I frowned and rushed forward just as the day’s sunshine washed over the man’s face.
My heart stopped and my legs crumbled under me. TIMOTHY?!
I blinked then rubbed my eyes. This had to be a figment of my imagination. I had to be dreaming. Because there was absolutely no possible way that was Timothy Roth running towards us right now.
Can’t be.
Can it?
I heard my Coven-mates gasp in echo all around me.
“Timothy?” Constance croaked behind me.
“OH MY GOD!” Easton cursed nearby.
“TIM!!!!” Willow cried.
I dropped to my knees. My breath was knocked out of me, and it was all I could do to stay conscious. That can’t be Timothy. He died. I saw him. I saw his lifeless body. I saw the gray color of his skin. I saw his eyes unstaring.
Half the marked shadows sprinted to him, then turned and raised their swords like they were prepared to die for him. The other half of marked shadows turned on their fellow shadows.
Joseph bellowed. He threw his arm out, and a small white-colored object shot like a missile straight at Timothy. But then it hit a wall of rainbow mist and exploded into dust.
“YESSSSS!” Tegan cheered. “Ellis, it worked!”
The shadows stopped fighting and sprinted back to the treeline, to the edge of the Old Lands. Joseph screamed hysterically as he shot magic at Timothy. He turned to smoke then back to human. Trey’s eyes were wide. He glanced around at us, then dove for his father. He tugged on his arms then dragged him all the way back into the Old Lands and out of our sight.
All the marked shadows tossed their weapons aside then dropped to the ground.
The rest of the shadow-army was gone.
Joseph was gone.
But the man standing in his place had salt-and-pepper hair and a scruffy beard. His brown eyes sparkled in the rising sun. He lifted his left hand up in the air, and my gaze latched on to the gray, faded letters on his forearm.
XX.
Judgement.
TIMOTHY.
Chapter Fifty
Jackson
He’s alive.
Timothy is alive.
My heart was pounding so hard and fast in my chest it sounded like a jackhammer. My vision went blurry, and little white lines flashed all around. I opened my mouth and sucked in air, but my lungs didn’t seem to know what to do.
Timothy is alive.
Timothy.
Alive.
Each breath I took burned a path down my throat. My fingers trembled. I wanted to get up and run to him, to see him up close with my own eyes. Except my body was locked in place.
There was a beat of silence that could’ve lasted hours for all I knew.
And then everyone was rushing to him. In the back of my mind, I registered that all the marked shadows simply sat down right where they were, but I was too busy watching Timothy. He looked the same, although slightly slimmer than I recalled. But everything else about him was utterly familiar.
Constance got to him first, with Daniel hot on her heels. She threw her arms around his shoulders and wept, her cries echoing through the trees. Daniel hugged them both. They stepped back, and Hunter and Devon embraced him in tight hugs. Timothy chuckled that deep, lumberjack kind of chuckle, and sharp pain shot through my chest.
Willow, Chutney, Paulina, Lily, and Henley straight up tackled him at the same time. There were squeals and giggles and a showering of cheek kisses.
“DUUUUUDE!” Easton shouted and jumped on top of them.
Royce, Deacon, and Braison sprinted over.
Something gripped my arms, and I gasped—and then I was suddenly on my feet. I frowned and looked over my shoulder…and found Kessler holding me up. He squeezed my shoulder and winked, then nodded once before walking away. I blinked and opened my mouth to speak, but my breath came out all shaky.
“Hey, man,” Warner whispered from suddenly right beside me. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and forced me into a walk. “Come on.”
I frowned and started to fight him when I realized my face was wet. I licked my lips and cringed. They tasted like salt. Wait, am I crying? I wiped my face, and yep, I sure was. Whatever. I didn’t care. I scrubbed my eyes and ran my hand through my hair as we walked toward him.
When I looked back up, I found Cooper, Bentley, and Emersyn hugging him. And then Kessler was there, shaking his hand before pulling him in for a hug. There was a flash of indigo as Lennox ran past us. She cheered and gave Tim a high ten. He chuckled and shook his head.
