“I have a feeling you’ll change your mind,” he said, his eyes growing even darker than they’d been a minute earlier. The blackness in his irises swirled like a storm growing deep within him. “Bridget did. In the end, anyway. You will too.”
It hit me with the force of a slap even though I was still under my spell’s protection. Samuel? Bridget? Could it possibly be true? Was this sadistic witch really Samuel Parris? But that was impossible because that would make him over . . . three hundred years old. No way was this guy over the age of forty. Either that or he’d aged really well. And if that was the case, I was going to make it my mission to figure out how to bottle the secret and become rich and famous after creating my own skin care line.
But right now I had more important things to worry about. I needed to get all my friends out of the house without taking another trip to the hospital. A look around showed that they were still on their feet—even Fallon after Asher’s great catch—but people were starting to slow down. Emory had finally reached Sascha and was helping her up, while Peter and June had joined Asher and Fallon in fighting off the rest of the baddies left in the room. We needed to leave before everyone got so tired that they started making mistakes. Because mistakes led to injuries.
I had to stop this bizarro one-on-one convo with this possibly undead witch ASAP so we could get the heck out of here.
“Funny, I heard she wanted nothing to do with you in the end.” I didn’t divulge how I knew this, but stated it as fact. “Speaking of traitors, how did it feel to betray your own coven? I mean, I’d be afraid that any coven I built after that would either never fully trust me or would eventually do the same thing to me. Glad I don’t have to worry about that.”
He was silent for a moment, seemingly mulling over what I’d said. Was he holding himself back from going off on me? I was taking a huge risk by talking to him this way; I had no idea whether he was who he said he was, but either way, he had his own army, and it didn’t seem like they were going to stop until they’d gotten rid of us all.
Another reason we had to get out of there right away.
Samuel had a whole gang of people standing between the two of us now, but maybe I could use his numbers against him. Making a split-second decision without even knowing if it would work, I said a few words under my breath and thrust my now solidified ball of a force field toward the closest of Samuel’s group. Just as I’d hoped, the gelatin-like ball picked up speed and sucked the first guy in and continued to pick others up as it turned into a huge orb of bad guys hurtling straight for the leader of the pack.
Samuel was able to dodge the human bowling ball at the last minute by diving behind an overturned recliner, but it didn’t matter. The distraction had still managed to give us plenty of time to slip away and out the front door without any more damage being done or anyone else getting hurt.
I was the last one out, and as I went I tossed a sludge spell behind me, the sidewalk turning into a sort of sticky tar mess so that anyone who followed us would stick to the ground. Eventually they’d get out of it—either the goo would break down when the spell wore off or if the guy was smart enough, he’d take off his shoes and go barefoot—but by then we’d be long gone.
“Get in your car!” I yelled, surveying the group to make sure we had everyone. Emory and Fallon carried Sascha, since she was still looking a little out of it from earlier. Peter and June followed quickly behind them. For now, the whole group appeared to be intact.
“Asher, over here!” I motioned for him to follow me the few blocks over to where I had parked and had the car unlocked before he’d even reached the passenger side. Jumping inside and hot-wiring the car with a few choice words (I’d left my keys somewhere in the house during all the drama), I then slammed my foot down on the gas and the car lurched forward, peeling out as we made our exit. I met up with the other car a few blocks away, before we all got back onto the highway to head to the cabin. Every few seconds I’d glance back to make sure they were keeping up.
Once we’d been driving for at least twenty minutes, I finally allowed myself to let up on the gas and trust that, for the time being, we weren’t being followed.
For now.
“What the hell was that?” Asher asked once I’d stopped driving like I was in the Indy 500. The sound of his voice breaking our silence startled me as I’d been pondering what our next move should be. I started to answer, but he cut me off. “And don’t give me that crap about magician gangs. Magicians or not, that was magic back there. You guys were doing actual spells. But not fun ones like making cake appear out of thin air or guessing cards. That was a battle. The kind you don’t walk away from.”
My mind raced to come up with an explanation that would be less crazy than the truth, but in the end nothing I could make up would sound any saner. And I was sick of lying to Asher. It somehow felt wrong. Like, if I was trying to start a relationship with someone, I didn’t want to base it on a plethora of lies. After everything he’d just seen, I doubted he’d believe me anyway. Better to come clean and deal with the consequences later. Even if it turned out that Asher wanted nothing to do with me or my crazy life.
I hoped all this didn’t scare him off for good.
My stomach twisted into knots as I prepared to do what I knew I had to. “Asher, I’m a witch,” I said, saying each word carefully like it might help the meaning sink in. “I come from a long line of witches. My mom could do magic. My grandmother, too. As far as I know everyone in my family tree has had some ability to cast.”
I left out the fact that my super-great-grandmother was the first witch to be executed at the Salem witch trials and was quite possibly the most powerful witch of all time. And that it looked like the apple didn’t fall far from the tree in my case. It didn’t seem important to the story, and I was nervous about overloading him with too much heavy information all at once. That discussion was more of a fifth-date kind of topic.
