The bed shook…and then I heard Bettina laughing.
I rolled onto my side and wrapped my arm around her waist, then buried my face in her neck. “Who wakes up laughing? And should I be concerned?”
She giggled and turned to face me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me in closer. “I’m sorry.”
I smiled. “What’s so funny?”
“The lights.” She glanced up to the ceiling then looked back to me with a huge grin. “I saw them change, and I could just picture your face.”
I chuckled. “Well, I was not expecting them to change.”
“They’re mood lanterns.” She pulled herself up higher on the pillow so our eyes were level. “Lennox installed them for me. They change color to fit the mood in the room.”
My jaw dropped. I peeled my eyes off of her beautiful face and looked back to the lights. “Really? Wow. What do the colors mean? What’s yellow? That’s what it was when I woke up.”
She kissed my jaw. “Yellow means happy.”
“Hmmmm, accurate.” I kissed the tip of her nose. “Very accurate.”
“That emerald green means confused, which is why I started laughing.” She giggled as if to prove her point. “And the violet means nervous, which is why I lost it.”
I pressed my forehead to hers and laughed. “Because you watched my confusion develop into concern.”
“Precisely.”
And then her mouth was on mine. Our lips brushed. Our legs tangled under the blankets. I breathed her in, soaking in the feel of her warm skin on mine. I pulled back then brushed her hair away from her face.
“This is the best kind of morning to wake up to.”
She grinned and it made her blue eyes sparkle. She wrapped her leg around mine. “This is officially my favorite morning ever.”
I ran my thumb over her bottom lip and arched one eyebrow. “Better than our first morning together?”
“Yes. Definitely yes.” She grabbed my jaw with both hands and pulled my face back down to hers. “Because this morning, you’re mine. You’re forever mine, Lancelot.”
My heart swelled with emotions that I just couldn’t keep in. I pressed my lips to hers then pulled back. “I am forever yours, Moonshine. I love you.”
Her eyes welled with tears that didn’t fall. “Say it again.”
“I love you, Bettina.”
She sighed and gave me a heart-stopping kind of smile. “I love you, too, Jackson.”
I looked down and ran my fingers over the lavender glyph on her chest, then traced the vine-like lines across her shoulder and down her arm. Overnight, it had grown almost all the way down to our elbows.
EVERYBODY UP! Tegan shouted into my head.
Bettina and I both cringed.
UP. UP. UP! I CAN’T SIT DOWN HERE ANY LONGER, OR I’LL GET UP TO NO GOOD. YOUR CALL. I CAN’T BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR ALL THIS FREEDOM TO SCHEME. IT’S ON Y’ALL NOW.
I sighed and hung my head.
Bettina laughed then kissed my forehead. “She’s not kidding. We better get down there.”
Chapter Thirteen
Bettina
Jackson and I were the last people down to the living room. Everyone had taken up a spot and settled in, but standing in the middle of the room felt awkward—since everyone kept looking at us and smiling. My cheeks warmed. I tugged on Jackson’s hand and dragged him over to sit on the stone ledge in front of the fireplace. Once we were seated, he draped his arm over my thigh and took both of my hands in his. My heart fluttered. I looked up, and he gave me a cheeky little wink and smile.
“A’ight, Queen of Darkness, we’re all here.” Easton stretched his legs out in front of him from the love seat. “What’s up?”
Royce chuckled. “Actually, we’re not all here.”
Easton frowned and sat up straight. “Who’s missing?”
“Who do you think?” Cooper rolled his eyes, and he looked just like Tegan. “The same guy who’s always late to these meetings.”
“I am here, you know,” Tennessee grumbled and walked out of the kitchen, carrying a steaming mug. “I was actually here first.”
He’s a mess. I’d never seen him in such disarray. His long black hair had an 80s perm wave going on as it stuck out in every direction. He didn’t have a shirt on, and his black jeans hung almost indecently low on his hips. And there were definitely new holes in them. I looked down, and sure enough, he was barefoot. I didn’t know what to make of this new version I was seeing of him. I glanced around, but no one else seemed concerned.
