I nodded and gripped her hand with both of mine. My tears wouldn’t stop pouring.
She held her left hand up, and purple smoke swirled around her fingers. Then she pressed it to my cheek. Warmth filled me like I was sitting in front of a fireplace. The purple smoke circled around my face a few times before disappearing. When I looked back to Momma, her green eyes were red and puffy and full of tears.
“Now, my love. Do you remember your name?”
My name? Of course I remembered my name. It was…it was… My heart raced. “No, I don’t. Momma?”
“Then you’re going to be just fine. I will always be proud of you. Now run, and remember, Hope is not lost.” Her voice cracked. “I love you to the moon…”
“And back,” I whispered.
“Now run.”
I spun around and ran in the direction she pointed, toward the Tennessee wilds. I ran, like Momma told me to. I ran until the ground slanted upward and trees covered the sky. I ran until the silence was so loud it buzzed in my ears like bumblebees.
BABE, WAKE UP.
My foot caught on something, and I crashed to the ground.
Sharp pain shot down my spine and into my skull. I coughed and looked up. I was lying facedown on the hardwood floor of my room. I groaned then rolled onto my back. Water dripped into my face. It stung my eyes. I licked my lips. Salty. Sweat. I reached up and pushed my hair back, and sure enough, it was soaking wet.
“TENN? Are you awake now?” Tegan’s voice was soft like a lullaby, and it brought the pace of my runaway pulse down a notch.
“Yeah, I’m awake,” I grumbled and pushed up off the ground. Sweat rolled down my chest and spine. “Just that damn dream again—”
I stopped. She wasn’t in the room with me. I was alone up here in this penthouse suite. Despite the massive fireplace crackling with flames and the sweat covering my body…I was cold to my core.
Come downstairs, my love, Tegan said into my mind.
I sighed and looked down at the crystal glyph on my hand. It was emerald green, which meant my pulse was beating fast enough to alert my other half.
Tenn, please. Just come down. You need to get out of that room right now anyway.
She was right. That damn dream had haunted me for twelve years, yet every time it tore me open all over again, like a scab that couldn’t heal. Most nights it was fuzzy and cut short. But not tonight. Tonight, I saw it with too much clarity. The tears rolling down my mother’s face. The pain in her eyes and in the way she held me. I squeezed my eyes shut, and the memory—my only memory—flashed behind my eyelids.
I saw her face. The green of her eyes that perfectly matched my one. The slim lines of her nose and her full bottom lip. I saw her perfectly manicured eyebrows and high cheekbones. The tan color of her skin matched mine identically. She had pale freckles that dusted the bridge of her nose and over her cheeks. I used to ask her why she had them and I didn’t. I saw the wind rustle through her long blonde hair. It’d been so long since I could remember her so clearly, and I couldn’t handle it. I missed her in a way I couldn’t put words to, yet I couldn’t even remember her.
It didn’t make any sense. Why did she leave me? What happened to my father? Where did SHE go? Why don’t I remember any—
TENN?
I gasped and my eyes flew open. Water dripped onto my cheeks. My eyes burned. I scrubbed at my face. My breaths were rough and ragged. My chest burned.
Tenn, my glyph just turned dark purple.
I frowned and looked down at my right hand. It was dark purple. I blinked and tried to remember what that color meant.
There was a flash of light, and then Tegan stood a few feet away. She spun away from the bed then spotted me sitting on the ground. Her pale eyes widened, and then she dropped to her knees in front of me. She climbed into my lap then wrapped her arms around my shoulders. I buried my face in the crook of her neck and just let her hold me.
“The dream again?” she whispered.
I nodded.
She sighed and squeezed me tighter. “I’m so sorry, Tenn. I promise I’m working on finding answers for you.”
I pulled back—and gasped. We weren’t in my room anymore. We were sitting on the couch in the living room.
She ran her fingers through my wet hair, and the strands dried. “My glyph turned dark purple and it scared me, so I brought you down to me.”
“Dark purple…” I reached up and traced the lines of the glyph on her chest with my fingers. “What does this color mean again?”
