Damn it. Libby had a point, except it didn’t mean I needed Tegan to know just how messed up I was over her. I groaned and buried my head in my hands. Damn it. I tried to breathe through it, to will my body to calm the hell down but it wouldn’t listen. Anxiety raged through me like a forest fire, out of control and burning everything in sight.
My bedroom door flew open. I winced as my overhead light was turned on.
“Oh, you’re up already.” My father’s voice echoed through my silent room.
I squinted up at him. “Already? What’s wrong?”
He opened his mouth then shut it again. That was when my eyes adjusted to the light and I saw the shape he was in. His eyes were bloodshot and heavy. His face was pale. His blond hair was disheveled and sticking up in odd directions, like he’d run his hands through it a million times. My heart fluttered. My mouth went dry. Something was wrong. Something was horribly wrong. Kessler never looked out of place, never looked like he was being torn apart. The only time I’d seen him look that way was…
I gasped. No. Oh no.
“Don’t say it,” I whispered. Please no. Not again. “Don’t.”
My father scrubbed his face with his palms. When he pulled them away, he looked absolutely wrecked. He took a deep breath. “Libby just passed away.”
NO. No, no, no, no. NO. “I just saw her, a few hours ago. We talked. She can’t be gone.”
Kessler sighed and nodded his head. “Katherine. She told me…after…that she knew. She said Libby knew too. Apparently Libby asked for a potion to give her a temporary boost so she could say goodbye to her family.”
Something inside me broke, and I didn’t try to stop the tears that hit my cheek. She knew it was our last conversation. She knew, and she spent it talking to me about Tegan. Warning me not to push her away. Of all the things we could’ve said…after twelve years of solid friendship…she wanted to talk about Tegan. Sure, I’d told her what our friendship meant to me. I told her how thankful I was we’d been so close, but had I said it right? Had I done enough?
How many more people I cared about was I going to lose? How many could a person lose before they lost something of themselves too? My mother. My father. Cassandra. Libby. All gone. Who was next? Were all of my friends doomed to the same fate? Was I some kind of omen? A walking bad luck charm? Some kind of bringer of death? I couldn’t save them. I’d failed them. Who was I going to fail next? Kessler? Cooper? Tegan?
A violent shiver rippled through my body. Goose bumps spread over my skin. I can’t lose anyone else. It’s too much.
A large, warm hand squeezed my shoulder and I shattered. All of my control vanished. I fell forward until my forehead hit Kessler’s chest. His arms wrapped around me instantly, holding me tight. I didn’t try to keep it in or pretend I was okay. I let myself feel the pain I’d been pushing aside for another day. For Cassandra. For Libby. For everyone I’d eventually fail.
“It’s all right. I’m here.”
Chapter Sixteen
Tegan
“We just lost the Devil. I wonder how it’s coming back to us?”
I closed my eyes and took a deep, calming breath. My initial reaction was to turn around and tell the person to have more respect, but telling someone off at a funeral was also frowned upon. Just ignore it. I pushed my shoulders back and opened my eyes. In front of me, a few of my fellow Cards surrounded a wooden raft.
It was late in the morning. Libby’s funeral service had ended, and now only our community of witches were at the beach to give her a final farewell. Lily raised her arm, and the Mark of the Sun, XIX, was black but the skin under it shimmered like golden glitter. The sun slid behind a white puffy cloud. Tension left my face, and I realized I’d been squinting.
“I hope he’s hot.”
“I hope it’s me.”
I spun around and glared at two teenagers, pouring every ounce of my pain and frustration into my stare. The girls’ eyes widened. Rage boiled inside me. I pointed my finger at them. My magic charged to the surface, sending little white bolts of lightning out of my fingertip. The energy coiled around my hand like a snake, slithering up my now glowing arm. The girls gasped and leaned away from me. The black II Mark of the High Priestess stood out in bold contrast to my pale skin, and I knew they saw it.
I also knew it wasn’t right to blatantly threaten fourteen-year-olds, but over my dead body were they going to disrespect Libby like that.
I released my magic into the air. “Leave. Now.”
