d admitted he was in love with Damian.
Damian hadn’t said it back yet, but everything suddenly seemed more serious.
Mark headed to his morning tutor group, and a piece of paper was thrust into his hand.
“Exam timetable?” He read, his heart dropping.
“Yes, we went over it at length, yesterday.” His form tutor replied. “I don’t know if you remember, but you have your final GCSE exams next month.”
Mark rolled his eyes. He couldn’t forget if he tried. All his teachers had drilled them over their exams, as though it was news. Mark had lost the will for any original response. “Yes sir.” He managed.
“If you have any questions, you know where to find me.”
“Yes sir.” Mark repeated.
Knowing that he didn’t have the teen’s attention, his tutor waved a hand to dismiss him.
Mark wasn’t allowed to forget about his exams for a second as, when his tutor session drew to a close, every single class and teacher hammered it home. They droned on about the final countdown, and structuring revision, an
d taking responsibility for yourself.
Mark’s head was thumping. He was relieved to make it to dinnertime, and a whole hour’s break. He’d no sooner set his tray down at his usual table, than he overheard his fellow students debating the best approach to revision. Mark groaned and dropped his head on the table.
“You alright?”
Mark looked up to see his boyfriend sliding into the chair next to him. “Have you heard: the exams are coming.”
Damian bit back a smile. “It might’ve been mentioned.”
“If anyone mentions exams in the next hour, I will stab them with my fork.” Sarah warned, waving her blunt weapon.
“Noted.” Mark grinned at the threat posed by the petite blonde girl.
“In more important news, before we got kidnapped by dark witches and threatened with death and torture...” Sarah announced with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Harry totally rocked on stage, and his fan-base is growing!”
“That’s awesome.” Mark replied, his voice not quite sounding right. He was thrilled that Harry’s fledgling singing career was taking off, but he couldn’t forget that the dark witches and their death threats his friends had suffered were all his fault.
Edith and her coven had only kidnapped Harry and Sarah to lure Mark out of hiding. Mark had a long way to go before he made it up to his friends. It was already too late to make it up to Eadric...
Mark felt pressure on his arm, and he saw Damian leaning against him, a look of concern crossing his face.
“I’m fine.” Mark insisted.
Harry didn’t seem to notice the exchange; he was too busy listing the venues that his ‘manager’ was negotiating with. “The Warehouse in Leeds have already asked me to come back, and there’s loads’a places in Sheffield I want to perform.”
Mark forced a weak smile; he could well believe that Harry wanted to do a gig in the hometown of his favourite band. Hell, Harry probably already saw himself warming up for the Artic Monkeys.
“Anywhere but London...” Harry pulled a face. “We’ve learnt our lesson – no more venues owned by demons, or in league with evil witches. My manager is going to do thorough background checks from now on.”
“Sounds like a lotta work.”
Sarah smiled adoringly at her boyfriend. “He’s worth it.”
“Wow, I’ve never seen the mushy thing up close.” Damian hissed in Mark’s ear. “You’re right, they’re very intense.”
Mark snorted a laugh, receiving weird looks from his friends. “Y’know, you still owe Dean a gig.”
“What?”
“He was at the gig in Leeds – he promised not to tell the other students, if you’d perform at his next party.” Mark saw their confusion change to concern. “Sorry, I thought I’d told you.”
“Nah, you were too busy making eyes at Eadric.” Harry broke off when he received a less-than-subtle punch from Sarah. “Oh, is that the time? We have to, um...”
Harry stood up, his empty plate rattling on the table. Sarah escorted him briskly out of the food hall, before he could embarrass them any further.
“Well, that was uncomfortable.” Mark remarked, his humour not hitting the right note.
“Look, I don’t judge you for anything that happened after I broke up with you.” Damian said. He sounded sincere, but he didn’t raise his eyes from the table.
“Nothing happened...” Mark stressed. Maybe if he said it often enough, he’d believe it too.
*****
Mark headed home, with his rucksack digging into his shoulder, as he tried to fit two bulky folders in it. Both folders contained a breakdown of the exams. Mark wondered how long it would be before Michelle threw her copy out of the window. He didn’t know why Nanna insisted that he brought Michelle’s work home, there wasn’t a chance in hell that she’d do anything more productive than turn it into confetti.