Her face fell. “Heartbreak.”
My breath left me in a rush. Heartbreak. That was how I felt. My heart was broken. At least part of it. It had healed a little over the years thanks to Kessler and Cooper, along with my Coven-mates. The wound was still there, but on the outside, it had smoothed over so it didn’t hurt so much. I didn’t think about what I’d lost all the time.
And then Tegan came into my life…and that pain got even lighter. Her love filled in all those cracks and crevices in my heart that used to suffocate me. With her, I knew that pain was there, but I felt strong enough to handle it. And she never judged me for it. She always knew when I needed her to hold the pieces of my broken past together.
“Hey,” she whispered and took my face between her hands. When my eyes met hers, she gave me a small smile. “Hi.”
My lips curved. “Hi.”
She leaned down and pressed her lips to mine, and all the pressure in my heart lifted. Then she pulled back and held my gaze. “Close your eyes. Let rest find you.”
My eyes closed, and I didn’t fight the fatigue drawing me down. I let myself fall into her chest and wrapped my arms around her waist.
“Stay with me,” I whispered against her skin.
“I’m not going anywhere.” She squeezed me tighter. “I’m right here. Forever.”
Chapter Eleven
Tegan
The sun was rising, brightening the sky just outside the living room windows. The fireplace was still burning strong and warm. Granted, that was mostly of my doing. I was on the big couch…with Tennessee’s head in my lap.
He was finally sleeping soundly. His heartbeat had smoothed out to a normal beat. I’d held him in my arms, mostly in my lap, for over an hour as he slept until our glyph changed back to the light pink it always was. I hated how much he hurt. I wished I could take that pain away from him, heal him completely. Bentley and I had been researching his past. We wanted to find the answers for him, tell him who he really was. Where he came from. What happened to him.
But I knew even if I gave him those answers, I could never fully heal his hurt.
The damage was already done.
I knew that from experience. It didn’t matter that I understood why I was separated from my twin, my mother, and my brother—it still hurt like hell to know that I missed out on sixteen years with them. As happy as I was now, that scar would always remain.
Just like this would for Tenn.
But I knew that answers would be better than not knowing at all.
And I was pretty sure I knew those answers. Except I couldn’t prove it. I just had a hunch and little clues. Puzzle pieces. Until I had undeniable proof, I couldn’t tell him. If I was wrong, it would only cause him more pain. Just like with Bettina and Jackson. I knew they were soulmates, but until I had that proof, I couldn’t give her false hope then watch her heart shatter.
I smiled just remembering their faces when they saw each other a few hours ago. I was so happy for them. Bettina had always been a sister to me, and despite our childhood plans to marry brothers so we could officially be family, I couldn’t have been happier for her and Jackson.
Tenn arched his back and stretched his arms and legs out. I got so distracted watching his abs tighten and flex that I didn’t realize he’d kicked one of my books off the armrest until it crashed on the ground, knocking over three other books with it. I cringed and waited for him to wake up, but he just sighed and flipped to his other side. His
vintage key necklace tangled in his hair, so I began to unwind the long black strands as he slept.
Part of me wished I could just tap out for a few hours and get a break from all of this, but I knew that wasn’t in our best interest. We had things to figure out. Despite my Coven-mates grumbling about my schemes, they actually loved it. They knew we needed me to figure this shit out. So there was to be no rest for me until I did. No rest for the wicked, after all.
And I was close. So close. I could feel our answers were staring me right in the face. I just couldn’t see them. It was driving me mad. For hours I’d been searching through every book I could get my hands on, yet nothing helped. I was just inhaling information I wasn’t sure would ever be useful— I froze.
What was that? I felt something—there. What is that? It was cold and sharp, tingling against the edges of my magic. It felt like pain or fear or weakness. I gasped and sat up straight. Ellis.
I didn’t want to leave Tenn alone, but I couldn’t just not check on Ellis. I took a deep breath and pictured where I wanted to go, then let my body turn to smoke. When I opened my eyes, I stood outside of the guestroom we’d put Ellis in. I knocked softly.
