Cooper pulled a piece of paper out of his back pocket and held it out for Tenn. “I made a checklist, places to check.”
Tenn took the paper and read over it with sharp eyes. Then he nodded. “I want to check this Tower Card myself.”
Tegan jumped to her feet. “I’ll go with you.”
I frowned. I hadn’t seen the checklist, but I did have an idea. “Hey, Bentley? You said that Sam girl was important, right? Could she maybe be Hope?”
Bentley pursed his lips and cocked his head to the side. “That’s a good question.”
“Perfect.” Bettina stepped away from where I wanted her to be and smiled. “Jackson and I will go check her.”
“But not tonight.” Constance shook her head and put her hands on her hips. “I know I haven’t pulled Leader rank much since Tenn joined me, but I am now.” She turned to Tennessee. “You and Tegan go now to check the Tower. The rest of us will stay on alert here. When you get back, we can send the others.”
“Constance is right. We need to limit how much we split up. We’re stronger together.” Tenn pushed his hair back. “Tegan and I will make this quick check, then we’ll be back. Tomorrow, once everyone is rested a bit, we’ll send the rest of you out to check other leads.”
Bettina looked up at me and smiled. Her eyes sparkled…and my stomach dropped. What did I just do? I hadn’t meant I needed to go check Sam. I just thought someone should. There had to be a reason why I was sent to collect her so this would make sense. But I didn’t want to see her again. Not so soon. The girl had kissed me and flashed me; she was wild and carefree.
And now I had to introduce her to Bettina.
Because nothing could go wrong there…
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Tennessee
I stepped out of Tegan’s portal and froze. She’d dropped us right in the middle of the hospital hallway. Nurses and doctors rushed around. That sterile, clean smell invaded my senses. Yet not a single person noticed our sudden appearance.
I frowned. “Are you cloaking us?”
Tegan smiled and tangled her fingers with mine. “I’m tired, don’t feel like playing the game tonight. Let’s just go check Frankie—”
“Frankie? Who’s that— Wait, is that her name?”
“Apparently.” Tegan chuckled and pulled me into a brisk walk. “Jackson said her name is Frankie.”
“Well, I can sure feel her from here.” I focused in on the energy pulsing down the hall, feeling it grow stronger with every step. “She’s powerful.”
“I know!” Tegan squealed. “I can’t wait…and this is her room.”
I glanced over my shoulder to the nurse’s station behind us, but I knew Tegan’s cloaking spell was strong enough to keep us hidden from human sight. I scanned their faces to see if perhaps we had a sleeper supernatural nearby—and then I was suddenly staring at a wooden door.
“Oh, good. Her family isn’t here right now,” Tegan whispered.
I spun around, and my heart lodged in my throat. There she was, our new Tower Card, lying in a hospital bed completely covered in white bandages. Goddess almighty. What happened to her?
“Paulina says her and her friend were drugged and assaulted at a local frat party, but Frankie here got them out. Says she stole a car and drove here but then got in a wreck out front, and the car exploded.”
“Shit.” I strolled over to the bed, to where her left hand was mostly exposed. I reached out and gently pressed my fingertip to the back of her hand. Bright blue magic poured out of her and wrapped around my finger. “She’s incredibly strong.”
“I know. She’s gonna be a badass. I can’t wait.” Tegan held her hands just above Frankie’s bandaged chest. Rainbow magic spilled from her palms. “Katherine’s potions are working well—"
“Tegan?” I arched one eyebrow. “Should you be doing that?”
She shrugged. “You felt her power the second we portaled here. She can handle it, but more than that, she needs a little extra bump.”
I shook my head and refocused on Frankie’s arm. Jackson had told us he’d checked for her Mark and saw it, yet I still found myself reaching for the bandage on her forearm. I wanted to see it for myself. I gently pulled the material aside until I spotted those three black letters XVI.
The Tower.
