The Witches of Merribay (The Seaforth Chronicles) by B.J. Smash

way too pretty. For some reason, I had really begun to like this boy of few words. Definitely not in a flirty way, but more of a friendly way. At least that's what I told myself. I decided to trust him. If he said no harm would come to me, then I believed him.
    “Ready to run?” he asked.
    “Sure.” My legs had already begun to tingle with energy.
    He sped off , and I chased after him through the dark forest that smelled of pine.
    Running for a half hour or so, he slowed . My legs felt better already. I sped up to run next to him.
    “Will you be able to enter Magella's boat tonight?” He talked with ease , not even slightly winded from running.
    “I'm all set to stay at my aunt ’s café. I should be able to complete the mission,” I said, a bit winded from the speeds we had been going, but not too bad.
    “You nervous?”
    I thought about it, and, yes, I was nervous. Nervous as hell. But I wouldn't admit it to him. “Nah. I'll be fine.”
    “Good , then. You will be fine. I wish I could go with you, but I cannot.”
    “I'll be fine ,” I said a final time.
    We raced throughout the forest for quite some time, until we reached an area that was too breathtaking not to stop .
    “Let's walk for a minute ,” I suggested.
    “Tired?”
    “Not at all. Just look at this place.”
    The path, narrow and washed out in spots, went uphill. It was mostly filled with rocks covered with lichen and moss the color of lime, and a little stream flowed over the path at an angle. Bright green ferns lined the path. Ivy circled the yew trees, reaching up into the branches.
    “What is this place?”
    “This path leads to the coast, which is straight ahead. We won't be going that far today—we don't have time.”
    “I didn't know the ocean was back here . Can we go someday?”
    He nodded his head yes.
    We hiked up the hill , and as it leveled out, Drumm jumped back. He already had his bow with an arrow ready to shoot. How did he move so fast?
    “What's wrong?” I whispered.
    Before he could answer, two people stepped out on the path. “Oh it's you, Drumm,” someone said.
    Drumm put his bow and arrow away . “What are you doing out here? So far from the ocean?”
    Two people about our age stood before us . The boy was slightly shorter than Drumm, and the girl was about my height. To put it mildly, they were both bronzed and beautiful. She wore her long, golden hair up in some sort of twist. Her eyes were golden in color. She had the most perfect, slender nose and full lips. A pang of jealousy swept through me. How did one get so pretty?
    The boy was beyond description . He had black hair and tight, toned muscles, with perfect lips and a pronounced jawbone. He also had a small cleft in his chin. His eyes were strange, but they were growing on me. Slightly tilted up on the edges, they were blue with purple specks.
    I swallowed.
    “Ivy?” Drumm had been talking to me. He looked a bit disturbed with my actions.
    “Uhh …what?”
    “I said, this is Nicoli and Jina.” He pronounced Nicoli with a long “i” at the end.
    “Hi ,” I said.
    Nicoli held out his hand . Mesmerized, I held out mine to let him clasp it. “Good to meet you too.” His hand was soft and cool.
    The girl smiled and nodded my way.
    Releasing my hand, he spoke to Drumm. “We are on the lookout. There has been theft attempt on the shoreline.”
    Apparently they were lucky enough to live in cottages by the sea.
    “Have they been successful in any way?” Drumm asked.
    “One tried, but we chased him into the forest . On Gala-Andra's orders. Otherwise he wouldn't have gotten very far.” He frowned.
    “I'll see if I can find out anything ,” Drumm said. Anxious to leave, he said, “Good-bye then, until the next time we meet.” 
    They struck fists . Drumm caught my arm and hauled me off, running toward home.
    I didn’t know why, but it kind of bummed me out that I didn't even get one good last look at the young man.
    When he stopped at some rhubarb