Pledge (Witches of Coventry House Book 1)

by Christina Garner

  She didn’t even know what to say about Quinn. She still liked him—a lot. Sure he was a little on the earnest side, but he was a good guy and a great kisser—and why hadn’t he asked her out again?

  Technically, he’d invited her to a rally about climate change. But that could hardly be considered a date, and she had better things to do than hang out at rallies all day. As far as she was concerned, the earth could take care of itself—she had her own problems to deal with. After that, he’d been pretty distant—only sending one or two word responses when she texted him.

  So now Eden was studying at a coffee shop she’d never been to because she was too embarrassed to go to The Grind.

  “I’m just glad they have to go first,” a familiar voice said.

  Eden’s ears pricked up at attention, and she stole a glance over her shoulder.

  “That abandoned house has creeped me out ever since...you know.” Brianne sat with her back to Eden, talking to Nicole over cappuccinos.

  Eden turned back and bent her head low, straining to listen.

  “I hoped I’d never see that place again,” Nicole said. “Once was more than enough.”

  “At least the sisters don’t have to actually go in,” Brianne said. “Holding the...thing has got to be easier than going through the thing.”

  “Did you see Carolyn when she got back?” Nicole asked. “Casting the...thing might be worst of all.”

  Verbal cryptographers, these two.

  “I don’t know if I’d go that far,” Brianne said. They were silent for a moment, and then Brianne asked, “What did you see?”

  “What did you see?” Nicole countered.

  Neither answered, but they didn’t have to. They were talking about the final test—the one that determined which pledges would become sisters. It had loomed large for weeks. No one would tell the pledges what it was or when it would happen. Even Rebecca wasn’t sure.

  The final test was happening tonight, and Eden was missing it. Barely a week but she was already missing so much.

  Alex had been especially cryptic about their test, except to say that it required a field trip and hiking boots. Sarah didn’t consider herself particularly outdoorsy and grumbled as she got ready.

  “Look on the bright side,” Jules said. “We aren’t exactly going for merit badges. A hike is going to be the least of our worries.”

  “A valid and disconcerting point.” Sarah did up her laces. She’d gone that afternoon to buy new boots; she hoped they didn’t give her blisters.

  “It’s an adventure,” Jules said, her enthusiasm on the wrong side of annoying.

  It was just before nine when Sarah and Jules made their way down the hall. They were being tested in their original practice groups, so theirs was a group of only four.

  Eden should be here.

  Sarah still had a pit in her stomach over what she’d said to Eden. It was true—she’d made her choice—but judge not lest ye be judged.

  Plus, she didn’t know what was behind Eden’s choice. She didn’t know what it was like to wake up screaming. No one would tell her, but Sarah felt sure that whatever Eden had done, it was because of her nightmares. She missed her like crazy—talking till late at night, laughing about dumb stuff. And Eden had always listened to her. Maybe, if they were still roommates, Eden would be able to tell her what to do about Kai and the feelings that—

  Focus, Sarah.

  She had time to make things right with Eden—Kai was another story altogether. But neither could get solved tonight, and she had a test to pass.

  Alex and three other sisters waited in the common room, their expressions ominous. Noticeably absent was Carolyn. If this was such an important test, shouldn’t the high priestess of the coven be there? Sarah knew better than to ask questions.

  But Rebecca didn’t.

  “If this test is the be-all end-all, where’s Carolyn?” she said. “Shouldn’t she be around to judge if we pass or not?”

  “She’ll know,” was all Alex would say.

  They filed out, and as Sarah reached for her coat, Courtney passed and said softly, “It’s a test for us too.”

  Sarah looked up, but Courtney was already headed out the door. The sisters were being tested in their ability to test the pledges. And the beat goes on.

  A hush fell over the van as they drove. Tests at Coventry House were pass/fail—that included the sisters too. They all had something to lose; the tension was palpable.

