I closed my eyes and pictured the grass, from the top of the blade down to the bottom. I pictured the dirt beneath it. I wiggled my fingers and imagined running them through the softness of the grains, feeling the coolness of the earth against my skin. My stomach tingled with warm, buzzing energy. It exploded and spread down into my hands. I flexed my hand, and the ground beneath me trembled. My fingers tingled and twitched, ready for action. I raised my hands in the air.
“Yes, Tegan! Dirt!” Saffie screamed in excitement beside me. The flapping of her wings blew my hair into my face.
I opened my eyes. Dark gray dirt hovered in the air, waiting for my command. I grinned. None of my friends in the battle noticed what I’d discovered. Not even Emersyn, who stood a few feet in front of me now. But they were about to know. With an evil laugh I’d never heard myself make, I threw my arms forward and thrust thousands of grains of dirt right at my enemies. If the Gods of Olympus had been real, I imagined this was how Poseidon felt.
The earth roared with vigor and vengeance, like a bewitched desert storm. In the back of my mind I saw my friends’ startled expressions and wide eyes, but my focus was on those damn ghost fairies. They shrieked and squealed when the dirt hit them. One by one, they dropped to the cement. Their wings were torn and ripped apart. They gasped and writhed in agony on the ground. The humans caught in the battle cowered in fetal positions. My Coven-mates dropped to their knees and covered their faces. I swirled my hands around, moving my dirt army back through the battle. Red puffs of smoke popped out around the courtyard, taking the lives of the ghost fairies with it.
Then everything went silent and still.
I curled my hands and pulled the dirt back toward me. A quick flick of my wrist sent the dirt back to its home, beneath the green grass. I took a deep breath and turned back to the courtyard, searching for Tennessee. I needed to make sure I hadn’t hurt him in the process. I found him in the center of the chaos, on one knee staring up at me with wide eyes. He dropped both weapons and rubbed his face with his hands. When he pulled them back, a huge grin spread across his face.
Heat rushed to my face and filled my cheeks. My chest burned and my heart fluttered. When he looked at me like that…it unraveled me. I tucked my hair behind my ears and walked forward until I stood among my Coven. They all stared at me with dropped jaws.
“Um…hi.”
Easton threw his head back and laughed. “Good Goddess, what the hell?” He dropped back on his backside and shook his head.
“Well.” Royce rolled onto his back and coughed. “We officially need two blood tests.”
“Where the hell did that come from, girl?” Paulina shook dirt out of her long hair.
“Saffie told me to use the dirt…” I shrugged. “So I did.”
Tennessee shook his head. “The Aether Witch,” he whispered so low I wasn’t sure the others heard him. He stared at me like I was a surprise rainstorm in the middle of a severe drought. He smirked, and like every other time, it melted something inside me.
How was I supposed to pretend when he looked at me like that? How was I supposed to not have feelings for him? How could he act like I meant nothing to him when he looked so damn proud of me? Ever since we’d gotten back from our quest, he’d been distant and standoffish. He only spoke to me in a group setting. Only made eye contact with me when I asked him a specific question and he had to answer it. I heard him on that boat. I knew we were forbidden from dating, that The Coven had some bogus rule about it. But if he was going to follow their rule, then he needed to stop looking at me like that. I couldn’t handle it.
He looked away from me and made my heart sink. “Is everyone all right?”
No. Not at all.
Everyone else nodded.
“Saffie, thanks for your help. Again.” Tennessee got to his feet and looked around at the mess of the courtyard. “Willow and Cooper, wait here with me for Kessler. Everyone else go home and stay there until you hear from Kessler. Royce, make sure your sister and Larissa do the same.”
“And me,” Saffie said with a cheery voice as she flew over next to Tennessee. “I will help you fix this up nice again.”
Chapter Nine
Tennessee
“Tennessee? Cooper?” Kessler’s voice rang out through the crowd.
