But the demons were coming.
I tried to push up to my feet again, but it was no use. I couldn’t even scream.
I looked up just as the three demons merged into a massive cat-like creature. And it was coming straight for me like I had a demon target on my forehead.
Oh no. No, no, no. This isn’t good.
No one else was close enough. They weren’t going to make it. There were too many shadows. My heart lodged in my throat. I lifted my bound hands up and held my palms up. My whole body trembled. The ground shook with each of the mega-demon’s steps as it barreled toward me. Venom dripped from its fangs. Its bright red eyes were fixed on me.
I summoned my power and energy then screamed through the binding. I pushed with every ounce of magic I had left inside of me. I screamed for Erin. I screamed for Timothy. I screamed for all those innocent lives stolen. I screamed and pushed with everything I had.
Glittery white dust exploded out of me. A wall of ice shot up out of the ground at the edge of the forest, blocking shadows from getting in or out. The wall went all the way up to the clouds. Shadows crashed into it then collapsed to the ground.
I pushed harder with my magic. I pushed until snow covered their bodies and they froze against the wall instantly. The ground went slick with ice and people dropped. My ears popped. My eyes burned. But I pushed even harder.
Shadow-men froze mid step as they tried to flee.
The bottom half of the morpher demon turned to ice, and it collapsed on the ground. Tennessee flew over my head then landed on the demon’s back. He swung Michael’s sword through its skull, and the demon burst into dust. Tenn looked up at me with wide eyes.
I sighed and released my magic. Heat exploded in my chest like a volcanic eruption. My blood turned to magma and scorched a trail through my body. I was on fire, burning from the inside out. I screamed and curled over.
Chapter Fifty-One
Bettina
I sucked in air through my nose, and it was like swallowing a branding iron.
“BETTINA!” Tennessee screamed with wide eyes.
I heard my name being shouted. I heard thundering footsteps and felt the rumble in the ground. I knew they were coming for me, but I was lost to the fire. I closed my eyes, and my eyeballs burned.
“BETTINA!”
“Oh my God! What happened to her?”
“TEGAN!”
“BETTINA!”
“Is it Witch’s Shock?”
Their panicked screams made the fire rage brighter and hotter. I opened my eyes and found my Coven circled around me.
“Did the demon get her?”
“I saw Trey attack her!”
Tennessee dropped down to his knees in front of me. His face was a mask of fear. I saw him look me over like he was trying to figure it out and coming up blank. Behind them all, my pink magic swirled around. Ice towered into the sky.
But I was burning at the stake like Joan of Arc.
“TINA!” Tegan shouted and sank to her knees in front of me. She reached forward and flicked her hands over my mouth.
I tried to scream, but it came out as a choked gasp.
The burning was spreading.
Tegan flicked her wrists, and my wrists and ankles were free. I clutched my throat and my chest, searching for flames or fire or something. Everyone was shouting and trying to figure out what was wrong, but I couldn’t tell them. My insides were melting.
Tegan’s eyes widened. She dove for my chest, swatting my hands away. She gripped the collar of my sweater and ripped it open. Yes. Cold. Give me cold. She yanked my shirt down.
Everyone gasped.
“WHAT?” Chutney yelled. “HOW?”
I frowned. What? What’s wrong? “What is it?” I heard myself finally scream.
Tennessee’s face softened, but then he gripped my hand and squeezed. “Breathe.”
Tegan pressed her palms to my chest and chanted in the ancient language. I heard a few words, but they were too fast and too quiet to understand. Plus, my brain was melting from the fire inside my chest. Tegan closed her eyes like she was concentrating.
“That’s it,” Tenn said in a soothing voice. “Few more seconds. Breathe.”
I growled. Like a caged tiger.
And then it faded away until I almost couldn’t feel it at all. My breath left me in a rush, and I collapsed forward. Tenn caught me. I closed my eyes and just focused on breathing. The fire was gone. I pictured my insides looking like those black scorched houses after a fire. My pulse raced faster than I’d ever felt it. The pounding sounded like thunder in my ears.
I thought my Mark had been bad, but that was nothing.
“Bettina?”
I opened my eyes and found my face buried in Tenn’s chest. I coughed and that fresh rain smell invaded my nostrils. “You smell like rain.”
I felt his chest rumble as he laughed.
“Fresh rain, to be exact,” Tegan said with a grin.
“Right.” I pushed off of him then grimaced. “God, sorry, Tenn.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve been there.” He chuckled.
I frowned and shook my head, which made the pounding worse. I groaned. “What the bloody hell was that?”
Everyone chuckled and shook their heads.
“What?”
Tegan grinned and pointed at me. “B, look at your chest.”
“My chest? Why, how bad are the burns—”
I choked on a gasp.
OH MY GOD.
I clawed at my sweater, yanking it farther apart to make sure I wasn’t imagining things. My jaw dropped. I fell back and landed on my ass. I just stared.