“Man, maybe we should be moving her to our infirmary?” I shook my head and fixed her bandages. “I don’t like that her skin isn’t healing faster. We need—”
“To let things run their course.” Tegan pulled her arms back then reached into her leather jacket pocket and removed her tarot deck. She shook her head and began shuffling them. “First of all, we evacuated all of Eden, remember? So she’s safer here for now, especially since Joseph doesn’t know who she is. Secondly, she should have died in that car, but her magic saved her. And Katherine’s potions are already working miracles. We need to let that do its thing. And thirdly…” She pulled a card off the top of the tarot deck and flipped it over, then she frowned.
“What?”
“Thirdly, my gut tells me we’re not supposed to intervene in her life just yet. And this card proves it.” She turned the card to face me. “See?”
I leaned over the bed and looked at the tarot card. The card said The Tower, but the image was odd. Normally, once a witch was Marked, their face appeared in the tarot deck along with their name. But Frankie’s just showed the back of a girl’s head, where only her cotton-candy pink hair identified her.
I sighed and straightened. “Yeah, you’re right. I guess— Wait. Her name isn’t on there, yet we know what it is. Maybe…maybe…”
Tegan smiled softly. “There’s only one way to find out.” She pulled out a quartz crystal the size of a golf ball and handed it to me.
My pulse quickened. This just got real. I knew I’d come here for this specific reason, but now that I was here… Shit. The world spun a little, and my stomach turned. I lowered the crystal down to Frankie’s arm. I was about to find out if this girl was my lost sister. She was the right age. She had blue magic, and so did I. But if she’s my sister, wouldn’t I feel something? Some kind of connection or recognition?
My fingers trembled as I slowly pressed the crystal to the small patch of skin showing.
The crystal instantly turned a deep blood red.
I exhaled the breath I’d been holding then looked up to Tegan and shook my head.
“Well, at least we tried.” She gave me a small smile. “We will find her.”
I nodded. I wanted to believe it, but I was afraid to let myself hope.
Hope is not lost.
I was starting to fear it was.
“All right. I guess we better go before her family returns.” I slid the crystal in my pocket then stepped back. “It feels wrong to just leave her here.”
“I agree.” Tegan rubbed her palms together, her rainbow magic sparkling between her fingers. “That’s why I’m going to put a tracker on her so we’ll know if she leaves the hospital.”
“Leave the hospital?” I frowned. “Why do you think she’ll leave without us knowing? Do you know something I don’t?”
Tegan shook her head. “But I feel something. I can’t put my finger on it. We don’t know when Frankie will heal, and if we’re preoccupied when it happens? No one here knows to call us. She could leave and…I don’t know… I get the feeling Frankie might freak out when she wakes up.”
I pushed my hair back. “She’s covered in burns, so how are you going to track her? You can’t put jewelry on her, and you can’t put a spell because it could interfere with Katherine’s healing.”
Tegan looked up at me with a wild glint in her eyes and that mischievous smile I both loved and feared. “But I can put a scar on her, and no one would think otherwise.”
My eyes widened. “A scar? You can place a tracker on her in the form of a scar?”
She shrugged. “With my Leader’s permission, yes. What do you say?”
I cursed. Let’s pray this doesn’t b
ite us in the ass later. “Yeah. Yeah, do it.”
Chapter Thirty
Jackson
“You’re acting weird, Lancelot,” Bettina said softly from behind me. She pressed herself against my back and wrapped her arms around my waist. “Talk to me, please?”
“I’m just thinking.” Liar. You’re freaking out.
Today was the day I was taking Bettina to meet Sam. There’d been so much going on since I got back that I hadn’t had the chance to tell her what happened. More specifically the part where she kissed me. The logical side of me knew it shouldn’t be a big deal. After all, I’d seen Bettina kiss Cooper. Twice. But the irrational side of me remembered how absolutely mental that made me.
I cleared my throat and pulled my bedroom door open. A big piece of ice slammed into it and forced it shut, freezing it closed.
