Pledge (Witches of Coventry House Book 1)

by Christina Garner

  “It’s everything,” he said. “And it’s inspiring. And I’d really like to take you out.”

  Her smile was genuine this time. Who needed beauty when you could be inspiring?

  Quinn teased her about not wanting to insult her by offering a ride, but when Eden blushed he let her off the hook and took her back to Coventry House.

  “I’ll text you,” he said, pulling to a stop. “I’ll know my work schedule by Monday.”

  “Sounds good.” Eden ducked out of the car and made her way to the porch where she found Rebecca and Paige sitting in rocking chairs and openly smirking.

  “He’s cute,” Rebecca said. “In a bookish sort of way.” She eyed Eden up and down then added, “Too bad about his questionable taste.”

  Paige snickered, but instead of making Eden feel small, their pettiness emboldened her.

  “You’re funny.” She cocked her head to the side. “In a not-at-all sort of way.”

  Rebecca held up her hands in mock surrender and took a step back. “Easy. I’m just kidding. Isn’t that what sisters do?”

  “Newsflash, Rebecca, we aren’t sisters yet. And you can forget about me helping you with any more spells.”

  Eden breezed past the two girls and into the house.

  She shut the door on Rebecca’s indignant cry of, “I was just kidding!”

  Eden smiled. Even Rebecca couldn’t get her down today.

  New school? Check.

  New home? Check.

  New best friend? Check.

  New charm that got rid of her nightmares and gave her dreams that were actually pleasant? Check, check.

  New boyfriend?

  Okay, boyfriend was pushing it. But all evidence pointed in that direction.

  New Eden rocks.

  Chapter 13

  Hannah walked toward Jacob’s office, suddenly unsure of herself. It had been a week since she’d been with him, and nothing had been the same since. He’d stopped praising her during class and stopped being available after. She pretended it didn’t bother her—she was a grown woman, not a child—but she was desperate to know what she’d done wrong.

  He claimed to be busy, but yesterday she saw him getting coffee not ten minutes after turning down her invitation. She’d definitely done something—been too clingy or expected too much. But she would handle it like a grown up and just ask him. Whatever she’d done, she’d just stop doing it, and everything would go back to the way it was.

  Hannah screwed up her courage and was about to knock when she heard voices. Jacob’s door was slightly ajar, and she peeked through the crack to see him talking to pretty redhead.

  “Your work shows depth,” he said. “And real maturity.”

  “I just write what I feel.” The girl made doe eyes at him.

  What a tramp.

  Jacob eyed the girl appreciatively. Hannah remembered that look.

  “I can tell,” he said. “And I’m here for you. Any time you need help with an assignment or even just to talk.”

  His words hit Hannah like a punch to the gut. She spun on her heel and ran down the hallway, tears stinging her eyes.

  “Hannah, he sounds like a total jerk.” Jules had noticed something was wrong the second Hannah got home, and the story came spilling out.

  “But he’s not. He’s brilliant and funny, and I don’t know why he doesn’t want me anymore.” Hannah sat on her bed, knees tucked beneath her chin.

  “I think you’re missing the part about him being a jerk,” Jules said.

  Hannah wished she hadn’t told her. She didn’t understand. Jacob wasn’t a jerk; he was amazing. And he’d liked her before that redhead came along and stole him away. Why did everyone come and take what was hers? There had to be something she could do, some way to get him to see her again.

  The next day Hannah had found what she was looking for—a way to get Jacob to notice her again. She thought about doing a love spell, but those were complex and had a high backfire rate. This spell was simple, and Hannah was sure she could pull it off.

  She knew it was technically against the rules. But the rules were there for protection, and she wasn’t doing anything dangerous. So if you thought about it, the rule didn’t apply.

  She’d found the spell on the internet—just a short incantation with a few herbs for added effectiveness.

  Hannah asked Nicole for access to the herb pantry under the guise that she’d already used up what she’d been given for practice potions. She knew she couldn’t just sneak in—the lock was of the magical variety, and only third and fourth year sisters had access.

