by Aileen Erin
I thought about it for a second, and I imagined how many ways that confrontation could go wrong.
I’d wait until I really, really needed to go see Tia Rosa before approaching Luciana.
Until then, I’d just go with my gut. That was what Grams had said to do, anyway. And when has that ever gone wrong for me…
Maybe this wasn’t such a good plan after all.
Chapter Thirteen
After turning the entire box of glasses into dust, I hid in my room to read for a little while. I was a total failure, but we’d had a good laugh about it.
The doorbell had sounded twice and voices echoed from downstairs. It was time for me to go meet people, but all I wanted to do was stay in my room.
I reminded myself that I had to branch out, and if I stayed inside my cousins’ place for the rest of my time here, I probably would go insane. Even if I tended to be a homebody, I still got out, took walks, went to the bookstore…went to school.
Nothing could ever be as bad as school in Los Angeles.
I pulled on my big girl panties and went downstairs.
Three people had joined Raphael, Claudia, and Daniel. I was nearly shocked to see Raphael. He was almost never at home. He worked long hours with a friend from school. They had a web design company, which seemed odd. Spells and witchy stuff felt like the antithesis of technology, but apparently that was a stereotype that had been proven wrong.
“Teresa, this is Cosette. She’s been visiting from the Colorado coven for the past few months.” Cosette’s curly, dark-blonde hair ran down her back in soft ringlets. Her eyes were dark brown, and a little large for her face, but the rest of her features were small.
“Oh. Hi.” I never shook hands, so introductions could be a little awkward, but Cosette didn’t offer.
Instead, she gave a regal nod. “I’ve been begging Claudia to introduce us.”
I focused on not making a face. Why did she want to meet me? “Oh.”
“I hear that you and I have a few similarities.” Cosette twirled a curl around her finger, and I couldn’t imagine anything we possibly shared. “We both have some form of second sight and are torn in two directions.”
Torn in two directions? “You’re a Were?” She didn’t look like any born Were I’d ever met, and I knew I was the only one who’d been bitten in ages.
She grinned, and I would’ve sworn she glowed a little. “No! Fey.”
I must’ve heard her wrong. “I’m sorry. Did you say fey?”
“Yeah. Only we’re not anything like Tinkerbell.”
“Right. Of course.” I thought my eyes might pop out of my head. I knew there were other supernatural beings out there. I’d found that out on my first day at St. Ailbe’s, but I hadn’t actually run into anything other than vampires. I’d put it out of my head a little.
“I wanted to say hello. There aren’t many of us who understand what it’s like balancing two supernatural worlds.”
“True.” And I really didn’t know what else to say to her about it.
Someone tapped my shoulder and I turned. “I’m Shane. Live two doors down.”
Shane had his dark hair buzzed short, and a big colorful tattoo ran up his arm. I wanted to stare at it, but didn’t want to be rude. He was also tall and ripped to the point that he would’ve fit in perfectly at St. Ailbe’s. Boy must work out hard for that body.
I realized I was staring after all, and awkwardly shoved my hands in my pockets. Way to check out the neighbor. Real slick. “Cool,” I said, trying to go for nonchalance but once again, failing.
“And this is Elsa.” Claudia motioned to the girl in curled up on the couch. She looked like a child with a pair of large, green glasses. “She doesn’t talk much.”
Raphael walked to the front door and muttered something so softly, that I wondered if he was merely mouthing the words rather than saying them. Then he ran a finger along the painted wood, and I knew exactly what he was doing.
When the ends of the knot met, the pressure in the house suddenly increased, making my ears pop.
“What spell was that?”
“No one can listen in now,” Raphael said. “Most of La Aquelarre is meeting in the schoolhouse today, so we should be fine either way, but always better safe than sorry.”
Maybe I should’ve been annoyed that I wasn’t told about the meeting, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. “Why aren’t any of you there?”