“Not so fast. You’re being weird, and I’m too emotionally frazzled right now to let my brain loop over what might be going on in your head.”
I closed my eyes and cringed. Just rip it off, mate. Like a Band-Aid. “I’m just nervous about you meeting Sam, that’s all.”
“Look at me,” she whispered.
I spun around and faced her, with my heart pounding in my chest.
She walked right up to me, her eyes only a couple inches below mine. “Do I have anything to be nervous about?”
“No. Goddess, no.” I cursed and cupped her face between my hands. “I love you. It’s only you. I only went to her because Bentley sent me—”
“Jackson.” She placed her palms on my chest. “I love you, too. That’s all that matters. Let’s leave the past alone. All I wanna do is focus on our future together. Okay?”
My cheeks warmed. “Okay.”
She pushed up on her toes and pressed her lips to mine, then pulled away far too quickly. “Now, let’s go find Hope.”
“Yeah, no pressure,” I grumbled as she dragged me down the hall.
When we got down to the first floor, we found a little bit of chaos, but everyone seemed to be focused on the mission.
Cooper looked up from the paper in his hands and grinned. “Morning, love birds. I was just on your names on my checklist.”
I nodded and glanced around at everyone scuttering about. There were papers and half-eaten omelets everywhere. “What’s going on here?”
Cooper shrugged. “Search and rescue operation. Tegan has been portaling people in and out all morning, checking different areas for Hope.”
Bright white flashed, and then Tegan appeared in front of us. She grinned and gave us two thumbs up. “Your turn now?”
“YUP.” Bettina nodded. “Where’s Tenn?”
Tegan pressed her hand to her chest. “Sleeping. Finally. And I’d like to keep it that way a bit longer.”
“Yeah, for more reasons than one.” Cooper chuckled but his eyes darkened. “All right, let’s get these two off to check this Sam girl out.”
My stomach flipped and tightened. No big deal. Past is done, that’s what she said. I just wished my body would get the memo. My palms were sweaty and my pulse was doing weird things. It was irritating because I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong. But I just…I didn’t want to lose her now that I finally had her. It was just one little kiss.
“Jackson?”
I jumped then shook myself. “Right. Sorry, love. Coming.”
Tegan rolled her eyes and handed me the crystal. Once I took it, she gestured toward the portal. “Call me when you’re ready for pickup.”
Bettina gave her a high five then hopped right into the portal.
I walked up to it then paused. “Tell me…is she a…jealous person?” I whispered.
Tegan grinned. “You’re her first boyfriend. Guess we’ll find out together.”
My face fell. “That’s not reassuring at all—”
“Off ya’ go!” Tegan winked then pushed me through the portal.
I stumbled forward…and then I was in a cozy living room with big suede sofas and hardwood floors. The walls were painted a deep red, and it gave the room a very comfy vibe. The sunlight streaming in through the drapes was soft and golden.
“Oh, Jackson, how lovely to see you again.”
I spun at the sound of Dora’s warm voice. “Dora, how are you?”
“Perfectly well, dear.” She smiled and gestured toward Bettina. “Have you brought me another?”
“Oh. Oh, no. This is Bettina Blair. She’s in The Coven.”
Bettina held her left hand out, and Dora’s eyes widened.
“Dear me, yes you are. What can I help you two with this morning?”
I cleared my throat. “Actually, we were just hoping to speak with Sam for a moment.”
“Of course. I’ll go get her. Wait right here.” She hurried past us and out onto the back porch.
“What exactly is this place again?” Bettina frowned. “And why is it a secret?”
I chuckled. “I have no idea. Didn’t know it existed until Tenn sent me here.”
“Weird.”
“Yeah, indee—” My words died on my tongue as the back door swung open again.
Sam sauntered into the room. Her long, snow-white hair swayed by her hips. Those pale golden eyes twinkled. Her outfit left little to the imagination. I wasn’t even sure those counted as shorts and not denim underwear. She wore another bright orange shirt, and this time it had the Florida Gators logo on the front.