“You were right that it was a battle, Asher. And those guys back there? They’re the bad guys. Really bad guys. They’ve been hunting down other covens for centuries, wiping out anyone who could threaten their rise to power. And now they’ve found us. The people who helped us out at the house tonight are members of my coven, the Cleri. Just over a week ago the Parrishables—those are the bad guys—they attacked our parents at a coven meeting and burned the place to the ground, with everyone still in it.”
I chanced a look over at Asher but he wasn’t saying anything.
“After that, those of us who were left went on the run, escaping to the only place I knew would be safe. And then we started to train. We hid and we trained, trying to perfect all the spells that we’d been taught by our magic teacher. But it wasn’t enough. Because when they found us at the mall, they ended up putting two of my friends in the hospital. One even had to have emergency surgery.”
Now I was unloading everything on him. All the stress and upset I’d been letting build up inside me in order to shield it from the others came spilling out. It was hard not to choke on my words when I thought about Jinx and her injuries, but I kept going. I had to.
“Then I found out from one of Samuel Parris’s goons that it’s really me that they’re after, and if the Cleri hadn’t been with me that day, they never would’ve gotten hurt. So I left. Figured they were better off without me. But it was all a bad idea—well, good because I ran into you, but bad because of that total slasher scene back at my house.
“Now it looks like we’ll have to go back to the cabin where the rest of the Cleri are staying, because so far it’s the only place that the Parrishables haven’t been able to find us. And on top of that, I’ve pulled you into my witch fit and put your life in danger too! Asher, you’re the last person I’d ever want to get hurt and I’m not sure if you should even be around me anymore, but I also don’t know if it’s safe for you to be out there by yourself now. I don’t know what to do.”
I looked over at him again, scared that he’d call me a psycho and jump o
ut of the moving vehicle just to get away from me. But his butt stayed glued to the seat and his face remained neutral, both reactions I hadn’t been expecting. I waited patiently for him to say something. Finally, he cleared his throat and broke the uncomfortable silence.
“So, you’re a witch,” he said in a way that was like, “So, you’re seventeen” or “So, you’re a redhead.” It brought a feeling to my heart that was indescribable. He didn’t care that I was a witch. Or that I did magic. Or that I was different.
I’d told him my big secret and he hadn’t gone running for the hills. My mind boggled at the fact that he seemed to be taking it all pretty well. I never would’ve expected it.
“So, what next?” he asked, settling back into his seat, more at ease than I would’ve expected of someone who’d just found out that witches existed.
“That’s it? You’re okay knowing that they’re after us and all?” I asked, surprised but happy. “I mean, I’m kind of a liability right now. Trouble seems to follow me around these days.”
“Oh, you’re trouble all right,” he said with a smile. “But like you said, they’ve already seen me, and it won’t be any better out there fending for myself than here with you. Besides, I trust you to keep me safe; I’m sort of not ready to let you go just yet.”
This made me blush and I was thankful that it was dark in the car. Taking my hand off the wheel, I placed it on his and linked our fingers.
“So don’t,” I said.
Chapter Twenty-One
The whole gang of us trudged into the cabin in silence. It wasn’t necessarily that we were trying to be quiet; it was that nobody had much to say. I’d been wondering during the trip home—when I wasn’t busy beaming over how understanding Asher had been about everything—whether it would be weird now that I was coming back. I mean, the last time I was there, I’d pretty much ditched them. Of course, in my mind I’d had reason: I was just trying to keep them safe. Still, I could see how they might’ve interpreted my exit as abandonment.
On the other hand, they had come looking for me in the end and that had to mean something. Since we’d all been in separate cars, I hadn’t had the chance to talk to any of them and gauge how they were feeling.
All I really knew was that it felt oddly good to be home—odd because the cabin had begun to feel more like home than anywhere else.
It was about 11 p.m. as we walked in the front door of the cabin, and I was expecting the house to be quiet with all its inhabitants asleep. But as I walked into the living room, I saw that almost everyone was still up. It was possible they’d been waiting in the same spots since the others had left to find me; people were leafing through magazines or had books open, and a few were just sitting there staring off into space. But when we shuffled in, all heads and eyes turned to us.
Here we go.
I was trying to figure out what to say—whether I should apologize for leaving or thank them for coming to my rescue—but it turned out I didn’t need to say anything. Almost immediately, I was tackled from the side in a hug. I looked down at my attacker and saw Penelope, a thirteen-year-old who I’d come to associate with horses, because she always wore the same pony necklace every day. We’d barely said more than hi to each other; she sort of stayed in the background of our coven and was rarely seen or heard. And now Penelope had attached herself to my lower half, hooking her arms around my waist with a surprisingly strong grip for someone her size.
“Please don’t leave us again,” she whispered. Her voice was inaudible to anyone but me. There was so much emotion behind her words that it nearly broke my heart.
I looked up at the rest of my coven. Judging by their faces, I thought they were happy that I was back too. They weren’t annoyed or looking to fight with me. Their smiles ranged from relief to joy to excitement and that’s when I knew.
