by Jen Stevens
“Come back when you've settled your deal with the fates, and we'll talk about everything you want. You're going to be the key to erasing the darkness looming overhead. For now, you need to focus on that.”
She called Mary into the room and asked to retire back upstairs, claiming she was exhausted. I didn't argue and eagerly took the opportunity to leave before she started spouting more nonsense. Mary walked me out and apologized for the abrupt end to what she believed must have been a very pleasant afternoon. I just smiled politely and bid her goodbye, hoping that everything I'd just been told were fabricated tales spun by an old woman losing her mind.
Deep down, I knew I was only fooling myself.
Chapter 23
Remy
When he wasn't downtown, intimidating our coven members, my father spent most of his time in his study. It's where all my lessons took place growing up. He liked to keep it dark and gloomy, always one to use discomfort and intimidation against people as a power move. If you found yourself within those dimly lit, mahogany wood paneled walls, you weren't walking away unscathed.
That was where I found him today. After days of hunting Julia and her friends and failing miserably, I decided to do some digging on what Storie said Julia told her during her attack.
That it had always been the Rists and the Wildes.
I knew what it sounded like. It seemed as if Julia was suggesting that her family was somehow intertwined with our Quarter blood. But that didn't follow the narrative our fathers have been spewing at us our entire lives, because if Julia was meant to be my Counter, she wouldn't have lived past a few hours. Right?
“Remington. To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure,” my father cooed sarcastically. His hands shifted slightly on the desk as he inconspicuously pushed a piece of paper beneath his desk calendar.
“May I?” I asked, gesturing toward the chair sitting across from him.
He slowly nodded with a tight smile on his lips, and I took a seat on the edge, bracing my arms on the front of his desk.
“I was hoping to get an update on how things are being handled after Mabon.”
“An update? There isn't one. You four have proven to be incapable of handling your roles and continue to do so through each training. We're keeping our temporary order in place until we find the improvement we seek.”
I bit back my defensive retort, reminding myself that I was here for a reason. “Have you found any more information about our Counters?”
His coal black eyes considered me suspiciously. “If we had, you would be the first to know.”
I nodded, leaning back into my chair. “They're the key to ending this, right?”
“I suppose so. There’s a lot that goes into being a Quarter, Remington. Frankly, you boys have been simply coasting for a while. It was only a matter of time before it blew up in your faces.” He took a drink from the glass of whiskey sitting before him. “As I said before, you should consider yourself lucky to have such supportive elders who are willing to clean up your messes.”
He was trying to get under my skin to deflect my questions. I knew that. I just hated that it was working.
I worked my jaw as we locked onto each other’s stares, challenging one another. He wanted me to react so that he could claim I attacked him, the same way they all tried to do the night of Mabon. I couldn’t give in to him, though. Not when there were so many questions left unanswered and the others were suffering more and more by the day.
“I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree.” I raised my brow at him, waiting for his snarky response.
He surprised me by showing the same restraint I had. “What is it you truly want from me? I’m busy.”
“The others and I have been digging into the town’s bloodlines to scout out any information we can about our Counters,” I fibbed. I think Lux and Rhyse may have spent a day in the library on that but couldn’t find anything of substance.
His hands tightened into fists before he dropped them to his lap. “And?”
“There appeared to be a correlation between births in the Rist family and ours.” I paused and watched him carefully for a reaction before continuing. “Each time a firstborn Quarter was birthed into the family, the Rists had a child of their own.”
“What are you suggesting? That the housekeeper is your Counter?” he mocked. He was trying his best to appear unaffected, but I saw the anger flash across his eyes for a split second. I noted the way his brows pinned together and the left side of his mouth twitched.
That reaction was worth far more than anything else he could possibly offer me on the subject. It told me that I was onto something, and that scared him.
Frankly, it scared me as well.
Could I be wrong about Storie, then?
I chuckled, waving my hand in the air dismissively. “You’re right. That sounds ridiculous.”
He relaxed into his chair, then attempted to take control of the conversation once again. “Maybe you boys should be focusing on how to make the disaster you’ve created right with your coven, instead of going on wild goose chases.”
“That’s probably true.” My sarcastic tone clearly flew over his head when his lips lifted in a smug smirk as I stood up and walked to the door.
I didn’t bother saying goodbye or waiting for him to dismiss me before walking out of his office. The hallway was bright and airy, reminding me that it was still mid-morning. I immediately reached into my pocket for my phone and called the others, telling them to meet me at the library as soon as possible.
I took a detour through the kitchen in an attempt to find Julia, but Marta stood at the sink alone. There had to be consequences for Julia and her friends. The members of Watchtower have grown far too comfortable, acting out in the absence of order that was usually kept in place by our High Priest and Priestess. Yet, the Forbes have taken a back seat on all coven matters and allowed our clown mayor and Rayner to send the town running rampant.
I wanted to know why.