“Because we know talking to you is more important that hearing whatever Luciana has to say,” Shane said.
Oh, no. This couldn’t be what I thought it was. “I thought you said that the coven was split?”
“It is,” Raphael said.
“This isn’t in half. There are like forty—”
“Sixty-two,” Shane said. “We don’t all live here on the compound, but if everyone is called in…”
Shit. There were more members than I’d thought. “Fine, sixty-two, and what, five others plus another half-witch visitor? That’s not split. That’s not enough.”
“It’ll have to be enough,” Claudia said. “We need to make this work. If we don’t, the coven is going to go fully dark and a lot of lives could be lost.”
I sat down in one of the wingback chairs and closed my eyes. My pulse was pounding in my ears, and the wolf was rising. Something brushed against my hand, and I opened my eyes.
“Eat it,” Raphael said.
I glanced down to see the PowerBar. My cousins were starting to get used to my eating habits. I gnawed my way through the tough, tasteless bar as I thought. With every new thing I learned here, defeating Luciana seemed more and more helpless. The deck was stacked and I didn’t—couldn’t—see a way around it. It would’ve been better for these people if they left the coven and joined the pack. They could defect and stay on St. Ailbe’s land.
Were there consequences to leaving? The only way to find out would be to ask. “Can you leave the coven? You could stay at St. Ailbe’s. There’s enough room. And you’d be safe until we figured out what to do next.”
“No. That’s impossible,” Claudia said.
“Why?”
“We all take a blood oath to formally join the coven.” Shane crossed his arms, staring down at me while I gnawed on my snack. “Once you’re in, it’s hard to leave. Especially for people like us whose families have been members for generations. The blood oath grows exponentially in strength with each generation.”
“And you all took this oath?” I waved the bar around the room at them. “Even though you disagreed with Luciana?”
Claudia nodded. “With the exception of Cosette. Where else were we supposed to go?”
“I don’t know, anywhere. The world is a big place.” Was it better to live here than to venture out into the unknown? I didn’t think so, but then I couldn’t make their choices for them.
Although, I did have to figure out a way to save them. The urge to beat my head against the wall was strong, but I could only do this one step at a time.
With introductions finished, we sat down to dinner. Claudia had cooked two pans of lasagna—one for me, and one for everyone else to share. I shoveled salad and garlic bread onto my plate and let the conversation flow around me as I ate.
“Other supernaturals won’t stand for Luciana’s behavior. The witches might have numbers, but if all of us in opposition join with the pack, it’ll be an even match,” Cosette said.
“And just which side would you be on?” Shane asked.
“I’m on the side that isn’t dealing in dark magic. This might not be my coven, but there’s a reason I’m in Texas instead of Colorado.”
Elsa cleared her throat and everyone looked to her—I had yet to hear her say a word. “The fight is coming, no matter what we do. I think trying to break up La Aquelarre is also a waste of time. We should break our covenant, as it’s already cracking. Then, when the rest stand up, we’ll be on the side of the victors.”
“That’s assuming that we’ll be the victors,” I sai
d.
“If we’re not, then a dark time is ahead for the world.”
Right. Like I needed one more person to tell me this was all really fucking serious. I got it.
“So, why isn’t anyone listening in on the meeting?”
“Sam is. But the talk will be more of the same. Witches are the most powerful blah-blah-blah. Wolves are evil monsters, blah-blah-blah. Let’s takeover the humans and rule the world.” Cosette shrugged. “It’s Luciana’s usual Pinky and the Brain routine.”
I chewed through a last hunk of garlic bread and set down my fork. The bread and PowerBar would have to do for now. “Save the rest for me?”
“Where are you going?” Claudia said.
“It might be rote of all of you, but I’ve never heard Luciana’s rant. It’s as good of a place to start as any.”
Raphael stood up. “I’ll go with you.”
“You don’t have to.” If I got caught, I didn’t want him to get in any trouble. I said as much and he shook his head at me.
