Dad sets a cup of tea in front of my grandmother, who takes a deep breath and waves a hand over the tea, cooling it to the perfect temperature. She takes a sip and then settles her all-seeing gaze upon me. “I still sense no Blood Magic, but I agree that something is amiss. Let me handle this, Hannah. Have patience.”
“Are you sure? Who else would be after our coven?” I look to my parents for backup but find none.
“I’m withholding judgment until I learn more.” Lady Ariana turns her attention to my ex. “Pack a bag, Veronica. I won’t have you staying alone until the intruder is caught.”
Veronica scurries away, and Lady Ariana makes a grand flourish with her hands, spinning an air message before her. She speaks, so soft I cannot hear, and releases the magic. I glance to my parents, but no one says anything. I have so many questions, so many worries, but I’m afraid to mention any of them.
On the plus side, I’m fairly certain I’m not grounded anymore. At the very least, I doubt my parents will make me wear the binding charm while there’s a confirmed intruder targeting Elementals.
A few minutes later, Lady Ariana is finishing the last of her tea when she tilts her head ever so slightly. She nods, and Veronica steps back into the room, pulling a small suitcase.
“Veronica, your parents are booking the first flight back in the morning.” Lady Ariana stands and hands Dad her teacup. “You’ll stay with Hannah until your family returns.”
Veronica’s eyes grow wide, and she glances from me to our high priestess. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
Even though I’m thinking the same thing, I know it’s the absolute wrong thing to ask.
“Of course I’m sure. Be grateful I’m letting you drive yourself.” Lady Ariana turns and glides out of the room. The rest of us are still frozen in the dining room when the front door slams shut.
When we make it back to my house, Mom tries to lighten the mood by ordering pizza. My overstretched magic leaves me simultaneously ravenous and nauseated, so dinner is a precarious venture. Veronica excuses herself early, leaving me with my parents, who don’t seem to know what to do with me.
Mom keeps trying to speak, but she swallows her words before they come out. It’s like she wants to yell at me for being reckless, for removing my binding charm without permission, and yet she’s obviously relieved I’m okay.
For his part, Dad tries to crack jokes and talk about the ridiculous case he’s working on—as much as he’s able to without violating confidentiality laws—but eventually he gives up and retires to his office to work on said case.
I help Mom clean up and head to my room, but I change my mind at the last second, knocking on the guest room door.
“Yeah?” Veronica’s voice is soft. She sniffles once. Twice.
“Do you need anything?” I crack open the door and wait another second for her to compose herself before I come in.
It’s weird to see her like this, in this room. Veronica has spent the night at my house countless times before, but she’s never slept in the guest room. When we were little, we’d set up sleeping bags and little pop-up tents in the living room. As preteens, we’d camp out in my room and slip off our binding rings—the normal pre-initiation ones, rings without the anti-tampering spell that burned my finger—practicing harmless bits of magic I’m sure my parents knew about but never mentioned. Even after we started dating, Veronica never slept in here. My parents sent us back to the living room, sleeping on air mattresses as far away from each other as possible in a room without doors.
She shouldn’t be in here. This room is for strangers. Distant relatives. Veronica isn’t either of those things.
Veronica exhales a sharp sigh and wipes at her face. “What the hell is going on, Hannah?”
“I wish I knew.” I sink onto the bed beside her. “If this is about New York, why is the Blood Witch going to such lengths to hide their identity? Why set Nolan’s house on fire? Why not come for us directly?”
The bed compresses as she leans her shoulder against mine. “Maybe the fear is half the fun.” A bitter laugh catches in her throat. “She’s playing with us. She has us running scared until she swoops in for the kill.” Veronica shudders. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be so morbid.”