They jumped and scrambled to get away. I followed after them a few steps. The warm, powdery sand under my bare feet fueled the fire in my veins. How dare they? After everything Libby had done for our race, for this community, for the world? Maybe if Libby hadn’t given everything she had on our quest, if she hadn’t tapped out all of her energy, perhaps she would’ve seen the damn stingray. Maybe we wouldn’t be mourning her today. I didn’t care if I scared two young brats. I didn’t care if anyone else saw or what they thought. Libby deserved better.
I glared at their backs until they disappeared in the back of the crowd. They hadn’t left the beach entirely; I sensed their presence with my magic. However, with several dozen people all dressed entirely in white, I had difficulty spotting them.
I took a deep breath and wiggled my fingers. My magic shimmered and morphed into sparkly dust. My skin returned to its normal color. People were watching me. I felt their fear in little blasts of ice-cold drafts. In my peripheral vision, I saw that their eyes were wide…but I ignored them. I dropped my hand and turned to rejoin my Coven at the front of the crowd, and my gaze met someone else’s.
Her eyes were the brightest silver I’d ever seen. The tears pooled inside of them looked like liquid metal until they dropped down her cheeks. She was too young to have to suffer like this. Her dirty blonde hair was braided to the side, just like her sister’s always was. Aspen Tarbell. She smiled through her pain and mouthed the words, thank you.
My heart soared with pride and with pain. I couldn’t fathom what this felt like for her. If I could take any ounce of her hurt, even if only a smidgen, I’d do it in a heartbeat. I’d do it for Libby. In that moment, I made an oath to always look out for Aspen.
I bowed my head slightly and gave her a small smile. “You’re welcome,” I whispered.
She closed her eyes and sank into her mother’s embrace.
I swallowed through the lump in my throat, through the burn searing into my chest as I tried to breathe. I turned and stepped back into my spot in the Coven’s semicircle around Libby. While I’d been scolding two stupid children, her raft had been placed on the water. Flower petals of every color trickled over the edge of her raft, dropping to the ocean’s surface.
Uncle Kessler, Easton, and Cooper stepped away and rejoined The Coven, leaving only Tennessee and Royce standing beside the shore. My eyes latched onto Tennessee. They shouldn’t have. I tried to stop myself, but the tension in his back sucked me in. His long black waves grazed his shoulders, swaying in the breeze just like the hem of his ceremonial white gown. There were no sleeves to hide the tension and flexing of the muscles in his arms.
Royce and Tennessee raised their arms together, their palms facing the water. A gust of wind pushed into my back. The waves in the ocean switched path, rolling away from us. Libby’s raft sped off toward the horizon, leaving a trail of flowers behind it. The moon dropped down to the horizon, a full bright disc in the blue sky—a symbol of The Goddess waiting to take her home.
Tennessee dropped his arm then turned to face the crowd. I expected him to stick with his pattern of the last few days, where he pretended like I didn’t exist. I expected him to ignore me. I expected him to be the solid picture of strength and resilience, the image I’d come to identify with him. Instead, he looked absolutely wrecked. His eyes were bloodshot with dark bags underneath them. He was the picture of a man barely holding on. I wanted to hold him and squeeze all the broken pieces back together.
When he reclaimed th
e open spot beside me, I couldn’t help myself. I reached out and took his hand in mine. I didn’t look at him; I simply laced my fingers with his and prayed it provided him with some comfort. In that moment, I didn’t care if we were forbidden or if anyone saw us. The warmth of his skin against mine, and the tight hold he had on my hand, told me he needed what I was giving. My heart fluttered with hope and pride.
Through the salty air, I smelled his fresh rain scent, and it eased some tension in my body. Heat spread from my chest, down through me. I turned my face and did something that could’ve gotten us both in trouble… I pressed a soft kiss to his shoulder. Goose bumps spread over his bare skin. His fingers squeezed mine tighter. I lowered my head to hide my smile. If the only thing I accomplished this week were giving two hurting people some peace, then I considered it a success.
Sharp pain dug into my arm. I jumped and looked down…and my body turned to ice.