Mark made his way into Nanna’s kitchen, the kettle already boiling on the Aga, and a plate of biscuits on the table.
Michelle came stomping down the stairs as Mark poured the tea. Her brow raised disdainfully. “This is too cute.” She muttered, pinching a biscuit.
“You don’t have to be here.”
Michelle snorted. “Have you forgotten that I’m trapped in this house? What am I supposed to do, stay in my bedroom until your Nanna magically decides to release me?”
It wasn’t her bedroom, Mark wanted to argue, a new and surprising territorial feeling over his family’s house.
“It’s fine.” Mark replied curtly. “I brought your homework.”
Michelle ignored the folder that was dumped on the table, her dark-brown eyes were fixed on Mark with an unsettling gaze.
“That passive-aggressive thing don’t work.” She stated. “You keep sayin’ you’re fine, but you never mean it – I can see your anger, and so can everyone else.”
“I’m not angry-”
“Fine; frustrated, upset, in pain...” Michelle interjected. “Your fella died. Why even pretend you’re OK?”
The dark energy that had been bubbling inside Mark all day surged up again. His coven had paid tribute to Eadric at yesterday’s pagan funeral, which had provided a temporary boon.
Now that he acknowledged its existence, the darkness threatened to rush back. The pain, the grief, and the guilt that Eadric had given his life to save Mark.
“My coven helped start the healing.” He argued.
Michelle snorted inelegantly. “Save all that touchy-feely crap. What you really need is to scream.”
“What?” Mark blurted out.
“Don’t look at me gone out.” Michelle protested. “It ain’t illegal. Dare you to scream.”
A strangled noise came out of Mark’s throat, before he coughed and blushed. “I don’t think-”
Michelle interrupted him with an ear-splitting scream.
Once Mark got over his shock, he felt the pressure rise to join in. He started to scream, pathetic at first, his voice wobbling, before he put some oomph behind it.
Michelle caught his eye and they both broke into laughter.
The dark part that had been stirring now settled back down, sated for now.
“You were right, it worked.” Mark confessed.
Michelle nodded; her smile being replaced by her usual sneer. “Still not your friend.” She pointed out.
“What the blazes?”
Mark turned to see Nanna standing in the doorway, looking at them in disbelief.
“I thought someone was bein’ murdered.”
Mark gulped. “Um, no, Michelle was sharing some stress-relief theories.”
Nanna shook her head. “Why can’t you just scrap, like normal kids?”
Mark hid his smile behind his cup of tea.
“Right, we’re gonna do some basic crystal work today. The moon is still full enough to be useful.” Nanna announced. “I’ve only got one book, so you’ll have to share for your homework.”
“Share?” Michelle spat. “I’m not doing some namby-pamby white magic.”
Nanna crossed her arms. “You are if you ever want to do magic again. We don’t allow dark magic around here.”
“You don’t control me.”
“Of course I don’t, dearie.” Nanna replied drily. “I’ll just keep you trapped in here, blocked from dark magic, until you change your mind. If it takes months, years... I’m in no rush.”
Michelle’s usually-pasty complexion whitened further at the threat.
Nanna grabbed a wide wooden box and placed it on the kitchen table. When she opened it, she revealed stones and gems of various colours and shapes.
“Crystals can help bring balance, and provide energy to boost the strength of your spells.” Nanna reeled off, gesturing to the box. “Select a crystal, and we’ll practise pouring energy into them, for later use.”
“This is why dark magic is better. It’s strong on its own.” Michelle scowled at the box. “These aren’t all crystals anyway.”
“It’s a generic term girly.” Nanna replied. “And the sooner you pull that stick out of your arse and give it a go, the sooner your lesson will be over.”
Mark bit his tongue, there was something satisfying about Nanna taking on the school bully.
He turned to the task, remembering what Nanna had previously told him about the importance of picking your own stone. He felt a pull towards an unpolished garnet with a dark, purplish hue.