There on the center of my chest, directly over my pounding heart, was a glowing, sparkling heart-shaped lavender crystal. It looked almost three-dimensional, like I could reach down and lift it off of my skin. I blinked and ran my fingers over it, but it was smooth and flat. Black lines that looked like vines shot out from the side of it and spread all the way across to my shoulder.
“Congratulations, B,” Tegan said softly. “You’ve got a soulmate.”
I looked up at her and just…stared. How?
Everyone gasped. But they all wore big smiles.
“Uh…question…” Easton frowned and raised his hand. “But…WHO?”
Chaos exploded within the group. I only heard fragments of sentences.
“—no, man. She’d already met Trey!”
“You can soulmate to a freaking shadow!”
“It’s not me—”
Deacon whistled and we all cringed. He grinned and leaned down to meet my eyes. “Congrats, B. Mine is lavender, too.”
Em leaned into his side then pulled her sweater down to show me. “Yup, see, lavender. Such a pretty color.”
“Yeah, but what does it mean?” Lily asked. “What do any of these colors mean?”
“GUYS,” Tenn yelled. “Chill for a sec. Damn.”
Everyone went silent.
I blinked and looked around. “I have a soulmate?”
Tegan nodded. “That’s right. Welcome to the club.”
“I don’t understand…” I looked down at my chest then back up at her. “Who is it?”
Tegan grinned like the Cheshire cat. “Jackson.”
My face fell. My heart stopped. I just…froze. Afraid to believe I’d heard her right.
“Wait, what?” Royce ran a hand through his hair. “Lancaster? How?”
“Yeah, he already had one,” Chutney said softly with her face all scrunched up.
I glanced over at Tenn, but he seemed just as shocked. Everyone did. Except for Tegan. She just sat there grinning at me. “Tegan…”
She sighed. “I tried to tell you tonight…after he left, but then Tenn came in—”
“Tegan,” I said with a growl, my emotions hanging on by a fraying, thin thread.
I wanted to believe what she was saying. I’d been dreaming of hearing those words since his got his glyph and I didn’t. I wanted to believe so bad
. But I was afraid to let myself. I was terrified to hope.
“H-how…” I shook my head and tried to think this through logically. “H-how would it be h-him? I was there when he got his glyph and I didn’t.”
Tegan nodded, her eyes sparkling. “Yes, you were there.”
I shook my head. “No. No, Bentley found the girl—his soulmate. He sent Jackson to find her. That’s why he’s not here.”
Bentley chuckled from behind me, then strolled over to stand behind Tegan. He shrugged. “Nah, that girl is just a witch whose magic awakened as a result of all of yours hitting her off Crone Island. She needed to be found, so I sent him to her.”
My breath left me in a rush. “B-but sh-she s-said…you did a…did a…a tracking spell.”
“Wait a second. I was there for that discussion.” Tenn scowled. “He checked you with his magic to make sure you were telling the truth. I felt him do that.”
Bentley grinned and he looked exactly like Tegan. “I did find his soulmate, but I never said I was sending him to her.”
Tegan shrugged. “That’s the trick with lying. Less is more.”
“I did do the tracking spell to find his soulmate, as Jackson asked me to…” Bentley smiled and met my eyes. “And it led me directly to you.”
I gasped and threw my hand over my mouth. I shook my head. “But how?”
Tegan sighed. “See, your magic was still locked away. Remember, that’s why it took so long for Timothy’s Mark to appear on you. I told you this when I got to London. You’ve had it since he passed away, but that spell—whatever it is inside you—was blocking it. I could still feel that spell inside of you, blocking your magic in…and it was blocking your soulmate glyph. When you used so much magic just now, you forced it out.”
I stared at her. Tears spilled over and poured rivers down my face. My body trembled. Emotions surged inside me. I was about to blow. I was going to fall apart.
I whispered, “Jackson’s my soulmate?”
Tegan leaned forward and grinned. “Jackson Lancaster is your soulmate.”
“Then I guess you better portal down to wherever the hell you sent the poor guy and get his ass back here,” Cooper yelled. He looked to me and smiled, then winked. “I think they’ve been waiting long enough.”
Chapter Fifty-Two
Jackson
My clock hit midnight, and I was about halfway back to Eden. Tennessee hadn’t returned my call, and no one had responded to my text message. I’d checked. Several times. I wasn’t offended; I was scared.
It wasn’t like any of them to not respond.
And this was big news.
That meant something was happening in Eden. And I wasn’t there for it. I was anxious as hell. My legs were bouncing. There was no one on the road, so I was driving far too fast. I needed to get back.
This solitude was destroying me.
All I could think about was Bettina…and Sam. Both torturous thoughts that only broke my heart more with every passing mile. Bettina had my heart, and I’d finally told her so in the note I left on her bed. She deserved to know that I hated this situation as much as she did. I cursed and slammed my fist into the seat. I’d really thought Sam was going to be the answer. I’d really gotten my hopes up.
I felt empty.
I felt robbed.