  Once inside, she scanned the rows and rows of glass jars, locating the two she needed.

  With a check to make sure Nicole was still bagging up the ones she’d asked for, Hannah inched a jar off the shelf. It landed on the floor with a crash.

  “Sorry!” Hannah did her best to look sheepish.

  “Get a broom,” Nicole said, exasperated. “At least it wasn’t one of the expensive ones.”

  “I can get it.” Hannah bent down and slid her fingertip across a piece of jagged glass. “Ow,” she yelped and held up her hand so the blood was visible.

  “I said get a broom.” Nicole jumped up. “Wait here. I’ll get you a bandage.”

  The second Nicole left, Hannah sprang into action, sucking on her finger and then bagging up handfuls of the herbs she needed. By the time Nicole got back, Hannah had made it back to her original position.

  “Here.” Nicole handed her a clean towel and a Band-Aid. “Go. I’ll clean this up.”

  “Thanks.” Hannah backed out so Nicole wouldn’t notice the bulge in her pocket. “Sorry again.”

  She had what she needed. By tomorrow Jacob would be looking at her the way he had when they’d first met.

  Sitting through class was torture. Hannah kept checking the clock and the small vial that held the potion.

  “What is going on with you today?” Eden said under her breath.

  Hannah stopped her leg from bouncing. “Too much coffee.”

  Class ended, and she took her time gathering her things. When all the other students had left, she palmed the vial and went to where Jacob sat behind his desk.

  He looked up, a firm set to his jaw she hadn’t seen before. “Yes, Hannah?”

  “I-I just had a question about the assignment.” She unscrewed the eyedropper behind her back.

  “What is it?”

  She set her bag down on his desk so that it blocked his view of his water glass.

  “It’s due, when, again?” She squirted the potion into his water. If she’d done it right, it would be colorless and odorless.

  “On Friday. Anything else?”

  “No.” Hannah grabbed her bag and backed away. “That’s it.” She turned, muttering under her breath, “Gods of day, gods of night. Give him back, his true sight.”

  As soon as he drank, things would go back the way they were. He’d see that she was the one he should be with.

  She smiled and was almost to the door when Jacob screamed.

  Hannah spun to see him clutching his eyes.

  “What is it?” She raced back.

  “My eyes.” His voice trembled. “I-I can’t see.”

  Jacob lowered his hands, and Hannah gasped. His eyes were completely black.

  Chapter 14

  Eden and Sarah came back from class on the same shuttle and walked into Coventry House to find it unusually empty.

  “Was there a practice session we forgot about?” Sarah peeled off her jacket. “Where is everyone?”

  They made their way down the hall, Eden quickening her pace when she heard quiet sobs.

  It was Jules. One half of her room had been stripped bare.

  “What happened?” Eden said, Sarah right behind her.

  Jules looked up, her eyes red and puffy. She quickly wiped her tears. “It’s Hannah. She did a spell. A bad one. And she got kicked out.”

  “Hannah?” Sarah’s eyebrows climbed up her forehea
d.

  “What kind of spell?” Eden sat next to Jules on her bed.

  “I don’t know what it was supposed to do, but it made her professor go blind.”

  “Professor?” Eden said. “Which one?”

  “You know.” Jules gave her a pointed look.

  “Well, I don’t.” Sarah sat on the now stripped bed opposite them. “Why would she make a professor go blind?”

  Jules filled Sarah in on Hannah’s crush and the both of them in on the fact that apparently they’d slept together.

  “What a scumbag,” Sarah said. “Treating her like that.”

  “That’s what I told her.” Jules blew her nose. “But she wouldn’t listen. I knew she was upset, but...”

  “She couldn’t have been trying to make him go blind,” Eden said. “I mean, right? She isn’t crazy.”

  “She said something about the way he used to look at her. That it made her feel special,” Jules said. “She wanted him to look at her like that again.”

