The man that had sat down near Jenny was now standing, his hands on her arms. Her back was to me, and he had an icy grin on his face, but I could see from her body language that she was scared. Her shoulders were hunched and she was backing away from him, shaking her head. As I watched, he moved his face closer to Jenny’s. I must have inadvertently let my stretches sense out so that I could hear them over the crowded bar. Jenny let out a soft whimper, and I dropped the tiny glass of whiskey, thrusting the tray toward Jackson.
“Excuse me,” I said, seeing the surprise on his face for a split second before he grabbed the tray and I took off. I was across the dance floor in seconds, and the creep in front of Jenny didn’t even register my presence until I spoke.
“Hi Jenny,” I said. Both of their heads swiveled to look at me at the same time, his face full of annoyance and hers full of relief. “Remember those pointers I was going to show you? Well, pay attention.”
My foot shot out and connected with the man’s knee the very next moment, and although I’d taken care not to use my full strength, I heard the cracking in the joint. Whether it was audible to only me or to Jenny as well, I didn’t know. The red haze was already creeping into my field of vision, and I fought to keep it back. The roar he let out drew the attention of customers from a few tables nearby, but his hands had dropped from Jenny’s arms and were now cupping his knee as strangled expletives were forced from his mouth.
I leaned forward, putting my mouth close to his ear. “Jenny is not available.”
He straightened up quickly, his face full of seething anger. For a moment, I thought he would retaliate, but after glaring at me for what seemed like forever, he turned and limped toward the door. When I looked back at Jenny, her mouth was open and she was staring at me incredulously.
“Holy crap, Olivia!” She laughed and then hugged me. “Thanks.”
Now that the immediate threat was over, I was embarrassed and glanced around quickly. Shrugging, I smiled at Jenny.
“It’s no problem,” I said. Walking quickly toward the stage, I took the tray from a shocked-looking Jackson. “I’m sorry about that,” I said. Picking up the shot glass, which was still half-full of whiskey after I had dropped it sloppily a few moments ago, I downed it and then smiled at him.
I didn’t kick anyone else for the rest of the night, and was relieved when it was finally time to wipe down the tables and wash the dishes. I was completely exhausted, and every muscle in my feet and legs was throbbing. I was in a daze, so I was caught off guard when Paula spoke as I was grabbing my jacket from behind the bar.
“So, we should all get together tomorrow and go to May Days. It’s the last day, you know,” she said, smiling at Jackson.
“Oh,” Jenny said excitedly. “We went today. It was so much fun!”
Paula looked at her for a long moment and then glanced at Jackson with a pouty face. “That’s too bad. Jackson’s the only person not afraid to ride The Drop with me.” She gave Jenny and Erika a fake look of horror before laughing.
“Actually, Olivia and Jackson rode it three times in a row,” Jenny laughed. “You should have seen her face. It was priceless!”
I slipped my jacket onto my arms, preoccupied with how easily Jenny could get excited about the silliest things.
“Is that so?” Paula asked. Her voice was practically dripping with disgust. When I turned to look at her, she was glaring at me so hard that if she’d been a Wise One, I might have been knocked over. “Funny,” she added, “I thought you had to be at least five feet tall and weigh more than one hundred pounds soaking wet to be allowed on The Drop.”
Of course, she was exaggerating. I was five-three, and weighed at least one-twenty. The damage was done, though. I certainly didn’t need her to point out the fact that she was all sinful curves and warm beauty. The others were quiet, maybe shocked that she’d been such a bitch or maybe waiting to hear what I’d say in return. I felt like a spotlight was shining on me and all of my inadequacies. A moment later, she smiled as if to say she’d only been playing.
I’m not proud to admit what I did next. It was obvious to me – as I buttoned my jacket with shaking fingers – that I was in Paula’s way in regards to Jackson. Normally, the challenge in her voice would have brought out the kindred bitch in me, but she’d done what I was most afraid of. She’d pointed out that I didn’t belong, and it was a painful scratch in the already bleeding wound I carried around. Besides, I barely knew Jackson, and certainly didn’t want to cause trouble. So, I looked up, chuckled and then smiled at her sheepishly.
