When girls said they liked bad boys, they meant Tennessee Wildes.
I hadn’t been lying to Lennox. Tennessee wasn’t my type. He looked like rebellion. Like the kind of guy who’d show you a wicked great time but get you in trouble in the process, the kind of guy who made up his own rules. That just made me anxious as hell. But I wasn’t blind. He was gorgeous. I’d even thought so when I met him before.
Tennessee scanned the crowd then inclined his head. “Hello. I’m sorry for the interruption to your usual schedule, but there are a few things I need to talk to you about.”
Lennox groaned. “That is not what his voice sounds like.”
“Firstly, I want to thank you for your support yesterday. Especially for Timothy’s funeral.” Tennessee sighed and rubbed the spot over his glyph. “Secondly, I know that rumors spread fast here, and that you all were aware that your fellow classmate Bettina Blair was the main suspect in his death. But I’m here to tell you that Bettina is innocent.”
Several hundred pairs of eyes turned to me in an instant.
Stay calm.
“One of our Coven members is blessed with the gift of lie detection. We investigated and discovered that Bettina was telling the truth and is one hundred percent innocent.” Tennessee put his hands on his hips and glared at the crowd. “So this means if any of you even attempt to harm her in any way, you will report straight to The Coven.”
“Say it again for the people in the back!” Gen shouted before I could smack her to stop.
“Damn, he’s sexy up there being all sexy and defending you.” Lennox leaned back against her seat and fanned herself.
“Now, other business.” He rolled his neck. “As a side effect of the job we had to do in Salem, hundreds of thousands of demons escaped into our realm. We are working on this, but I want to urge you all to proceed with caution. Try to remain in Eden, but if you must go out, please be on guard and ready for an attack.”
My stomach dropped. I did not like the sound of that at all.
“Lastly, The Coven will be remaining here in Eden for an extended period of time. Those of us who are of school age will be enrolling here at Edenburg and joining you. But before they can do that, they must be sorted into their Suits.” He held his left arm out to the side, showing off the IV Mark in black on his skin. He gestured toward the side staircase leading up to the stage. “If the four Suit Majors would please join me.”
Tennessee took a few steps back then stopped. He flexed his fingers, and the floor opened up at his command. The crystal ball slid up and into view, sitting pretty on an ancient-looking column.
Marcia Landry, with her bouncy brown curls and rosy cheeks, was the first one up on stage. The Cups Major skipped over to take her spot right next to Tennessee. He didn’t even glance down at her. He just turned and disappeared behind the wall. Cheryl Cole, Pentacles Major, hurried over to her spot. Her blonde hair was tied up on top of her head as usual, but the pouty, pursed lips were new for her. Harlan was all smiles and thumbs-up as he crossed the stage to stand between the two girls.
Oh God, here he comes. I gripped the edge of my seat and braced myself.
Jackson sauntered across the stage, and my heart performed like an Olympic gymnast with the flips it pulled. I couldn’t see his face since he was walking away from me, but there was just something about his walk that unhinged parts of me. I sighed and tried not to think about that kiss last night.
Movement and a flash of white pulled my gaze away from my source of torture. When I looked, I found it was just Tennessee. He’d stepped off stage and came back on wearing an Edenburg cloak that was as white as fresh fallen snow, like the rest of ours. The guy looked dangerous in all black, but the white made him look downright wicked.
Tennessee moved to the edge of the stage, then raised his arm and flicked his wrist—and the auditorium doors flew open.
Chapter Sixteen
Bettina
Tegan stood in the middle of the open double doors, her long black and purple hair hanging low down her back. The entire Coven was right behind her, peering inside. The crowd gasped, and then whispers and murmurs spread through the auditorium. Tegan glanced left and right, then marched down the center aisle, leading the rest of The Coven. There was over a dozen of them. With every step they took, the crowd’s whispers grew louder and louder.
My best friend looked completely in her element, completely unfazed by the other students. Even The Coven members barely paid them any attention. They each had their Edenburg cloaks on…although most of them were silver. Tegan’s was unfastened and hung open just like her boyfriend’s was, and she was even wearing the same all-black outfit.
