Yet when her teeth graze my lower lip, I can’t remember why I cared about any of that. She pulls me into the hall, and I close the door behind me. Her fingers thread through my hair, and I reach for her waist. Kissing her feels like drowning, all consuming. I never want to come up for air.
Too soon, Veronica steps away and reaches for my hand. “Come with me.”
I let her tug me down the hall, but when she hits the button for the elevator, I stop. “Where are we going?”
Veronica smiles that perfect smile, the one she reserves just for me. “You’ll see.”
“We’re not supposed to leave the hotel.” The elevator door opens in front of us, and I stand firm when Veronica tries to lead me inside.
“Hannah, come on. No one will ever know we left.” She lets the elevator door close and reaches for my hands. “Please? You promised to make my last school trip the best one ever.”
She’s right. Even if I didn’t expect sneaking out to be part of making it amazing, I promise. And she looks so excited . . . “Fine. But we’re back way before any of the chaperones could possibly be up.”
“Deal!” Veronica kisses me fast and hard, leaving me dizzy as she calls up the elevator again and ushers me inside. She holds my hand as the metal box starts its slow descent to the lobby floor. When the doors ding open at the bottom, someone’s waiting for us. I tense beside Veronica and slip my hand from hers.
“Hey, witches.” Tori brushes her blue hair out of her eyes. “Let’s do this.”
Chapter Six
Tori leads us through the city, and I lose track of all the turns and subway stops and street names. My sense of direction sucks even under normal circumstances, but with the air buzzing with the secrets of millions, I can barely focus. Even shoving my magic down as far as it will go, the air whispers against my skin and tries to draw it out. It’s a good thing Tori is here to be our guide.
After what feels like forever, Tori produces a set of keys from her pocket and lets us into a brick building. We follow her up three flights of stairs and into a small apartment.
“Welcome to our secret lair,” she says with a flourish.
The cramped space is packed full. Three desks are pushed against the walls with bookshelves crammed between them, each one filled with glowing vials of potions. Herbs hang from the ceiling to dry, and the kitchen looks more chemistry lab than cooking space.
I don’t see Coral anywhere, but Lexie sits at one of the desks. She’s bent over a notebook, scribbling across the page.
“We have company,” Tori shouts across the small room.
Lexie flinches and turns to face us. Her desk is a mess of thick texts and a pile of composition notebooks. She frowns when she sees us and removes her earbuds. “I thought we agreed not to involve them?”
Tori shrugs and pushes Veronica and me farther into the room. “Who says they’re involved in anything? You can be social for one night.”
We stop beside Lexie’s desk, and I can’t help but notice the notebook before her, filled with equations and symbols. It doesn’t look like anything I’ve ever seen before. “Are those notes for a potion or something?”
Lexie laughs, but it’s a warm sound, not a cruel one. “You really don’t know anything about Casters, do you?” She picks up the book beside her and flips it closed so I can see the cover. “This is homework for my genetics class. I’m a bio major at NYU.” She pulls out a different notebook, this one thick and leather bound. “This is where I keep track of my potions.”
To my surprise, she flips open the page. I expect to find something similar to the grimoire my family keeps—handwritten copies of advanced magic, explanations of Elemental theory, and coven laws—but instead, the pages are filled with swirling shapes that mean absolutely nothing to me.
“She also has double minors in genetics and chemistry.” Coral appears through one of the doors, a bedroom maybe, and comes to lean against the bookcase beside us. Her curls are pinned to the top of her head, and she’s wearing plaid pajama bottoms and an NYU T-shirt. “Lex is basically a certified genius. She’s been experimenting with new potion techniques and is close to cracking the code for true invisibility.”
“I’m not that close. The last three attempts exploded.” Lexie grins, like exploding potions is a point of pride. “That’s why we moved in with Tori this semester. One too many close calls in the dorms.”
“That is so cool,” Veronica gushes beside me.
