Tommy pulled her to her feet and they crept toward the back door. Halfway there, he froze. Looking around frantically, he finally settled on a door next to them. He opened it and shoved her inside.
He pushed the door almost closed behind them and held his finger to his mouth to keep her quiet. She pressed her back against the wall and tried to breathe silently. Footsteps sounded in the hall a moment later.
“Where is Erica?” a woman asked harshly, pausing in front of the room.
Ceri looked at Tommy with wide eyes. If they came in this room, they were screwed. She looked around for a way out, but there weren’t any windows or another door. They were trapped.
“I’m not sure, High Priestess, but I’ll send her to you as soon as I find her,” someone replied nervously.
“No, send her to the basement. If I see her now, she might not survive the encounter. We’ve been humiliated,” the High Priestess said, taking a deep breath.
The door handle turned slightly, and Ceri tensed, her mind running through every defensive spell she knew. They’d have to blast their way out and hope they could run fast enough to get away.
“Madame,” Selena said, interrupting the other two women’s conversation. “We’re about to begin.”
The door handle turned back. “I’ll join you then. We can’t afford another mishap on a night like this.”
Their footsteps led away, and Ceri slumped against Tommy in relief. He listened intently then nodded. They opened the door carefully and walked as quickly as they could toward the back door.
Chapter 30
GENEVIEVE
Genevieve took a few steps back as Selena climbed up onto the stage. Amber was on the other side of the yard, standing back in the crowd as well. They weren’t sure exactly what Ceri had done to sabotage the coven’s display, and she didn’t want to be too close. Just in case. Ceri had promised she wasn’t going to let any innocent bystanders get hurt, but accidents happened.
The witch lifted her hands, quieting the crowd. The conversations dropped off as everyone looked at her with a sense of anticipation. She’d gone all out with her outfit, wearing a bright green gown with an old-fashioned witch’s hat perched on her head. Selena was the picture of elegance.
“On behalf of the Blackwood Coven, thank you for your interest tonight. In honor of this hallowed eve, we will display for you creativity, innovation, and power. The Blackwood Coven has long stood as a pillar of the community. We are ever ready to serve…”
Selena kept talking, but Genevieve tuned her out. This girl liked the sound of her own voice a little too much.
The girls in front of her were whispering about a spot where magic didn’t work showing up right outside the city like it was a sign of the coming apocalypse. She leaned in, trying to hear the details. With all the upheaval, she hadn’t exactly been paying attention to the news.
Trying to slip around the person in front of her to better eavesdrop, her tail hit someone in what felt like their nose. She turned to apologize and ended up face to face with a tall, hot guy dressed up as…well, she had no idea. He was just shirtless with pants that hung low on his hips.
“Hi,” she whispered with a devilish wink.
He grinned at her and leaned in. “Hi.”
“What are you tonight? Besides hot,” she asked, letting the tip of her tail trace a line down his abs.
“Lust,” he said, returning her wink. “One of the seven deadly sins. Fits perfectly with the devil, since you look pretty tempting yourself.”
“Oh, you have no idea—”
A brilliant light flared behind them. She whipped around to face the stage. Selena was chanting, one hand held above a cauldron while she added ingredients with the other. Two more witches stood on either side of her, hands lifted. Their voices joined the chant.
“Tonight, we will summon an angel that will bless this night and this gathering.” The crowd gasped as if on cue. Angels mingled with humans on occasion. They mostly hated any creature with magic, though no one knew why. To say that summoning an angel would be an impressive feat was the a huge understatement. This would draw national attention.
Genevieve grinned. Since it was about to fail in a big way, it would get even more attention.
Selena traced a symbol into the air with deft strokes. She picked up a small bowl and poured the contents into the cauldron as she began to chant, “Voco Ishim—”
A loud pop cut her off. The cauldron began to spark and shake. Based on how tightly her jaw was clenched, it wasn’t supposed to do that.
Genevieve took a step back and bumped into the hot guy. He assumed she was trying to grind on him and started dancing. She went with it while looking through the crowd for Amber.
Selena stuck her finger in the bowl she held and tasted the remnants. Her eyes went wide and she looked back at the coven leader.
The cauldron shook harder and then it…burped. Green fog erupted from the surface and drifted toward the crowd. Screams began as it engulfed the people closest. Genevieve gagged as her sensitive nose picked up on the smell.
The people at the front began trying to run. Selena shouted something over the cacophony, trying to calm them. The cauldron rattled once more, then exploded, sending green slime in every direction. Her perfect dress and sleek hair were coated in the foul substance.
“What the fuck,” hot guy said, horrified.
“I thought this coven was supposed to be good,” she said, shoving him backward. She forgot her strength and sent him flying into the person behind him. “Oops.”
He glared at her. “What the hell are you?”
“Umm, I…lift weights,” she said with a shrug before darting into the crowd, trying to find Amber. It was definitely time to go.
She glanced back over her shoulder in time to see the coven leader backhand Selena across the face hard enough to knock her on her ass. Ouch.
There was a loud crack, and the cauldron caught fire. The awful smell only grew worse, and the flames spread from the cauldron to the porch.