And I wanted to know why Julia targeted Storie. How did the Rists tie in with my family, and what did it mean that where Storie lit my bones on fire every time she was near, Julia had barely made an impression on me before any of this?
---
“What are we supposed to be looking for?” Enzo asked as I rifled through the town’s old birth records.
“I don’t know, exactly. The Rists have practically been our housekeepers since the beginning of time. Maybe try to find the records for anyone your family keeps under their employ. We can sort through them from there.”
“This seems like a lot of work for a hunch,” Rhyse whined.
“It’s not a hunch. I’m telling you, my dad tensed up the minute I brought them up.”
“What even made you think to mention them?” Lux asked. He was the only one kneeled on the ground beside me pulling out files.
I paused, unsure of how much I wanted to share. It wasn’t possible to tell them what Julia had done without admitting what happened after with Storie and that I thought she might be my Counter. That we'd spent more time together in the past few days than I was able to tolerate spending with anyone else in years.
“Julia said some weird stuff about our families. I figured anything was worth exploring, especially after my dad acted so cagey when I mentioned finding our Counters.”
It was only half a lie.
“That was a lucky shot.” Lux eyed me doubtfully, but still continued with his task.
Enzo and Rhyse finally began sifting through the files on the top shelves, and within an hour, we had every birth record of every person our families employed spread out across three tables.
“This is insane,” Rhyse muttered in disbelief as we compared their records with our own.
The Bishops, Foleys, Whittles, and Rists were all employed with our families since they came to Beacon Grove. Coincidentally, each family produced a child at the same time the Quarters produced their heirs.
I somehow stumbled into the tru
th without even realizing it.
“The correlations end with our fathers, though,” Lux pointed out. He had written down each Quarter's name and their corresponding employee's birth as we discovered them.
“Yeah, something changed with their generation,” Enzo agreed. “But what? These bloodlines must stretch back at least two hundred years. What could cause such a huge shift?”
I was worried that our new discovery would prove me wrong about Storie. It wasn't that I wanted her to be my Counter, but if she wasn't, then that would mean there was some other reason we were so drawn to each other.
Instead, these files only pushed me further in the direction of proving my theory to be correct. That would also explain why Julia was so hostile toward her. She wanted to know why her family role was stripped away.
“These are useful, but they only lead to more questions,” Rhyse said in a defeated sigh.
“It's more than we had three hours ago,” Lux pointed out.
“It’s more than we’ve had in a while,” I added just as the sour-faced librarian approached us.
“The library’s closed. You should have had these cleaned up and put away already,” she barked, scowling as her withered eyes scanned the stack of files. When she noted the names on the labels, she squinted at us accusingly. Without another word, she slowly turned her back to us and hobbled down the stairs.
“That was weird,” Enzo voiced the rest of our thoughts aloud.
We made fast work of getting the files reorganized and replacing them to their homes in the large filing cabinets. Esther glared at us over the tall counter she sat behind in contempt when we made it to the bottom of the stairs twenty minutes later, and her beady eyes followed us unblinkingly until we were out the doors.
It wasn’t until we parted ways and Rhyse and Enzo were nearly to their cars when Lux grabbed my shoulder and stopped me.
“Why do I have a feeling this is about the Graves girl?”
“I don't know.” There was no use lying to Lux. He had a gift of discerning the truth and insulting him with a lie would only betray his trust.
It seemed our trust in each other was all we could be sure of anymore.
“Remy, we're in the middle of a war. The four of us are all we've got, and if we don't have honesty between us, then we've already lost.” His icy blue eyes considered me for a moment, daring me to lie again.
I wouldn't. But I also couldn't share the full truth.
“She's a huge piece of the puzzle,” I vaguely admitted.
My eyes did a sweep of our surroundings to make sure no one was trying to listen to our conversation. Beacon Grove was becoming one of the worst places to have conversations like this anymore, especially with so many joining the movement against us.
Lux shook his head slowly, taking his time to consider my words. “I trust you. But they won't be so forgiving if she ends up being our downfall and we learn that you allowed it to happen.”
His arm raised in the direction that Rhyse and Enzo left in. Their cars were long gone, but I got the point.
“Nothing I do will ever intentionally put you guys in harm's way. I'm just trying to find a way to end this,” I assured earnestly.
I truly believed Storie was the key to freeing us from whatever was holding us down. We've trodden water for so long, we weren't prepared for the storm when it came and washed us up. I knew the others would struggle with placing their confidence in a complete stranger, especially one that could potentially be a Counter. But that was why I was keeping them out of it.
Police are now searching for the newest victim in the Beacon Grove disappearances. Charlotte Jones, 21, has been reported missing by her family after she didn't return home, following her closing shift at A Cut Above hair salon last night.
“It’s not like her to just not show up after work without telling us first. She knows how much we worry,” Jones’ mother, Caroline, says in an exclusive Beacon interview.