“Trust me. It’ll be better for you if I’m with you. I know how to handle Luciana.”
Somehow I doubted that, but we headed out to the main road—the only road in the compound—together.
Houses and other buildings butted up against the dirt road, but there definitely wasn’t enough space for more than sixty people. I wondered who decided who lived on the compound and who didn’t. Was it based on some sort of hierarchy?
The night was quiet, and if I closed my eyes, I could almost pretend I was back at St. Ailbe’s. The scents were nearly the same, but notes of oil from the nearby cars, and dinners being cooked intruded on my illusion.
The little steeple of the schoolhouse cut into the sky up ahead. It wasn’t that tall, but the white paint stood out against the setting sun. “So do you go to school there?”
“I used to.” Raphael paused. “When we get there, try to be as quiet as possible. Luciana didn’t invite you for a reason.”
“What do you mean?”
“Luciana wants something from you, and she’s letting you get comfortable. Lazy. You going in there will show her that you’re not comfortable. In my experience, it’s much better to have your enemy underestimate you.” He paused to pick up a rock from the ground. He tossed from hand to hand before dropping it. “I know you’re having trouble with spells, but if you could maybe learn some defensive stuff, that’d be good.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. Nothing I’m doing works.”
“Well, then maybe we can make something up for you. A charm to keep bad energies away could help. I’ll talk to Claudia about it.”
I nodded.
The schoolhouse was still a little ways away, but Raphael started walking between the houses. “You’ve got really good hearing, right?”
“Yup.”
“Good. There aren’t any windows in the back. Not any at our height, at least. Less chance of being noticed. You can press your ear to the wall.”
I probably didn’t even need to get that close. My hearing was damned good. “Yeah. That’ll do.” As we neared the schoolhouse, I realized I definitely wouldn’t need to do that. The walls of the old building were thin, and the people inside were yelling. I grasped Raphael’s arm to stop him, and suddenly I felt different. Like I was outside my own body.
I shook my head, trying to break free of the feeling, but I couldn’t.
“Are you okay?” Raphael asked.
“Fine. Just got dizzy for a second.”
Raphael faced me. “I thought Weres didn’t get dizzy.”
“Well, this one did. Let’s go. And be quiet.”
We stepped close to the back wall of the schoolhouse, and Raphael pressed his ear against the wood. I stayed back a little ways. Hearing the voices wasn’t a problem. It wasn’t like they were talking quietly. At all.
“The pack doesn’t understand and they never will,” Luciana said. “The humans are weak. The wolves don’t think we’re as strong as they are and they hardly see us as supernatural. They think us a subset of humans. We’re not human.”
That was what she thought? That the Weres saw them as humans? It was entirely inaccurate. From everything that I’d seen and heard, the Weres really respected, and sometimes even feared the witches.
“The pack here will never accept witches as equals,” said a man.
That voice. It seemed familiar. I couldn’t quite place it, but something about the sound made me irrationally angry.
“The only way to make sure we’re positioned as leaders when supernaturals are revealed is to eliminate the pack structure. We need to show the pack that our coven is strong. We need to fight for our voice. We’ve hidden here too long—”
Shouts of agreement filled the night.
I stepped closer to the wall as I tried to distinguish the voices, and stepped on a twig. I winced, and hoped that no one inside had heard.
But I wasn’t that lucky.
“Someone’s listening.” I heard the whisper under all the yelling. I wasn’t sure how I heard it with all the commotion, but my wolf must’ve sensed the danger.
I grabbed Raphael’s arm and that dizzy feeling came back. He yanked free. “What?” he whispered.
“They know we’re here,” I mouthed.
He gave me funny look. “Impossible,” he mouthed.
I started to walk away, but suddenly the schoolhouse was quiet. The side door slammed against the wall as it opened and I froze in place.