Amber grabbed her arm and yanked her in a different direction. “Ceri said they’re running back to the truck.”
Genevieve followed Amber, looking back one last time. The whole coven was scrambling to put out the fire. A few of them stopped, gagging in the bushes due to the smell. Whatever Ceri had done worked even better than they’d planned. Selena looked like an idiot.
Chapter 31
TOMMY
They’d done it. He’d wanted to try, but actually pulling it off surprised the hell out of him. When the coven leader had almost walked into the room they were hiding in, his entire life had flashed before his eyes.
Genevieve stood on the couch reenacting the final display with dramatic flair. “I have been sabotaged! My perfect life is ruined!” she shrieked, flailing around before falling off the couch.
Amber was laughing with them. Actually laughing. He hadn’t realized she knew how.
“Tommy! You were genius!” Ceri exclaimed, wrapping him in a hug.
He laughed and picked her up, twirling her around. “Me? You were the genius! You and Woggy made Selena look like a complete idiot! And in such a simple way.”
Woggy was laying on a chair stuffed full with all the chicken he’d been able to eat. His little gray tummy was distended with food. He looked smug about it.
“It’s going to look like an accident, too,” Genevieve said, climbing back up on the couch. “The more Selena tries to claim sabotage, the more desperate she’ll look.”
Shaking his head with a laugh, he walked into the kitchen. He shut the timer off with three seconds left and opened the oven. The sweet smell of apple pie filled the kitchen. The filling was bubbling through the criss-cross of crust he’d laid over the top.
“Oh my god, is that apple pie?” Genevieve exclaimed from the living room. There was a crash and Amber’s exasperated warning to be careful.
He pulled the pie out of the oven and set it on the stove. It was perfect.
/> Amber joined him in the kitchen and pulled out some plates and silverware. “You did great today,” she said as she set them next to the pie on the counter.
“Thanks,” he replied with a grin.
She shifted uncomfortably. “I’m glad you decided to stay. It couldn’t have been an easy decision.”
He scratched the back of his neck, feeling awkward. They hadn’t ever talked about it, even though he knew that she knew. “I’m glad you didn’t sell us out to Donovan.”
Opening the drawer to his left he pulled out Amber’s old pie server. It was silicone, and the handle had fallen off. Cooking definitely wasn’t her priority.
“Maybe it would have been better to join his pack, though,” she said, looking unexpectedly vulnerable. She crossed her arms and leaned against the counter.
“Donovan would never have helped Ceri. He probably would have had us as the pack slaves or some crap like that. You made the only choice you could.” He began cutting the pie, remembering the look on his stepmother’s face when she used to yell at him to wash the dishes or clean up her vomit. “You care, you know? That’s all that matters.”
Genevieve burst into the kitchen, and Amber moved away, letting her and Ceri crowd around him.
Genevieve held up a plate and looked at him with pleading eyes. “It smells so good.”
He laughed and scooped a big piece onto her plate. “How much do you want, Ceri?”
“Same,” she said with a smile, holding up her own plate.
Amber slipped out of the back door. He watched her go, torn between following her and staying with the rest of the pack. But he knew she wouldn’t relax if he did. She put up a front none of them could crack. With a sigh, he turned back to the others, resigned to letting her stew in all her worries.
AMBER
Amber stood in the garden, head tilted back, eyes on the stars. The moon hung in her periphery. No matter where she looked, it was always there. Taunting her. It grew larger every day, dragging her like the tides toward the thing she feared most. Failure.
“Tomorrow is the full moon,” Angel said, twisting into a smoky imitation of the moon.
“I don’t want you bugging me during the Trials. It’s too important, okay?” she said, putting her hands on her hips.
He changed forms again, appearing as her demonic twin this time. “I could help you instead.”
“No.”
“You’re very bossy,” he said with a pout.
“Stop looking like me, it’s creepy,” she said, turning away.
“I could make sure you pass the Trials. You made one deal to gain your sponsor, I’m surprised you won’t consider another,” he said swooping around to hover in front of her again.
She looked down at her hands. A small, bitter part of her wished she’d just run when she’d seen that wolf attacking people. This wasn’t what she wanted, but it was her life now.
“Ohhhh,” Angel said, drifting backward. “I get it.”
“Get what?” she asked.
“You actually want to prove yourself,” he said propping his head up on his chin.
She rolled her eyes. “So what if I do?”
“It’s fine, I suppose,” he said with a shrug. “If you can manage it.”
“You’re real encouraging,” she muttered.
“I’m a realist.”
She heard the footsteps first, followed by the cloying smell of cigarettes. Angel went quiet, then waved goodbye and vanished.
Thallan rounded the corner, pausing when he saw her.
She nodded in greeting. “The garden is nice at night.”
“Yes, though I’m surprised to see you out here with the noise coming from the house,” he said as he walked up behind her. “You don’t seem like you are in as festive a mood as the others.”
He plucked a rose from the bush, knocking a petal off with the rough motion. Holding it close to his nose, he took a deep breath, his face softening as he smelled it.