“But why us? If it is her, and she’s after revenge for what happened in New York, why not go after the Caster Witches who started this whole thing?” My hand goes to my throat, and the smell of burning flesh fills my nose. “They’re the ones who tried to strip away her magic. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Memories drag me under like the tide. I’m back in the cramped apartment in New York, forced to guard a bound and bleeding Blood Witch. The Casters caught her after she ambushed me in the park, and Veronica agreed to help them finish their potion. Even though I wanted nothing to do with their plans, when the Blood Witch got free, she still blamed me. Hit me hard enough to steal my blood and force me to my knees. And when the Casters realized she had escaped, they came after me, too.
I shudder. Veronica still hasn’t apologized for the part she played in that nightmare.
“Maybe you’re right. Maybe this has nothing to do with New York.” Veronica pulls her knees to her chest and wraps her arms around her legs, her whole body shivering. “But whoever that guy was, wherever he came from, he has my blood, Hannah. You know what that means.”
My muscles tense. Veronica and I haven’t seen eye-to-eye since that weekend, but I wouldn’t wish the pain of Blood Magic on anyone. “You’ll be safe here. My parents won’t let anything happen to you.” I reach for her hand, and she squeezes back. “I’m sorry I took so long to answer the phone.”
At that, Veronica pulls away. “What were you doing anyway?”
I was on a date . . . But I can’t say that. I won’t make her night any worse. “I was at the Cauldron. I’m not supposed to answer my phone at work.”
Veronica shifts until she’s facing me. Her eyes bore into mine. “Would you have answered faster if you weren’t at work?”
“Veronica.”
“I’m serious. Would you have answered right away if you weren’t working?” She grabs my hands and won’t look away. She barely even blinks, and it’s like she thinks she can stare long enough to see back in time and know exactly what I was doing when she called.
I pull from her grip, picking at the threads in the old comforter. “I don’t know. We’ve had a complicated few weeks.”
Veronica scoots closer until her knees rest against mine. “But you came.” She trails a hand down my arm. “You saved my life.”
“What can I say? We Elementals have to stick together.” I force a smile, but her closeness makes me uncomfortable.
Veronica laughs, the sound bitter and hollow. “God, this day. I really thought I was going to die.”
“You didn’t. You’re fine.” I blow out a breath. “I’m sorry about your house though. I broke a few windows.”
“I don’t give a shit about the windows.” Veronica leans forward and brushes her lips against mine.
I flinch back. “What are you doing?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” She leans forward again.
“Veronica, it’s over between us. We have to move on.” I slip off the bed as I speak, but Veronica follows a second later, closing the distance between us. The wall ends my escape.
She stops before me, tears spilling over her eyes. “I was wrong, Hannah. I screwed up. I was selfish and bossy, and I didn’t listen. I can do better. I want to be better, for you.” Veronica tries to kiss me, but I turn my head so she catches my cheek instead of my lips.
“You’re scared. I get that,” I say, even though my insides squirm with unease. “But that doesn’t mean we work.” I try to slip by her, but she blocks my path.
“Give me another chance.” Veronica brushes the hair away from my injured face. “You and
me? We’re meant to be together.”
“I can’t do this with you. I’m not—”
Veronica ignores my pleas and presses her lips against mine. The pressure of her unwanted kiss slams a rusty nail in the coffin of my heart. I shove her away and escape to the center of the room. “Dammit, Veronica. I’m not trying to be an asshole, but you can’t keep doing this. How many times do I have to tell you no before you stop?”
“You’re not listening!” Veronica wipes at the mascara-infused tears running down her cheeks. “I’m trying to apologize. I want you back. I want forever.”
I cross my arms against my chest and force myself to stand tall. “You can’t have me back. I’ve moved on.”
Veronica snorts. “How?”
Harsh words rise to my throat, but then I remember the blood on Veronica’s face. See the bruise darkening along her jaw. I swallow my anger. “It happens.”
Veronica considers me, her head tilting, her eyes narrowing. “Not this fast. Not unless—” She shakes her head. “Tell me you didn’t.”