“And you called me dramatic, eh, big guy?” Tegan said with a laugh as she walked up to him. “That was something.”
“YOU.” Timothy sighed and pointed his finger at her. “You saved my life.”
Tegan stopped in front of him and shrugged. “Meh, it could’ve killed you faster.”
Timothy shook his head again and smiled. “Thank you, Tegan. I wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t sent your magic with Ellis.”
Tegan blushed. “You have no idea how hard it was not to storm in there and find you my damn self.”
Timothy grinned and wrapped her in a hug. “Oh, I think I have an idea.”
“Lucy, you got some splainin’ to do…” Warner said in his best Ricky Ricardo impersonation while wagging his finger.
Timothy’s eyes widened. “Warner. Thank God. I was worried they never got you back out of the balefire.” He held his hand out to him.
Warner shook his hand then clapped him on the back. “I’m still not convinced I’m not still in there, so there’s that.”
Timothy chuckled. And then he spotted me standing there. He sighed and smiled. “Jackson.”
I couldn’t believe it. He was alive. This man was more like a father to me than my own father. For a decade. He raised me. Trained me. Taught me everything I knew. When he died, a part of me died with it. And now there he was, standing right in front of me. I hadn’t even registered that I moved—or maybe he came to me—but the next thing I knew, I was wrapped in the tightest bear hug.
After a long moment, he stepped back. I cursed and scrubbed my face.
“You all right, son?” he asked softly and squeezed my shoulder.
I nodded. All right? I was more than all right. So much had happened since he died, my life was barely recognizable now. I was a Card in The Coven. I had a soulmate. I’d gone on Michael’s quest and succeeded. I had this new family now, but I also got my old one back. I got my best friend back. And now, I had my second father back. It was surreal. After everything we’d learned about him from Catherine— I gasped.
Bettina.
OH MY GOD.
I looked him in the eye. “Timothy…there’s some people you need to…meet.”
Then I stepped aside and turned to face Bettina and Tennessee. They stood next to each other, looking rather identical with their black hair and mismatched eyes. Neither of them moved or spoke. I doubted they were fully breathing. They just stared with wide, teary eyes and ashen faces.
Timothy’s energy beside me was sharp and tense, like a bomb about to explode.
I cleared my throat then licked my lips. I pointed to them. “Haven and Hope.”
Bettina—Hope—let out a strangled cry then charged for him. She was sobbing by the time she crossed the few feet and threw herself into his chest. He squeezed his eyes shut and wrapped his arms around her. Tears slipped out and slid down his cheeks. She sniffled then mumbled something. I couldn’t quite hear, but I did catch “I’m sorry” several times. My chest tightened. I hated seeing my soulmate cry, but these were the happiest form of tears. Her parents were dead, and she’d lost over a decade with her brother and uncle…but now she got to have him back.
And if that wasn’t a damn bloody miracle, I didn’t know what was.
After a few minutes, Bettina pulled back. She had black makeup streaked down her face that only got worse as she rubbed her eyes. Her face was wet and red. She sniffled, then stepped aside. I held my breath.
Pretty sure everyone did…as Timothy met Tenn’s eyes.
Tennessee stood there frozen solid, Michael’s sword still gripped in his hand and golden wings hanging at his back. His mother’s key necklace hung over his chest. I hadn’t realized until just this moment, what with the battle and all, but Tenn was wearing Timothy’s red and black flannel shirt. His favorite shirt.
Timothy slowly closed the distance between them and stopped about a foot in front of him. The two were about the same size and build, with Tim just slightly bigger. Neither of them spoke or made another move. They just stared at each other in tense silence.
Bettina gripped my hand and buried her face in my shoulder.
Tegan stood across from us with tears in her eyes while covering her mouth.
I looked back over to the two men—uncle and nephew—and realized they had the same eye shape and eyebrows. The same shoulder shape. Hell, they even had the same posture. I realized now that Ruth must’ve known how much that glamour spell was needed because there was no way people wouldn’t have figured it out. They looked related.