I spun on my heels and found my father jogging into the courtyard. He towered over the Sapiens who strolled around a nonexistent wall, completely oblivious to what had happened. Kessler’s eyes darkened to a deep hazel as he took in the destruction and blood.
“We’re here,” I called out to him.
He blinked and snapped back into focus. His gaze traveled me up and down, the way he always did whenever I fought anything. If anyone else looked at me that way, I’d be irritated by their lack of confidence in me. But…this was Kessler. The only father I’d ever known. The man who took in a five-year-old orphan and raised him as his own, and with an open heart. I cleared my throat and prayed I wasn’t blushing. Pull yourself together, dude. It was just…that fight…was different. There were a few minutes there where I actually thought we’d lose. I’d worried I wouldn’t be enough to keep my Coven-mates alive, or myself.
Kessler stepped up to me and pulled me into a hug. After a few seconds, he moved back and did the same to Cooper. When he stepped back, he shook his head. “God, that voice mail. I couldn’t get here fast enough.”
At one point in the battle, I’d realized we were in trouble, so I’d had Siri call Kessler from inside my pocket. When I’d called him after I sent everyone else home, he informed me he’d heard the fight end in the voice mail, after a brief panic attack.
I sighed. “Yeah, sorry again.”
He held his hands up. “Don’t be. I’m glad you— Willow?” If possible, his face lost even more color.
“Hi, Kessler,” Willow said in her small voice. Her strawberry-blonde hair was splattered with blood, and her eyes were red with fatigue. Holding up an illusion of this size weakened her.
He walked over and pressed a hand to her forehead. “Sweetheart, why don’t you go sit down in the shade before you get Witch’s Shock too?”
“Kessler…”
He held his finger up to stop me. Once Willow was out of earshot, lying on a bench in the shade of an oak tree, Kessler turned back to me. “What the hell happened?”
I filled him in on everything from the spirit talking to Paulina to Tegan’s feat. “What’s happening here? This isn’t normal. Even for us, for this Gap. It’s the middle of the damn day.”
“I know. It shouldn’t be possible.” Kessler glared at the fountain that concealed the Gap.
“Is it possible something bigger is trying to push through? After what we learned in June…”
“I fear that might be the case.” Kessler picked up a bent-over lamppost and straightened it back into place. “I need to conference call the Elders to discuss our best path forward.”
“I saw Kenneth’s dream last night.” Cooper’s voice was low. “He’s onto something with our Hierophant prophecy.”
“He’s calling me at five o’clock. I’ll ask. I’ll also arrange for a call tomorrow morning so we can all get together and figure out our next two guesses.” Kessler scratched at the scruff on his jaw. “How much time was on Tegan’s arm when she left today?”
I stood beside the fountain’s pool and used my magic to separate the blood from the clear water. “Seventy-two hours.”
Chapter Ten
Tegan
Tennessee told us all to go home and stay there until Kessler said otherwise. Well, that was eight hours ago, and I was about to lose my mind. It was difficult to not count the time when there was a clock magically inked into your skin doing to the job for you. Sixty-four hours sounded like a long time until the fate of the world rested on your decisions. With every hour we lost, my anxiety tripled.
For the last two hours, I’d been curled up in the bay window in my bedroom trying to catch up on my homework and listening to the rain. It
wasn’t that sitting still was a problem; it was trying to focus on something so mundane. Unlike the last few days, my body sang with energy. My magic wanted to play, to be used.
I flexed my fingers, and little golden bolts of lightning flashed between my hands. The hairs on my arms stood tall. Cool. I grinned and made the little bolts dance along the window beside me. The lights in our bedroom flickered. Oops.
Emersyn looked over her shoulder at me and arched two perfectly manicured eyebrows. “Again? I’m trying to study. You need to chill.”
“I am chill.” I wasn’t. At all. I needed to calm my magic down, but I didn’t know how.
“Really? Then why has our shower been running for ten minutes?”
I leaned over to look through the open door to our bathroom. Now that she mentioned it, the room had gotten a little stuffy and the window glass fogged. Apparently, the rain I thought I heard was actually the shower.