“Didn’t what?” But my chest constricts. She knows. I don’t know how, but she does. The heat in my cheeks grows into an inferno. “You slept with someone else, didn’t you?” Tears stream down her face, painting her cheeks with streaks of black. “How could you?”
“How could I? Veronica, we’re not together. Who I have sex with is none of your business.”
“So, you admit it. You did sleep with someone. Fucking perfect.” Veronica swipes the ruined mascara from her face. “I’m such an idiot. I knew I couldn’t trust you.”
“Excuse me?” My magic tries to surge in my chest, but pain lances through me, and I shove it back down. “I’ve never done anything to betray your trust.”
“Should we review who ended our relationship?”
“God, enough! Can’t you see how unhealthy this is? Why would you want to be with me when all we do is fight?” I ask, and she doesn’t have an answer for that. “Exactly. For the record, I did not sleep with Morgan. But if I did, that would be none of your damn business.”
An angry silence permeates the room. “Who. The hell. Is Morgan?”
Shit. “No one.”
But Veronica isn’t having it. “Who is she, Hannah?”
I tip my chin up. I’m done letting Veronica intimidate me. She doesn’t get a pass to hurt me like this just because she’s scared. Especially since I’m the one who saved her. “The girl from Nolan’s party. Today was our first official date.”
My words hover in the air between us, but I don’t realize their impact until Veronica’s eyes narrow. She grabs her purse and throws her phone inside. “You weren’t at work when I called, were you? You were on a date with some goddamn Reg.” She swipes her keys from the nightstand, the metal scraping across the wooden top. “Did it even occur to you that this Morgan could be the Blood Witch? She shows up in Salem and then all of a sudden we’re under attack? I bet she’s an only child, too. Isn’t she?”
“That doesn’t mean she’s the Blood Witch. She clearly wasn’t the one at your house. She was with me when I got your call.” I roll my eyes, but Veronica rips open the guest room door. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Anywhere but here.” Veronica glares at me over her shoulder then disappears out the door.
“Dammit, Veronica!” I chase her down the stairs. “You’re safe here. Where else will you go?”
Veronica doesn’t look back as she heads for the front door. She shoves her feet in her sandals and unbolts the lock. “I’ll take my chances with Savannah. I can’t spend another second here.”
“Stop acting like I abandoned you. I stopped the Blood Witch. So what if I’ve moved on?” I follow her out onto the porch. “Don’t be stupid, Veronica. You know you’re safer here than at Savannah’s house. For all you know, she could be a Blood Witch.”
“Don’t. Just don’t.” Veronica storms down the driveway and stops beside her car. The streetlights at her back cast her face in shadows. She glances at the front window, the one still boarded up after a brick shattered it. “The Blood Witch already knows where you live, Hannah. Maybe you’re the one who should be scared.”
* * *
• • •
I wake to thunder.
Lightning flashes, turning my eyelids red as the fog of unconsciousness fades. Another rumble crashes above me, shaking me in my bed. Pictures rattle on the walls. My jar of paintbrushes crashes to the floor. I bolt upright. The shaking isn’t the storm outside.
It’s a pissed-off Elemental.
Mom stands in the doorway with Dad a pace behind. There’s a mixture of exhaustion and panic in her eyes, a combination that sets me on edge. She glares at me. “Where’s Veronica?”
I wipe sleep from my eyes as I sit up. “She left. Spent the night at Savannah’s house.”
Dad follows Mom into the room. He rubs a hand over the stubble along his jaw. “What do you mean ‘she left’? Your grandmother was very clear about where she wanted Veronica to stay last night.”
“I’m sorry, Dad,” I say, not sorry at all. “We fought. She got pissed and ran out. It’s not like I could tie her to the bed to keep her here.” I glance at the clock. It’s barely after four in the morning. “Why are you up so early?”
Mom perches on the edge of my bed. “Lady Ariana called a coven meeting. You need to get ready.”
“The sun isn’t even up yet.” I groan and flop back onto my pillows.