They moved as a unit, their footsteps hitting the hardwood floor in perfect unison. They sounded like a small army. Each and every one of them held their heads high and their shoulders back. Their eyes were clear and focused. It was nothing like my sorting ceremony. Not a single one looked nervous, whereas I’d needed the support of two children to keep me calm.
I watched them in riveted silence with my heart pounding in my chest. The Coven was going to attend my school. This was like being told the Queen of England would be in my homeroom. They walked to the front of the auditorium, right in front of the stage, then stopped. I looked up to see if Tennessee was giving them orders, but then my gaze landed on Jackson.
His golden bronze locks were even more disheveled than before, and there seemed to be a light flush to his cheeks. His aquamarine eyes were beautiful and intense…and staring right at me.
I gasped and peeled my gaze off of him. My cheeks were on fire. I groaned and gripped the edge of my chair. This boy. He was the most confusing person I’d ever met. One day he said I was a distraction, and the next day he was kissing the ever-loving shit out of me. I didn’t know what to do with either of these. Especially when he was staring at me like that. He was going to have to stop or I’d lose my damn mind. Ignore him. Just pretend he’s not there. The Coven is joining Edenburg. Focus on that. I was curious to see which Suits they’d be sorted into.
Tennessee walked by the crystal ball, and without touching it or even looking at it, the ball swirled a neon blue. Then his white cloak turned jet black. The crowd gasped and sat up straight. My eyes widened. The dude hadn’t even gone near the crystal ball. There was at least two feet between him and it, yet his cloak changed to his Suit color. A cold chill slid down my spine and I shivered. That dude was crazy powerful. Of course he’s in Swords.
Wait a second… I’M in Swords. How does this make sense? How am I in the same Suit as the Emperor? I still wasn’t sold that there hadn’t been a system malfunction when I touched the crystal ball.
A sharp pain shot through my heart and I cringed. Timothy had made me a deal. He’d said he’d let me try it again if I wasn’t happy as a Sword. Now I’d never know. Don’t think about him right now.
My gaze immediately jumped back over to the one person it had zero right to be looking at. Jackson. I sighed and my entire body warmed just thinking about him. It wasn’t healthy. I needed to shake my infatuation.
Tennessee cleared his throat, not like it mattered. The crowd hung on his every breath. “Hunter, Devon, Kessler, and Evaline, why don’t you join your Suit Majors behind me? And Deacon, you too.”
Five people stepped away from The Coven and made their way up the stairs. It was only then that I realized their cloaks were white and not silver. But that didn’t surprise me. They were adults, so it made sense that they’d already been sorted. I recognized Hunter at the front of the four. The second his boots hit the wooden stage, his white cloak shimmered and turned to that beautiful shade of turquoise that matched Jackson’s eyes.
Stop that, brain! Focus.
Hunter was a Cup. The woman behind him, who looked a suspicious amount like Tegan, took three steps on the stage, and her cloak turned jet black.
Gen and I gasped and leaned forward.
“DUDE!” Gen tugged on my sleeve and squealed a little. “That
’s Devon Bishop! Oh my Goddess. Holy hell, wait ‘til I tell Erin she’s here.”
I frowned. Devon Bishop? There was a woman who looked like Tegan and had the same last name…I was so very confused. And I didn’t know why Gen knew who she was or why she was so excited. Tegan needed to hurry up and get to explaining things. Gen continued to fangirl over the mysterious woman. I meant to respond more, but I couldn’t look away from the stage. The last two adults, Hunter’s brother Kessler and Evaline, the lie detector, both moved to stand behind their Suits – Kessler to Swords, and Evaline to Wands. Then I realized the fifth person wasn’t an adult. It was the pretty purple-eyed guy named Deacon—the Devil. He high fived Cheryl and took her flank in a matching hunter green cloak. Interesting.
Tennessee nodded, then he turned to his Coven-mates. “Bentley and Cooper Bishop.”