  Within a few minutes they were headed down a dirt road. Trees stretched overhead forming a low arch. To Sarah they looked like teeth, and she shuddered, imagining they were driving into the mouth of some ancient, evil beast.

  “I take back what I said about this being an adventure,” Jules whispered beside her.

  Alex eased the van to a stop on the side of the road.

  “Raise your hand if you think it’s an accident that we’re doing this on the new moon,” Rebecca muttered once they’d piled out of the car.

  She was right—with the headlights off, Sarah couldn’t make out more than two feet around her. The darkness was oppressive, the air thick and hard to breathe. An owl screeched overhead, and it was sheer force of will that kept her from crying out.

  Jules had been right; blisters were the least of her worries.

  Eden checked the time on her phone. Quinn would be off soon. She was hoping a chance meeting on the street might set things right.

  Brianne and Nicole had already left—not revealing anything else about the test Sarah and the others would face. She felt another pang of regret for not being there as she packed up her things.

  Outside she continued her list of things that had fallen apart since leaving Coventry House. Sarah and Quinn weren’t the only ones on it—her magic was suffering too. She still had abilities; they were just pathetic. The one upside of leaving was supposed to be that the training wheels would come off. She could stop juggling spheres and playing hide and seek and actually do stuff.

  Except that wasn’t turning out right either. Not only was she not advancing, she now struggled to do things that had once come easily.

  Her tuition bill for next semester loomed large, and she definitely wasn’t going to find a witchy way around it. She didn’t dare tell her parents. They thought she was still living at Coventry House.

  She wanted to blame Carolyn, but her mind kept repeating what she’d said about their pasts preparing them for their destinies.

  Tools are shaped for a purpose.

  Had erasing her past erased her destiny?

  It couldn’t be that simple. One event couldn’t dictate the course of her life.

  Could it?

  The thorny ball in the back of her mind—the one that held the memory—pricked at her. She didn’t know what was inside that ball, but she knew it was bad—maybe even dangerous.

  Any time she let it sink in that getting what she wanted hadn’t turned out the way she’d planned, that maybe her life had been better before, that thorny ball reminded her of what waited if she broke the spell. It was a risk she couldn’t take.

  The cold made her shiver, and she ducked her head.

  Out of the corner of her eye she saw a man in the shadows—a really, really tall man—taking long strides in the opposite direction. He wore a hoodie, a thick scarf shielding his face.

  Go Whitland basketball team, she thought. A guy that tall wouldn’t even need to jump to reach the net.

  Eden turned down an alley to get a break from the wind.

  Chapter 24

  The screeching owl had rattled Sarah’s nerves but not as much as when Alex said, “The gods have spoken. One of you will not return.”

  “Not return as in, be kicked out, or as in, die?” Jules whispered.

  “Oh my God, seriously?” Rebecca said under her breath. “She’s messing with us. You guys are so easy.”

  Sarah’s stomach twisted all the same. She hadn’t had the feeling of dread that she’d gotten after Hannah’s death, but she
remembered it and remembered what she thought it meant.

  As much as she told herself that this was just another test, she couldn’t help but feel as though someone—or something—lurked in the shadows.

  “It begins.” Alex started forward on the trail.

  “Someone thinks she’s Carolyn,” Paige muttered.

  Jules followed first then Courtney, the line becoming a rotation of sister and pledge. Someone behind her cursed and stumbled, sending Sarah and a few of the others pitching forward.

  “Watch where you’re going,” Rebecca snapped.

  “Watch how you speak to a sister,” came the reply.

  Something told Sarah that the darkness—and the fear it caused—was part of the test. She straightened her posture as she walked, determined not to show fear. Everything was a test.

  Twenty minutes later, when she was so cold she could barely feel her fingertips inside of her too-thin gloves, the trail ended in a clearing.

  The sisters exchanged conspiratorial glances and in unison blew on their spheres, causing them to float up and away, illuminating a dilapidated house that loomed ahead. The shutters hung at odd angles, and most of the windows were boarded up.

