Chapter One
The year was 1808,and Marion Cloughson already knew what it was to fight for every breath she took.
The training school at the edge of the village had been her refuge for the last year, though she never quite forgot the sting of being called an orphan, the way the matrons whispered when they thought she wasn’t listening.No family, no coin, no dowry, no future.Except Marion had teeth.She had fists, sharp eyes, and a stubborn streak that had gotten her whipped more times than she could count.
She had nothing to lose—and that made her dangerous.
Tonight proved it.
The cobbled alley was slick with rain, shadows clinging to its narrow walls.Marion’s pulse pounded as she pressed herself between the barrels stacked against the wall.She’d been trailing Anne Rourke, a quiet, mousy girl from her class who hadn’t noticed that Matthew and his pack of older boys had begun circling.Now the little thing stood frozen at the far end of the alley, her back to the wall, while Matthew—dark-eyed, sharp-toothed, cruel even at seventeen—advanced with his three friends.
“Pretty little witchling,” Matthew crooned, his voice thick with malice.“You’ll fetch a fine price in blood.”His hand brushed the hilt of the knife at his hip.“A drop here, a drop there ...enough to keep the rituals fed.”
One of the others snickered.“She’s trembling.Think she’ll scream when we taste her?”
Marion’s fury spiked hot and fast.She stepped out from the shadows, jaw set.“Back off, Matthew.”
Four heads swung her way.Matthew’s smirk widened.“Cloughson.The stray kitten.Come to hiss at me?”
“I’ll do more than hiss,” she snapped.Her fists clenched tight, knuckles white.“You don’t touch her.”
Matthew laughed, low and cruel.“And what will you do?You’re nothing.No family, no power, no place.Just a mouthy brat who doesn’t know when to shut up.”
“I know how to shut you up,” she shot back.
He lunged.
She met him head-on, ducking under the first swing of his arm and slamming her fist into his ribs.Pain jolted up her knuckles, but the satisfaction of his grunt kept her moving.She kicked out, catching another boy in the shin.They snarled, circling her now, and Marion felt her pulse leap into her throat.She was small, outnumbered, but she didn’t care.Better to fight and bleed than to cower and surrender.
From behind, Matthew seized her by the hair, yanking her head back.“Fierce little bitch,” he hissed.“Maybe we’ll bleed you, too.”
Her initial flare of fear snapped and disappeared, replaced by something sharp and wild.The air thickened, her veins buzzing like she’d swallowed lightning.Heat gathered in her palms, a strange purple glow rising beneath her skin.She gasped, eyes wide with excitement.
With a cry, she flung her hand upward.Purple fire burst from her fingers, raw and untamed.Matthew screamed, dropping her as he stumbled back, his sleeve aflame.The other boys swore and reeled away, eyes wide with terror.
“What—what in God’s name are you?You are too young to exhibit such power,” one of them stammered.
Marion panted, heart racing, staring at her trembling hands.Fire.Herfire.For a breath she thought she might collapse under the enormity of it—but then she saw Rourke, still cowering, and straightened her spine.
“I’m a witch,” she said, her voice steady now.“And she’s under my protection.”
A voice rang out from behind her.“And she’s not alone.”
Marion spun just as three figures rushed into the alley—Saffron Walsh with her fierce eyes of different colors blazing, Ursula Addington moving with calm strength, and Libby, Ursula’s sister, whose power already sparked like starlight at her fingertips.Together they formed a wall between her and Matthew’s cronies, power humming in the air.
Matthew swore, backing away, fury and fear twisting his features.“This isn’t over, kitten,” he spat, then turned and fled with his companions.
The silence after was deafening.Marion’s knees nearly gave out, but Libby caught her arm, steadying her.“You did it,” Libby whispered, awe bright in her face.“You found your power.”
Saffron smirked, firelight dancing in her mismatched eyes.“Told you she wasn’t just a mouthy brat.”
Ursula’s lips curved.“She’ll do.”
Something warm and fierce surged in Marion’s chest.For the first time in her life, she wasn’t just fighting alone.She had sisters.A coven.A place to belong.
She grinned through the ache in her body, through the blood trickling down her temple.“Guess I’m one of you now.”
“You always were,” Saffron said softly.“You just hadn’t found us yet.”