“Come on, guys,” Cooper groaned and covered his eyes. “I’m about to eat.”
I chuckled and glanced behind the gushing couple to the table…and my stomach turned. This was definitely a family affair. Hunter went over and took the empty seat beside his wife, Devon—aka Tegan’s mother and legendary badass Sword alumni. Beside him was his older brother Kessler, followed by Bentley, an empty seat, and Deacon. I bit my lip and started to take a step back, to flee the scene I clearly wasn’t welcome to, when Bentley looked up and spotted me.
He grinned and his shaggy brown hair slid into his face. He pointed. “Sit across from me!”
“Perfect, we’re all here.” Emersyn and it made her eyes shine like sunlight. She gave me a quick hug, then pulled away and pointed to the table. “Do us all a favor and take the seat next to Cooper?”
I frowned. “Why?”
“Because I want to keep my appetite,” Cooper growled. He glared up at Tegan and Tennessee. “And they don’t know how to keep their hands off each other.”
Deacon laughed and tossed a sugar packet at Cooper. “You’re just so much fun to watch.”
Em rolled her eyes then walked over and took the seat between Bentley and Deacon. Tegan and Tennessee finally decided to stop being so damn cute, and then sat at the end of the table—leaving one, and only one, seat available. There was only nine of them, yet they’d very obviously put a tenth chair in. Which could only have meant one thing…
“Did you know I was coming?” I asked before I could stop myself.
To my surprise, it was Devon who looked up at me. “Of course.” She winked.
My heart fluttered, sending waves of emotion and energy flooding through my body. Of course. They’d counted me in their family dinner without even asking me first, like it was as natural for me to be here as any of them. Warmth spread through my chest. I swallowed through a hot lump of feelings then slid into the seat between my best friend and her brother.
As I sat there watching them interact with each other, I wasn’t quite sure what to say. If it were just Tegan, Bentley, and Hunter, then I probably would’ve been fine—that was normal for me. But not with everyone else.
Quick, think, Bettina. What’s something vague but genuine you can ask them?
A few minutes later, the table fell silent.
I kinda panicked and said the first thing I thought of: “So how are y’all liking being back in Eden?”
Hunter’s smile turned wicked, like the Grinch as he was stealing Christmas. “Yeah, my brother, how are you liking it?”
Kessler scowled at him but said nothing.
“It’s a warm feeling,” Tennessee said as he leaned forward and rubbed over the center of his chest. “Isn’t it, Dad?”
There was a beat of awkward silence, and then Kessler cursed. He buried his face in his hands and groaned. “Was it that obvious?”
Cooper scoffed. “Even I noticed it, Uncle Kessler.”
Bentley rolled his golden eyes. “I think Kenneth noticed it.”
“Three sets of soulmates here, Uncle Kessler.” Emersyn pointed to the blue heart-shaped crystal on her chest poking out from under her shirt. “We get it.”
I had no idea what they were talking about, aside from the obvious word use—soulmate. But did Kessler have a soulmate? I hadn’t heard that. They knew something I didn’t.
Of course they do. You’re not in The Coven.
“Come on, Kess. Let’s see it.” Devon snapped her fingers over and over.
Kessler cursed again then peeked over his shoulders. Once he knew the coast was clear, he leaned forward and pulled the collar of his cotton shirt down. Sure enough, right there on his chest was a soft, almost white, blue crystal.
Deacon smacked the table. “See, Butterberry, his is blue too!”
Tegan and Tenn high fived real obnoxiously over their heads. The rest of the table groaned. Neither of these things meant anything to me. I sat back and watched this powerful family roasting each other with smiles on their faces. Cooper kept whining about all the PDA, and he even tried to sway his parents into some harsh rules.
Hunter laughed and shook his head. “Son, he is literally our Coven Leader. I can’t tell him to do a damn thing.”
Cooper groaned.
“Man, I can’t wait to see Cooper and Bentley’s soulmates.”
Cooper paled and stared at me in horror. “What? Why would you think that?”