  The hairs on Sarah’s neck stood on end, and she squeezed Jules’s hand. There was something off about this place.

  “You are denied magic until you pass the test.” As Alex spoke, Sarah’s orb of light dissipated, as did those of the other pledges.

  The loss was palpable—Sarah felt as though she’d been cut off from something as vital as breathing.

  Alex wasn’t finished. “Search the dark until you find the light of truth. Only then will you know your strength. Thy will be done.”

  Then she snapped her fingers and disappeared.

  Eden waited just around the corner from The Grind. She’d be able to see when Quinn left and run into him—as she happened to be heading home from the library.

  A few minutes later she saw him, and her heart skipped a beat. This was such a lame plan, but she had to do something.

  “Hey you.” She stepped out from the alley. “Getting off work?”

  Quinn looked up in surprise. “Yeah. Just now.”

  “I’m just on my way home from the library,” Eden said. “But I’m glad I ran into you. I’m sorry I missed that rally, but I thought maybe we could grab dinner soon.”

  “Sure.” He shifted his weight. “I’ll text you.”

  “But you aren’t.” Go big or go home. “You aren’t really texting me unless I text you first.”

  “Sorry,” he said. “It’s just been a crazy few days.”

  Tell me about it.

  “I just wanted to make sure nothing was wrong,” she said. “I mean, our first date was amazing until it ended, and then our second date was great, I thought, so... I just feel like maybe there’s something wrong.”

  “It’s nothing,” Quinn said. “You just lost your friend, and the last thing I want to do is cause you more pain.”

  He cast his eyes down.

  “Please just tell me.” Was she losing Quinn too?

  He looked up, his face resigned. “It’s just... I think maybe we’re not right for each other. I thought we might be, but...”

  “But what?” Eden’s heart sank into her belly.

  “Sometimes you think a person is one way, and—” He stopped himself and took a breath. “It’s nothing personal—you’re a nice girl. I just don’t think you’re the girl for me.”

  “Oh.” The words settled into her skin and made her feel small.

  Quinn shuffled his feet. “I have to go, okay? Take care of yourself.”

  He walked away, and she fought the urge to go after him, to tell him she was the right one for him. She’d felt it when they’d kissed—knew he’d felt it too.

  What was happening to her? How could one little thing affect everything?

  People passed by—laughing and talking—but Eden was very much alone.

  The sisters had vanished. No puff of smoke, just a snap of Alex’s fingers and they were gone.

  Test or not, this was feeling more real by the second.

  “Cloak of shadows,” Jules murmured.

  “Cloak of what?” Sarah tried to keep her voice calm.

  “Shadows. I read about it. A way of folding the light to create its absence.”

  “So you’re saying they aren’t really gone?” Paige asked.

  “Of course they aren’t,” Rebecca said. “What would be the fun in that? They’re probably ten feet away, enjoying watching you all piss yourselves. Right, Alex?” she called into the darkness. “Because it’s no fun for a psycho unless she gets to watch us be afraid.”

  “Alex doesn’t actually display psychopathic tendencies,” Jules said. “Sadistic, for sure, but not—”

  “Really, brainiac?” Rebecca said. “Is this the best use of our time right now?”

  “Is any of this?” Sarah said. “Do you really want to waste time arguing over Alex’s personality disorder?”

  “And what do you suggest?” Rebecca said.

  “I suggest we follow the lights and go inside that house, which is obviously the point.”

  Paige looked hesitant, but Rebecca smiled. “Lead the way.”

  Sarah took a tentative step forward. She knew they had to go inside, but she wasn’t looking to be in charge. Jules joined her and took her hand.

  “We got this.” Her confidence was a hair shy of convincing.

  Rebecca and Paige followed, and together they walked up the creaking steps.