“Yeah, and as usual, he’s shirtless,” Royce said with a giggle. “Feels like old times, doesn’t it, guys?”
Henley exhaled and nodded. “You know, I didn’t realize I needed this dose of nostalgia, but turns out it feels nice. Almost refreshing.”
Chutney shrugged. “He’s just that good at being our Leader. He intuitively knew what we needed today.”
Kessler chuckled and shook his head. “Nice to see that some things don’t change, son.”
“What in the bloody hell is happening right now?” Jackson said, and I imagined my mood lanterns would be half emerald green and half violet right now.
“I don’t know,” I said and shook my head. “I am confused. Is this how you’re used to seeing him or something?”
Braison chuckled. “This is the Tenn we know. Always the first one there yet still somehow the last to arrive. Always shirtless. Always looking like he got mobbed on his way here.”
Tenn glared at the group then rolled his eyes.
The floor creaked by the stairs, and we all jumped. But then Mona came walking around the corner. She smiled and waved, then skipped over to stand by Kessler. I didn’t miss the way her eyes twinkled and his smile widened. They were also soulmates, but at least they didn’t have the hassle I did.
The bathroom door just off the living room opened, and then Ellis strolled back into the living room. Everyone froze but their eyes watched his every move. He walked over and sat on the floor next to the coffee table in front of me. All the joking was gone.
I looked up at my best friend, and my stomach tightened into knots. “Tegan. I know that face. You’re up to something.”
Tenn sighed and sat down on the stone ledge beside me. “I better sit for this.”
Tegan held her palms up. “Okay, I’m trying to be good and let y’all in on my plans, but I think this is a good idea.”
“This is gonna be good,” Deacon whispered.
Emersyn frowned. “What’s your idea?”
Tegan licked her lips then gestured toward Ellis. “Okay, okay. So, Ellis and I have been talking, and Joseph seems to be one step ahead of us every time, right? At first, I thought that was just because of Trey, but that wouldn’t explain the locket or digging up that wooden chest. They know things we didn’t even know we didn’t know.”
Henley closed her eyes and shook her head. “Oh boy.”
“My plan is, we remove the magic forcing him to be corporeal, and then we send him back to Joseph as our spy.” Tegan nodded like we were already agreeing. “Catch and release style.”
Silence.
“Whoop, there it is,” Deacon mumbled with a grin.
Tenn leaned toward me and whispered, “You see what I deal with?”
I chuckled and bumped my shoulder into him.
Ellis cleared his throat. “There are a lot more people like me than you realize. People who were just trying to save some lost souls and paid the price. We just want to be normal. But they don’t want to hurt anyone. They feel like I do.”
Cooper rubbed his temples. “What exactly are you suggesting?”
“I go back, pretend I broke out of your dungeons. No one you froze made it back, so no one can tattle. I’ll continue pretending to be on his side. I’ll give you information, but I’ll also rally every shadow I can to turn on him.”
“Think about it, guys. If we could get some of them on our side?” Tegan bounced on her toes. “This would be a game c
hanger. He wouldn’t outnumber us anymore.”
Emersyn leaned forward with her elbows on her knees. “What’s your actual plan though? I mean the technical part. The part where we can still communicate with him without getting him killed.”
Tegan nodded and pointed to Ellis. “I will plant a magical wire on him, not because I don’t trust him, but because I want to hear everything.”
Ellis’s eyes widened. “Oh my Goddess, that’s brilliant. You can do that?”
Tegan grinned and shrugged one shoulder. “I can do anything.”
Tenn looked over to me. “You see what I deal with?”
“Well, she’s not wrong,” I whispered back to him with a grin. Everyone else was looking nervous, but I thought it was a great idea. Or maybe I was just blissfully happy because Jackson was holding my hands. “So, he goes in as a spy and you listen in, and he tries to rally a mutiny from within Joseph’s troops?”
“Yup,” Tegan and Ellis said at the same time.
