I sniffled and rubbed my nose on my sleeve. “It’s just nice to know…ya’ know…even though I can’t be with him…it’s nice to know that I could have, if he wasn’t destined to be with someone else. I mean, the Goddess blessed him with a soulmate. I can’t fight that.”
“Bettina, listen…there’s something I need to tell you—”
There was a loud knock on the door. We both sat up straight.
I wiped my face. “Come in.”
The door opened, and then Tennessee stepped back inside. He grimaced. “I’m sorry. This is horrid timing…but…”
“What?” Tegan and I both said at the same time.
He sighed. “Bentley’s been trying to track Trey all day. He finally just found him. He’s on the move not too far from here. I just think if we could get our hands on Trey, then—”
“We can get some answers.” Tegan nodded and I saw the schemes flickering behind her pale eyes. “He’s our best shot right now.”
Tenn shrugged. “Yeah. That’s what I’m thinking. We can’t all go, but I thought I could send some of us out—"
“Let’s go get him,” I said in a rush. “I’ll go. I volunteer.”
Tenn’s eyes widened and his eyebrows rose. He glanced to Tegan then back to me. “You sure? I was wanting to send you, but—”
“No buts.” I jumped up and wiped my face again. “I can cry about this later, probably will anyway. So I might as well put myself to use.”
Tenn looked down to Tegan like he had absolutely no idea how to handle a crying girl who was determined to go into battle while actively sobbing. It was actually kind of adorable.
Tegan jumped up and stood beside me. She nodded. “No better way to work through your pain than to inflict it on someone else.”
Tenn frowned and shook his head. “Yeah, no. No, that’s not how that goes.”
I balled my fists, and ice covered my hands and forearms. “That’s how it goes for murderous traitors.”
Tenn smirked. “That I agree with. Let’s get you out there, then.”
Chapter Forty-Six
Jackson
“In three hundred feet, turn right, then you will arrive at your destination.”
I frowned and glanced down at my phone to make sure I’d heard that right. It’d only been about half an hour, but I did not understand where the hell I was. I was driving down a two-lane road—or at least I thought so. There weren’t actually any lines on the pavement. For all I knew, I was going the wrong way down a one-way. I shook my head and leaned forward, peering over the steering wheel as I crept down the road.
The setting sun created a nasty glare on the road, and it looked like I was driving into one of Tegan’s portals. The only thing that told me I wasn’t was the overpass running along the road next to me. On my right, there was a two-story building with a wooden balcony running all the way around it.
I went a little farther, and then the road forked. I could either go straight, to what looked like the ocean. Or I could go right, past a little tiki hut with a sign that read FLORIDA SEAFOOD FESTIVAL. I slowed to a stop at the intersection. There were no other cars on the road. The app on my phone was pointing straight ahead.
Oookay. I looked up and frowned. A pickup truck was backing into a lake. I followed his path, and then it made sense. It was a boat ramp. I pulled forward as a man jumped out of the driver’s seat and ran to the back to hook up a small sailboat. I glanced to the left and found a few more trucks with boat trailers parked under the overpass. Huh. Okay…
“In thirty feet, turn right.”
“Thirty feet, huh?” I shrugged and drove forward.
“Turn right.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
As soon as I turned, my GPS said, “You have arrived.”
“Rubbish. I think you may need an update,” I told my phone and put my truck in park, then turned it off.
My stomach tightened then flipped like an Olympic gymnast during a floor routine. Before I could freak myself out any longer, I hopped out of the truck. But when my feet hit the gravel, my stomach rolled. I leaned on my door and braced myself. Get a grip, Jackson. This is your soulmate. This is supposed to be a good thing. An amazing thing.
Except…this wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
I was supposed to just randomly meet her and have my whole world change on a dime. There was supposed to be an instant connection. It was supposed to be a moment that changed my life forever, for the better.
It was supposed to be Bettina.
