“Um, Piper, I don’t think he minded.”
She glances at me. “You don’t think he thought I was too pushy?”
“Honey, you’ve been living down in that compound too long. That was totally not what Rule was thinking.”
She smiles nervously. “When did you decide to play matchmaker?”
“That night you were studying for your physics test, when you said that your dating options were limited. I remembered hearing Rule say something similar.” I don’t tell her about Rule’s initial crush on me or about the one kiss we shared.
We cross the street and head for the main shopping district. Before we reach it, Piper slows beside me then stops. When I pause and glance back at her, she’s looking up at a small Catholic church. “You mind if we go in?”
I’m surprised, but I shrug. “Sure.”
We climb the steps to St. Anthony’s front door, and Piper opens it. “I like to come here sometimes to just sit and think when it’s empty,” she says. “I’ve always thought it was beautiful and peaceful.”
I look at the small sanctuary and the polished wood pews. There is a sort of peace about the place, even more so when the sun escapes from behind the clouds and sends golden rays streaming through the stained-glass windows.
“Is something bothering you?” I ask.
She glances toward the front. “You mean other than a witch war on the horizon?”
“Yeah, other than that little thing.”
She shakes her head once. “No. But I thought you might like it here.”
I’m confused for a moment before understanding dawns.
“I see your regret sometimes, even when you don’t think you’re showing any outward sign,” Piper says. “How much it eats away at you. But you’re not the first person to make a mistake, even a huge one.”
I swallow past what feels like a jagged rock in my throat as Piper turns and walks toward the pews. She slides into one and stares forward. I turn away for a moment but find myself facing a plaque on the wall about St. Anthony. I step closer and read it. My breath catches when I see that he’s the Patron Saint of Lost Things. A chill skitters down my back as I think of that lost page of the Beginning Book.
With a deep breath, I walk deeper into the sanctuary and slip into the pew on the opposite side of the aisle from Piper. I close my eyes and allow myself to think back to that night I killed Barrow, think back over every moment, every decision, every discharge of my magic into him. I bite my lip when I feel it tremble. I don’t lie to myself that I killed a pristine soul without guilt, but I release the tight grip I have on mine. In my mind, I say that I’m sorry to whoever is listening. God, Fate, whomever. Maybe all of them.
I half expect to feel the darkness well up inside me despite the two bracelets, but I don’t. I sit there long enough that the sun shifts and the warmth coming through the window touches my face. Maybe it’s my imagination, but it feels like a caress. It soaks down into me, illuminating places that have been dark a long time. Some for my entire life. I feel lighter than I ever have, even when I was full of white witch power atop the Shiprock.
When I finally open my eyes, Piper is still in the other pew. “I feel better,” I say. “Thank you.”
She smiles without looking at me. “Sometimes it’s just good to go somewhere quiet without distractions and just be, ya know?”
“Yeah.” I return my attention to the front. St. Anthony’s isn’t as fancy as some of the huge Catholic churches I’ve visited on my own, but I like it because of that. After life in a dark coven, I’m all for a new life of simplicity.
We both seem to sense that it’s time to go. Piper stands a moment before I do, and we head out of the church. Once outside, we resume our trek through the winter air toward the shops in the middle of town. We’ve just crossed back over the street when I freeze. I stare ahead of us for a split second before I grab Piper and pull her into an alcove next to a building.
“What—” she starts before she sees me holding my finger up to my lips.
I guide her behind me and press my back against the side of the building while trying to get my breathing under control. I peek around the corner. Yep, just as I feared. I jerk my head back so he won’t see me.
“What is going on? Is it another hunter?” Piper asks softly.
“You could say that. Only this one is a witch.” I grab her hand. “We’ve got to get out of here, and fast. I’ll explain later.” After taking a deep breath, I dare to poke my head out again and see our really big problem is looking the other way. Without giving Piper any warning, I pull her out after me and we race back toward the church then past it. We’re several blocks away before I stop and pull out my phone and dial Egan.
“Please tell me you need me to do something manly,” he says when he picks up. “I’m in shopping hell here.”
I hear Toni laugh in the background. “Get Toni and Keller and get to the Jeep as fast as you can. Then come pick up Piper and me. We’re down by The House of Seven Gables.”
“What’s wrong?” he asks, but I can tell he’s already ushering Toni out of whatever store they’re in.
“I just saw Sean.”
“Sean who?”
“My cousin.” I glance up in time to see Piper’s eyes widen.
“Oh, hell. Be there in a couple of minutes. Make sure he doesn’t see you.”
“He’s on the mall, so you’re in more danger than us at the moment.”
Egan curses again before hanging up.
Even though I don’t think Sean saw us, I lead the way off the sidewalk onto the property for the famous House of Seven Gables.
“Do you think the rest of your family is here?” Piper asks as she keeps darting glances at the street.
“I don’t know, but I don’t think so. I don’t sense them. Plus, Sean typically doesn’t need backup.”
I recognize the sound of an approaching engine and look past Piper just in time to see Egan screech to a halt at the curb. “Come on.” We hurry toward the Jeep and climb in the back. My heart thumps hard against my chest when I realize Keller isn’t inside.