Ellis glanced around the room. “I promise I am on your side. Your lie detector can tell you that. But I’m even willing to make a blood oath to prove it. I will not betray you.”
Henley jumped to her feet. She pulled a small black and silver dagger seemingly out of nowhere then sliced her left palm open with it. Red blood gushed from the wound. “All right. Put your money where your mouth is.”
Everyone gasped and flinched.
“See, no. We can’t possibly be related.” Royce shook his head wildly. “Nope. What’s wrong with you? What are you doing?”
Henley rolled her eyes. “Stopping Tennessee and Tegan from volunteering.” She thrust her palm out toward Ellis, and blood dropped onto the floor.
Jackson’s eyes widened. “Oh, good call. We don’t want that.”
Tenn leaned back over to me. “Should I be offended right now?”
I leaned toward him. “You should have shoes on right now.”
He frowned then looked down at his feet, like he hadn’t realized he was barefoot.
Easton scowled. “We don’t? Shouldn’t it be Tenn?”
“Not a chance,” Henley said with a stern voice and hard eyes. “I’m not saying I don’t trust Ellis. I’m saying it’s not something we can risk. Blood oaths are binding. If something goes wrong, we can’t have it bring either of them down.”
Cooper nodded. “Agreed.”
“I’ve been possessed by a demon.” Henley handed her dagger to Ellis, hilt first. “I can handle Joseph.”
Ellis took the dagger without hesitation and sliced his left palm open. He looked Henley in the eyes. “I am not Joseph or a demon.”
Tegan cocked her head to the side. “Now we need the right blood oath…”
Constance blinked and shook her head. “Tenn? You’re allowing this?”
Tenn froze with his mug to his mouth. He glanced around then lowered it and looked around me. “Lancaster?”
I turned to my soulmate.
“As far as I can tell, he’s truthful.” Jackson squeezed my hand, but his ocean eyes were locked on our Leader beside me. “Honest.”
Tenn nodded then turned back to the two bloodied witches in the room. “I am confident in my Coven-mates’ assessment of Ellis, along with my own gut feeling. Tegan’s schemes have not led us astray yet, and I think it’s our responsibility to ensure the others like Ellis know we have not knowingly abandoned them and want to help. As a Coven Leader, I will not ask Henley to make a blood oath. However, I am not going to stop her if she wants to. That’s her call. However, you are the other Coven Leader, so this is not entirely up to me.”
Constance’s eyes grew dark. She put her hand on Henley’s shoulder. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
Henley pushed her shoulders back. “Positive.”
“She means it, so speak now or forever hold your peace,” Jackson said in his soft, elegant British accent. Some sentences just sounded richer than others.
Bentley raised his hand, and everyone turned to him. His face was all scrunched up. “I can’t think of a single blood oath that I like for this situation.”
Tegan narrowed her eyes on me. “Bettina. Gimme a blood oath for them. And GO!” She flicked her wrists, and rainbow magic hit me in the face.
I gasped and leaned into Jackson. A blood oath? Just like that? How am I supposed to— Words flashed through my mind. I blinked and shook my head, and then they came pouring out of my mouth. “By the crescent, waxing, waning, full, An oath in blood for my soul to pull. Line of the darkened, shadows of fright, I bind myself, this hour, this night.”
Everyone froze.
“I have no idea where that just came from,” I said in a rush, and my cheeks warmed.
Royce shivered. “I love when you do that.”
Tegan gave me an evil chuckle before she turned to Henley and Ellis. “You hear that? That’s your oath to take, should you choose to make it.”
Ellis held his hand out in front of him. “I’ve made my choice.”
Henley slid her thin palm against his. She looked up into his eyes and said, “By the crescent, waxing, waning, full, An oath in blood for my soul to pull.”
“Line of the darkened, shadows of fright, I bind myself, this hour, this night,” Ellis finished for her.
White magic spilled out from between their palms then wrapped around their hands. It shot up to their elbows then slithered up their arms and into their chests. Their eyes widened and sparkled. Their skin glistened a soft white glow then went right back to normal. A few seconds later, the magic faded, and they pulled their hands out of each other’s grips.