I groaned and slammed my head against my truck door. Brain, you’re bloody killing me with this rubbish. Quit it. It’s not her. It won’t ever be her. Let it go. You’re about to meet the girl who’s going to make all of this pain go away. At least pretend to be happy about it for my own sanity.
Then I realized I was chastising my own brain. I sighed and checked my reflection in the windows. My hair was a tad wild and disheveled, but it wasn’t going to get any better without a proper shower. I hadn’t put a single thought into my outfit when I left Eden, and now I wondered if I should have. What did one wear when they knew they were going to meet their soulmate?
Apparently I was wearing dark blue jeans, brown boots, and a gray long-sleeved shirt with three buttons at the top. Not too bad, right? I groaned and scrubbed my face. You’re losing it, mate.
Oh shit, the pearl.
I grabbed the book box and opened it. The red velvet necklace sat inside, looking regal against the black interior of the box. I reached into my jeans pocket for where I’d stashed the pearl while driving. It wasn’t until I pulled it out that I realized I hadn’t thought about how I was connecting it. I glanced over to Henry’s crown and pursed my lips. Maybe it’ll be like that was.
But when I looked back down, the pearl wasn’t there. Except it was. I felt it between my fingers. I cursed and grabbed Henry’s crown off the seat and put it on. And then there it was. The little penny-sized pearl still had a soft red glow to it as I held it up. The charm on the necklace had tiny little grooves for where the stone went. It looked easy enough, so I gently placed the pearl in the designated spot. Red streams of light shot out of the charm. Cool, powerful energy tingled over my fingers then pulsed through the air.
I shuddered. Whatever spell was on this necklace was crazy strong. I didn’t know how I was supposed to get this girl to wear it. Or for that matter, leave with me. Bentley said she was human, or thought she was, which meant me telling her she was my soulmate wasn’t exactly going to have the same impact. Hell, to her I was about to sound like a crazy person. I had to get her to understand it, believe it, and then accept that she had to go into hiding for a while.
Damn it, why didn’t I bring Deacon or Hunter with me?
Oh, right, because that would be wrong and an invasion of free will.
I shook my head and shoved the necklace in my back pocket. I gently set the crown back inside. Then I grabbed the little piece of paper that had this address on it. At the bottom, under the address, it said Téssera.
Pretty name. It definitely wasn’t English, so I just prayed she spoke English because otherwise, this was going to get messy.
Right. How much longer can I stall?
I slammed the door shut and stormed away from my truck as fast as I could. Then I froze. There were no buildings here. Just a parking lot, some vacant land, a row of boats, and the ocean. More specifically, the Gulf of Mexico. Wait. I frowned and looked at the paper, then looked back up. I had to be going to one of these boats. That was the only thing that made sense. Unless she lived under the overpass. Or in her car.
Just in case, I glanced inside each of the cars as I passed them on my way to the boats. But they were all empty. All four of them. I turned my attention to the boats. There was only a handful or two tied up to the dock. The first one was named Harmony. The next two were Wind Dancer and Windsong, and I assumed they were owned by people who knew each other. There was an unnamed little fishing boat, then an old
er-looking sailboat named Téssera and a much newer one named Orion.
I froze.
Téssera. I looked down at my paper, and sure enough, that was the word at the bottom. Huh. So it’s not HER name. I smiled and made a mental note to thank Bentley for his thoroughness and attention to detail. I turned around and walked back to the sailboat with white sails and a green body.
I peered over the side and looked for a person, but there was no one in sight. Then I pushed my magic out, and it tingled against my fingertips. Ah-ha. There you are. There was definitely a witch on this boat, a fairly powerful one from what I sensed, too.
There was a bang, and then a soft, feminine voice cursed from inside the boat.
I chuckled and hopped onto the back of the boat. The nook in the back had a solid bench that wrapped around the space in the shape of a U. But straight in front of me was the opening to the cabin area, or so I assumed.
I cleared my throat. “Hello?”
A woman gasped. And then there was silence. I frowned and pushed my magic out again. Metal crashed against something hard, and the woman cursed again. The boat rocked, and I heard footsteps. I backed up until my legs hit the farthest bench, not wanting her to feel attacked.