My cheeks warmed and my pulse skipped a beat. “Oh, oops, did I say that out loud?”
Deacon threw his head back and laughed. “I like her. Can we keep her?”
Cooper held his palm up. “Wait, no. Hold up. Bettina, why would you say that?”
I shrugged and tucked my hair behind my ears. “Well, we learned in Coven History class that the Bishop family bloodline goes all the way back to the twenty surviving founding families. And they said those bloodlines tend to have a lot of soulmate pairings…and I mean, you and Bentley are now the only Bishops alive without a soulmate, so it stands to reason—"
“Damn it, I missed you.” Tegan wrapped her arm around my shoulders. “See, this is why we’re best friends. Someone else speaks my language.”
Cooper just stared down at me with a dropped jaw and a pale face.
“Son, having a soulmate is a good thing.” Devon giggled. “Don’t fear it.”
Cooper scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest.
Bentley frowned and raised one hand in the air like we were in school. “Am I allowed to still be in the girls have cooties phase? Because I’d like to stay there a while.”
I was just sitting there thinking how easy and comfortable it was to be around them when I had a sudden, sinking realization. We’d learned that the glyph appears on two soulmates the very moment they meet… I’d already met Jackson.
Sharp, hot pain shot through my chest, and sent me gasping for air.
Tegan picked her phone up and chuckled. “Guys, Saffie just texted me. She said, and I quote, ‘what is popcorn and can demons eat it?’”
Chapter Twenty-One
Jackson
“Where’s Hewitt?”
“Who’s going to teach us now?”
“Wait, are you our teacher now?”
“What about Sword Leader. Who’s going to be that?”
I sighed and raised my hands up to stop them from asking another million questions. “All right, you lot need to calm down. Bloody hell.”
It was Tuesday morning, and we were finally back to our regular schedule. We hadn’t been in classes since the demons attacked the border. I understood their confusion, but they hadn’t given me a chance to explain anything before the questions started.
“Calm down?” Matt shrieked. “Thanks to her, we lost our Leader and—”
“ENOUGH.” I balled my hands into fists and took a deep breath. There was no question who the her was in question. I felt her eyes on me, but even more, I felt the panic in her energy. I glared at the rest of my Suit-mates. “You need to open your ears and listen. Bettina is innocent, proven so by The Coven. If any of you cannot get this through your thick skulls, I will personally escort you to the Emperor.”
They gasped and sat up straight. Some of them snuck sideways glances at Bettina, but none of them spoke.
“Do I make myself clear?”
They nodded.
Good. They were afraid of me enough to listen to my threat and know I’d deliver on it. However, they were even more terrified of Tennessee. Which was fine by me.
I took a deep breath and braced myself, then looked over to the left side of the room to where Bettina sat on the front bench. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were heavy. She peeked up, and our gazes met. Her cheeks turned even redder. Her lips curved up into a little smile that made my pulse skip erratically. I peeled my gaze off of her before that twinkle in her eyes ruined me any further. My lungs screamed and burned from holding my breath.
The side door opened and then Kessler walked in. The she
er size of this guy had the class staring with slacked jaws. He had a serious look to his face, one I’d assumed matched his personality, but after our chat yesterday, I knew he was pretty much a teddy bear. I rather liked him.
“Hello, Swords,” he said with a gruff voice and sharp eyes. He had their sole attention the moment he stepped through the door. “I’m Kessler Bishop, your new teacher and Sword Leader.”
He raised his huge left palm up, and each pair of eyes in the room looked down at his forearm, to where his VIII Mark stood out on his pale skin. Murmurs spread through the class.
“Please, call me Kessler.” He chuckled and scratched the back of his neck. “I’ve spent the last fifteen years training my younger Coven-mates which is why I volunteered to replace Timothy.”