Jones is the fifth young female to disappear into thin air in recent weeks. Locals are now speculating about who might be hunting these women. They believe that anyone between the ages of 21 and 27 is specifically being targeted.
Officer Kyle Abbot claims the Beacon Grove police department has got the situation under control but did warn that anyone who matches the criteria of the five victims, “might want to travel in groups and avoid being alone at night,” until they can gain more information about the kidnappers.
Some are accusing the recently ostracized Quarters of hunting women in a desperate attempt to find their Counters. It's rumored that the Quarter elders have temporarily taken over their son's roles after the failed Mabon celebration. Locals speculate that once the Quarters find and eliminate their Counters, they'll be allowed to resume their positions.
“I wouldn't put it past them. I caught the four of them huddled together over the town's birth records,” says Esther Newberry, Beacon Grove's beloved librarian.
The Jones family is pleading with neighbors to come forward with any information that might lead to finding their youngest daughter. “We just want our little girl back home.”
Chapter 24
Storie
There was a darkness settling over Beacon Grove. It was thick and unforgiving, bleeding into every aspect of the lives of the people inside. Gray clouds seem to have taken residency over the densely wooded area and the sky behind them was dull and colorless. The rain maintained a steady flow for days straight, only offering short reprieves before starting up again. The ocean had darkened, wide waves slowly rolling into shore with a silent warning.
And everyone seemed to be in a foul, miserable mood.
Even as an outsider, I could feel the effects.
“Another girl is missing. This time, it's the Jones' youngest.” Tabitha folded The Beacon and set it down on the table to take a bite of her oatmeal.
“How many does that make now?” Blaire poured coffee into two glasses and walked them over to the table, sliding one over to me.
Once again, I just missed Callista. Blaire said she was busy at the pharmacy lately, curing more illness than usual for this time of year.
“Five. They're trying to instill fear.”
“Who?” I wondered absently, pouring a spoonful of sugar into my cup. Blaire was terrible at making coffee, but it was still preferable to what was offered in my room.
Tabitha didn't bother looking up from her meal when she answered, “The Movement.”
“Grammy thinks they're trying to frame the Quarters.” Blaire shook her head at the old woman, a smile teasing her lips.
“One day, you're going to learn to listen to me, girl.” Tabitha's tone didn't sound like she was offended or hurt, just annoyed. Always annoyed when it came to Blaire.
“Sorry, Grammy. It just doesn't seem likely. Why would they kidnap local young girls when they're trying to appeal to the townspeople? It seems counterproductive. The Quarters are more believable suspects.”
Tabitha's fist slammed onto the table, spilling coffee over the edges of our cups. Blaire and I jumped, and she mumbled something under her breath, then turned her glowing grenades toward Blaire, finally giving her full attention to the conversation.
“You need to smarten up. That's exactly what they want you to think and you're falling prey like a brainless sheep being led to slaughter.”
“It's just common sense,” Blaire mumbled into her lap. “The Quarters need to find their Counters if they want to keep their gift. Even The Beacon says that all the girls who have gone missing fit the criteria.”
Tabitha stood from her chair and threw the empty oatmeal bowl into the sink, nearly shattering the white ceramic. “We're not discussing this anymore.”
Blaire didn't argue. We both watched her walk out of the kitchen with wide eyes and held our breaths until we heard the wooden door to the hotel office slam shut.
“She's losing it,” Blaire declared once again, repeating the same words I've heard her utter multiple times now.
> I didn't think Tabitha was as far out of her mind as Blaire always insisted. But I couldn't defend the Quarters without explaining that I'd been regularly spending most of my time with one of them, and I wasn't ready to admit that to Blaire just yet. Whatever Remy and I shared felt too sacred to gossip about with my friend like a giggling schoolgirl.
Instead, I went another route. “I think the Movement has proven to be pretty desperate in their attempts to get people on their side. Is it really that much of a stretch to think they're just trying to turn more people against the Quarters and their families?”
Blaire scoffed. “Come on. Not you, too.”
“I'm just saying. From the outside looking in, you're all being played from both sides.”
“Can you really say you're on the outside anymore? You've been here for almost two months with no plans to leave.”
Of course, she had me there.
“Are you getting sick of me, Red?” I joked, ignoring the urge to cringe.
My intention was never to stay this long. Even without anticipating the constant secrecy and roadblocks that stood in my way, I should have been out of here a long time ago. Ideally, getting my career started and finding my footing in a new life without Aunt Ash. I'd barely allowed myself time to mourn her loss before taking all my savings and diving deep into the world of Beacon Grove.
Still, something told me it wasn't time for me to leave. I've only scratched the surface when it came to my mother's past, and it felt wrong leaving things with Remy open ended the way that they were. After what Julia and her friends pulled and the intimacy we shared following it, we were spending nearly every free moment we had together. It had only been about a week, but it felt like our souls have known each other for a lifetime.
I supposed I needed to sit down and think about how long I’d realistically be stuck here and make a plan based on that.