  “Have you talked to her?” Eden asked.

  Jules shook her head. “The room was like this when I got back. Alex told me.”

  Talk about insult to injury.

  “I’m so sorry, Jules. Is there anything we can do?” Eden laid a hand on her knee.

  “I don’t know.” She looked helpless. “We’d gotten close, you know? She was really my friend.”

  “You can still be her friend,” Sarah said. “Just because she’s not at Coventry House doesn’t mean you aren’t friends anymore.”

  Jules nodded, but to Eden it looked like she didn’t believe it.

  A little later on, Eden told Sarah and Jules that she would bring them some dinner, but on her way she stopped by Carolyn’s office.

  “Is Hannah okay?” she asked. “She’s not answering our calls or texts.”

  “She’s unharmed, if that’s what you mean.” Carolyn eyed her coolly.

  “And the professor? Is he... Is he still blind?”

  “No.” Carolyn leaned back in her chair. “Hannah told me what she’d done. I was able to reverse the effects of her spell while he was in the emergency room.”

  “If she confessed, doesn’t that count for something?” Eden asked. Maybe it wasn’t too late for her.

  “It shows some measure of character,” Carolyn said, and hope surged in Eden. “Which in no way makes up for her staggering lack of judgement or her blatant disregard for the rules.”

  “But she—”

  “This conversation is over, Eden.”

  Eden closed the door behind her, railing at the unfairness of it. Could Carolyn really expect them to be perfect all the time?

  She fought the futile urge to go back in and went to get the dinner Sarah and Jules were expecting.

  The next morning Eden had an idea.

  “Hey.” She shook Sarah awake. “Can you blow off your first class?”

  “Um, yeah, I guess so,” she said sleepily. “What’s up?”

  “We’re gonna take Jules to the registrar’s office. They can tell us which dorm Hannah is in.”

  An hour later the three of them were on their way to Porter Hall.

  Jules knocked on the door, relief flooding her face when Hannah answered. She wrapped her arms around her in a tight hug, but Hannah stiffened and backed away.

  “What are you guys doing here?” Her expression was not a friendly one.

  “I’ve been so worried,” Jules said. “We wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  “I’m fine,” Hannah said. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Well, you got kicked out—”

  “Kicked out?” Hannah said, incredulous. “Is that what that woman told you?”

  “What do you mean?” Eden asked, confused.

  “I left because I couldn’t take it anymore,” Hannah said. “If I wanted to feel like an outcast I’d have stayed home.”

  Eden exchanged a perplexed glance with Sarah and Jules.

  “Look, I’ve gotta get ready for class so just...goodbye, okay?” Hannah didn’t wait for an answer, just slammed the door in their faces.

  “Blank slate spell?” Eden read from Jules’s phone.

  The three of them sat on the campus lawn, trying to figure out what had just happened. Jules had taken it the hardest, but now she had something to show them.

  “Jules, this is from some random website.” Sarah looked over Eden’s shoulder. “Carolyn warned us about internet spells.”

  Jules shook her head. “It’s not some random website. In fact, you probably wouldn’t be able to find it on your own. It’s totally secret unless you enter by proxy servers.”

  “How did you find it?” Sarah asked.

  “One of my fost—a guy I know used the dark net to buy drugs. They’d ship them right to the house,” Jules said. “I’m not saying this is the actual spell, just that it makes sense that Carolyn would do something to keep a former pledge quiet about what Coventry House really is.”

  “But we all took a vow of secrecy,” Sarah said.

  “As pledges,” Eden said, thinking Jules might be on to something. “Hannah isn’t a pledge anymore. Maybe that releases her.”

  “Not to mention how dangerous it would be to have untrained witches running around. That would put a lot of people in danger—not just Coventry House. Look.” She pointed. “It says that with proper control, ‘subject can be made not to simply forget but to remember things differently.’ So instead of remembering that it’s a coven, Carolyn could make you think it’s full of bitchy sorority girls that were mean to you.”

