I walked away.
“What is she talking about with Opal?” Samantha asked. “Knox? What does she mean?”
“What does she always mean?” Christopher snarled. “That it’s her way or no way.”
“Don’t be a fucking moron,” Samantha spat.
I leaped the stairs, stepping into the house and leaving their argument behind me. I set my blades by the front door and strode down the hall toward the kitchen.
Christopher had chosen the mystic — over me, over Paisley, over our life.
That was fine.
Life changed.
But no one determined my path. Not magic, not even when wielded by a clairvoyant. And not genetic ties.
I hadn’t asked to be created, but I could make my creators regret my very existence.
And I could do so even better if I didn’t have to protect Christopher at the same time.
He had chosen the mystic over me. Over Paisley. Over Opal. Over Zans as well.
I thought we’d built a life, a family, together.
I was wrong.
Because all it took was one whisper from a member of the Collective for Christopher to tear it all down. And not even the actual whisper. Just a vision of the future, of what the mystic had to say.
I’d been wrong all along.
There was a desperate, terrible freedom in that revelation.
Magic shifted behind me as Aiden and Paisley followed me into the house.
I had built a life.
But it didn’t have to include Christopher.
His choice. His decision. As it had been eight years ago.
Life changed.
I couldn’t force people to love me, blood bond or not.
Chapter 7
Opal was waiting for me at the entrance to the kitchen, but it was Capri’s gaze that I met and held. She was standing in a protection circle she had chalked in bright blue on the white tile. The circle was dormant, its edge smudged where Opal had exited.
“How quickly can you be ready to go?” I asked the blond witch.
She stiffened her shoulders. “In minutes.”
“Now?” Opal asked. “Right now?”
“Yes.” I tried to look at her, to soften the harsh expression I could feel carved across my face, but I found I couldn’t. I settled my hand on the young witch’s shoulder instead. “Please.”
She pressed her hand over mine. Then she nodded, gazing down at her feet. “I’m packed.”
Ember was sorting through the final piles of paper on the kitchen table. “I’ll stay.”
“No,” I said evenly. “The house will be easier to defend when I’m not worried about protecting you.”
Aiden stepped up behind me, then around, running his fingers along my outstretched arm. Then he settled his hand over Opal’s and mine.
The young witch looked up at him, blinking. “I could help,” she whispered.
“Always,” he murmured. “But Emma and I will feel better if you’re safely away while we help Samantha deal with the people hunting her.”
“You’ll escort the witches to the airport?” I asked. My tone was hard and pointed. I had no desire to ever address Aiden sounding like that, but he simply squeezed Opal’s hand and mine as he nodded.
“I’ve texted Jenni —”
“It’s too dangerous.”
He gave me a quelling look.
And for some reason I accepted it. I wasn’t alone in needing to protect Opal. Aiden was right beside me. The sorcerer was a valuable resource. And so was Jenni Raymond, for escorting the witches at least.
He laughed quietly, as if completely understanding my need to make rational, not emotional, choices.
Christopher and Samantha stepped around us. The telekinetic crossed to the fridge, pulling out apple juice. The clairvoyant went to the cupboard, grabbing a glass and setting it on the island. They were pointedly not looking at each other. Their individual magic ghosted their movements.
I ignored them both, focusing instead on my hand on Opal’s shoulder, her hand on mine, and Aiden’s on top of both. Gentle magic shifted between us.
Capri’s gaze on me was steady. “What are we up against?” The witch’s tone was brusque but not unkind.
“Two black witches. Twins,” I said. “They’re employed by some sort of powerful telepath who calls herself a mystic. As Aiden said, they’re here for Samantha, but unfortunately, they saw me with Opal in the park. So that puts her on their radar.”
Capri and Ember exchanged glances. The lawyer witch grimaced. Then she started gathering all her neat piles of paper, placing them in her briefcase.
