“I think this happened for a reason,” I said softly. “I…I can’t believe we would’ve found each other like this if something wasn’t supposed to happen.”
David didn’t reply, but he put an arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer to his lean body. When I felt his fingers skimming along the back of my neck, I closed my eyes and sighed softly.
“What do you think,” I asked softly. “I…I can’t read your mind, David.”
David set his wine glass down and shifted on the bed, facing me. The mattress lurched again and I fell against his chest, bracing my hands on his body. We stared at each other, not speaking. Then David reached up and stroked my cheek, cupping my chin.
“I’ve thought about you for a long time,” I said quietly. My cheeks flamed and I desperately wanted to look away but I couldn’t tear my eyes free from David’s gaze.
“Elizabeth…”
I leaned in and closed my eyes, putting my mouth close to David’s. I could smell him – the dark, musky scent of his body and whatever cologne he wore, and the smoky blend of wine.
“I have to break up with Steven.”
David’s hands on my shoulders were firm, but gentle as he pushed me away.
“I can’t do this, Elizabeth,” David said, climbing off the bed and getting to his feet.
My heart sank as I watched him sling his pack over his shoulder.
“No, please, don’t go,” I said quickly.
David shook his head. “If you’re still with that guy, I’m not staying,” he said. “I’m not going to sneak around like this, Elizabeth.” He gave me a long, hard look. “I really like you, but I’m not gonna sit around and wait for you to make up your mind about me.”
I closed my eyes and sighed as David left, closing the door quietly behind him. Part of me wanted to run after him, but I knew he was right. Before, back when we were kids, things had been different.
So why did I still want him so much?
I barely slept that night. I kept dreaming of men – David, Steven, some horrible combination of the two of them. When I woke up, Steven’s angry face was clinging to my mind as fiercely as if the image had been burnt to my brain.
I knew I should be nervous. But in that moment, reaching for my phone and settling back against the pillows, I felt nothing but cool, collected serenity washing over me.
Steven answered on the first ring.
“Elizabeth, what the hell is going on,” Steven demanded loudly. Wincing, I pulled the phone away from my face as his voice grew louder and louder. “I was so fucking worried about you! Do you know it’s been almost twenty-four hours since I heard from you? I was about to call the goddamned police,” he snapped. “Why would you do that to me?”
I sighed. “Steven, this isn’t working.”
“No shit,” Steven said angrily. “This nothing like what we agreed on, Elizabeth! How the fuck am I supposed to support my girlfriend if she won’t even talk to me?”
A twinge of anxiety sparked in my chest and I took a deep breath. “No, not this trip,” I said slowly. “Us. We’re not working, Steven. I can’t do this – I can’t be here and give you what you want.”
“I knew this would happen,” Steven growled. “I knew you just wanted an excuse to be away from me.”
I bit my lip.
“Elizabeth, tell me,” Steven demanded loudly. “Be honest.”
“You know what?” I said, not even thinking of the words as they tumbled from my mouth. “I did come here to get away from you. I’ve been trying to get away from you for years,” I added, shaking my head.
“Elizabeth, I—“
“Don’t,” I said. “We need to take a break, Steven. I need to be here on my own and figure some things out.”
“That’s bullshit,” Steven snapped. “You just want to have it both ways!”
“No,” I said. “I don’t. I want to break up, Steven.”
“You’re being crazy,” Steven said. The derisive edge in his voice made me roll my eyes. “You’re throwing away a really good relationship just because you’re selfish!”
“Me, selfish?” I said incredulously, shaking my head. “That’s the farthest thing from the truth! All I want to do is maintain my own life, Steven. And you’re not happy with that – you won’t be happy unless we’re completely merged!”
“Because that’s how relationships are supposed to be,” Steven growled angrily. “We’re supposed to want each other all the time, Elizabeth. And that’s how I feel about you – that’s how much I want you!”