  “This place does have a reputation,” Eden said. “I can’t tell you the looks I get when I tell people I’m a pledge.”

  “Me too,” Sarah said. “And it would explain Hannah’s reaction.”

  “And Lexi’s,” Jules said. “Hannah ran into her a few weeks ago, and Lexi seemed to barely remember her.”

  “Doesn’t that strike you as a violation?” Sarah said. “None of us agreed to that when we signed up.”

  “Yeah,” Eden said, but her mind was somewhere else.

  She was busy thinking just how useful a spell like that could be.

  Chapter 15

  Sarah was glad when Eden told her she and Quinn were finally going on their first date. She knew how much Eden had been looking forward to it. Even if it seemed slightly torturous, she envied her the crush—at least it was normal. Sarah had met plenty of guys, but not one of them that made her light up the way Eden did when Quinn texted her.

  Not that Sarah had time to date, either. She barely had time to get together with Kai! They still grabbed coffee once in a while, but when Kai had asked again if Sarah wanted to get together for dinner, it was on a night the pledges were being tested on making light spheres. She couldn’t exactly say that, so she’d just said she had plans and maybe next week. Kai hadn’t brought it up again. And now Sarah felt too awkward to do it. Why was making friends so hard sometimes? It wasn’t with Eden and now Jules—why Kai?

  She’d resigned herself to binge-watching some TV but thought better of it. Jules had been a little down with Hannah leaving, and the thing that made Jules the happiest was practicing witchcraft. She made her way to Jules’s door and knocked on the frame. Jules looked up from her book and allowed the light in her palm to dissolve.

  “Hey,” Sarah said. “You busy? I was hoping you might help me out with levitation. I still can’t lift anything but a light sphere. I was hoping I might work my way up to tiny feather.”

  A smile lit Jules’s face. “Definitely,” she said. “Come on in.”

  Eden was putting on her eyeliner when her phone chimed. Out front, the text from Quinn read. Out front? He was ten minutes early!

  Butterflies danced in her stomach as she rushed through the rest of her makeup. At least she didn’t need to load up on the concealer—a week of nightmareless sleep had done wonders for her skin.

  On her way past Jules’s room she popped in on her and Sarah sitting on the floor, a fea
ther being passed between them.

  “Don’t wait up,” Eden said with a wink.

  “Have fun,” Sarah called after her.

  She expected to find Quinn in his car, but instead he was on the porch talking to Rebecca. She was in mid-hair toss when he saw Eden and brushed past her.

  “You look great,” he said. “Ready to go?”

  “Definitely,” Eden replied, taking great satisfaction at the annoyed look on Rebecca’s face.

  Quinn took her to a place called Tico’s Tacos that catered to students. He grabbed them a pitcher of beer and a basket of chips from the bar.

  “They don’t card here?” Eden made a mental note for future outings.

  “She did.” Quinn poured her a glass. “But I’m twenty-one. And so are you if anyone asks.”

  “Got it.” She took the mug as he slid it to her.

  “I ordered the taco sampler platter,” he said. “I hope that’s okay. It’s kind of what they’re known for.”

  “Sounds perfect.” Eden looked around. The ceiling was decorated with hanging lights and colorful sombreros. “This place is great.”

  She took a sip of beer and found it more than a little on the stale side.

  “How is it?” he asked.

  “Delicious,” she said.

  Quinn took a sip from his own mug and frowned. “That is anything but delicious,” he said. “But I appreciate the lie.”

  Eden laughed. “Maybe not delicious,” she admitted. “But I’ve definitely had worse.”

  “That I can believe,” he said with a grin. “I remember high school all too well.”

  “So what brought you to Whitland?” Eden asked. That had to be an acceptable first date question. She’d been accused of going too deep too soon before so now she tried not to be intense.

  “Their biology department,” he said. “It’s state of the art. I’m studying to be an environmental biologist.”

  “An environmental biologist?” Eden said. Definite potential. “That’s pretty impressive.”