She grinned and prowled toward us. “Oh, look who it is. My not soulmate.”
My face lit on fire. I cleared my throat and pointed beside me. “Sam, this is Bettina, my real soulmate.”
Sam gave Bettina a hard onceover, then narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “Did you get the kiss test, too?”
Bettina’s eyes widened like saucers. “The what?”
Oh, shit.
Chapter Thirty-One
Bettina
“The what?”
Jackson’s face turned sheet white. His jaw dropped. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He was panicking, and it was actually the cutest thing I had ever seen.
But it turned out I was more like my best friend than I realized, because I turned to him with my hands on my hips and my eyebrow arched high. “The what?”
“Okay, wait. I can explain.”
I was about to laugh, so I looked over to Sam. She was an absolute knockout. Gorgeous, perfect tan, and a rockin’ hot body. I wasn’t jealous. Okay, maybe if I didn’t have the matching soulmate glyph on my skin, I’d be freaking out about this girl…but I did, so I wasn’t.
Sam looked to me with those eerie pale eyes and wagged her eyebrows. She pointed to her chest. “Did he ask you to flash him, too? I mean, I’m not complaining about either, but they were both kind of a letdown at the end.”
Flash him? I turned back to my soulmate. “What?” I slammed my mouth closed to try and stop myself from laughing. Oh, his face right now. I knew he hadn’t asked her to flash him; he was far too British for such a thing.
He shook his head wildly and waved his hands. Sweat rolled down his temple. “No. Wait. It was all a misunderstanding. Don’t be mad. I can explain.”
I tried to hold on and let him sweat it out a bit longer, but I just freaking lost it.
His face fell. “Are you laughing?”
I nodded and cackled. “Oh, shit. You should’ve seen your face.”
“Bloody hell, woman.” He ran his hands through his hair and tugged. “‘Bout gave me a heart attack.”
I wiped the laughing tears off my face then turned to the girl in question and held out my left hand. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist. I’m a bad person, I guess. I’m Bettina. It’s nice to meet you.”
Her pale eyes latched onto my forearm for a long moment before looking back up at my face. “You’re…wait don’t tell me…Judgement?”
“Yes! Exactly.” I glanced over to Jackson, but he was bent over and looking a little green. “I couldn’t help myself.”
“That was entertaining as hell.
” Sam sat down on the armrest of the sofa. Then she gave me a sharp look. “So you’re the soulmate he was searching for?”
“That’s me.”
She chuckled and shook her head. “This one’s too nice. You’re gonna break him, girl.”
Jackson cursed. “Thanks. Thanks a lot.”
I sighed. “Well, now that that is settled. We are actually here for a reason, and we need your assistance.”
She sat up straight. “Me?”
“The Coven is searching for someone in particular…Jackson, the crystal, please?” I waited until he pulled the quartz out of his pocket and held it up. “This may sound strange—especially if you’re new to this world—but we need to just place the crystal on your bare skin.”
“Interesting.” Sam held her arm out in front of me. “Go for it, then.”
He took a deep breath then set the crystal on the back of her hand…and it instantly turned deep blood red. Well…shit. That balloon of hope in my chest popped. I’d been really hoping this girl was going to be Hope. I wanted to help Tenn find his sister.
“I take it that means no?”
I smiled down at Sam then stuffed the crystal in my back pocket. “Sadly, no. That would’ve made our lives much easier.”
“I’m sorry we disturbed your afternoon.”
Sam shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. I’m always happy to help.”
“Thanks, Sam. We will be in touch once Eden opens back up and stuff.” I smiled and pulled my cell phone out. Then I dialed the number. “Hey, Tegan, we’re ready for pickup.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Emersyn
“Okay, do we know the orphan’s name?”
“Hope, hopefully.”
I paused in the hallway of this unfamiliar high school and looked up at my soulmate. “Really?”
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