The cold war was over.
There would be no hard feelings, between them or me, and we would move past this. Hell, we were already past it in a way. They were glad for my return and so was I.
“I promise I won’t take off again,” I said, glancing down at Penelope, who was full-on crying now. “You guys are stuck with me whether you like it or not.”
I felt a tap on my shoulder and spun around to see someone else I hadn’t expected.
“Jazzy!” I screeched, reaching out to grab her. But she was too quick for me, throwing her hands up to ward me off before I could get to her. I’d forgotten she wasn’t the mushy-gushy type, so I settled for giving her a grin instead. She smiled back and I knew she was just as happy to see me.
“What are you doing here? When did they let you out?” I asked after taking a moment to pull myself together.
Jasmine waved off my question. “I’m fine. You really thought a little rumble like that was going to keep me down? Nah, I’m tough. Have you seen these muscles?” She pulled up one of her sleeves, showing off her scrawny arms.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Very impressive,” I said. “But really, are you sure you’re okay?”
“Thanks, Mom, but I think I’ll be fine,” she said semi-sarcastically. “I just couldn’t take lying there like that any longer. It was like prison, only cleaner. The doc said I just had to take it easy the next couple of days and sent me home with some of these.” Jasmine shook a bottle of what I assumed were painkillers. She talked a good game, but I could tell her head was still hurting, as she winced at the quick motion.
“And Jinx?” It hurt me to ask, but the question was on my mind, since Jasmine had made it home.
“She’s still at the hospital. They were able to stop the bleeding and she even woke up for a little while. But they’ve got her all hooked up to these monitors and they’re giving her meds that have her sleeping round the clock. They said there was no use in sticking around since she won’t be conscious most of the time anyway. So I came by myself.”
“Is she going to be okay?” I asked hopefully.
“That’s the rumor,” Jasmine said, shrugging. She was playing it cool, but I knew that Jinx’s condition was hitting her pretty hard.
Hearing that Jinx had made it through her surgery and that the docs were feeling hopeful about her recovery made me feel like I could finally breathe again. Of course, I’d always hoped she’d be okay, but a part of me was constantly waiting for the bad news. Now that the more pressing crisis appeared to be over, another question popped into my head.
“Wait, how did the others find me, anyway?”
“That was all Fallon,” Peter said, walking in the front door with Sascha, Emory, and June in tow. Fallon, however, was nowhere to be seen. When Peter saw the look on my face, he chuckled. “We were surprised when he suggested it too. But he insisted that you’d be at your house. Said it would be the last place we’d check and the first place you’d go.”
“Good guess,” I said, surprised by how right he’d been. I looked around for him, but saw that he still hadn’t come inside.
Pete shrugged. “He saw how close you were to your parents when we were all there after the fire and figured you’d go there before disappearing for good.”
“So he came after me, even after I told him not to?” I asked.
It was hard to believe that what Peter was saying was true. Since when did Fallon do anything out of the kindness of his heart? Or at least without some sort of evil motivation behind it. Did he finally realize that my powers were in a whole different league than his and decide it would be better to have me around? Or were his motives more sinister than that? I couldn’t ignore the fact that each time the Parrishables had attacked, Fallon had mysteriously shown up to save the day.
The others nodded. “He started coming up with the plan about an hour after you left.”
“Well, that was nice of him, I guess,” I said, still bewildered.
None of this derailed me from the fact that I was back with my coven (well, most of them, anyway) and had a whole new perspective on this war with the Parrishables. None of us could do this on our own.
Yes, it might be safer if the others had never met me, but as of right now, there was no spell to turn back time. So it looked like they were stuck with me. And I with them.
Thank God, because I’d learned—almost at the expense of my life—that as powerful as I was, I wasn’t strong enough to bring down an entire coven on my own.
“Who’s he?” Peter asked, a bit of a growl creeping into his voice. He was just being protective of his family, so I ignored the fact that he was acting rude toward our guest.
“Yeah, who’s the honey?” Jasmine asked, nodding to the space over my right shoulder. Turning to follow her gaze, I saw that Asher was standing a few feet behind me, trying not to get in the way, so that I could have some time to reconnect with my friends. It was sweet of him to give me some space, but I also noticed that he hadn’t retreated far enough away that he couldn’t be at my side within seconds. It looked like he was keeping his promise to not let me out of his sight anytime soon.
I walked over to Asher and placed my hand on his arm protectively. The gesture was not lost on the others. I may as well have flashed a neon sign that said, “He’s okay and he’s mine,” because everyone seemed to relax a little.
“Everyone, this is Asher. Asher, this is the Cleri.”
People gave him variations of hello and a few showed off shy smiles. The guys mostly grunted and walked away, probably to complain about another man invading their territory. Especially one as good-looking as Asher. I wasn’t worried, though. They’d all get over it when they realized he wasn’t a threat—he was here only because of me, not to take his place as the alpha male.
“Hadley, we never wanted you to leave before,” Sascha said. “I know you think we’ll be safer without you, but we won’t. We can’t afford to lose you now.”
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