The front doors flew open and banged into the wall with a crash. I couldn’t see the doorway from where I stood because the bleachers were in the way, but before I could take a step to check it out, a wave of energy slammed into me. It was so strong it actually pushed me back a foot. The Swords at the top of the bleachers gasped. Their eyes widened like saucers and their jaws hit the ground. The same reaction slid down the class row by row while footsteps thundered toward us.
The Coven emerged from the pathway between the bleachers dressed in all black and looking like a group of mercenaries. There was a dozen of them standing there, with the High Priestess at the front. They looked tall and terrible, and oozed raw power. I recognized each of them. They were all teenagers, and the ones who’d be enrolled in Edenburg for the time being. Except for Tennessee. He wasn’t in the group.
I frowned as a thought popped into mind. Each of them held a talisman, yet they weren’t all Swords. Only two of the teens had been sorted into Suits.
Kessler cleared his throat. “Class, I’d like you to meet The Coven—minus a few, of course. Due to the nature of our jobs, we all must be trained in combat. So, they’ll be training with us and their Suits.”
“Sorry we’re late,” Tegan said with a confident smile. She held up a vicious-looking dagger that was entirely black. “We may have gotten a little distracted with all the toys back there.”
Kessler shook his head. “Did you all find your talismans?”
Royce rolled his eyes. “Some of us found two.”
Tegan shrugged. “No one said I couldn’t.”
Someone laughed from off to the side, and when I looked, I wasn’t at all surprised to find it was Bettina. She covered her mouth, but it did nothing to conceal the sound. I frowned and tried to ignore the rush of adrenaline coursing through my system.
“Tegan…” But then Kessler just sighed and shook his head. “We’ll discuss that later. For now, let’s get started.”
Kessler pointed behind him toward the open side of the room that led to the outside. “The Coven will train on their own at first, outside. The rest of you will be inside. Now, I know you haven’t trained in a few days, so we’re going to just loosen up today. Jackson, can you get them going?”
I nodded. “Like we discussed yesterday?”
“Precisely. I’ll get them started then return here.” He turned, waving The Coven along with him. “Come on.”
I waited until they crossed by me and moved to the outside area. Then I turned my gaze back to the class. “Everyone find a sparring partner and freestyle.”
They jumped into action, dividing into pairs then moving to find an open space for sparring. I walked through the crowd until I found Bettina. She stood off to the side gnawing on her bottom lip. I wasn’t sure if anyone would be willing to train with her today, not after their reactions earlier. I’d planned on asking Trey to do it, but he was still in the infirmary nursing what he said was the flu. So I had to lead by example. Plus, it broke my heart to watch her hiding in the shadows again like she had when she’d first gotten here.
She spotted me the second I began walking. Her royal blue eyes watched me with growing excitement, with lights dancing in them. Her cheeks flushed. She twirled her long blonde braid around her finger. I wanted to scream. She looked incredible.
I pulled my sword off my holster and arched one eyebrow.
She narrowed her eyes, but there was no mistaking the grin on her face. “Don’t hold back, Lancelot.”
Twenty minutes later, I realized I’d made a horrible mistake. I wanted her more than I’d ever admitted to myself. Sparring with her was absolute torture. Every brush of skin on skin, every clashing blade, every stare… It was too much. All of it. I had to find someone else to train her before I lost my mind.
I leapt forward and slid my sword over her shoulder. But Bettina didn’t react; she didn’t even move. She just kept staring at something behind me. Perhaps if she paid more attention, it wouldn’t be so hard for me.
I cleared my throat. “Earth to Bettina?”
But she didn’t answer. She just kept staring at something behind me. I sighed and glanced around…except everyone seemed to be staring at the same thing. I frowned and followed their wide-eyed gazes—then I saw them. The Coven was just outside the classroom training in weird, bulky gray body gear. But that wasn’t what had me scooping my own jaw off the hardwood.
They were beating the shit out of each other. Swords clashed against swords. People flipped and pulled fancy ninja moves. They hurled balls of magic right at each other. Their gear seemed to embrace the hits like they were nothing. A few times here and there, colored magic would pour into the sky. They were ruthless and brutal, holding nothing back and attacking with everything they had.
