Witchmark_Daughters of Hecate_Prequel by Meredith Medina

Author:Meredith Medina [Medina, Meredith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: FireHive Media
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

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My mother’s magical guidance had led me to the dockyards and the ships creaked at their moorings, their decks swarming with men carrying ropes and crates of trade goods headed across the sea to the colonies. The smell of the sea was faint in my nostrils, overpowered by the choking smoke that lingered. I needed to clear my head, clear my lungs, clear my eyes. I stared into the dark water that lapped at the dock. Seagulls called faintly, bobbing calmly on the surface.

There were more shouts from the alley. More men. More men coming to take me away and put me in the flames. Without thinking, I jumped into the water.

It was cold, blissfully cold, and I let my weight carry me deep below the surface. I opened my eyes, letting the salt water wash away the smoke that stung them. I knew that they would be waiting for me on the dock, and I couldn’t hold my breath forever.

I swam as far away from the dock as I could, until my lungs were screaming for air and my head began to pound. An extra push from my magic, spurred by the panicked hammering of my heart forced me above the surface of the water and I gasped for air, floundering briefly in the water as the sunlight hit my face.

The rope that bound one of the great sailing ships to the dock hung low in the water nearby, and I watched a long black rat scurry nimbly across its thick, twisted length on its way onto the boat.

With my teeth clenched in determination, I grabbed the rope and wrapped myself around it. It was slippery with algae and I clung to it tightly as I shimmied up towards the deck. I could feel my magic surging through me and hoped that the glamor I was projecting covered me as it should. I had only just started learning that particular skill, and all I could do was hope that my heightened stress levels were pushing the glamor to where it needed to be. Hannah had always been able to do it perfectly.

Hannah.

I choked on a sob and almost lost my grip. The men who had been chasing me were searching the docks. Shoving long sticks into the water and moving boxes and bales in their quest for a redheaded girl in a ragged woolen dress. They had seen me running away from the fallen barrels, and heard the splash as I jumped into the water. If I fell now, they would find me, and it would all be over.

I clung tightly to the rope, my legs shaking with effort, and my arms moments away from collapse. I gritted my teeth, picturing my mother’s face, her bright red hair floating around her face in the heat of the fire. Not me.

Hand over hand I pulled myself higher until I was level with the deck and could crawl through the opening that was barely large enough for me to slip through.

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