Deacon walked over with a pair of black shoes in his hands. He sat them down in front of me. “I remember wondering if her biting her lip was a nervous tick. Now I know it was just him. I should’ve known. That’s the same way the anorexic girls back at my old school looked at food.”
“I remember wondering why he was so tense all the time.” Royce tugged at the cuffs on his coat. “He went from being cool Bruce Banner to the raging Hulk all the time.”
Deacon arched one eyebrow and smirked. “He wanted to smash.”
“Dude.” I stood and snatched the coat out of Royce’s hand. “I’m right here. I can hear you.”
Royce held both hands up and shrugged. “Just sayin’.”
I slid the coat on and growled. The heat was about to be even more unbearable. My feelings for Tegan being under the microscope only heated me up more. I turned and grabbed my clothes and boots off the bed, then beelined for the door. “C’mon. Let’s go.”
They snickered and whispered behind me the whole way down the stairs and into the kitchen area of the house. The wooden floors creaked under my weight and everyone flinched. Six pairs of eyes snapped up to me, but it was Tegan’s I found immediately. That heat I always felt in my glyph when she was near had lessened, probably a result of it almost being fully grown out, but the burn still raged enough to make me hiss. My chest tightened, and I gasped for air. Tegan’s eyes widened, the green sparkle a little brighter. Her cheeks flushed a deep pink and her lips parted like she, too, struggled to breathe.
A bead of sweat dripped down my stomach.
Deacon elbowed me as he walked by and dropped his clothes on top of the pile in front of Tegan.
I sighed and peeled my eyes off of her. We needed to focus. I looked over to Emersyn and Henley, who were dressed almost identically to Tegan, although their shirt sleeves stopped at their elbows. Lucky. It was weird to see Henley without any makeup at all. I wasn’t sure I had since middle school. She looked scary identical to her brother.
Myrtle stepped in front of me and tugged on my jacket. “Emperor, your waistcoat needs to be buttoned.”
“Tennessee,” I said before I could stop myself. “Please.”
“Very well.” She smiled and nodded, then took my clothes out of my hands. “We must get moving, though I fear we have already lost our window. Now, let’s find a place to keep your things.”
“That won’t be necessary, Myrtle.” Tegan reached into the front right pocket of my jeans and pulled my pendulum out. The blue crystal dangled on its chain between her fingers. She arched one eyebrow at me and shook her head. “Babe.”
“Sorry.” I cursed. Royce and Deacon’s teasing had distracted me so much that I forgot all about George in my pocket. “Yeah, let’s hang on to that.”
I reached forward to take it from her, and the air around the stone shimmered. The silver chain transformed into a long, leather cord with the crystal hanging from it.
Tegan grabbed my wrist and yanked me down. My knee slammed into the wooden floor. My pulse quickened. My eyes went straight to her lips. Deacon chuckled behind me, and it was the only thing that cleared my mind. Surely Tegan wasn’t about to kiss me in front of everyone.
She reached up and slid the leather cord over my head and then down to hang around my neck. I should’ve been paying attention to what she was doing, but I couldn’t take my eyes off her face. This close, in the warm natural light of a freshly risen sun, her green eyes twinkled and her skin had the softest hint of pink. Her fingers were warm against my skin and sent little bolts of electricity through my body. She pulled the collar of my coat up and stuffed the pendulum under my shirt. The crystal was cool against my hot skin.
She pulled her hands away and cleared her throat. “I didn’t want to change the crystal itself, so just keep that hidden.”
I smiled and forced myself to stand up. “Good thinking.”
“Now, did you all put your cell phones and wallets and stuff in here?” When we all nodded, she smiled. “Good.”
She raised her hands. With a wiggle of her fingers, the brown material the clothes sat on raised in the air and knotted itself on top. It looked like Santa Claus’s sack of toys. Rainbow mist swirled around her fingers then wrapped around the sack of our clothes. It shimmered with Tegan’s magic for a moment and then transformed into a little leather pouch with a long rope. Without missing a beat, she plucked the small bag off the ground and tied the rope around her waist.