“He didn’t answer his phone,” Egan says. “But we’re going back.”
Toni reaches back and grasps my hand. “We’ll find him.”
“Hurry.” My heart nearly pounds out of my chest as Egan races back toward the center of town. I dig out my phone just as Egan pulls over on the side of Essex Street, giving us a view down the pedestrian mall.
“Hey, you’re not spying on my shopping, are you?” Keller asks when he answers. I see him come out of a shop just as I spot Sean in the middle of the mall maybe three stores down.
“Get out of there now,” I say, trying not to think about what will happen if Sean figures out he has a hunter in his sights. “Don’t look behind you. Don’t ask questions. Just cut through to the next street on your left.”
Keller doesn’t do anything to draw attention to himself like suddenly bolting. Egan follows suit by easing away from the curb and turning onto the street parallel to the mall.
I see Keller and point out the windshield. “There he is.”
Egan pulls up and scoots his seat forward so Keller can scramble into the back. He’s not even buckled in before Egan takes off.
“No speeding,” I say. We’ve got to get back to the safety of the Bane’s compound. It’s not that I’d be afraid of taking on Sean myself. Well, not a lot anyway. But I’m wearing two harness bracelets, and I’ve got to bring my vast powers totally under control before I engage in a major altercation. I also can’t risk a fight when my friends are with me out in the open, when we’re not ready, when I’ve got both the Beginning and Ending books with me.
“What’s going on?” Keller asks.
Before I answer, I pull him into my arms. “I saw my cousin, Sean,” I say, then pull back. “He’s my family’s enforcer.”
“Enforcer?” Piper says. “That sounds like something from the mob.”
“Same thing.” I grip Kelle
r’s hand. “He’s the equivalent of our hit man.”
“They must have figured out Barrow didn’t succeed when they didn’t hear from him,” Egan says as he makes the turn onto the road that leads to the compound.
“And they sent an enforcer ahead to verify you’re here before they converge,” Keller says.
“I get the feeling things are about to start getting interesting,” Egan says.
Not the word I’d use, but I know what he means. The days of gradually trying to master my magic are over.
Chapter Eight
I feel like I hold my breath all the way from Salem until the door closes behind us when we descend from the Bane’s house down into their underground home. I lean back against the door and let out a long sigh.
“Sure didn’t think I’d be happy to come back here so quickly,” Piper says. “What are we going to tell my aunt and the others?”
“The truth.” I make eye contact with Keller, Toni and Egan. “All of it.”
“Sarah will be in her office,” Piper says and turns to lead the way.
We end up at the room where Piper had been studying that night. The double doors are open so Sarah sees us coming before we reach her. I notice a momentary look of surprise, as if she’d suspected we might flee when given the chance. I realize in that moment that her letting us leave was just another test to see how committed we were to the cause. But I don’t have time to be irritated. I have no doubt she had a plan in place to bring us back in should we have tried to leave Salem.
“How was your outing?” Sarah asks.
“More eventful than we’d hoped. A member of my coven is here. My family one, that is,” I say, distinguishing between the Phersons and the new coven bond I have with Egan. I proceed to tell her about what happened in town and what Sean’s place in our family hierarchy is.
“His father was an enforcer before him, and he started training Sean from an early age.” I glance at Keller, aware of the similarity to him and his father. “Sean made his first kill the day he turned seventeen. I lost count of the tally soon after that.”
Sarah leans back in her high-backed leather chair. “Can you take care of him?”
I don’t have to ask what she means. “If I have to and I’m unbound, but not without alerting the rest of the coven to my presence. That much power will leave a magical discharge that might as well be the Bat Signal, and if they’re close by they’ll reach me before I can get back here.” I shift the bag off my shoulder and lay it on the edge of Sarah’s desk. “I’ve been through these what seems like a thousand times, but I’m hoping for a miracle. Maybe you’ll see something I haven’t.” I slide the Beginning and Ending books from the bag and place them side by side facing her.
She looks like she’s received a good electrical jolt. “Are these what I think they are?”
“Yes. Egan and I have had the Beginning Book since he arrived in North Carolina. We found the Ending Book here in Salem.”
Sarah meets my gaze. “The Latimers had it this whole time?”
I nod. “There’s one not-so-small problem, though. There’s a page missing from the Beginning Book, and my gut tells me that it’s a very important page.”
“And there’s the little fact that Jax is the only person who can read the Ending Book,” Egan adds.
Sarah opens the Ending Book and flips through a few pages. “You can read this?”
“Yes.”
“What does it say?”
“That a white witch is the only thing that can bring down the covens.”
Sarah closes the book and settles her gaze on me. “Why didn’t you tell me about these before?”
“Because I don’t trust easily, and I’ve never been totally sure if you’re telling me everything. If there had been anything in them that you didn’t seem to already know, maybe I would have made a different decision.”
“So why reveal them to me now?”
“Because I’m grasping at straws here, and crap just got very real.”
“I shouldn’t have let you all leave.”
“You needed to know I’d pass the test, right?”