“I saw the sign. I think they were too embarrassed for me to call me out on that height thing.” Glancing at Jackson and the girls, I smiled and said, “Good night.” Then I turned toward the door and left.
I was relieved to be outside, and then to be in the car on the road. Because I was so tired, I allowed myself to ignore everything. I didn’t analyze what had happened in the bar. I didn’t think about my own embarrassment, what was happening in Eagleton, or even the creep I had kicked. I dragged myself out of the car when I got to the house, went in and locked the door, and then pulled myself up the stairs and into the bed, where I passed out almost immediately.
There was absolutely nothing; no dreams, no hazy memories, nothing. It was already well into the morning when the sound of my phone woke me. It was the most annoying sound I’d ever heard, and without opening my eyes, I located it in the little apron that was still tied around my waist. Flipping it open, I stuck it to my ear.
“Yes?” I said, groggily, having no idea to whom I was speaking.
Everett’s voice was full of tension when he spoke. “Olivia, something has happened. Max was attacked last night.”
Chapter 7
“What?” I shot up in bed, the grogginess gone although I had to squint in the sunshine that was streaming into the room. My heart was racing as I tried to untangle my legs from the sheets.
“He’s fine. Everything is okay, but we think it was the same kind of attacks that happened to the Moss Point coven members.” Everett spoke quickly and quietly, as if he had limited time to talk.
He’s fine. Before I could process anything else, I repeated Everett’s words silently a few times. “What happened? I don’t understand,” I said. Surely no one had penetrated Eagleton’s grounds. The illusion Ivanna kept there wouldn’t even permit regular people to find the entrance, much less get into the main house.
Even as Everett was explaining the situation, I was kicking off the uniform and grabbing jeans from the armoire.
“He’d gone out to get art supplies and someone attacked him in the parking lot. There were two of them. They got in a few good hits but they backed off almost as soon as Max started fighting back. It was dark, and they were wearing black shirts with hoods. Max doesn’t know who they were. He drove around all night making sure no one was tailing him.” Everett exhaled loudly, and then added, “I just felt wrong not telling you what happened.”
“I’m on my way,” I said. Shoving my feet into a pair of sneakers instead of the flip flops, I headed straight for the stairs.
“No!” Everett said, his voice firm. “You can’t come here.”
I didn’t stop in my tracks, but I definitely slowed. “What? What do you mean I can’t come there, Everett? You’re in danger, and I--”
“I mean you can’t,” he interrupted. “Ivanna forbade it. Sylvia got scared and started begging her to let you come home but she said no. In fact, she was adamant that we didn’t even tell you about it but I had to. I know you’re at a safe house, but there’s a possibility that you could be in danger too. No one knows where these people are getting their information at; how they know where to attack.”
“She forbade it?” I stopped now at the foot of the stairs.
“She doesn’t even want us calling you, Livvy,” Everett said, his voice even lower. I couldn’t believe it. I had never questioned Ivanna’s ability to govern the coven before. She had always done her best to ensur
e our safety, but now…she was punishing the whole coven because she was holding a grudge against me. Wasn’t this a hundred times worse than what I’d done?
“Yeah, well we’ll see about all that,” I said, flipping the phone shut. Righteous anger flowed through my veins as I locked the front door and jogged down the steps and the cobblestone walk. It scared me that I doubted Ivanna, but at the same time, she was responsible for the safety of my brothers and sisters, and she was making the wrong choice. Let her get mad. Let her punish me in some other way, but I was going home.
I drove like a maniac, cursing the many miles between Staves and Eagleton. The only thing I could think about was the fact that Max was attacked. If his attackers were Venator, he’d been within an arm’s reach of the deadliest people to walk the face of the earth; magick-users who thought nothing of torturing humans and Wise Ones.