“The witches are drained,” Aiden said. Squeezing our hands again, then releasing them, he continued on into the kitchen. “It will most likely take them days to recover, if not a week.”
I glanced down the hall, feeling Paisley prowling toward us. “Opal, I’ll be up right behind you.”
The young witch nodded, running her hand over the demon dog’s head, neck, and back as she crossed down the hall.
“Would you go with her?” I asked quietly. “Please.”
Paisley pressed her nose under my hand. I scratched behind her ears, listening as Opal climbed the stairs. Her footfalls were slow but soft, not stomping. So the earlier stomping had been something else. A sense of ownership, maybe.
I was so desperately angry — on the edge of being incapacitated by a churning tangle of emotion. I gathered that anger around me tightly. I would hold it in check until I needed it. Just like I held my magic.
“Thank you,” I whispered to Paisley.
She snorted as if indicating that she didn’t need to be thanked to do her job. Again. Then she trundled down the hall to follow Opal upstairs.
I stepped farther into the kitchen. Arrangements needed to be made and executed efficiently.
“Twin black witches,” Capri said grimly, speaking to Ember as if they’d already come to some conclusion.
The witch lawyer nodded. “Onyx and Jet. I’ve got a few preset barrier spells we can put on the car.”
“They won’t last more than an hour,” Capri said, pulling out her phone. “Not against all that steel. Maybe save them for the airport. I’ll book us on the next flight into Seattle that I can get.”
Samantha downed one glass of apple juice and poured herself another. But she needed sleep, not juice. As did Aiden, after having his wards ripped asunder.
“You know the twins?” the sorcerer asked.
Both witches nodded, looking grimly concerned.
“We went to the Academy with them,” Capri said, exchanging a look with Ember. “They were expelled.”
“Excommunicated,” Ember added. “Though they were never able to tie the disappearances to them.”
“Disappearances?” I prompted, despite my need to get on with the conversation. To execute a plan that would get Opal to safety.
“First, a number of familiars went missing.” Capri sighed softly. “Including my cat. A Korat. She was the last in her particular line.” She glanced at us, hesitating. “A few branches of the main Pine coven focus on breeding feline familiars. I’d planned on trying to breed her, with her consent, of course, that summer.”
Magical creatures, like the Adept themselves, didn’t procreate easily. Chances were that the Pine coven would have been devastated by the loss of their last female Korat.
“Then a first-year student went missing,” Ember said darkly. “The Academy searched for three days, completely shutting down the school. I still don’t know what, if anything, they found. But the twins were expelled at the end of the shutdown.”
“What coven are they part of?” Aiden asked.
The witches eyed him, affronted. “No coven,” Capri spat.
“It might be helpful to know,” Aiden said gently. “If their bloodline has a predilection for a certain power set.”
“Assume blood magic and sacrifice, sorcerer,” Ember said stiffly. “Assume dual casting. Assume they’re stron
ger together. Death curses. And for goodness’ sake, don’t let them get a piece of you. They aren’t coven witches.”
“Knowing if we’re going to be facing demons would also be helpful,” Aiden said.
Ember glanced at Capri.
The blond witch shrugged. “I would doubt it. Summoning is draining, isn’t it? The twins don’t seem the type to share power.”
Ember nodded in agreement. “That’s a solid supposition. The twins will want to feed power into themselves, not give it away.”
“They were self mutilating,” I said. “Cutting, bleeding themselves.”
Capri hissed.
Ember shook her head, glancing out the French-paned doors at the backyard. The snow cover was still steadily shrinking under the warmth of the day. “I doubt that would be the first choice for either of them. As crazy as it sounds, I’d suggest warding your chickens.”
“I don’t plan to let them on the property a second time,” I said. “I’ll hunt them down while you head out of town. It’ll provide a distraction if they’re watching me, not you.”
The witches quieted, presumably absorbing my hunting comment. I should have kept my mouth shut and my intentions to myself.