They looked shell-shocked and rattled to the core.
Timothy looked down at Tenn’s chest and smiled, his cheeks flushed. Then he reached forward and tugged on his shirt—his flannel shirt. Tears filled Tenn’s eyes. He smashed his mouth into a thin line…and then he dropped Michael’s sword and threw himself at his uncle.
Chapter Fifty-One
Bettina
Hours later, I’d finally stopped crying. Well, at least until I made eye contact with Uncle Timothy or my brother. Then it would start all over, but it was getting better. I was no longer sobbing. I just couldn’t believe it. Uncle Tim was alive. After everything he went through—pretending not to know us for twelve years—it killed me to think he’d died before getting to the other side. Now he was back, and I was going to make damn sure it stayed that way.
We still had a lot to talk about, the three of us, but we’d gotten started. It was an emotional morning. My eyes burned from all the crying and my throat was hoarse. Haven kept trying to give him his shirt back, but he wasn’t having it.
He’d gotten really emotional when he saw Haven’s Leader crown on him.
So had I.
And then I’d showed him my Mark. We cried. He’d told me then that as he was dying, he’d prayed and asked the Goddess to give me his Mark. Turned out the Goddess loved him, too, because she listened.
After, I’d called my parents on FaceTime to share the good news. Uncle Tim promised we’d come visit once this whole mess was resolved.
Now, we were in the Great Hall with everyone else. The shadows with the glowing runes on them had been marked by Timothy so we’d know who was good and who wasn’t. There were so, so many more good guys in here than I expected. Ellis hadn’t been lying. It gave me hope that this might be fixable. After all, Hope was my name.
For now, these victims needed a place to stay. And the Great Hall had already proven to be a good holding place. I honestly had no idea what had been going on in here since it all went down. But as Uncle Tim, Haven, and I walked through the doors, we were greeted by our smiling Coven-mates—along with Ellis, his mother, Rebecca, and his father, John.
“TIMOTHY!” Easton and Royce cheered and clapped.
Deacon shook his head. “I fear they’re gonna do that every time now.”
Uncle Tim chuckled. “Well, there are worse things from these two.”
As our friends circled around him, I stopped and took a deep breath. I had a lot to lose now. Too much. It wasn’t just Tegan anymore. It was Jackson. Haven. Uncle Tim…and everyone else. This battle with Joseph was only going to get worse, and I was terrified we wouldn’t all see the other side of it.
Warmth filled my chest, and then that Christmassy scent I loved so much washed over me.
His hand slid up my back then landed on my neck. He rubbed little circles with his thumb and kissed my temple. “How are you?”
I smiled and looked up into his eyes. “Happy. Too happy.”
He shook his head. “No such thing, love. Don’t let fear rain on your parade. Not today.”
“Not today, Satan.”
“That’s my girl.” He chuckled.
Kessler emerged from within the marked shadows and made a beeline for us. His face was tense and tight, and his love for my brother poured out of him. He really was one of the best people I’d ever met. I was glad Haven had him. Kessler wrapped his arm around my brother’s shoulders and held him. Haven sighed and leaned into him. Uncle Timothy glanced at them and smiled.
Warm, hectic, wild energy rushed over me…and then Tegan appeared out of thin air. She bounced up to Haven and buried her face in his chest.
Uncle Tim cleared his throat. “So, what’s going on?”
“Well, to be honest, not much of anything.” Kessler frowned and shook his head. “We’re trying to figure out what our next step is—or should be.”
“Right.” Uncle Tim pursed his lips. “What did you find in the locket?”
I gasped and gripped it in my palm. “We didn’t open it yet.”
He arched an eyebrow at us. “Why not?”
“We were about to—”
“And then Joseph attacked,” I finished for my brother. “Let’s open it now.”