Little Bentley jumped out of line and practically sprinted up the steps and over to the ball. He held his hand out, but his palm didn’t even touch it before his silver cloak turned aquamarine. As he went over to Marcia, Cooper made his way to the ball. Again, his fingers were inches away when his cloak changed colors—his turned black. Cooper nodded in approval then turned and walked toward Jackson, pausing only to give Tennessee a fist bump.
“Henley and Royce Redd?” Tennessee called out.
The two siblings with matching inky black hair made quick work of the steps. Together, they put their palms to the crystal ball, and I couldn’t help but be reminded of George and Freddy. I need to find them. I shook myself and refocused just as the two siblings’ cloaks turned purple.
“Chutney Burroughs. Willow Walcot,” Tennessee said as he nodded his head toward the ball. “Paulina Putnam and Braison Parker.”
I had to admit this part was pretty damn cool. Not for the first time, I wondered what the crystal ball saw and felt that we didn’t. Watching each person get sorted reminded me of those gender reveal party videos I saw online. Congrats, it’s a Cup! I chuckled to myself as those four were put into Cups, Wands, Cups, Pentacles—in that order.
“Lily Warren and Easton Correy.”
These two were definitely a couple with the way they clung to each other. I half expected them to get the same Suit, but the girl went to Pentacles and the guy went to Swords. So far, of The Coven, only three Cards were Swords—aside from the Emperor himself. When Lily let go of her boyfriend’s hand and bounced over to the Pentacles group, Easton pouted and the crowd giggled.
Tennessee rolled his eyes then looked down. “All right, Emersyn Bishop. You’re up.”
I sat up straighter. At face value, I wouldn’t have known which Suit Emersyn belonged in, but I would’ve guessed Pentacles. But the night of the Gathering kept popping to mind, and I remembered just how tough she’d been. Emersyn crept across the stage until she got to the crystal ball. She raised one slightly shaking hand up, and the crystal ball filled with black smoke. Please be Swords. Come on, Swords.
And then her cloak turned purple. Dammit. I leaned back. It would’ve been nice to have one other blonde girl in class, but I’d make do. Gen must’ve been thinking the same thing because she, too, cursed and visibly deflated.
“Tegan Bishop,” Tennessee said in a soft voice, his gaze locked on my best friend. But then he smirked. “Try not to blow up our crystal ball.”
I glanced over to Jackson. I just couldn’t help it. Tennessee’s comment reminded me of all that sass I used to get from Jackson. He must’ve heard it, too, because his gaze quickly found mine and held…and then I was stuck. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t look away.
But then Tegan walked right through my line of vision, and Jackson’s hold on me vanished. The relief was bittersweet.
Tegan giggled and dragged her fingertips over Tennessee’s chest as she walked past him. She moved over to the crystal ball and held her hands up in front of it. The ball filled with shimmering gray swirls, and then it lifted into the air.
My eyes widened. The crystal ball was hovering, but it never did that.
Tegan grinned and wiggled her fingers, and then a weird symbol appeared in gold lettering inside the crystal ball. I didn’t recognize it, but it was clear by The Coven’s reactions they did.
I frowned and slid to the front of my seat.
Tegan held her hands up to the sky. Rainbow mist filled her palms—and then her white cloak began to change. As first, it started to turn black, but then it switched immediately to purple…then aquamarine…then hunter green. I blinked and frowned. Murmurs rippled through the crowd as Tegan’s cloak flipped through the color wheel.
Bright white light flashed. We all jumped and covered our eyes. When the light faded enough to look, I saw Tegan standing in the middle of the stage next to the crystal ball. Her cloak was a pale rainbow. It actually looked like my fire opal blade…but what does this mean?
Tegan shrugged. “Does that count as blowing it up?”
Chapter Seventeen
Bettina
Everyone still stared at me as we filed out of the auditorium, but at least they weren’t glaring. Curious and suspicious, yes. Blatant animosity, no. So I took that as a step in the right direction. Baby steps.
Granted, I was swimming upstream through the crowd. As soon as Headmaster Daniel told us we could leave, the entire student body rushed to the front to try and get close to The Coven. I’d taken that opportunity to try and sneak out the back. I wasn’t a coward. I just liked to choose my battles wisely. And an angry, betrayed mob was not what I’d like to call a fun time. I pulled the hood of my cloak up and over my head, hiding my blonde hair from sight.