“Steven, I can’t do this,” I said. “I need some time.”
“Do I need to fly over there and bring you home? Christ, Elizabeth! I don’t know what’s going on but you’re completely losing your mind.”
Tears of anger and defiance pricked my eyes and I blinked them back. “No, Steven,” I said coldly. “You can do whatever you want, but I’m not coming home until the end of the semester.”
“Elizabeth, I love you. Come on, please don’t do this. I can’t live without you, I feel like I’m losing my mind!”
For a moment, I felt guilt burning me. But then I took a deep breath and shook my head.
“We’re breaking up until I get back from England,” I said. “And then we can decide what we want to do, but you’re not going to bully me into staying with you.”
Steven didn’t reply. I wondered if I should say something else, then I heard the buzz of a dial tone in my ear.
“Fine,” I said into the dead space. “Bye, Steven.”
Chapter Seven
Elizabeth – Present Day
“Elizabeth,” Ligeia said. “This is a warning. If you leave, we cannot assure you of anything. And your betrayal will not be so easily forgotten.”
“I’m not leaving forever,” I said quickly. “I told you – I just have some things that I have to take care of, that’s all. I’ll be back. I promise.”
“This is what you wanted, remember?” Ligeia glared. “You wanted your best friend, your Monica. And now she has returned, and yet you are still not happy. Why, Elizabeth?”
“Because,” I growled through gritted teeth. “She’s not the same.”
“Isn’t she?” Ligeia clicked her tongue against her teeth and shook her head. “Or have you just remembered things which you’d rather have forgotten?”
The words hit me like a punch to the chest. Dropping to my knees, I closed my eyes and surrendered to my own emotions. Tears came to my lids and I blinked them back hotly, covering my face with my hands.
“I just don’t know why I was able to forget everything that happened,” I moaned, sniffling. “I don’t know why I forgot! And now, I can’t un-see the past. I can’t…” I trailed off, biting my lip and sighing. “I can’t forget about her stabbing Andrea.”
Ligeia gave me a cold look. “You are weak, child,” she said. “Take time – return home, regain your strength.”
Relief washed over me.
“But then you will return,” Ligeia said harshly. “You will return, and serve me, for as long as I please.” She held her chin high in the air.
As I ran from the coven, I wondered just what exactly Ligeia had in mind.
I ran for what felt like hours and hours, until my legs were threatening to give way from under my body and my chest ached so badly that I felt like I’d been stabbed in the lungs.
It felt like a much, much longer way out of the woods than usual. By the time I got back home, the moon was high above me and the night sky was dotted with stars.
I didn’t know what I was going to do. The only thing I was certain of was that I couldn’t go home – not like this, not when I didn’t have any answers.
And now when I didn’t feel like dealing with Steven or Karen.
Instead, I wandered around until the dark sky began to fade into a tawny pink and orange sunrise. I was starving and dehydrated, but somehow it was like the needs of my body weren’t even a concern. I was running on autopilot, on fear.
On anticipation.
Finally, I reached for my phone. Please work, I thought as I scrolled through my contacts. Please let me find him.
When he answered, the voice was deeper and almost unrecognizable.
“Hello?”
I cleared my throat. “It’s Elizabeth,” I said nervously. “I need to talk to you.”
David sighed. “This is a surprise,” he said. His voice was neutral, impossible to read. “What’s going on?”
Oh, nothing, your long-lost girlfriend is miraculously still alive and the witches I swore fealty to want me dead, I thought sarcastically. But of course, I knew I couldn’t say anything like that.
“The coven,” I managed to say. “The leaders…they’re lying to me,” I said. “About Monica.”
David was so silent on the other line of the phone that for a moment I thought I’d lost the call. I had no idea what I was doing – if I brought Monica home, what was going to happen? Would she call off the spells? Or would everything just revert back to the way it had been before – complete and total insanity. I shuddered. I didn’t want that back – I didn’t want to be standing in the eye of the hurricane, watching as Steven made a fool of himself day after day.