“Yes?” Ellis’s voice was strained and too quiet.
I turned the handle and pushed the door open—and froze. Ellis was lying on the hardwood floor, using his arm as a pillow. His white long-sleeved shirt was soaking wet with sweat, and his long brown hair was a tangled mess. He shivered and looked up at me, but made no effort to speak.
“Ellis.” I rushed inside and crouched down beside him. I put my hand on his shoulder, and his body was ice-cold. “You are not okay.”
He closed his eyes and shook his head slowly.
I cursed. “Why didn’t you call for us?”
His eyes opened, and the amber color was paler than they had been a few hours before. “I-I was af-afraid you’d th-th-think I was try-try-trying to t-t-t-t-trick you or s-something… I want you t-to trust me.”
My heart sank. He was allowing himself to suffer immensely just to gain our trust. I did not like what that said about us.
I cleared my throat. “Why aren’t you on the bed?”
His face fell. “I’ve never slept in a b-b-b-bed… It’s…” His whole body trembled.
I shuddered. Never slept in a bed. Damn you, Joseph. Damn you, Ruth. What did you DO? I reached down and pressed my fingers to his forehead His skin was burning up. He had a fever. I snapped my fingers, and a portal opened up right beside us and sucked us in.
Ellis gasped and jumped up, then wobbled a few feet before collapsing once again. I cursed and forced the fireplace to burn hotter. Then I flicked my wrist, and he flew across the floor until he was lying on the fuzzy white carpet but propped up on the lounge chair next to the fireplace.
“Damn it, Ellis. I don’t know what Joseph has said about us, but we’re not monsters.” I grabbed a flannel blanket off the couch and wrapped it around him. “You do not have to kill yourself to get us to trust you.”
He shrugged one shoulder and looked up at me. “If you don’t trust me, then I am doomed.”
I sighed and sat on the edge of the coffee table, on top of a few of my open books. “Ellis, it’s not that we don’t trust you. I mean, Jackson’s lie detector magic is always right. And Deacon is our Devil. He can literally sense your desires. Both of them cleared you. Not to mention the rest of us were already wanting to believe you before that. And we did bring you to our home.”
He opened his mouth then shut it.
“Listen, we’ve been through a lot this year. We’ve lost too many friends. We have scars. Then Trey betrayed us, and it cost innocent people their lives. We’re just a little hard on ourselves right now.”
“You have to kill Trey. You know that, right?” His eyes blazed with hate. “He cannot be redeemed. He’s worse than Joseph. All this time he could’ve told you we were alive and suffering, and yet he kept his mouth shut. He’s a monster.”
I nodded. “I agree. He tried to kill me. Trust me, neither I, my soulmate, my twin, my best friend, my brothers, my uncle, or my parents will hesitate to retaliate. Now, sit here and don’t move.”
When he nodded, I stood up and hurried into the kitchen. Mona had made several servings of soup for us, rich with healing potions. I grabbed one out of the fridge and walked back over to Ellis while heating the bowl up. By the time I got back to him, the soup was steaming hot. I love magic.
As I approached, Ellis gestured toward Tenn on the couch. “What’s wrong with him?”
I sighed and looked over at my soulmate still sound asleep. “Stress. Lots of it.”
“Do the tattoos really mean you’re soulmates? Trey told us they did.”
I smiled and looked down at the crystal and vines covering my right hand. “It’s not a tattoo, but a magical marking we call a glyph. And yes, it means Tennessee is my soulmate. We have a few soulmate pairings in The Coven now, which is nice.”
“Oh…that’s cool.” He shivered and wrapped the blanket around him tighter. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’ve never felt like this before.”
I took the lid off the bowl of soup then held it out to him. “Here, drink this. It’s a healing potion soup. Should help you feel better.”
His hands shook as he reached out and took it from me. He eyed the golden contents with a frown. “Healing potion? Do you know what’s wrong with me?”
I opened my mouth then shut it. “Ellis, have you ever been trapped in your physical body before?”