I rounded a corner—then slammed into something hard. I cursed and tried to right myself, but I’d been moving too fast and gravity sent me falling backward. Big, warm hands gripped my biceps, catching me mid fall. Intense heat shot down my arms and spread through my body. I gasped and looked up from under my hood…into my favorite pair of aquamarine eyes.
Jackson. My breath left me in a rush, and my knees gave out. If he hadn’t been holding me, I would’ve been a puddle on the hardwood floor. I felt the heat in each of his fingertips as they dug into my skin, burning through my cloak. He hauled me upright then pulled me close until my chest was pressed tight to his. I tried to breathe, but his Christmassy scent was everywhere. It was overwhelmingly intoxicating. It short-circuited my brain. All of my thoughts vanished. All I could do was stare up at him.
I was on fire. If he didn’t let go of me soon, I was going to turn into cinder and ash at his feet. And there was a frighteningly big part of me that was totally okay with that.
Push away, Bettina. Put some distance. C’mon, brain, come back to me. ABORT! ABORT! GET OUT NOW!
He licked his lips, and my gaze went right to his mouth. A moan I’d never forgive myself for making slipped out of me, and I leaned into him. I wanted to kiss him. I needed to kiss him, to feel his lips on mine. His grip tightened, and he pulled me closer. It wasn’t enough. I stood up on my tiptoes then leaned in.
He dropped me like I’d burned him and jumped back. He cursed, and it sounded beautiful in his British accent. “Bettina, I can’t.”
I groaned and leaned against the wall for support. “I know. I know. Sorry, it’s just…” I let my sentence drift off, not wanting to finish it out loud.
“I know,” he said softly. Then he scrubbed his face with his hands. That red rose tattoo was way too hot. “Bloody hell, I know. But I can’t. You’re a distraction I can’t afford—”
“Michael. I understand.” I sighed and pushed my hair back off my face. I really did understand, but somehow that only made it worse. “I don’t want to be a distraction for you.”
His eyes met mine, and then we just stood there staring at each other like we were both trying to will the circumstances to be different. Or maybe that was just me. I was happy that his parents had done whatever they did to allow Jackson to have magic. Eden was a better place with him in it. Whatever this test was Michael had coming for him, I was fully
confident that Jackson would succeed with flying colors. But the last thing I ever wanted was to cause him any kind of stress at all.
I cared about him more than I dared to admit to even myself. This wasn’t lust or infatuation. This—what I felt for him—went deeper than that. I wanted to be with him. I wanted to be the person he went to for comfort, not anxiety. Michael was coming for him soon. I would be patient.
Jackson took a step closer, then reached under his black cloak. When he pulled his arm out, he had a sword in his grip. It had a golden hilt and a fire opal blade.
I gasped. It was my sword.
“How—how did you get that?”
He smirked. “I may have neglected to tell them where it was. But now that you’ve been proven innocent, I wanted to give it back to you.”
Somehow, in the madness of the last forty-eight hours, I’d forgotten about my talisman sword. It was the least of my concerns. I remembered Jackson being the one who took it from me, but I’d just assumed he’d handed it over to Constance or the Knights.
Heat filled my cheeks. He held it out in front of me, the blade shimmering under the fluorescent lights. There wasn’t even an ounce of blood on it. I reached out and gripped the hilt, and it was warm to the touch and sent tingles of energy up my arm.
“I cleaned it for you,” he whispered.
“Jackson…” I closed the distance between us and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
When I pulled back, his cheeks were a soft pink. He smiled and his eyes sparkled like the ocean under the sun. “You’re welcome.”
“I found her!” Gen shouted from somewhere behind me.
I glanced over my shoulder to find Lennox, Gen, and Harlan all walking toward me. When I looked back, Jackson had already turned and was halfway down the other hallway. I sighed. Michael needed to come sooner rather than later or I was going to lose my sanity.
The Fallen Witch (The Coven: Academy Magic Book 2) Page 8