I was really going to have to leave now. Bettina was in The Coven, too. There was zero chance she’d volunteer to leave Tegan and the Bishops. And I was more than willing to step away for a bit. For the last hour, I’d been rehearsing my plea to Tennessee. I was going to ask him to send me to London. There were a ton of Lancasters whose magic had just awakened, and that could’ve had a ripple effect. There could be more hidden witches living in England. Someone had to train them. Tenn had sent Em and Deacon to New York to set up a school there…so my plan was to ask Tennessee to let me set up a school in England. It was logical. It made perfect sense. I just prayed he understood.
Bright white light flashed in front of me and I sighed. Tegan. Finally.
And then my chest exploded. I gasped and the truck swerved. My eyes watered. Air burned a path down my throat. I yanked the steering wheel and pulled off to the shoulder then threw my truck in park just as the fire inside me intensified.
It felt like a volcano had erupted in my chest and liquid hot magma rushed through my veins. I curled over until I was hugging the steering wheel like it was a life preserver. The heat shot across my chest, scorching a fiery path to my shoulder. I clenched my teeth and tried to breathe, but I was about to be spitting fire like a dragon.
I groaned and looked down at my chest, searching for the weapon that’d hit me.
My breath left me in a rush.
The glyph on the center of my chest was lavender. Lavender. As in, a soft purple color. The same color as Deacon and Emersyn’s. I cursed and pushed off the steering wheel despite the fire raging inside me. As the second passed, the pain just moved. It tightened around my collarbone and I hissed. I reached up and yanked my shirt away— My jaw dropped.
It spread. Black vines covered my chest and were wiggling their way over my shoulder right under my eyes. It burned like hell, but it was the sweetest sight I’d seen in a while. My soulmate glyph was spreading, like it was a real thing. Now it looked like the others’. It didn’t make sense. Sam wasn’t my soulmate, and that was the first time I’d seen Frankie—or anyone else—in that hospital.
What the bloody hell is going on?
My phone lit up from the cupholder, and Tegan’s face filled the screen. I groaned and answered the call on speakerphone. “Yeah?”
“Jackson! Are you okay?”
I made a strangled kind of laughing noise. “Technically.”
“Good. Because your soulmate just showed up.”
“WHAT?” I screamed.
“You heard me, Lancaster. She’s here finally. So, come home and see her.”
Bettina and Jackson’s dreams have finally come true. THEY ARE SOULMATES!! How will they react when they finally get their reunion? Find out in Book Five of The Coven: Academy Magic Series, The Secret Witch, out December 2019. CLICK HERE to pre-order The Secret Witch now!
You can also check out the cover and description for The Secret Witch below. (You might have to turn the page to see the cover.)
All magic has a price…
But what it cost me can never be given back.
So I'll have to settle for vengeance.
CLICK HERE to pre-order The Secret Witch now!
Wanna know what Jackson thought of Bettina the first time he met her? Or how he felt when she walked up to him at Dean’s party? Well just for my fans I’ve got a little glimpse into what those first moments were like for our favorite Swords Major - and it’s completely FREE!
CLICK HERE to read Jackson’s story!
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Are you new to the world of The Coven? Want to see where it all began?? Are you wondering how Tegan and Tennessee’s story began? Check out season one, The Coven: Elemental Magic, and read their story.
CLICK HERE to get Elemental Magic Series now!
I thought magic was make believe...but I was way wrong.
I was nobody. No matter how hard I tried, I never fit in with anyone at my high school. Now I know why.
Turns out I'm a witch. A scary powerful one, too. Except The Coven that claimed me won't teach me how to use my magic.
Suddenly, I'm selected by the Goddess to hunt down a mythical locket needed to save the world from destruction. The only person who actually tries to help me is the alarmingly attractive Tennessee. He has immeasurable power and breathtaking mismatched eyes. I'm drawn to him on a level I can't explain...and he's forbidden from getting too close to me.
When the quest takes an unexpected dangerous turn, I have to improvise. This supernatural world is unraveling a
t my fingertips and I need to master my magic fast. If I don't, I could get everyone I care about killed...
CLICK HERE to get Elemental Magic Series now!
If you found yourself wondering what life was like for The Coven before the twins arrived then I recommend reading the Prequel Novella, The Chosen Witch. And the best part? It’s FREE.
CLICK HERE to read The Chosen Witch now!
To get my free novella, you’ll be signing up for my newsletter. It’s a fun way for me to connect with my readers but I promise I won’t spam you. Plus, you can unsubscribe at any time!
Check out the cover and description for The Chosen Witch below. (You might have to turn the page to see the cover.)
My magic doesn’t define me.
Within my secret, ancient race of witches, everyone prays to join the most powerful circle of all—The Coven. Well, everyone except for me. All I want is to discover the truth of the past that was stolen from me. So I lay low, defending the world from demons and training to strengthen my magic.
But when I discover an artifact that can defeat the demons for good, I’m forced to do the one thing I never wanted—claim my rightful place in The Coven so I can hunt down the artifact myself.
I know my success will require sacrifices, but I fear I won’t be able to handle the price…
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The Coven
The Frozen Witch (The Coven: Academy Magic Book 4) Page 26