He shook his head then sniffed the soup.
“And when you’re a shadow, do you have to eat food or drink?”
“No. The energy we take from others is what keeps us alive. I haven’t eaten food or had a drink since…” His eyes went distant. “Since before the spell.”
My eyes widened. I reached out and raised the bowl to his mouth. “Drink. Now.”
He glanced up at me then back to the soup. He stared at it for a moment longer, then put it to his lips and took a sip. His eyes widened. He took another sip. Then a few more.
I smiled and nodded in encouragement.
“I forgot how good food tasted,” he said under his breath and between gulps.
I chuckled and watched him finish the bowl in less than a minute. “Feel better?”
He blinked then nodded. “I am not shivering anymore. How did you know all that?”
I shrugged and grabbed an unopened bottle of water off the coffee table then handed it to him. “From what I can understand, the spell Ruth and Micah performed changed your entire body composition. You are essentially neither human nor arcana. Kind of like a vampire. Do you remember what those are?”
“They drink blood to survive, right?”
“Exactly. So because of this, the laws of the human body stopped applying to you the moment the spell hit you. All you needed was the magic and energy.” I held my hand out and took the empty soup bowl from him, then flicked my wrist and it floated into the kitchen. “However, tonight you taught us how to essentially trap you in your original human, physical form…so your body realized it hadn’t eaten food or had a drink of water in twelve years, and it started to shut down.”
His jaw dropped, and water spilled out of his mouth onto his chin. He coughed and wiped at it. “Are you saying I’m dying?”
“Technically, yes. But in a minute, once we ensure this first bowl stays down, I’ll get you more. And when Mona wakes up, she can offer more expertise. Later, we’ll get you some real food, too.”
I stood and walked back over to the couch. I turned myself into smoke and reclaimed my spot under Tenn’s head. Once he was resettled with me as a pillow, I leaned back and ran my fingers through his hair. “I wish I knew what spell Ruth used.”
“If you knew it, could you reverse it?”
“Yes. I am ninety-nine percent sure I could.” I sighed and shook my head. “But no one knows what it was.”
“My mother and Joseph both insist it’s in the loc
ket.” He pulled his knees up to his chest, his face coloring already looking better. “We need to find it. Before they do.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, that’s accurate. But they know more than I do right now.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure? You seem to know a lot. When I left my mother today, I was told the High Priestess was the person to talk to. That you would be the one to solve this riddle.”
“That’s flattering, but I wasn’t there when Ruth was alive. I didn’t know her. And everyone who did doesn’t seem to have anything to tell me. It’s like they’ve all blocked it from memory.” I gestured to all the books spread throughout the room. “I’ve got all of this, but nothing on Ruth. I’m going to pick my elders’ brains about the locket once they wake up, but I don’t have much hope there.”
Ellis frowned. “Why not?”
“Because they weren’t there. Otherwise, they would’ve stopped Ruth.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “But Joseph was there. He was Ruth and Micah’s biggest supporter. He knew. And that means he has a whole ton of knowledge about her that we don’t know. I know Joseph is planning something, and I wish I knew what that was. I hate feeling like he knows something I don’t.”
Ellis leaned forward and met my gaze. “Maybe there’s something we can do about that.”
Chapter Twelve
Jackson
Waking up never felt so good.
I rolled onto my back and smiled to myself. The sun was shining through the windows, and the room was all nice and cozy warm. My body was tired in all the right ways. My heart was happier than Pooh Bear with a dozen pots of honey.
Bettina was curled up next to me, her golden hair shimmering in the sunshine.
I stretched and looked around her room. There was all kinds of dreamcatchers and artwork hanging on the walls, but my focus was on the ceiling. The entire ceiling had these vintage-looking lanterns hanging down at different heights. Except there wasn’t a single cord. Just strings and lanterns. I knew it was magic. Obviously. But they changed colors, and I didn’t know why. When I first woke, they were all a bright sunny yellow. But as I looked up at them, they began to change to emerald green. And a couple had turned a pretty violet.
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