01:00:00
00:59:59
00:59:58
The timer kept dropping. This was it. Our time was almost gone. We had less than an hour to make our final guess at the new Hierophant…or we failed. I tried to stay calm, to keep my emotions in check as I watched the seconds tick off, but the anxiety I’d pushed aside for the funeral returned tenfold. It was an ominous shadow hanging over my head.
Relax. We have our next guess ready.
The Coven had spent the last seventeen hours arguing in circles over who to guess until our Leaders, Timothy and Constance, made the call. Katherine. The youngest lead healer our race had seen in centuries. Tennessee had made the initial suggestion, but he’d seemed less confident as the hours went. I tried to talk them out of it, except I hadn’t had any other ideas. I didn’t know this community enough. I peeked around Tennessee’s shoulder to where Katherine stood a few feet behind The Coven’s circle, dressed in a floor-length white dress. Her brown eyes were soft and filled with tears. I imagined she understood failure as much as we did, though this wasn’t her fault.
I sighed and let my gaze roam over the rest of my community. These few dozen witches were like extended family to me, yet I knew only a handful, it seemed. There were only a few kids other than Aspen, and all of them had tears pouring down their faces. They clung to their parents, who all wore the same shell-shocked expression I felt inside. Like they couldn’t believe this had actually happened, that such a young soul was gone.
Then I saw my little nine-year-old brother, Bentley. He stood just to the side of Katherine. Alone. I frowned and searched for my father and stepmother only to belatedly remember they were Cards. The Coven stood separate from the rest because we’d handled the ceremony and the final ritual. My heart sank. I hadn’t even realized Bentley would be alone. He’d never been to a funeral before. Someone should’ve been with him. He needed family.
Family… My frown deepened. Bentley’s entire family, including an uncle and cousin, were in The Coven. I scanned the crowd again, searching for anyone else who might’ve been alone like him. Except, there wasn’t anyone. Only Bentley. He had no other family. Family. That word stuck out in my mind like a flag. The second line of the prophecy… Kenneth had told us he thought it meant family. For power in blood comes with a price.
What if we were both right and wrong? What if it did indeed mean family, but we’d picked the wrong family? We’d thought it meant Libby’s because she was the one who’d been injured. Except…maybe it wasn’t so literal. Kenneth had said it didn’t have to be. We’d discussed all the families in town who had more than one child, but how had we missed my own? Mine was obviously powerful, immensely so. It included Uncle Kessler and Cooper as well, since they were my blood. Hell, technically it included Tennessee since Uncle Kessler adopted him. That meant…seven Cards. In one family. The next closest were the Redds with four people.
A family like mine, with seven Cards at once… That amount of power would come with a price.
Oh my God.
Oh. My. Goddess.
It’s Bentley.
“Tegan?”
Someone said my name, but I was too shocked to respond. What were those last lines? To keep the secrets within our core, seek within generations before. My mind spun faster than a fidget spinner. The first part was obvious. Generations before? I had to make the last line connect to Bentley before I could be sure. Generations…before…
Bentley stared at the ocean. He was the only person in the entire crowd whose eyes were calm and soft. The warm amber color burned bright and intense like a fire. His usually messy brown hair was actually brushed and tucked behind his ears. He wasn’t tense or worried. He didn’t look uncomfortable standing there by himself. If he didn’t look like my brother, I might’ve been convinced it wasn’t my brother. How does it connect?
The last line mattered.
“TEGAN!” Two hands gripped my shoulders and shook me.
I flinched and peeled my eyes off Bentley only to find myself surrounded. My father, Devon, Emersyn, Cooper, Henley, and Royce, all stood staring at me with scowls. Someone shook me again.
What does it mean? Generations before?
“TEGAN!” Tennessee’s face popped into my line of view.
“What?” I heard myself ask, even though my mind was focused on the prophecy.
Tennessee cursed, though he didn’t release his grip on my shoulders. “I thought…I thought… What’s wrong?”
“Tegan, you’ve been staring into space for a long time,” Emersyn whispered.