They had so much power, infinite power really. I envied each and every one of them. Not for the Mark on their arms or their magic, but for their mere strength and confidence. It wasn’t about being in The Coven, that wasn’t a dream of mine. It wasn’t something I wanted, or ever considered. But if I had their power, I’d actually be ready for Michael’s return.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Bettina
“So word on the street says The Coven started training with the Swords this morning,” Lennox said as we approached our next class. She wagged her eyebrows and grinned. “Spill.”
“Dude.” I chuckled and shook my head. “It was insane. Kessler had them training separately from us today, and I think most of the class was disappointed by that…until we saw how they train.”
Her eyes sparkled. “How do they train?”
I shivered as the memories replayed in my head. “Like they were trying to kill each other. They didn’t hold anything back. I mean they went full power with their fighting. There was so much magic being thrown around, too.”
“And I missed it! Wait.” Lennox grabbed my arm and looked at me with wide eyes. “Do you think this Kessler guy would let me train with y’all sometimes?”
I pushed the classroom door open and chuckled. “Something tells me you could— Tegan?”
My best friend sat in the front row, right in the middle of the room with her legs curled under her. That long dark hair of hers was tied up in her iconic messy bun, with little purple tips sticking out all over the place.
She looked up at the sound of her name and grinned. “Hey!”
I stuttered and glanced around me. “What are you doing here?”
She pursed her lips. “Literally or philosophically?”
Lennox pushed by me, then skipped over to take the empty seat on the other side of Tegan. She sat and grinned. “Hey, weirdo!”
Tegan giggled and gave her a high five. “Lenny, hello again! Hey, thanks for taking care of my bestie for me.”
Lennox leaned forward. “Tell me, you have any secret angles to get her to try a funky hair color? I think she needs to join the dark side here.” She gestured between her own hair and Tegan’s.
“I’m just sayin’, if she woke up with cotton-candy pink hair, she wouldn’t be that mad.” Tegan stuck her tongue out at me, then turned back to my roommate. “Oh, so what do you think about me trading in my violet for turquoise? Or more purple?”
Lennox’s ey
es widened. “More purple. We’re doing it tonight. That’s it.”
I rolled my eyes and sat down at the desk beside Tegan, so we were all in a row. The great thing about being someone’s best friend since they were toddlers was that I felt no threat in Tegan being friendly with other people. I knew girls back home who were possessively jealous about their friends. But not me and Tegan. Besides, Lennox was genuinely awesome.
The rest of the class filed in while my two best friends chatted about hair color and tattoos. I sighed and leaned back in my seat. For the first time in months, everything was starting to feel right. My head was a mess about Jackson, but I had Tegan back.
Mr. Ruth strolled into the room holding a cup of steaming coffee. “All right, class, welcome back— Well, hello there, Miss High Priestess.” He walked over and held his left hand out to her, grinning from ear to ear. “I’m Mr. Ruth. To what do I owe the honor of having you in my class?”
Tegan shook his hand, her II Mark poking out from under her pushed-up black sleeve. “Please, call me Tegan. And I’m trying to take every single class that this school offers.”
“I see.” Mr. Ruth nodded, and his face lit up with excitement. “I figured as a Coven member and a Founding Family member, you wouldn’t need this class.”
Tegan shrugged. “I only found out I was arcana in August. And I found that out on a boat sailing to Crone Island while on a quest from the Goddess…sooooo a lot of the details of our history were never actually explained to me.”
“Well, I’m glad to have you here.” Mr. Ruth set his coffee on his desk and rubbed his hands together, then turned his attention to the rest of the class. “I expect all of you to behave respectfully towards Ms. Bishop while she’s with us. Nod if you understand.”
I glanced over my shoulder and watched the entire class nod…while staring at Tegan with wide, terrified eyes. None of them looked brave enough to even speak to her, let alone be rude. The kid right behind her moved his desk back a few inches.
The Coven - Academy Magic Complete Series Page 35