Haven slipped the cord off of his neck and held the key in his hand. I unclasped the chain from the back of my neck, then dropped the locket into my palm. This was it. The moment we’d been waiting for. The one thing that was somehow supposed to answer our questions.
I held the locket up for him. “Go ahead, do the honors.”
He bit his lip then slid the key into the lock on my locket. It clicked and then blue mist exploded in our hands. I gasped, then coughed up a few lungs before my vision cleared enough. As the blue mist was settling, I realized I was now holding a small leather-bound notebook.
My eyes widened.
“Oh my Goddess,” Haven whispered and leaned over my shoulder. “I remember this.”
I nodded and ran my fingers over the cover. It was soft, too soft for being so old and a locket. But it was entirely, one hundred percent familiar. I know this book.
“We used to draw in this.” I flipped the pages, and there were little kid doodles in crayon all over it. “See!”
Kessler chuckled. “That’s cute.”
“What else is in there?” Royce leaned over Uncle Tim’s shoulder.
I shrugged and scanned through some more pages as everyone else watched. I felt their eyes on me. About halfway through, I flipped the page, and then a stack of photos fell out. I cursed and scrambled to catch them all. Each one had little faces in them—our little faces. Baby photos! I handed the spell book to Uncle Tim, then turned my attention back to the stack of photographs in my hand. Once my hands were free, I held the pics up for Haven and me to both see.
It was a pretty big stack of photos, too. Some were of all four of us: me, Haven, Mom, and Dad. There were also quite a few pics of us as little kids hanging with The Coven. There were a ton with Kessler, and a bunch with Uncle Tim. And, of course, some with Ellis. But the ones that really shocked me were the ones with Tegan and me, and her dad, at her house in Charleston when we were toddlers.
“Tegan,” I whispered.
“I know. We can’t be more than two years old here.” She took one of the pictures and handed it across from her. “Dad, do you remember this?”
Hunter exhaled then chuckled. “Yes. I do. This is all so weird.”
“This!” Uncle Timothy said suddenly with a gruff voice. “This is the spell she originally came up with. She showed it to me, and I told her she couldn’t do it.”
I frowned and peeked at the page. “Why not?”
He scowled. “Because it required elemental magic, and she didn’t have that.”
Tegan moved around me, then popped up on her toes to read over his shoulder. “It might have worked if we did it.”
Haven frowned. “Why didn’t you ask The Co
ven?”
Uncle Tim sighed and shook his head. “The Coven only had, what, eight adults at the time? The rest of y’all were toddlers. I told my sister we could do it, but it would have to wait and she needed to be patient. Because we both knew Julian would never help her. He never got over her. So I told her when the twins rejoined us, when they learned their magic, they would do this spell. I thought she understood.”
Tegan frowned. “How much time was between then and—"
“Several weeks before that last day,” he grumbled. He flipped through the spell book even faster. “That day…she’d asked me to watch you two—"
Haven smiled. “We went to Home Depot.”
“And painted our door,” I said as that memory came crashing back.
Uncle Tim looked up at us and smiled so hard his jaw popped. “Yeah…yeah, we did. Well, anyway, after Julian and I killed those demons in Columbia, I called her because I had this gut feeling something was wrong. That’s when she told me. I tried to tell her not to do it, but she insisted this was going to work. That there was no way it would harm anyone. I asked her to tell me what the spell was, but she said she couldn’t because she was already there and it would mess things up… I panicked. I heard the two of you in the background giggling. So, I called Rebecca, asked her to go and stop Ruth— Oh my God, Rebecca. I’m so sorry I sent you there and—"
Rebecca held her hands up and smiled. “Trust me, I would’ve rather gone down with my family than think I had to live on without them.”
Uncle Tim cringed, and ice-cold energy shot out of him. Haven and I both reached out to him at the same time, and each of us grabbed one of his arms and squeezed.
He shook his head and flipped to another page—then gasped. “This is it.”
Everyone moved closer to try and see.
His eyes moved back and forth across the page, and then his brow furrowed deep. “This should have worked… I-I don’t… I don’t understand.”
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