“She said it was urgent.” Mom looks to Dad, and something passes between them, some unspoken worry they won’t share with me. “Come on. We don’t want to be late.”
My parents leave the room, and I reluctantly drag myself out of bed. My body still aches from the run-in with the Blood Witch last night. My limbs are heavy and numb, my head stuffed full of cotton.
Outside, the wind rages on. At least the rain is a sign of good luck. When humanity was young, Three Sister Goddesses gifted humans with magic, each creating one of the Clans. The Middle Sister covered the world with storms, and those who felt no fear and danced in the rain earned the power to control the elements. They became the Elementals.
I stand beside my window, the glass cool against my warm skin. Lightning flashes in the sky and droplets of rain streak past like celestial tears. I can’t see how Lady Ariana would have good news for us already. Unless—
Has she found the Blood Witch?
“Hannah?” Dad knocks on my door. “We have to leave in fifteen minutes. We can’t make Lady Ariana wait.”
“Just a sec.” I dress quickly, brush my teeth, and grab a hair tie. When I fling open the bathroom door, Dad is standing there with circles under his eyes, like he slept as poorly as I did. I follow him downstairs, putting my hair into a messy bun as I go.
Mom ushers us out the front door without even giving me a second to grab a soda from the fridge. The drive to my grandmother’s takes less than ten minutes since there’s precisely zero traffic at this absurd hour. Her home is on the edge of town, tucked inside the Salem Woods, along forgotten roads few locals travel. Her driveway is packed, and we pull in behind Veronica’s empty car.
Mom cuts the engine, and for a moment, we pause. The storms have passed, leaving only a light drizzle as the sky lightens on the horizon. I don’t want to leave the safety of the car. Once we do, whatever news my grandmother thought was urgent enough to get the coven out of bed before five will be real. Dad mars the silence first, opening his door and leading us around the house and into the backyard.
Dozens of worried faces turn to greet us, but before we can join our coven, we pause at the altar where a trio of pillar candles burns before a statue of the Mother Goddess. As always, the middle candle stands a bit taller and burns a bit brighter than the others, a small sign of gratitude to the Sister Goddess who chose us.
My parents work quickly, passing a
hand over the center candle, adding a thin stream of their magic to the flickering flame. I linger at the altar. I’m not ready to face the rest of my coven, not ready to see their worry and wonder if I’m the one who brought danger to our home. I reach out, brushing the tips of my fingers against the flame. A dozen threads of power keep the small fire alive despite the drizzling rain. I wish, not for the first time, that the Sister Goddesses hadn’t been banished from our world. It would be nice to know they were out there, watching over us. Keeping us safe.
I shake the thought away and add my strength to the center candle.
When I turn to follow my parents into the thicket of conversation, I spot Veronica out of the corner of my eye. She’s the sole member of the Matthews family in attendance, but she’s not alone. Sarah and Rachel Gillow stand beside her, whispering something I can’t hear. Sarah rubs Veronica’s back, while Rachel rests a hand on her small but growing baby bump. The couple announced their pregnancy to the coven last month, after struggling for over a year to find a suitable Elemental donor.
My heart aches to see them with Veronica. For the past year, whenever we saw the Gillows at these gatherings, I’d whisper my hopes for the future to Veronica. We’d pester Rachel with hundreds of questions about how they met and how she knew Sarah was The One.
The sting of betrayal courses through me, even though I have no right to be jealous. We’re all covenmates. I have no more claim to Rachel and Sarah than anyone else here, including Veronica.
“How are you holding up, dear?” a soft voice asks.
I’m scooped into an embrace before I can respond. My muscles protest the tight hug Mrs. Blaise wraps me in, but my heart warms under her attention. Mrs. Blaise is one of the oldest members of our coven, second only to her husband. I spot him on the other side of the yard, nursing a cup of steaming coffee. Mrs. Blaise releases me and pats my still healing cheek with her wrinkled hand. “That’s a brave thing you did for Veronica. Foolish, but brave.”
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