Sarah meets my eyes, and I think I see respect for my deductive skills there.
“And it’s good that we know Sean’s here,” I say. “If the covens are willing to send a dark witch back to Salem after all this time, something is definitely up. And I have to bring the white witch to full realization, controlled and sustainable.”
“I agree.”
“Then let’s get to it.”
Sarah stands. She places her hands on the Beginning and Ending books. “May I put these in a safe place?”
“Sounds like a good idea.” I don’t move as Sarah pulls a key from her desk drawer. She slips it into what looks like the spine of a book on the shelf behind her. I’m not even surprised when the shelf slides to the left to reveal a large safe.
“Cool,” Egan says.
I roll my eyes. The boy does love gadgets.
Sarah slips the Beginning and Ending books into the safe then closes the door. “If you need these for any reason, just ask.” After the bookshelf slides effortlessly back into place, Sarah turns toward us.
Not needing any prompting, I turn and lead the way to the training room.
After an entire afternoon of nonstop practicing my magic with not much sign of the awesome power of the white witch, I growl in frustration. I can tell Keller is about to say something supportive, but I’m not in the mood. I wave off whatever he’s about to say and pace the length of the room a couple of times.
“Do you think you have to be in a life-or-death situation to grasp it?” Toni asks. “Like you were at Shiprock?”
I throw up my hands. “I don’t know. I can feel it there, but it won’t come to the surface.” I shake my head and pace again. “Maybe I was wrong about the love fueling it.” I hate the idea of the darkness being stronger than what Keller and I feel for each other.
Sarah pushes away from where she’s been leaning against the far wall. “Give me your hands.”
I shoot her a curious look but do as she says. When she starts to remove one of my bracelets, I jerk my arm back. “What are you doing?”
“I think Toni’s on to something. The only other time you tapped fully into that white power was after you’d blown through the dark. I think you’ll never be able to pull the white to the surface if you can’t access the dark first.”
“That’s crazy.”
“Is it?” Sarah crosses her arms but doesn’t back away. “From what you said, the time at Shiprock freaked you out so much that you shut the white magic off. You were too afraid of the dark to really push through it.”
“You know what I’m capable of when I go dark.”
“And I believe you’re capable of so much more if you’ll just trust yourself, trust what you were born to be.”
Egan walks up next to me. “Think about it, Jax. The times when the white magic has surfaced, even at the edge of the dark, was when you were engaging the dark magic. No other time.”
I press my hand against my forehead. “I think I feel sick.” But despite the lightheaded, nauseated feeling, I know I have to try what they’re suggesting. It might just be crazy enough to work. “I’ll do it, on one condition. I don’t want anyone else in the room. You can stand outside, but I want a magical barrier put on the open doorway so I don’t accidentally hurt someone.”
“No problem,” Sarah says. “I’m also going to put an extra layer of warding on this facility, too. Your magic doesn’t seem to work like everyone else’s, and I don’t want your cousin finding us before we’re ready.”
I nod. “Good idea.”
“It’ll take about thirty minutes to get the second layer of warding in place,” Sarah says, then leaves the room to get to work.
“Egan, I need you to reach out to the person who’s been contacting you about wanting to defect from her coven,” I say. “Ask how many there are and if they’re really serious. Serious enough to not
just leave but fight the covens.”
“You sure?” he asks.
“Yeah. I’m going to do my best to access all the power I have, but I’m not opposed to more help on our side.”
“What happens if they say yes?” Keller asks.
I keep my attention on Egan. “Can you put up some sort of surveillance at the farmhouse, something we can monitor from here?”
“Yeah. Will take me about a day.”
“Plan what you need and get it done tomorrow.” I look at Keller. “We lead them to one spot, see if they’re telling the truth. If they are, we use them. If they’re lying, we take them out the same as any other witch who shows his or her face here.”
When Toni and Egan leave to get started on his video surveillance plan, I turn to Piper. “I want Rule and Adele brought here, and don’t give them any choice. I’ve already lost one of them. I won’t lose any more.”
“I’ll take care of it.” She hurries from the room, leaving only Keller and me.
He smiles as he closes the distance between us. “You’ve turned into a general right in front of my eyes. I feel like I should salute you.” He does just that with a wide smile on his face. I swat at his saluting hand, but he catches my arm and pulls me to him.
I place my palms against his chest. I love the firm, warm feel of him. “You really think I can do this?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Let’s hope I don’t blow this place up in the process.”
“Maybe you just need a kiss for good luck.”
I look up into his eyes. “Couldn’t hurt.”
His lips meet mine, sending sparks dancing over my skin that have nothing to do with my magic. He moans into my mouth, making me want nothing more than to wrap myself in him and not come up for air in the foreseeable future.
He’s the one who has to break the kiss. It takes me a moment to realize why, but then I hear the footsteps coming down the hallway. I know he doesn’t want to pull away any more than I do, but we can’t exactly indulge what we’re both yearning for right now. There is so much we have to deal with and put behind us before we can even talk about going down that road.
Magick (Book 3 in the Coven Series) Page 10