“See. This is what I’m talking about. She’s supposed to be one of us, but she’s spying, and turning our own against us,” Luciana said, and the gathered group voiced their agreement.
I turned to look at her, and was surprised to see a familiar face standing beside her. It’d been a while since I last saw him, but I’d never forget him and his chin-length blond hair streaked with gray. Especially since he was wearing another slick three-piece suit.
Rupert Hoel.
Everyone else in his family had shown up, so it wasn’t all that surprising that he had, too. But what was shocking was that he was here, with the coven. I’d been too busy chasing my tail to realize who was behind this whole clusterfuck.
This time when I yanked Raphael’s arm, he didn’t pull free. The dizzy feeling was back. Stronger.
I closed my eyes.
“Are you okay?” Raphael said.
I opened my eyes. We stood behind the last house before the schoolhouse.
What just happened?
I turned in a circle. How did I get back here?
As I realized the only possibility, cold sweat broke out on my forehead.
I’d just had a vision of the future.
Oh no. Oh hell no. This was so not happening.
Chapter Fourteen
I spun, stomping back toward my cousins’ house, but Raphael stopped me.
“Are you okay?” He asked as he gripped my arm.
“No.” I snapped, jerking away from him.
That was rude. I needed to calm down, but this whole seeing the future thing had totally thrown me for a loop.
I took a breath and tried to calm down. “I’m sorry, but I’m so beyond not okay. We need to go back to your house.”
He looked from the lit up windows, then back to me.
“I swear. We need to go back. I just…” I started walking again.
“Okay. Okay. We’ll go.”
I was already walking. Nothing could drag me back there.
In my normal visions, I was always removed—distant from what was happening. This was like living the same moment twice. Or almost the same thing. Like déjà vu on crack.
But what was even more disturbing was seeing the ass-Hoel with Luciana. Was he the reason she wanted me here so bad? Was it revenge for ruining his attempt at a coup? Or was he really teaming up with Luciana?
If someone had asked me a few hours ago if that was even possible, I would’ve said the idea was nuts. Luciana hated the Weres. But if I trusted the vision—and I did—
Mr. Hoel was standing in the schoolhouse right now. With her. At a coven meeting.
If Mr. Hoel was plotting with Luciana, I had to tread carefully. He’d almost gotten four of the top alphas killed. He’d sold our location to the vampires. His endgame had always been about power, and I’d bet my life that his plan was still the same. Everything I’d overheard during my vision backed this up. He was making another play to get more power, take down the Seven, and out supernaturals to the rest of the world.
Only this time, he was using Luciana to divide the pack. Same story, different day. So, how did I beat him this time? The stakes were higher. Fighting the witches would only result in lots of people dying on both sides.
That wasn’t the way to come out to the humans. Showing them our violent side would make them afraid. It’d be witch hunts all over again.
So many scenarios ran through my head that I hadn’t even noticed Raphael had stopped walking until he spoke. “What the hell happened back there? Why did you chicken out?”
I wasn’t ready to talk about it, but I guessed it was unavoidable. “No. I just…no.” I didn’t know how to put what happened into words. “I had the worst déjà vu. It was like the Matrix had a huge fucking glitch.”
“A glitch in the Matrix?”
This was going to sound totally insane. Hearing what future visions were like was totally different from experiencing one.
I needed more visions like I needed a hole in the head.
I waited until we were down the road a little more. I didn’t want to be overheard. “I guess I had a vision. We went to the schoolhouse, but as soon as you put your ear to the wall, they knew we were there. Anyhow, it was turning into a bad scene—Luciana and the others were pissed. Then I jolted back to where we were right before you asked me if I was okay for the second time. In the exact same spot.”
A slow grin spread across his face. “See. You can do it. See the future. We should start testing it out. We should—”
I tuned him out as I stared up at the stars. It was a clear night, and now that we were far away from the meeting—a quiet one, too. If I closed my eyes, I’d bet I could forget the last fifteen minutes had happened.