The tense line of her shoulders grew tighter. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with him right now. “I guess I’m just a party pooper. Kinda like you. Maybe it’s a side effect of the demon mark.”
“More likely a side effect of your desperation. It’s hard to be carefree when you have to be realistic about the future,” he said, motioning toward the house. Laughter drifted from an open window but was carried away by the breeze.
She pressed her thumb into the mark. “Did the demon ever…talk to you?”
“When it gave me the mark, yes. Why do you ask?” Thallan narrowed his eyes and took a drag from his cigarette.
“It never visited you after that?”
He tilted his head, looking at her curiously. “No, never.” Silence hung between them for a moment, then he said, “Don’t let it talk you into another deal. It will try, and you will not come out on top in a negotiation with a demon.”
She shook her head. “I know. He hasn’t tried, not seriously at least.”
“He?” Thallan asked, taking another drag on his cigarette. The red glow of the ember reflected in his eyes, giving him a menacing look.
“The demon, well, I call him Angel. It’s kind of a joke, but whatever,” she waved away the over-explanation.
Thallan’s hand curled into a fist, crushing the rose. “It is not a man. Or an angel. It is a demon, and it hates you. It wants to harm you.” He got in her face, teeth bared and the vein in his temple throbbing in rage.
She put her hand on his chest and pushed him back firmly. “I don’t need to be lectured about what he is or isn’t.”
“Apparently you do,” Thallan sneered. “Have you already let it seduce you? Did you know they crave children just as much as the angels? I’m sure your child would be quite the anomaly, a demon wolf.”
“I have enough to worry about without you accusing me of screwing a demon. Get the hell away from me.” She turned to walk away, but Thallan grabbed her elbow. His fingers bit into her skin hard enough to bruise.
“I am going to kill it one day. Never forget that.”
She believed him. His eyes shone with madness, and hate. He dropped her arm and walked slowly away. The rose lay on the ground where he had stood, its petals bruised and bent.
She knelt and picked it up. A sweet, bright scent filled her nose. It reminded her of home and her mother’s rosebushes. She turned and headed back toward the house, her mind full of past failures and the challenges that grew closer every day.
Chapter 32
GENEVIEVE
Genevieve hissed as the piping hot coffee splashed out of her mug and stung her hand. They’d stayed up pretty late, and now she was running so late for work. Granted, she was running late most mornings, but since she intended to ask to leave early today, she figured she should at least try to show up on time.
Amber walked into the kitchen in her workout clothes. “Someone just drove up to the house.”
“Just now?” She’d been in such a rush she hadn’t even noticed.
There was a single hard knock on the door. Amber held a hand up, motioning for her to stay back. She ignored the command and followed instead. Neither she, nor the wolf, was willing to let Amber face the potential threat alone. Besides, it was no fun to hang back.
Amber checked the peephole then stepped back, frowning. “It’s some werewolf in a suit.”
“It could be a representative from the regional council,” Genevieve said, eyes going wide. “They have to talk to you ahead of the Trials.”
“She is correct,” the man shouted through the door. “Also, I can hear you, since I am a werewolf.”
A blush colored Amber’s cheeks and she yanked the door open.
The representative nodded in greeting, clearly amused. He wore a suit, but it was clear that it wasn’t his normal attire. It was freshly pressed, and Genevieve could smell the chemicals from the dry cleaner from where she stood. His dark brown hair was loosely tousled, and his eyes were so blue she wondered if he wore colored contact lenses.
“Sorry about that,” Amber cleared her throat and stepped back to let him inside. “So, you’re the rep?”
“Shane Weston,” he said, extending his hand. “Can I assume you are Amber Hale?”
Amber nodded and shook his hand. “I am.”
“And you are?” he asked, turning to her.
“Genevieve Bissett,” she said, shaking his hand. This guy was smoking hot, and judging by the way he was looking at Amber, he had a thing for redheads.
“Your little pack has been hot gossip for the past couple of weeks,” Shane said with a grin.
Amber looked surprised. “I didn’t realize anyone knew we existed. Other than Lockhart, at least.”
Shane chuckled. “You’ll find that we’re a very insular community, despite our separate packs. Gossip travels faster in the were community than at an all-girls high school.”
“Greaaaat,” Amber said, drawing out the word. Despite her tone, a smile played at her lips. It was almost…flirtatious. Now that was interesting.
“Perhaps sometime we can get together and I can fill you in on what everyone is saying about you. However,” his demeanor changed to all business, “I am here to deliver a message from Alpha Clark Jameson, who will be presiding over the Trials on the next full moon. Two hours before sunset, myself and the betas of the other packs on the council will arrive to escort you to the Trials. Your pack, including your sponsor, must attend as well. If any one of them is not there, you will automatically fail.”
Amber nodded her head in acknowledgment. “We’ll be ready.”
He hesitated for a moment then added, “Be careful to not let anything take you by surprise between now and then. Some of the gossip has been a little…heated.”
“I hadn’t realized how much werewolves resented bitten weres until I became one,” Genevieve said, crossing her arms. This guy didn’t seem like the bigoted type, but people could always disappoint you.
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