“And the telepath?” Ember finally asked, speaking to us all. “A charm can be made, I believe?”
Capri shook her head. “We’d need something of hers …”
From my pocket, I retrieved the coil of hair I’d ripped from Chenda. “Got it. And I pulled it out, so it should still have some follicle.”
Capri just blinked at me. “The mystic’s?”
I nodded grimly, aware of Christopher’s heavy gaze on me. “Unfortunately, it’s the only piece of her I managed to get. Will it be enough for a charm for each of you?”
Capri stepped forward eagerly, plucking the hair from my fingers. But then she frowned slightly. “This isn’t my area of expertise.”
“We’ll both cast,” Ember said, pulling out her phone. “I’ll get the spell. We’ll need wearable objects.”
“If you have enough, I wouldn’t mind a tracking spell as well,” I said.
Capri nodded thoughtfully, stepping back to the window and peering at the coil of hair in the brighter light, presumably looking for hair follicles.
“I also might have something to help smooth the transition to the airport,” Aiden said, giving me a quick smile. “A refraction rune I’ve been working on. I’ll put it on the cars.”
“The mystic isn’t going after Opal,” Christopher said with a put-out sigh. “You’re evacuating resources we could use, Emma.”
I pivoted slowly, deliberately, to stare at him. A tense silence settled over the kitchen. The other four were watching me.
“Emma,” the clairvoyant whispered, hurt.
“Your counsel is no longer needed,” I said stiffly. “You’ve proven that our safety is not your first concern.”
Samantha stepped closer to the clairvoyant, arms crossed and frowning.
Christopher glanced at her, seeking support. “I made a choice to —”
I cut him off. “Yes, you did.”
“You’re being ridiculous,” he snarled. Then he blinked away the magic that welled up in his eyes, threatening his vision. “Maybe you need another session with Aiden in the loft.”
I had actually raised my hand, had actually reached for him in anger, when a noise of surprise from Samantha stopped me. I curled my fingers into my palm, slowly lowering my hand.
“You’d hurt me?” Christopher whispered.
“Would it be any different than what you just did to me? To Paisley? How about using me to torture Zans earlier?”
“You’re deliberately misunderstanding the situation!”
“To what end? And why would I?” I asked, each word punctuated with anger. “I can’t believe it was you. That you’d be the one of the Five to betray me. To betray our family.”
His magic roiled around him, completely whiting out his eyes. His lips thinned, pale with anger. He breathed heavily as he watched some future unfold in his mind. Then he abruptly snarled and stalked away toward the hall.
“Stay away from Opal,” I warned him darkly. “She doesn’t need to navigate your influence right now.”
Christopher froze in place, his back to me. His magic stirred, reaching for me. I brushed it away. Again.
Stiff shouldered, he pivoted, crossing through the laundry room and out the back door.
Aiden and the witches remained silent, seemingly involved in their spell prep work. Ember and Capri were pointedly looking at something on the laptop the lawyer had opened. Aiden was sketching in his spiral-ringed notebook.
Samantha tracked Christopher as he passed the French-paned doors and stepped down into the backyard. Then she stared pointedly at me. “Wow, okay. You have changed. I’d say I like it, but throwing away a clairvoyant in a fight is an interesting choice.”
“You know what the mystic wanted? To walk away? You.”
She stilled.
“Yeah,” I continued. “That’s all. Just you and she’d leave us alone.”
“You said no.”
“Of course.”
“And Knox?” Her question was layered with so many things that I had a hard time figuring out what emotion was overriding it all.
I almost didn’t answer. There was a chance I was reading too much betrayal into Christopher’s actions. But I’d started the conversation, so I had to end it. We were wasting time. “You should ask him.”
Samantha clenched her fists. Everything on the island counter — cutting board, empty glass, salt and pepper shakers — rose an inch, then gently set back down. “I see.”