I frowned and glanced down at my arm. 00:35:12. My eyes widened. We only had thirty-five minutes. If I was going to prove to my Coven that Katherine wasn’t the right choice and Bentley was…I needed to connect the last lines. To keep the secrets within our core, seek within generations before. Okay, don’t be so literal. What if it doesn’t mean ancient secrets? What if it means something specific? What is it we’re trying to do here?
Then it hit me. I gasped.
“Tegan, talk to me,” Tennessee whispered, squeezing my shoulders. “What’s wrong?”
“Who was the Hierophant in Salem?”
“What?” My father asked, stepping up right behind Tennessee.
“In Salem, during the Witch Trials, when the original Gap was opened…who was our Hierophant at that time?”
Emersyn frowned and scratched her head. “Tegan, why does that matter?”
“WHO WAS IT?”
“Bonnie Bishop,” Tennessee answered. “Bridget Bishop’s sister. Why do you ask?”
“Oh my God.” I ran my hands through my hair and pulled. “Oh my God.”
“Tegan, sweetheart?” My father moved into my line of view. “What is it?”
“It’s Bentley!”
Tennessee’s eyes widened. “Seek within generations before…”
I nodded. “Salem. That’s what everything is about right now, and in Salem, a Bishop was the Hierophant. The only Bishop who lives in Tampa and is not a Card already is Bentley!”
My father’s face paled as he froze in place. Devon reached out and grabbed my father’s arm to steady herself. Emersyn’s eyes that perfectly matched Bentley’s widened and stared at the ticking time bomb on my arm.
“It’s Bentley,” I repeated. “Uncle Kessler, the new Hierophant is Bentley.”
Uncle Kessler ran his hand over his face. “Oh my…”
If he finished his sentence, I didn’t hear. My pulse thundered. With trembling fingers, I scrambled to pull the little purple pouch from around my neck. I wasn’t allowed to wear the locket, but I could put it inside something else. I pulled the bag open and dumped the ancient necklace into my palm. Heat and raw energy radiated from within the jewelry.
I licked my lips. “We have to present this to him.”
“Wait, shouldn’t we call the other Elders?” Larissa asked.
“We don’t have time to waste on calling,” Easton snapped. “We all left our phones in our cars back at the church. We don’t have time to run back to get one and make it here before time runs out.”
“Tegan, on a scale of one to ten, how sure are you?” Braison asked.
“What about Tennessee?” Willow suggested. “Royce always says he’s not human. He can run there and back fast enough.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Royce stopped her. “Hell no. He ain’t human, but we can’t risk it.”
I hadn’t even noticed the rest of The Coven had joined us, though I was glad they had. They were right—we didn’t have time to go find a phone. We couldn’t call and get an approval on our decision with our Leaders. I looked over Tennessee’s shoulder and spotted Bentley standing in the same place he had been in, but now…there was a small smile on his face. He turned and met my stare.
It’s you.
“Tennessee…” I said without peeling my eyes off my brother. “It’s him. I know it is.”
“Kessler?” Tennessee’s voice was low and gravelly.
There was an excruciating long pause before Uncle Kessler cursed. “Son, this is your call.”
“Mine?”
“Yes, Emperor.” Kessler sighed. “You.”
“Tennessee.” I gripped his shirt and forced him to look at me. “I know it’s Bentley.”
“Our High Priestess is confident?” Tennessee asked. He glanced over his shoulder at my brother.
“Yes.”
Mismatched eyes found mine. He held my gaze for a minute then sighed. “Okay. Okay…I agree. Present it to him.”
I didn’t wait for more, or for anyone else’s approval. I ran around Tennessee and sprinted across the white sandy beach toward my little brother. My sweet, innocent, little brother. His eyes widened when he saw me approach, but I knew him well enough to know he wasn’t surprised at all. He was faking it. He wasn’t allowed to tell us before we presented it. This was part of the quest.
I dropped to my knees in the sand in front of him, with my heart in my throat. The truth was, I didn’t want it to be him. But I didn’t have a choice. I raised my palms in the air in front of my face, the ancient golden locket glistened in the sunlight.
The Brave Witch (The Coven: Elemental Magic Book 2) Page 10