But I knew something had to change.
“Well, what do you want me to do about it?” David sounded petulant, peevish. “Elizabeth, why did you call me?”
“Because something’s wrong and I don’t know how to handle it,” I said softly, slumping down and sitting on the wet ground. “And you’re the only one I can trust.”
David inhaled sharply. “What about your fiancé?”
“We’re broken up.”
“Elizabeth, I don’t know what you think I can do,” David said. “It’s not like I can flip a switch and have everything back to normal.”
“I know that,” I said. I couldn’t lie – the way he was talking to me like I was a little kid was hurtful. But I deserve this, I thought, thinking back over the years. I’d never been honest with myself when David was concerned. And now, I was paying for that.
David sighed. “Look, if you’re really that worried – why not try to go back? Why not see if you can find out what they want on your own? You’re smart, Elizabeth – I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
“What if I can’t find it on my own?”
“Then I can’t help you, anyway,” David said. Even though I couldn’t see his face, I had a feeling he was smirking. “So you might as well just give it a shot on your own.”
“But if they’re lying to me, how am I supposed to outsmart them? That’s not fair, they’re both much more powerful than I am.”
“Well, they obviously want something from you,” David drawled. “Just try, Elizabeth. If there’s a chance of your helping Monica, it’ll be worth it.”
That stung, too, but I nodded and bit my lip, determined not to let him know that he’d hurt me.
“I have to take a chance,” I said, more for my benefit than David’s. “I have to try.”
“Yeah,” David said. “Look, I’m sorry…”
“About what?” I narrowed my eyes.
“Forget it, Elizabeth,” David said. “I’m worried about you, that’s all.”
I sighed heavily. “Well, I got myself into this,” I said softly. “The least I can do is try to help myself out.” I wouldn’t have admitted it, but hearing David say that he was worried about me was like a soothing balm on my fear.
“Good luck,” David said. “I’ll be in touch, okay?”
“Okay,” I said numbly. “Thanks.”
We hung up and I slipped my phone back into my pocket. By now, the humid night air was drying up and I was feeling exhausted. It was with a heavy heart that I walked the distance from the edge of the woods to the house that I still shared with Steven and Karen. I sighed with relief when I saw that the driveway was empty.
Good, I thought as I slipped inside and kicked off my muddy shoes. At least I don’t have to worry about a fight.
“There you are.”
At the sound of Karen’s voice, I jumped in alarm and clutched my chest.
“Jesus,” I muttered, flicking the light switch. Karen was sitting at the dining room table with her arms crossed over her chest.
She glared. “You haven’t been home in days,” Karen pointed out. “Steven’s really worried about you.”
I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. “Yeah, I bet he is,” I said sourly. “Look, I’m just here to pack a bag.”
“You’re making a mistake, Elizabeth,” Karen said. “You’re being really selfish and I don’t even think you understand what kind of damage you’re doing to Steven.”
I sighed. “Look, why do you even care? This isn’t any of your business,” I said angrily. I took a deep breath and tried to stay calm but I couldn’t help it – I was getting so tired of everyone acting like they knew better than me.
“I care because you’re both my friends,” Karen said. “And I don’t really like watching my friends throw things away,” she added.
“Like I said, none of your business.”
I walked out of the kitchen and jogged up the stairs. The bedroom I shared with Steven was a complete mess. I frowned as I opened the closet and reached for my suitcase.
“Elizabeth, I’m going to call Steven, he should come over and you guys can talk.”
“Karen, butt out of this,” I snapped.
Karen gave me a wounded look. To my dismay, she stalked into the room and flopped down on our bed, intently watching me as I tossed jeans and tops into the open suitcase.
“Where are you going?”
I didn’t look up.
“Elizabeth?”