“Whoaaaa,” Saffie whispered.
Tegan grinned up at our red-headed friend and winked. She reached beside her and picked up the deck of Tarot Cards the Goddess had given us. I knew what she was about to do. I’d seen her do it several times now. But still…I watched in silence, equally as riveted as the others as she changed the cards into a necklace with a big gold coin on it. She didn’t even seem to have to try. It was like she thought it, and her magic just did it. My heart swelled with pride for this amazing girl I was lucky enough to call mine.
“Those…colors… You are the Aether Witch?” Myrtle asked with wide eyes.
“Yes.” Tegan nodded.
“High Priestess and the Aether Witch.” Myrtle looked at each one of us before returning her gaze to Tegan. “I never— Never the mind. We must get you out of the village. There are too many eyes these days. My brother will hide you until we can get you home.”
I frowned. “Is it a good idea to tell another person of our presence?”
“No.” Myrtle shook her head. Her face was pale and her eyes heavy. “But you mustn’t stay here. This won’t be the first secret my brother has kept. Come now. It is time.”
Myrtle walked to the door while I held my hand out. Tegan’s warm fingers brushed against mine. Her grip tightened on my hand, and I pulled her to her feet. She leaned into my arm, pressed her chin to my shoulder, and looked up at me under thick black eyelashes. Her face was so close to mine, all I’d have to do was lean down ever so slightly and I could kiss her. Fear and panic slid down my spine and sent adrenaline rushing through my body. But then it hit me. I didn’t have to pull away. I didn’t have to hide my feelings anymore. We didn’t have to hide. Our secret was out. A weird, entirely unfamiliar sense of peace washed over me.
Everyone else followed Myrtle and Saffie to the door I felt their energies getting farther away, but all of my focus was on the girl beside me. The one who looked strong and invincible from the outside. The one who seemed fearless. The one who hid all of her emotions inside. But I saw them. I saw it in the flicker of her gaze and the tension in her jaw. I felt her unsteady pulse beating against mine through our glyph.
I leaned forward and whispered, “You okay?”
I’m scared. What if we’re stuck here? What if we can’t find our way back? Her thoughts whispered into my mind.
I slid my fingers through hers and squeezed. “Then at least we’re together.” I wanted to kiss her, but I feared I wouldn’t want to stop and we had things to do. Instead, I leaned in and kissed her forehead.
When I pulled back, I had to resist the urge to pull her into my arms. The smile on her face took my breath away. I tugged her hand and led her to the doorway where the others stood. Myrtle was outside the door looking around.
“Be warned. You may see things you wish not to see.” Saffie exhaled a deep breath. “These are not easy times. But you mustn’t interfere. What will be will have to be.”
Myrtle opened the door and waved us on. “Come. And stay close.”
Without another word, she spun and led the way up the cobblestone path to the dirt road with Saffie hot on her heels. I tightened my grip on Tegan’s hand and hurried to keep up. We followed in silence, but the energy around us was so tense and thick we could’ve cut it with a knife. I kept my gaze down and tried to focus on the ground right in front of my feet, but it was difficult to resist the urge to look.
As we walked, the soft murmur of curious voices and whispered conversations sounded. I lost the battle and glanced up each time. My curios
ity was just too strong and stubborn. People huddled together and spoke in hushed tones. Some of them even pointed as we passed. In a town this small, they probably knew all the residents. Especially in the height of the witch hunt. But I knew Myrtle was smart. She had to be, or otherwise she wouldn’t have been given the Lead Crone role. I just had to assume she was ready with a story.
I took a deep breath and exhaled. In the time we were inside changing out of our modern clothes, the sun had fully risen. The sky was a brilliant, cloudless blue. The golden rays of the sun shined on the village as residents began their day. Heat weighed down on me, soaking into my clothing like lead. Sweat rolled down my neck and under my clothes. We’d only walked fifty feet or so, and my hair was already wet.
The front door of the building in front of us opened, and a group of young girls came out. They had pale faces and red eyes, like they were sick or exhausted. They held hands with each other and kept their eyes on the ground.