Aiden glanced at his phone. “Jenni got Jake Crenshaw to cover her evening shift. She was supposed to do a split. She’s ten minutes away.” He glanced at me. “I asked her to drive her work vehicle. Even black witches will hesitate to mess with the local law.”
“Fuck!” Samantha snarled.
The two witches looked up, startled.
The telekinetic clenched her fists. “I’ll go. It should be me.”
“It’s too late for that.”
Samantha ran her hand through her hair, then just left it settled on her head as if distracted. Overwhelmed. “I just … I needed help.”
“And you came to me,” I said stiffly, aware that Capri was watching me closely. “Where else would you go?”
“I can’t even offer to escort Opal to the goddamn airport,” Samantha spat. “I’m just fucking useless.”
“You’re not useless,” I said. “But if you left the property, that would certainly draw the mystic’s attention. I’m fairly certain she can track you.”
“Fuck me. The block. That’s how she got here so fast.” A second hand joined the first, both pressing against her skull as Samantha started pacing. I watched her carefully, trying to judge whether she might need a time-out. She could destroy the house with very little effort, though maybe not with her magic blocked as it was.
“You’re the most powerful telekinetic I’ve ever met,” Capri said helpfully. “And I attended the Academy.”
Samantha laughed harshly. “You met me on a bad day, witch. Normally, after laying eyes on the likes of me, running away would have been your first response.” She glanced at me. “The likes of us.”
Capri didn’t respond verbally. She simply shifted her gaze to me. “May we cast in the garden? Even with the snow cover, it would be the best choice.”
I nodded. “I’ll check on Opal. Can she join you? Even to watch?”
Capri frowned. “This is advanced —”
“Yes,” Ember said, her attention on the screen of her phone now. “It will distract the girl, Capri. And a third might be needed. This kind of casting is definitely not in my arsenal. The tracking spell is easy enough. Assuming Capri and I are even powerful enough to get through whatever spell Jet and Onyx will most likely have their employer cloaked under. But to block a telepath? Even with her hair, I’ve never seen such a
complicated spell.” She pursed her lips, then looked at Aiden. “Would you have better luck with it?”
“A charm? No. My witch magic is limited.”
Ember sighed. “Dump out your purse, Capri. We need containers.”
Capri spun to grab her purse from the back of the nearest kitchen chair.
I gave Aiden a lingering look, wishing for one idiotic moment that I had run away with him. But then Opal would have thought I’d abandoned her. Another abandonment. I wanted to break that cycle for the young witch, not contribute to it.
Aiden smiled tightly, wistfully. “I’ll keep an eye out for Jenni.”
“Thank you.” I turned to the hall, pleased that I could legitimately delay saying goodbye to Opal while the witches sorted out the protection spells.
Samantha trailed after me.
Opal was perched on the edge of her neatly made bed, with her dark head bowed over the worn quilt spread across her lap. Her hands were fisted in its folds. The suitcase she’d gotten from Jenni Raymond was carry-on sized, but it was still only three-quarters full where it sat open beside her.
Paisley was sprawled out across the floor, half blocking the doorway, chewing on the magical bovine bone that Aiden had given her. I hadn’t seen the demon dog pull the bone out for at least twenty-four hours. I suspected she was hiding it from the witches. It still looked pristine, with nary a tooth mark. And Paisley had a plethora of exceedingly sharp teeth.
Opal looked up as I stepped into the room. Her eyes were dry and clear, though her expression was solemn. “Are they ready for me?”
“Before you leave, Ember and Capri need to cast a charm in the hopes of blocking the telepath,” I said. “You could join them. They might need a third witch. They’re going to cast in the garden.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Samantha settled her shoulder against the doorjamb behind me. Her magic pulsed through the blood tattoo on my spine once, then faded. “Hey kid,” she said. “I’m sorry about running you off.”
Paisley grumbled.
Opal shrugged her narrow shoulders. “I have to go back to the Academy. I’ve already missed, like … three weeks.”
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