I narrowed my eyes and concentrated on the water until the room fell silent again. “There. Fixed it.”
“Great,” my darling stepsister mumbled without glancing my way or picking her head up from her textbook. “Now fix world hunger or our locket situation.”
I rolled my eyes and glanced out the now-cleared window. My thoughts drifted to the Hierophant’s locket which sat between my bare feet. I picked the necklace up and studied the surface once again. The golden metal shimmered. It was warm to the touch, and if I held it in my palm long enough, the heat would tingle up my arm. There was deep, old magic inside begging to be heard.
My phone lit up and made a tinkling sound. Uncle Kessler. Emersyn’s phone buzzed against her wooden desk on the other side of the room. Ah, a group text. My Coven loved group chats. Sure enough, when I picked my phone up, the little bubble read KESSLER. I unlocked my phone and opened up his message.
My uncle’s text showed up in a gray bubble. Everyone meet me at Hidden Kingdom in thirty minutes, by the fountain. We need to put up extra charms.
“Em, you see the text from Uncle Kessler?”
“Yeah, can’t you see all my excitement?”
I chuckled and shook my head. The rest of our crew texted back faster than I could keep up with. I watched their names pop up one by one until his name appeared. Tennessee. I bit down on my bottom lip. I wanted to talk to him. There was no rule against us being friends. And I knew for a fact that he had his phone in his hand.
I opened a new text message and typed his name. My fingers hovered over the keyboard. What do I say? I didn’t want to just say hello—that was too obvious. He wouldn’t feel he had to respond. I had the best luck getting responses out of him when I asked questions. Am I supposed to know how to do these charms?
Those three little dots popped up immediately, and it took everything in me not to squeal in excitement.
Nope.
I wanted to pout at his short answer…but at least he’d responded. I typed another message. How many witches live here in Tampa?
Dozens.
I pursed my lips and asked the first question that came to mind. And the clue is in the prophecy lines?
Yes.
Well, someone was chatty. I sighed. I didn’t know why I thought he’d actually talk to me. Okay. I’ll keep thinking.
Good.
Then an idea popped into my head. Something I’d been dying to ask him since the first time I saw him use his pendulum. Can I try your pendulum sometime?
Maybe.
I groaned. I didn’t have much dating experience, or even experience with texting guys in general, but I knew one-word answers meant one thing. He didn’t want to talk to me. After all, he seemed to have no problem conversing in full sentences in the group chat. I needed to save some of my pride here. See you in a bit, I guess.
Those text dots popped back up. I prepared myself for another one-word answer. Possibly even a one letter response.
Don’t be nervous. These charms are standard operating procedure. It’s what we do. See you soon.
What did that mean? This guy loved to confuse the hell out of me.
Our bedroom door flew open. My father stepped into our room. He rubbed the back of his head, his nervous tick. “I’m assuming you both received Kessler’s text?”
I frowned. I hadn’t even noticed he was in the group chat. “Um…yeah. Yes, we did.”
He nodded. “Good. We’re bringing Bentley over to Chutney’s house across the street. Get ready. When we get back, we’ll ride together.” Without waiting for our response, he turned and headed back toward the door.
“Dad,” I called out to stop him. When he turned back to face me, I swallowed down my nerves. “Can I see your Mark? Please?”
He smiled, and for a brief moment he was the same guy he’d always been. Back before my life got flipped upside down. He raised his hand and slid his red flannel shirt up to his elbow. There it was, the Roman numeral fourteen inked in black on his fair skin. Temperance. Dad nodded his head and backed out of the room.
“That Card fits you well, Dad.”
He paused and grinned over his shoulder. “Yours, too, kiddo.”
Chapter Eleven
Tegan
“All right, everyone, let’s get this done,” Kessler said once we’d all joined him beside the giant fountain, in the same spot as our earlier battle. “Get in a circle around the pool base.”