“Liars!” a woman across the street from them screamed. Her face was red as she screeched. “It’s all lies, I tell you! They’re just making mischief!”
I frowned.
The little girl in the front of her group screamed like someone had set her on fire. She dropped to the ground and writhed in agony, wailing and throwing her arms around. Her whole body convulsed. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head. The two girls behind her raised their hands to their throats and began gasping for air, like someone was choking them.
“Get them off me! Get off!” The little one screamed so loud I flinched. She swatted at her arms and legs and shook her head around like she was at a heavy metal concert. “Get off!”
The woman who’d screamed at them and called them liars gasped and started backing away. Her eyes widened. “No. No, no.”
The last two girls dropped to their knees and fell into wild fits I’d only ever seen from drug addicts. Adults rushed to their sides to try and soothe them. They shouted and screamed. A few of the women cried and begged for them to calm down.
The girl in front with dark hair, the one who’d started it, gasped and raised her finger to point at the woman. “WITCH!”
I gasped and froze in my tracks. My Coven-mates stood like statues behind me. All of us stared in shock and horror at what was happening. This was history. This was what we’d learned about as children. This was what Sapien children were taught in school. In the beat of a moment, everything became too real. We were witnessing a history so heinous it was hard to believe it was real.
“Stop it!” The woman held the little girl down while she convulsed. “Stop! Leave her alone. Stop hurting my baby!”
Men sprinted across the dirt road in front of us and grabbed ahold of the accused woman. They yelled in her face and shook her violently.
“They are lying!” the woman screamed, her eyes wide with terror. “I swear it. I swear it on my life, they are lying! I am no witch!”
Saffie ran up to me and grabbed me by the wrist. She tugged me forward. “Come. We must go.”
I followed her, but my feet wouldn’t move fast enough. I didn’t want to see this. I didn’t want to see this poor, innocent woman be accused of something she wasn’t. The woman was crying and pleading for them to hear her. The girls still flopped around on the dirt shrieking. My pulse quickened. My heart sank. Nausea rolled through me. I tried to breathe, but oxygen wasn’t getting in fast enough. It was too real. It was too much, too horrible. The screaming. The crying. The fear pouring out of their bodies like black clouds. The air tingled and pulsed with their terror.
They were afraid…and it was our fault. My people. My ancestors.
And there was nothing I could do. It broke my heart in ways I never knew.
“I’ll show them what a witch is,” Deacon whispered and pushed past me.
I snatched his arm and held him back. “Don’t. We can’t help them.”
Saffie was in our faces, looking up at us with big lavender eyes. “They are the afflicted. We are helping every way we can. You mustn’t. You really cannot. Please, come.”
“I don’t wanna see this. Blind us. Willow, blind us,” Tegan whispered. She turned her back to the crowd and chaos and looked around our group. Her eyes were red and full of more emotion than I’d ever seen from her. She glanced around in a panic. “Willow, I said— Willow.”
Her face fell. Her skin turned whiter than fresh-fallen snow.
I frowned and looked around our group for our Magician, but she was nowhere in sight. “Where did Willow…”
Then it hit me.
Willow was gone.
She fell in the Seelie tunnels.
“Oh no…oh no,” Tegan cried. Tears poured down her face. She covered her mouth.
We all stood there staring at the empty space behind us, like maybe if we stared long enough our friends would reappear. Willow. Larissa. Paulina. Timothy. All gone. They were our friends. Our family. And they were gone. In the blink of an eye. Everything had happened so fast in the tunnels and then with the Seelie Court. I hadn’t had a moment to process it. Maybe my brain was refusing to accept it. One minute they were there, and the next we were here. Without them.
Just like Cassandra. And Libby.
Everything inside me went cold. All around us, chaos and horror unfolded, but inside, it was dark and painful. In the back of my mind, I heard Saffie and Myrtle speaking to us, urging us to keep moving, but it was kinda fuzzy.