Tori rolls her eyes. “Lexie experiments more than any Caster I know. The refraction potion we have is good enough.”
Lexie scoffs. “There’s no such thing as good enough.” She fits her earbuds back in. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, some of us have homework to do.”
“Sorry.” I back away from the desk to give her space, but when I turn around, Tori is grinning at me. “What?”
Tori crosses her room to one of the other desks, this one cluttered with loose pages and rows of glass beakers with wide corks closing off the top. “Lexie isn’t the only one who experiments.”
“She is the best though,” Coral says.
Tori nods her agreement and grabs one of the beakers, this one filled with a purple liquid. “Could you try this for me?”
“Is it a potion?” I ask, studying the liquid.
“No, it’s wine.” Tori rolls her eyes and flips her blue hair out of her face. “Of course it’s a potion.”
Heat burns my face, but I keep my voice steady. “I’m good. Thanks.”
“It won’t kill you.” She removes the cork, holds a hand over the opening, and whispers some kind of incantation. The potion takes on a glow that reminds me of the vial in the bathroom, and I’m not eager to repeat that experience. “Please? We never have non-Casters around to try our potions, and we can’t exactly use Regs as test subjects.”
I’m not interested in being a Caster’s lab rat, but I don’t want to seem scared, either. I look to Veronica for support, but she steps past me and reaches for the vial.
“What does it do?”
“V, wait.” I try to grab her arm, but she yanks away.
“It’s fine, Han. I want to try it.” She reaches for the beaker, but I panic and grab it before she can.
Even though the fear is probably irrational, I can’t help thinking that this potion—and their attempts at friendship—are some kind of trap. Veronica would probably say I’m letting the misunderstanding in the bathroom cloud my judgment, but if this potion does something terrible, it’ll be safer if I’m the one who takes it. Veronica is older, over eighteen, which means she’s the stronger witch. She can get us out of here if things go south.
“It really won’t hurt you,” Coral says, adjusting the curls pinned to the top of her head. “Plus, it wasn’t designed for Elementals, so it might not even work on you.”
Or it’ll have terrible side effects. But I raise the beaker to my lips anyway. I swirl the purple liquid, and it’s much thicker than I first thought. It clings to the sides of the glass and gives off an herby smell that reminds me of the Fly by Night Cauldron where I work. Veronica gives me an encouraging nod, and I toss the liquid back.
The first thing I notice is the taste. The bitterness burns my throat, and it’s so thick that it slithers down my insides like a slug. It takes every ounce of my control to keep from gagging and bringing it back up. Once the feeling is gone, I take a deep breath and brace for whatever will happen next. Will I disappear? Will my skin turn purple like the liquid?
My stomach feels . . . not great, but that might be nerves more than the potion itself. Otherwise, I feel fine.
“Wh—” My voice cuts away, leaving my question—what was this supposed to do—unasked. I try to force the words past my lips, but nothing comes out. My face won’t respond to my brain. A panicked noise hums at the back of my throat when I try to shout, but even that dies after a second or two.
Glass shatters across the wood floor as the beaker slips from my fingers. I claw at my throat, desperate to get the words—any words—to pass my lips. Nothing comes.
I reach for Veronica, grip her arm tight, and beg her to read the fear behind my eyes.
She glances past me at Tori. “What did you do?” She doesn’t sound half as worried as I need her to be, but at least she’s asking. At least she’s not laughing the way Tori is.
Coral nudges Tori in the ribs. “That’s not funny, Tor. I thought that was the hair dye potion.”
“What is it?” Veronica asks what I want to know, but she sounds curious where I’m drowning under the rising tide of my panic.
“It’s a silencing potion.” Tori grins and tips up her chin, fully proud of herself.
Undo it! I’m shouting in my mind, but nothing comes out. I stagger to the desk and search for a pen. When I find one, I try to scrawl the words across the first bit of paper I can reach, but all that comes out is a sloppy squiggle. None of the lines form actual letters.