“C’mon, kiddo.” Dad wrapped his long arm around my shoulders and led me toward the fountain. “These Charms are no big deal. We only need all of us to have enough power to block greater demons and the Fae court.”
Greater demons and Fae court. Two things I never thought I’d hear my father say. “So, Dad, is all this why you hated when I watched anything about witches?”
He chuckled. “I let you watch Harry Potter.”
I scoffed. “Like you could’ve stopped me. It’s the greatest story ever told, Dad.”
“Tegan.” Uncle Kessler smiled and pointed to my right. “Go stand between Henley and Lily. Hunter, opposite from Devon.”
I ran over and took the spot he’d designated and waited for further instruction. I looked up to the sky and sighed. Millions of stars dusted the black sky. The air was calm and still, but every few minutes there was a soft breeze of warmth. The water in the pool sat unmoving in the clear spotlights. How’d they get the blood out?
“Tegan?” Henley whispered in my ear.
I jumped. “I’m totally paying attention.”
She chuckled and it sounded like wind chimes. “Hold your hands up.”
Oops. I threw my hands up and copied their poses. Unable to stop myself, my gaze moved to Tennessee. He stood on the opposite side of me, between Willow and Chutney. I envied them and their ability to stand so close to him and not be affected. His mismatched eyes met mine for a brief second before he looked away. His face gave away nothing. I had no idea what was in his thoughts, and it was killing me.
“All right, everyone.” Uncle Kessler’s booming voice broke through my unfocused mind. “Devon, Hunter, and myself are going to take lead on this since we’ve done it before.”
I wanted to watch my father, to actually see him perform magic with my own eyes, but the fountain blocked him from my view. Uncle Kessler started chanting in a language I definitely didn’t understand, but I recognized it. Henley had used it during a ritual before. It must’ve been our ancient language. A few lines in, Devon began another string of incantations, overlapping with Uncle Kessler’s. A minute later, I heard the deep rumble of my father’s voice.
White light filled the spaces between our palms. My skin tingled, like little bolts of electricity flowed through me. I looked down at my body and found every inch of me glowing like a lightbulb. I grinned. I hadn’t been able to light up since Tennessee and I had been in the caverns. I glanced up at him. His eyes were already on me. He smiled and winked. His body glistened like pure moonlight, at least twice as bright as me. The only other person glowing was Emersyn, although it didn’t move past her elbows.
The chanting grew louder and faster. Adrenaline rushed through my body unprovoked. My feet begged to run. My hands itched to move. The sky cracked above our heads, and lightning struck the top of the fountain. The air around it shimmered and swirled. It took me a second to see it, but when I did, I couldn’t believe my eyes. They sky was black, but around the fountain, the air was navy blue. The color faded and moved in certain spots, almost like looking down at the ocean surface. Like maybe something was moving just beyond the navy sea.
That’s the Gap.
Energy bubbled to the surface, ready to burst. I tried to hold it in but it exploded. Bolts of lightning the same color as my eyes shot out of my hands, which were still pressed to Henley and Lily. Before I had too much time to panic, dark emerald green bolts flew from Tennessee. Within seconds, lightning of every shade and hue flew from each witch’s hands and into the fountain.
That navy sea lurking around the fountain shimmered and sparked, like a powerline about to snap. Something red flashed across my line of view. Saffie! Our little, pink-winged fairy friend soared through the air with a wand in her hand. It was long, probably the size of her arm, and adorned with crystals of every shape and size. She zipped back and forth, in and out of the circle, zapping at the Gap.
“Reaaaaady…annnnnnd…GO!” Saffie screamed, and the courtyard exploded into fireworks. Saffie clapped her hands and cheered. “We did it! Saffie helped. Thank you.”
Chapter Twelve
Tennessee
I sat on the beige carpeted floor of my living room with my back against the tan leather sofa. On my left, between the two sofas, was Albert, Braison’s black mastiff puppy. I ran my hand over his fur over and over while he snored away. His fur was soft and silky. Something about his rhythmic breathing kept my pulse in check.
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