I sighed. “I’m going to my parents’ house for a few days while I get things sorted out,” I said, brushing my sweaty hair back from my forehead. “And then I guess I’m moving out. We’re almost at the end of our lease, anyway,” I added. “So this isn’t a bad time.”
Karen was looking at me with her mouth hanging open. “You’re kidding,” she said.
“I’m not.” Looking down into my suitcase, I decided that I’d gathered enough of my things. I grabbed a small bag and dumped my makeup, deodorant, and phone charger inside before tucking it in my suitcase and zipping the whole thing closed.
“Steven’s going to be really upset,” Karen said.
“I don’t care,” I replied flatly. “That’s not my problem, Karen.”
Karen frowned. “I don’t know why you’re being so cold,” she said, sniffing as if I’d somehow offended her.
“Karen, I don’t really have a choice,” I said, shaking my head and pulling my suitcase up. For just having a few clothes inside, it was surprisingly heavy.
“Well, if Steven comes back, what do you want me to tell him?”
I shrugged as I made my way down the hall. “I don’t care,” I said, shaking my head. “Tell him whatever you want.”
The drive home to Jaffrey felt shorter than usual, almost as if the town was somehow anticipating my arrival. When I pulled into the driveway, Mom ran out from the house immediately. She smiled tentatively, as if she wasn’t sure how she should greet me.
“I’m fine,” I said, rising out of the car and forcing a smile. “Trust me, this is a good thing.”
Mom nodded but this time, she was frowning. “Honey, I’m just happy you’ve come back for a visit,” she said softly.
“Yeah, about that…” I trailed off, gnawing on my lip. I wasn’t sure what it was, but there was something about being around my parents that still made me feel like a little kid. “I might be here for a while,” I added. “My lease is up soon and I’ll need to find a new place.”
“What about Steven?”
“I don’t know,” I said darkly as I hefted my suitcase out of the backseat and carried it up the driveway. “I think I need some time on my own for a while.”
“That’s not a bad thing, honey,” Mom said. She smiled, but I could tell she was unhappy. “How does
salmon sound for dinner?”
“Great,” I muttered. “Perfect, even.”
Mom left me alone while I settled back into my room. Aidan was off at college in Georgia – we hadn’t talked in months. I had him added as a friend on Facebook, but I had the sinking suspicion he’d long since changed all of his privacy settings so I’d never be able to see what he was up to. It was funny – now that we were older, I had a lot of affection for Aidan. But at the same time, I’d never forgotten about what had happened when we were growing up.
Being back in my old room felt strange. I tried to push those feelings to the side, but now that I was home, I couldn’t stop thinking about Monica. What would happen when I tried to find the coven?
Was I already too late?
“Elizabeth!” Mom yelled. “Dinner!”
“Coming,” I yelled back. “Just give me a second.”
Dinner was awkward. Mom and Dad were clearly curious about what was going on – and why I wasn’t wearing my engagement ring – but they knew better than to pry. Still, the silence was killing me.
“Look,” I said bluntly. “I’m fine, okay?”
“I know, honey,” Mom said. She reached out and put a hand on my arm. “I’m just worried about you, that’s all.”
“You have literally no reason to be worried,” I told her, crossing my arms. “I just don’t think I’m ready to get married. Not to Steven, at least.”
Mom and Dad exchanged a nervous glance. “That’s important, honey,” Dad said slowly. “And you know how I feel about this – you’re much too young.”
Mom sighed. “Elizbeth, we just want you to know that we support you.”
I stabbed my fork down in a pile of oven-roasted carrots. “Thanks,” I said. “I appreciate it.”
“And however long you want to stay here, that’s fine,” Mom continued. “But we’ll have to talk about rent.”
I laughed. “Trust me, I won’t be here more than a few days,” I said. At least, I hope I won’t.
“However long is fine,” Dad said. He cleared his throat and pushed back from the table. “If you’ll both excuse me, I’m going to do some work in my office.”
The Coven Series: Books 1-5 Page 43