“Is anyone here?” I yelled down, even though I knew she was. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
There was a second of silence, and then a girl shot up from the cabin. She jumped into the nook area across from me and froze. Her eyes widened.
I blinked. She was gorgeous. She had long hair the color of freshly fallen snow and pale, pale golden eyes that were almost white. Her lips were a deep pink that was only a shade darker than the flush in her cheeks. She wore little white jean shorts that were microscopic and frayed at the hem. Her long-sleeved shirt was neon orange with a picture of an alligator on it and a caption that read Albert is my boyfriend.
She looked nothing like Bettina. Where Bettina was tall and lean, this girl was short and curved like an hourglass. Bettina dressed a bit more conservatively, and she definitely had never worn a shirt for a college football team.
“It’s YOU.”
I jumped. “What?” Of all the things I’d considered her saying, that was definitely not one of them.
She grinned and it made her eyes light up. “I said, it’s you.”
I opened my mouth then shut it. “You know me?”
“Not at all.” She giggled than leapt toward me.
I gasped and started to back away, but I’d trapped myself in the corner of the benches. She grabbed a fistful of my shirt then yanked my lips down to hers. I froze. Her mouth was soft and tasted a little like saltwater. Or maybe that was mine. My heart clamored in my chest. I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t expecting her to kiss me so suddenly. This is weird, right?
Then her tongue slid into my mouth and brushed against mine, and I gave in. I sighed and leaned into her kiss, letting my body slip into automatic pilot. She moaned and pulled me down, flush against her body. She was warm. Her kiss sent heat through my body. It was nice, a welcomed feeling.
But it was nothing like kissing Bettina.
There was no spark. No fire. I didn’t need to cling to her or hold her so close my bones protested the pressure. My lungs weren’t screaming for air. My thoughts weren’t even on her.
I pulled back and took an easy breath—when it should’ve been ragged. She smiled up at me with red lips and chuckled. I forced a smile to be nice…but it was all wrong. I didn’t feel excited to meet her. I didn’t feel relieved to have finally found her. Kissing her was like kissing Mandy in seventh grade during spin the bottle.
I felt nothing.
And in turn, I felt every drop of acid churning in my stomach. Of sadness turning my veins to ice. My emotions lumped in my throat.
I coughed. “Um…wow.”
She laughed and tucked her white hair behind her ears. Her sun-kissed skin was absolutely radiant, and it did nothing to me. “Sorry…I, uh… Well, I promised myself if I saw you again, I’d kiss the ever-loving shit out of you.”
“I’m sorry, say what?” Then I remembered what she’d said before. “Wait, what did you mean by it’s you?”
Her cheeks flushed. “I saw you a few weeks back out in the Caribbean on that big sailboat. You were with a few people.”
I nodded. I wasn’t surprised she remembered that. The soulmate marking was rather painful and hard to forget. “Oh, right.”
“But then I kept having dreams about you. I kept seeing your face. Every night.” She covered her mouth. “That probably sounds really creepy, sorry.”
I shrugged. “Not the creepiest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Like thinking about another girl while kissing your soulmate for the first time.
Fake it till you make it, Jackson.
“Although, I had no idea you were British. What a pleasant surprise.” She grinned and held her hand out to me. “I’m Sam.”
Oh, right. Her name. Nice manners, Lancaster. I cleared my throat and shook her hand. “Jackson.”
“Nice to finally meet you, Jackson. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you, and your friends.”
“I bet.” I glanced down at her chest to see the glyph, but her shirt covered all the way up to her collarbones. I pointed to my own chest then to hers. “May I see?”
Her pupils dilated and her cheeks turned bright red. But her grin turned sideways. “Here I thought Brits were all prim and proper.” She winked then lifted her shirt over her head and off.
My attention went right to her tanned chest.
I gasped and leaned closer for a better look.