Oh, hell no.
Behind me, Tori is telling Veronica about the complicated mix of herbs used to make the potion, and all my fear sharpens to anger. I reach for my magic, and it eagerly answers my call, plummeting the temperature of the air inside the apartment.
“What the hell is going on?” Lexie calls from her desk. She’s finally looked up from her homework and removed her earbuds. She shivers and glares at Tori. “What did you give her?”
“A silencing potion,” Coral says.
Lexie stands, drops her earbuds on the desk, and disappears into the kitchen, muttering under her breath.
“Don’t worry, Hannah,” Coral says, resting a hand on my shoulder. “Lexie will reverse it.”
I pull away from her touch, still furious despite her kind tone. Despite the promise that this will be over soon. Because Veronica is helping Tori pick up the glass I dropped. She’s helping the Caster while I’m standing here, all forms of communication stolen from me.
Her distance crushes my lungs. My eyes sting, and my magic is wild and desperate for something more than air magic. I shiver in the cold, and then Veronica finally glances up. She looks irritated with me, like I’m overreacting and it’s embarrassing her in front of new friends. In a sudden rush, she steals my control over the air.
The severed connection to the element almost sends me to my knees. I grab the edge of Tori’s desk to keep standing, and then Lexie returns from the kitchen. She holds a steaming mug in her hands.
“Here.” She hands over the mug, the liquid inside a shimmering gold. “This will reverse the spell.”
Cautiously, I accept the mug. The liquid inside is thin, almost like a broth, and I take a tentative sip. It tastes as terrible as the first potion, but it goes down like silk. I drink the rest, and as soon as I’m done, a coughing fit rips through my chest.
“Thank you,” I say, and I nearly cry from the relief of saying those simple words. I pass the mug back to Lexie and glare at Tori and Veronica, who are still kneeling on the floor with hands full of shattered glass. “Fuck you. Both of you.”
And then I storm out of the apartment, slamming the door behind me.
* * *
• • •
Veronica catches me in less than three blocks. I’m not surprised. I felt her magic reaching for me, but I still flinch when she grabs my arm and spins me to face her. Pink flushes her cheeks, and her eyes are filled with concern. “Hannah, wait. I’m sorry.”
The apology softens my anger, and my nerves settle bit by bit. I don’t want to fight. I want to go home and curl up beside her, listening to the soft beat of her heart. I want a night for us, not one where I’m the butt of Caster pranks.
I wipe the last traces of angry tears from my cheeks. “I can’t go back there. Come to the hotel with me. Please?”
“Hannah . . .” Her voice is pleading, and she glances over her shoulder, back toward the Casters’ apartment. “It could be years before we run into Caster Witches again. I’m not ready to leave.” She keeps her voice low so none of the passing Regs overhear.
“Please, Veronica? I don’t want to see them again.” I try to swallow down my frustration, but my throat closes as I remember the feel of the slick potion. The thought of the sudden, terrifying inability to communicate makes me shudder. “Tori’s a creep.”
“I wouldn’t say she’s a creep.” Veronica tilts her head like she’s trying to look at the situation from a different angle. “She just has . . . an odd sense of humor.” V quirks a smile at me and jerks her thumb back toward the Caster apartment. “Kind of like your sense of direction. You’re going the wrong way.”
“An odd sense of humor?” I ask, my earlier anger rising from the ashes. “Are you kidding? She—” I stop, unable to say aloud what Tori really did. Not here, where Regs could overhear. “Do you have any idea how terrifying that was? What if it was permanent?”
Veronica shakes her head. “Tori would never do that.”
“Right, because you and Tori are such good friends.” My hands tremble and tears pool in my eyes, which is just perfect. If V didn’t think I was overreacting before, she will now. “You don’t know these girls. Not really. You have no idea what they’re capable of.”