Deacon whistled. “Now what?”
Tegan hopped over and pressed her fingertip to the skin behind Ellis’s ear. With her other hand, she touched the same spot behind her own ear. She held them there until her rainbow magic coiled around her wrist. She whispered some lines of a spell, but I couldn’t hear her.
Willow frowned. “What are you doing?”
“Placing a listening mark out of sight.” Tegan dropped her hands then reached into her inside leather jacket pocket. When she pulled her hand out, she had a small white vial in her hand. Inside, rainbow mist swirled around. “This is a vial of my magic—”
Ellis’s eyes widened and he panicked. “What? Why?”
“This is for emergency purposes only.” She handed the vial to him. “If Joseph comes for you, this should give you enough strength to get away from him and call for us. Also, this could hurt him severely or kill him because he’s not a Card. So don’t spread this easily.”
Tenn stood. “Good. Now let’s get our magic out of him and send him back.”
Chapter Fourteen
Bettina
As we watched Ellis turn back to shadow and disappear into the Old Lands, I prayed this scheme of theirs worked. There was so much riding on it, so many lives at stake. I didn’t like sending Ellis back to Joseph. I didn’t like spy games. I didn’t know how any of my Coven-mates had handled Tegan’s tricks with the demons.
Tenn sighed then yanked the curtain closed. He turned to face us and gestured toward the living room. “Now, let’s discuss this locket.”
Tegan bounced back over to the couch and sat down. “That’s what Timothy was trying to say. Not Locke but locket. Timothy was trying to tell you to find the locket.”
“I mean, that makes sense, but…” Constance sighed and sat down on the ledge in front of the fireplace. “We don’t know where it is. I’m not even sure I could tell you what it looked like, and I saw it several dozen times.”
“Hey, maybe it’s in Timothy’s stuff?” Easton snapped his fingers excitedly. “In his room, or his office?”
“No way,” Hunter said in a low voice. “No way Timothy had his sister’s locket and kept it secret. He knew what that thing meant.”
Devon frowned and stared out the front window of Headquarters. “He knew what the locket meant…so maybe he was also trying to find it? He used to travel all the time, remember? Maybe he was on his
own personal quest to find it?”
Lily raised her hand and narrowed her purple eyes. “This is probably a dumb question, but I’m going to ask just in case… Should we at least look for the locket at Ruth’s house?”
“No,” Kessler said and shook his head. He stood in front of the fireplace, staring at the flames. He spun around to face the rest of us. “I knew Ruth, and she was one of my closest friends. Hell, I used to babysit her kids several days a week. We can go to her house, but I promise you that locket won’t be there.”
Willow frowned. “How can you be so sure?”
Kessler’s eyes darkened. “I know the locket they’re referring to. She wore it every single day, never took it off. Ever. She either died wearing it or hid it somewhere.”
I walked over to the coffee table and picked up that little wooden chest I’d stolen from Trey, then I sat down beside Tegan. “Hidden it, eh? Are you sure this hasn’t been transformed?”
Tegan sighed. “Yes, I’m sure. But I wonder if Joseph and Trey know that.”
Cooper scratched his neck. “Micah’s body was found in the house, wasn’t it?”
Hunter nodded. “Yes, but not Ruth or the kids. They were never found.”
Constance shuddered. “But we did find lots of their blood around the house.”
Hunter looked down at the ground, then glanced up to us. “He probably chased them down, finished the job elsewhere.”
Easton’s jaw dropped, and his eyes hardened. “You think he would’ve killed kids? How do we know they’re dead?”
Devon tossed one of her daggers into the air then caught it. “We never found Julian’s body, but Tennessee’s Mark appeared the next day. Which means Julian was killed. Now, normally I’d say he’d never hurt children, but he was beyond himself. My guess is he lost control and killed all of them.”
Tegan nodded and pointed her finger at nothing in particular. “But Ruth would’ve known to hide the locket first, just in case. That’s what I would do, anyway. So, we need to find this locket.”
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