But there was nothing there. Her skin was clear. There wasn’t a single mark, freckle, or scar. And there certainly was no soulmate glyph. Then it hit me. I wasn’t in pain. That was supposed to happen every time I was near my soulmate until it was fully grown. That was what everyone told me. I should’ve felt her presence by scorching heat in my chest. Yet here she was practically in my arms, and I felt nothing.
You’re not my soulmate.
Her eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me, what?”
I blinked and shook my head. I’d said that out loud. I cursed. “Sorry, I— Uh— I said you’re not my soulmate.”
Her pale golden eyes widened. “Soulmate? Shit, we just met. That’s a bit harsh after one kiss. Are my boobs not big enough or perky enough or something?”
“What?” And then I realized what had just happened. My gaze went to her chest automatically. I hadn’t even noticed the lovely sized cleavage pouring out of her tiny, skimpy black bikini top. My cheeks burned. I closed my eyes and looked away. “Goddess, sorry. No. That’s not… No”
“Are you okay?”
I sighed and opened my eyes. “I don’t know.”
“I don’t know, either, but I have a lot of questions.” She pulled her shirt back on then crossed her arms over her chest. “Starting with this soulmate nonsense, then moving on to who the hell you are and how you got into my dreams. Also, we need to have a serious conversation about what I saw out in the Caribbean.”
“Right. Of course.” I blinked. Then nodded. Then I reached up, unbuttoned my collar, and pulled the cotton down to reveal the white glyph on my chest that was the size of a grapefruit. “This is the beginning of a soulmate glyph. It started for me on that boat, right after I saw you. I thought…I thought you were my soulmate, but it’s obvious to me now that you’re not.”
She frowned then just stared at me for several long moments.
Then finally, she said, “Are you a witch?”
RIGHT. She thinks she’s human. I scrubbed my face with my hands and cursed. “I am doing a bloody lovely job at this, aren’t I?”
“The kiss was nice, but that was on me since I kissed you.” She shrugged. “But maybe you should start talking…‘cause I saw your gorgeous friend with the long black hair running across the water like he was Jesus or something. And the girl with the purple hair had rainbows pouring out of her hands. And actually, I
’m pretty sure I saw you walking along the upper beams of the mast fighting off tentacles— Oh, right, what the hell was THAT?”
I took a deep breath then let it out slowly. Then I plopped down on the bench and gestured for her to do the same. Once she was seated, I started explaining. It was the least I could do. Especially since I wasn’t sure if I was still supposed to bring her to the safe house. Sam sat there quietly and calmly, listening to my description of who arcana were and how our world worked. I tried to keep it brief while telling her what she needed to know. When I was done, she just sat there staring at me.
After a few minutes of silence, she narrowed her eyes at me. “So, you think I’m a witch? Or arcana?”
I nodded. “I know you’re a witch. I sensed your energy as soon as I got over here.”
Her eyes widened. “That is…cool? Scary? A little bit of both maybe.” She jumped up and started pacing.
“I’m sorry. I’m not handling this very well.”
She spun to face me. “So this psychic guy sent you here, this Hierophant?”
“Yes. Bentley.” I frowned and pulled out the piece of paper her gave me with her information. “Specifically sent me here. So unless this isn’t your boat, or someone else is here with you—”
“No, this is mine.” She eyed the note then shook her head. “But you said he told you that he tracked down your soulmate and then gave you my address. Why?”
“You know, that’s an excellent question. Let me call him.” I pulled my phone out and dialed his number. I waited as it rang, but then it went to voice mail. “Bloody hell, Bentley, what’s going on here? Call me back.”
No sooner did I end the call when a text message popped up on my screen.
From Bentley.
It said, Can’t talk now. The necklace is for her, not your soulmate. Continue with plan as we discussed. Sorry, will explain later.
I clenched my teeth. My pulse quickened. Not your soulmate.
“Unbelievable.” I shook my head, then read his text out to Sam. “I can’t wait to hear his explanation.”
“What necklace?” She cocked her head to the side. “And what plan was discussed?”
The Frozen Witch (The Coven: Academy Magic Book 4) Page 23