“But we’ve been texting—”
“You weren’t there!” The tears are streaming hot and fast now, and I’d rather crawl out of my skin than make a public scene like this. There’s no stopping it, though. “You weren’t there in the museum when they first showed up. You didn’t see Tori’s face when she . . . When she—”
“Okay. I hear you.” Veronica soothes the tears from my cheeks, her fingers resting against my chin. “You’re safe now. They know you aren’t the you-know-what. They won’t hurt you.” She wraps me in her arms, and the familiar scent of her coconut shampoo wraps me in a blanket of comfort that finally calms my tears.
“You’re okay,” she whispers again, rubbing small circles against my back. “Tori’s sorry. They all are. Lexie was giving her an earful about it, too, when I left. It won’t happen again.”
“I know it won’t. I’m not going back there.” I break away from her embrace, missing her warmth the moment it’s gone. “Why do you keep defending them?”
Veronica chews her lower lip, the gloss shining in the street lights. “I told Tori and the others that I was coming right back . . .” She trails off and glances longingly toward the apartment before turning those emerald eyes on me. “I promise I won’t let them tease you. Come back with me.”
Her pleading expression picks at my defenses. The last thing I want to do is go back to that apartment. I doubt Tori would try anything else, but I know she’ll judge me for storming off. I just want to go to bed. Saying no to Veronica is basically impossible though. “V . . .”
Before she can argue her point further, Veronica is interrupted by her phone. It buzzes loud from within her pocket. She answers the call with a brief, “Yeah?”
There’s screaming on the other line, but I can’t make out the words. Veronica’s eyes widen. She looks to me, her magic filling the air, bright and worried. She glances toward the Casters’ apartment. “I’m on my way. Don’t move.”
“What is it?” I ask, but her sudden fear turns my stomach.
Veronica’s hands tremble. “The Blood Witch found them.
Chapter Seven
Veronica sprints back to the Casters’ apartment, her hair billowing behind her like ink across a scrying pool. Even though I know this is a terrible idea, I chase after her, dodging around pedestrians as my lungs burn. I can’t let her race toward danger alone.
The brick apartment building rises before us, somehow more menacing than it was an hour ago. Shadows drape across the window ledges like fangs, and the front door hangs loose on its hinges.
Which means everyone in this building, Reg and witc
h alike, is in danger.
“Veronica, wait!” But she doesn’t listen. She rips the busted door open wide and slips inside, taking the stairs two at a time. “Damn it, V!” I chase after her, my legs screaming as I follow.
But I’m not built to run like this, and my toes catch on a stair, sending me crashing into the steps. Pain explodes across my shins and forearms, and for the second I’m still, my brain finally catches up to the rest of me.
We’re racing toward a Blood Witch. The Clan that kills first, asks questions never.
What the hell am I doing?
But then I think of Veronica, and I’m on my feet again, trying to make up for lost time. My breath comes in shallow gasps, but I finally make it to the third floor and burst through the door into the hallway.
Veronica stands frozen just before the turn, pressed tight against the wall. She glances at me, eyes wild with fear, her hands squeezed into fists.
I hurry down the hall on silent feet. “We need to get out of here.” My breathlessness steals the conviction from my words. Running is the worst. I try again. “Now, V.”
“No. We have to help.” She glances around the corner. “I don’t see anyone.”
“What if the Blood Witch is still here?” Our magic is more flexible than the Casters’, but that doesn’t mean we’re prepared to take on a Blood Witch. Our power isn’t meant for battle. The Middle Sister didn’t gift it to us so we could be soldiers.
“I don’t know.” Veronica keeps her voice low, but it’s threaded with irritation. “But we have to do something. Come on.”
“Wait.” I kiss her. Just in case. “I love you.”
Her smile is dazzling but fleeting. “Let’s go.” She rounds the corner and creeps toward the apartment. Little gusts of wind tug at Veronica’s hair as she draws the element to her, preparing for the worst.
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