I couldn’t have said how they finally got us to start moving. Or how long we stood there staring and hurting. I didn’t see a single thing as we moved through the village. All I could think about were my friends, the ones I never got to say goodbye to. The ones who didn’t deserve to go yet. Especially not like that. I thought about their families back in Florida. I thought about our other Coven-mates who didn’t even know yet. I worried for those of us who’d left to bring the Stones back to Salem. Had they made it? I didn’t know, and now I may never.
The next thing I knew, we stopped in front of a wooden house. On one side, there was a forest area thick with trees and fog. On the other side was a large body of water. I hadn’t paid attention, so I didn’t even know which body of water it was. I tried to look around and get my bearings based on my knowledge of modern-day Salem…but it was no use. My mind was a blur.
Myrtle opened a wooden door and gestured for us to enter. “Inside. Hurry.”
I rushed through the door, eager to sit and get my head on right.
A man jumped up from a table. He had long, curly blond hair and a matching scruffy beard. His aquamarine eyes were wide and his eyebrows rose. “Sister, what have you brought me?”
I froze in my tracks. My breath left me in a rush. “Leyka?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
TEGAN
You’ve got to be bloody kidding me.
“Leyka?” Tennessee repeated, as if the guy hadn’t heard him shout it the first time.
He frowned and pointed to his chest. “I am Leyka, yes. Do I know you? Sister, what have you brought me here?”
I opened my mouth then shut it again. Leyka. The Angel who used to be Nephilim. The Angel who disguised himself as a pig and lived on an island full of them in the Bahamas. The Angel who gave me and Tennessee the ability to enter the Garden of Eden. The Angel who pretended not to know who we were.
“I’m sorry, did you say sister?” Tennessee glanced back and forth between Leyka and Myrtle. “You’re siblings?”
Leyka’s eyebrows rose practically to his hairline. He leaned against the table and crossed his arms over his chest. “Are they afflicted?”
“No, brother, they are not.” Myrtle frowned and tilted her head. She looked at Leyka like she was seeing him for the first time, then turned to look at us. “You know my brother?”
“Know him?” Emersyn pushed her way to the front of the group. Her golden eyes were glowing, and tears rained down her cheeks. She grabbed an apple off the table and lodged it right at Leyka’s face. “You knew! You knew the whole
time!”
Tennessee, Deacon, and I all lunged for her, but she was on a roll. She threw three more apples right at him like she was at the Home Run Derby. Leyka cursed and jumped to dodge her attack. She started grabbing whatever she got her hands on.
“You lying little shit!” Em screamed at him. “You knew!”
Tennessee sent a gust of wind ripping through the room, knocking all of the loose objects off the table and out of her reach. Unfortunately, it also pushed Emersyn closer to him. Deacon caught her by the arm and pulled her back. But fire shot out in flames all along her arms, and Deacon jumped back.
Leyka cursed and dove to the other side of the room.
Emersyn charged at him and formed little balls of fire in her palms. “You son of a bitch!” she screamed and threw balls of flames right at Leyka, one after another.
I threw my hand up in the air. The fire balls hovered like stars in the sky. Emersyn’s body locked in place at my command. She screamed and growled, but her mouth was shut so it only came out as a grumble. I wiggled my fingers, and the flames vanished. My sister thrashed and struggled against my hold, but my magic was stronger than hers.
Leyka wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and exhaled. “Okay, so you’re witches but not afflicted. My apologies.”
Emersyn grumbled louder and tried to break free.
Deacon cursed and jumped in front of her. I felt his magic pour out of him and brush over her. “Stop trying to attack him.”
Emersyn calmed, though I did not release her yet.
“Although he deserves it,” Royce growled.
Henley crossed her arms over her chest and aimed daggers at him.
“What? I have never laid eyes on any of you.” Leyka shook his head. “Though I admit, it certainly sounds like she knows me well.”
Myrtle sighed and turned to me. “You know my brother as well?”
I nodded. “Yes. Though, neither he nor you mentioned you were siblings.”
The Eternal Witch (The Coven: Elemental Magic Book 5) Page 16