  Once at the top it was Rebecca who opened the front door. Sarah held her breath and found herself wishing it wouldn’t open. Wishing Alex would pop out of the shadows and say that being willing to go into the terrifying house was enough; they didn’t have to actually go in.

  But the hinges squealed open, and Alex didn’t come. Sarah followed Rebecca inside. She reached up, coaxing one of the spheres that had followed them inside into her palm.

  “Smart,” Jules said and plucked one for herself.

  Rebecca and Paige did the same, orbs of light bobbing above their hands.

  “Now what?” Jules asked. “How do we find the light of truth?”

  “I don’t like this.” Paige’s eyes darted around the abandoned house. “I don’t think I want to be a witch anymore.”

  She bolted for the door, but it slammed shut. When she pulled furiously on the knob, it wouldn’t give.

  Sarah’s heart pounded. Had Alex made the door shut, or was it the house?

  Paige raced over to one of the windows, yanking on plywood.

  “Paige, stop.” Sarah went to her. “I don’t think it works that way.”

  She gently pulled Paige’s hands from the boarded-up window.

  “Oh yeah? And how does it work?” Rebecca called to her.

  “You’re the legacy—you tell us,” Sarah spat back.

  Rebecca shuffled her feet and looked at the floor.

  “Look, none of us knows anything,” Sarah said. “Except that we aren’t leaving until we do whatever it is we’re supposed to. So we might as well get this over with.”

  For a moment it was silent, the girls just looking around and at each other.

  “So...do you think the truth is going to come to us, or do we have to, like, go looking for it?” Paige asked.

  Sarah was about to say she didn’t have a clue when the sphere that had been an inch above her palm floated up above her head.

  The same happened to the others, and for a moment each stood, transfixed, watching their sphere of light. Then the spheres all floated in different directions. Sarah watched as hers drifted up, hovering at the top of the stairs. The others drifted down the hall and out of view.

  “I guess we won’t be sticking together.” Jules swallowed.

  “Whatever. The sooner we do this, the sooner we’re done,” Rebecca said, but her steps were tentative.

  “Good luck.” Sarah started toward the stairs.

  “You
too.” Jules headed down the hall. “See you on the other side.”

  The stairs groaned in protest as Sarah ascended. Her thoughts spun, trying to reason out what waited for her up there. What truth did she need to face? She wasn’t sure and wasn’t particularly eager to find out, but still she climbed.

  Whatever it was, she would confront it and become a sister. She’d known that all along.

  Her sphere bobbed in front of a closed door. Sarah took a deep breath and stepped inside.

  As she did, a rank smell filled her nostrils and terror gripped her heart.

  She spun, about to bolt from the room when the door slammed so hard the hinges rattled. She yanked on the handle, but it wouldn’t budge.

  Sarah screamed and banged on the door.

  It wasn’t the test that terrified her—it was Eden. Something was after her. Sarah felt it as strongly as any premonition she’d ever experienced.

  “Alex!” she screamed. “Alex let me out!”

  The sphere of light winked out, and Sarah was plunged into darkness.

  Jules steadied her nerves, her hand hovering above the doorknob. Jules made it a habit never to lie to herself, so how hard could it be to face the truth?

  She turned the knob slowly, the door opening to reveal a set of steps leading down.

  “Not the basement,” she whispered. “Please, not the basement.”

  But it was the basement. Of course. She thought about turning back, clawing at the door until her hands were bloodied if it meant getting out of this place. But she didn’t.

  This is what it takes, Jules. Just get through this, and you’re in. You’ll finally have a place you belong.

  She took one tentative step and then another, the sphere leading the way. She couldn’t make out more than a few feet in front of her. There was no way to tell what waited for her at the bottom.

  How had they known? Her record should have been sealed. No one should have been able to find out about the basement. She shuddered and stopped, thought about turning back. She looked over her shoulder but wasn’t surprised to see that the door had closed behind her.

  “The only way out is through,” one of her foster mothers had once told her.