A few years after I arrived in Eagleton, a rumor reached us that there was a possible Venator hideout nearby. Perry and a few of the men from another coven went to check it out. When they arrived, they found it completely empty. Whether the Venator tribe was weak and had heard about Wise Ones coming, we never found out, but Perry had brought back some of the trophies he’d found there.
The Venator were true to their name; they were hunters in every way. Sometimes they killed their victims right away, and sometimes they turned them into slaves, but the victims always died and it was always painful. I snuck into one of the storage rooms a few days after Perry’s return and found those trophies; bloody locks of hair fastened to wooden plaques, high-priestess necklaces with teeth threaded onto the chains, and other horrible memorabilia.
Possibly the worst were the hides. Years back, many Wise Ones received tattoos when they dedicated their lives to the Goddess and to the magick. Whereas the Venator wore the hunter’s arrows, the Wise Ones were given Goddess symbols; a full moon between two crescents, waxing and waning. Many of them took it a step further and received their coven symbol inside the full moon. These were the Venator’s favorite souvenirs of death. They’d cut the skin off their victims and dry it before affixing it to a plaque bearing the silver hunter’s arrow.
Most Wise Ones had stopped getting tattooed, preventing themselves from becoming an easy target. The images of those trophies haunted me, and a chill ran through me. As I got closer to Eagleton, my heart pounded more forcefully against my ribcage, but the anger seethed on. Ten minutes before reaching home, as I turned onto a quiet, country street that was tree-lined and shaded, I realized there was going to be a problem.
A few hundred feet in front of me, Ivanna’s silver sedan pulled out from the side of the street and into the middle, where it stayed, reflecting the pebbles of light that made it through the trees. Immediately I knew that I wasn’t going to be allowed to go home today. I didn’t slow down until I was dangerously close to her car, and I slammed on the brakes and threw my own car into park. Getting out, I slammed the door and stood, waiting for the reason I was being blocked.
Ivanna stepped out of the driver’s side at the same time Everett stepped out of the passenger-side. Crossing my arms over my chest, I glared hard at both of them.
“What?” I asked. “Are you going to stop me from going to Eagleton?”
“Absolutely,” Ivanna said without hesitation. “Your place is in Staves right now. You’re overreacting and you’re not thinking clearly,” she added. “Much the way you did when you were sent to the orphanage.”
“I get it, Ivanna!” I stepped forward. “I know I messed up. And maybe I am overreacting but you can’t be sure who Max’s attackers were. I need to be home. Postpone the punishment until we figure out what’s going on.”
“Olivia, there is no need for you here right now. The grounds of Eagleton are safe and it’s highly unlikely that the attackers were Venator. Max is still alive and well.”
“You heard what Lillian said,” I replied hotly. “Just because Max wasn’t hurt doesn’t mean they weren’t Venator…and it doesn’t mean they won’t come here. It doesn’t mean that everyone is safe.”
“Olivia, if and when we need you here, I will let you know. Until then, you’re going to face the consequences you brought upon yourself in Staves,” Ivanna pulled her sunglasses up to look at me with her dark eyes. I shook my head in disgust and glanced at Everett.
“Livvy,” he said slowly, “we’re all fine. I know you’re worried, but we’re safe.”
I frowned at him and addressed Ivanna again. “Do you know that nothing is going to happen to any of them?” I gestured toward Everett. “Can you swear it to me on fire, water, earth and air? Can you, Ivanna?”
“Don’t be melodramatic, Olivia. You know reading the future is not my talent, but you also know that I would give my life to keep our family safe.” I saw a real flicker of hurt in Ivanna’s eyes. It disappeared as quickly as it came, though. I stepped forward a bit more so that I could look her directly in those eyes.
“Ivanna, if you can’t swear it, then you have absolutely no excuse for keeping me away. You aren’t justified.”
“I don’t have to be justified. I am your high-priestess,” her voice took on that magickal tone as she lifted her chin, “and I am telling you that if you do not turn around right now and go back to Staves, your bonds to the coven will be forfeit.”
I was frozen in place for a long moment. “Unbelievable,” I said, looking back and forth between her and Everett. When coven bonds are forfeited, not only do members find themselves out of the families, but sometimes they find themselves deep in a feud with former coven members. Usually, a coven member would have to do something absolutely unforgivable for this to happen. Until the day I’d messed up and given the boy our number, I was closer to Ivanna than any other woman on the planet.
While Charlotte had behaved as our mother, Ivanna was my older sister, my confidante, my mentor. She unashamedly displayed me as her favorite, and even asked my advice on most coven decisions. Never in all the time I’d been in Eagleton had she spoken to me this way, and while there was some deep hurt within me, what I mostly felt was white hot anger.
I tensed my jaw and forced myself to uncross my arms. Ivanna’s glare never faltered and I could see that she most certainly meant her threat.
“Fine,” I said quietly and coldly, “but if something happens to any of you because of this…I will never forgive you, Ivanna. I’ll leave the coven freely and I will never come back, and for the rest of my days on this planet, I will never, ever forgive you.”
I turned, heading back to the car. I heard Everett say my name a few times, but I ignored him. I wanted to run to him and scream, cry, demand to know how I had suddenly found myself on the outside looking in, but my pride refused to allow that. Tears pooled in my eyes as I got into the car and threw it in reverse, squealing tires as I spun around.
The ride back to Staves was a blur. I didn’t want to go back, but there was nowhere else for me to go. When I was almost there, I realized it was probably best anyway. While my original intention with the job was to piss Ivanna off, it would serve a different purpose in keeping me occupied. I wasn’t prepared for Jackson to be at the house when I arrived, but there he was.
The black jeep was in my spot, and he was leaning up against the driver-side door, his arms crossed casually. I pulled up behind him, groaning, and rubbing tear stains from my cheeks quickly. I got out of the car and he waved, turning up the corners of his mouth. When he looked at my face, his smile faded and his face was washed in a look of concern.
“Hey, are you okay?” He asked. I walked past him and toward the gate.
“I’m fine,” I said. “Rough morning, that’s all.”
Despite my attempt at a brush-off, Jackson fell into step behind me and followed me through the gate.
“I’m just not feeling well,” I added, walking up the porch steps quickly. I hoped he’d take the hint and leave, but when I turned back to look at him, he was directly in front of me. Drawing his brows together, he studied my fa
ce.
“You look upset,” he said. Whether it was the fact that he noticed me being upset or the concern on his face, tears welled up in my eyes again and I looked down at my feet, shaking my head.
“No.” I cleared my throat. “I’m fine, thanks.”
He was quiet for a few beats and then he said, “Listen, I came by because I wanted to apologize for what Paula said last night. She can be…harsh sometimes.”
“Oh, please. Don’t apologize. It’s no big deal,” I said, glancing up at him. His eyes were brilliant in the sunlight, and although I wanted nothing more than to get inside the house, I couldn’t help staring for just a moment. My pause gave him time to move forward. He put his arms out hesitantly, and then he was wrapping me in a hug. I gasped when I felt the little shock again, but when I inhaled, it was the scent of him – warmth and the leather of his jacket, and the faint, clean smell of cologne. His arms held me tightly, and before I knew what was happening, my arms responded by encircling him and my forehead was pressing against his chest.
I clung to him for a moment, just reveling in the contact and the warmth, but then I remembered my place on the planet and I backed up quickly. As if he were reluctant, he sluggishly removed his arms and turned up a corner of his mouth.
Embarrassed, I stammered, “What was that for?”
“You looked like you needed it. Apparently, I did too.” He smile broadened and then he turned to leave. After descending the steps, he turned back to me. “Hey, do you think we could do something together sometime? I’d really like to get to know you better, Olivia.”
I blinked, remembering Jenny and Erika’s warning. “I don’t know. Maybe,” I said.
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