Hunter cleared his throat. “One question…was my moving in next door a coincidence at all?”
Mom grinned. “Nope. Not a bit.”
Devon scowled. “Please explain.”
“When it was time to separate the twins, Timothy offered to find you a home, remember?” When they nodded, she smiled and shrugged. “Well, he was here when that happened. So was Ruth and both kids. Timothy bought the house next door because he wanted his niece to not be alone among humans. He said, ‘We just have to decide which twin will go where.’ Ruth called Myrtle for guidance, since she was also a child of an angel. Myrtle then confessed to us that in the year 2018, Tegan, Emersyn, Haven, Cooper, Royce, Henley, and Deacon would travel through time to 1692 where Myrtle and her daughter Saffie would help them get back to the present. She told us that Tegan was the Aether witch, and that she’d need to have the angelic presence of Hope growing up to keep her grounded…and that she’d need to be raised by Hunter to keep her controlled, because her mother was a little too much like her. But that Emersyn needed that fire, so she needed to be raised by Devon.”
Tegan laughed maniacally. “Oh Myrtle, so devious. I love it.”
Devon shook her head. “Unbelievable.”
Hunter and Kessler just stared.
“When the day came…Ruth called me sobbing, in a panic. Destroyed because she knew she was about to die. That this was what her father had seen coming. She told me Hope was coming my way. It was the hardest conversation I’ve ever had…to tell my best friend goodbye and promise to take care of her daughter… I did as was planned and went down to the riverbank where I was to pick up Hope.” She frowned and rubbed her arms. “Then I called Timothy. He was already on his way to Ruth but knew he wasn’t going to make it. We waited for maybe two hours total…and then there you came, floating down the river in your raft. When I picked you up, you were sound asleep…and blonde. I took you right home and called Timothy immediately. He told me he was waiting in Eden until he saw Haven with Kessler, then he’d come here.”
“He said that?” Kessler groaned.
She nodded. “He showed up late morning, early lunch. Hope was asleep when he got here. The spell hadn’t worn off yet… He was an absolute mess.”
Silence.
My eyes burned as my emotions raged. “Why didn’t he come visit me or anything? At least Haven got to see him.”
My father chuckled. “Do you remember my work friend Thomas?”
I frowned and nodded.
“That was Timothy. Ruth had given him a glamour spell so that he could come visit you. He couldn’t use it for Haven because he was surrounded by Cards, and as one himself, they would’ve sensed the strength of his magic. But you, Hope, were safer.”
Cooper whistled. “My mind is so totally blown right now.”
Hunter looked to me with a wistful expression. “So that’s why Bettina was always at my house.”
Mom smiled at me sadly. “I knew I was temporary for her, that one day she would be one of you. So I wanted her to feel safe with you for when she went where I couldn’t follow.”
Hunter cursed and spun away.
Haven looked shell-shocked.
I blinked and tears spilled onto my cheeks.
After several quiet minutes, Tegan whispered, “Did Ruth tell you anything about what happened that caused her death?”
“The spell?” Mom shook her head. “No, but she told me any answer you’d need would be in her locket.”
My locket. That was why I was here. My emotions were out of control and my thoughts were going in a million different directions. I just wanted to sit here and let all of this soak in. I wanted to look at these pictures of my real family. I wanted to ask my parents about my mom and dad, and Uncle Timothy. I felt like a sheet of glass that’d been shattered then taped back together. But I couldn’t sit here. I had to go get my locket. I had to correct my mother’s mistake. I had a job to do, tears or not.
I swallowed through the lump in my throat and turned to Tegan. “Do you remember where we hid it?”
Tegan grinned like the Cheshire cat. “Girl. That hiding spot was my idea.”
I jumped to my feet. “Let’s go get it, then.”
Chapter Forty-Four
Bettina
Tegan jumped up and ran over without pause or hesitation. Together, we headed to the stairs of my house just like we had millions of times in our lives. It was surreal to be doing something that once was so familiar and routine yet now seemed alien.
“Full disclosure, this is kinda blowing my mind right now.” Tegan shook her head and chuckled.
“Coming from you, that’s a shock.”
“Yeah, but this was from when we were little kids!”
I paused at the bottom step and glanced back into the living room where my brother sat on the couch looking entirely rattled. Tegan and I might have hid this, but it was our mother. The story we’d just heard still had my heart pounding. My limbs felt weak and shaky.
“Haven.”
He glanced up at me from under his dark hair. His face was a blank mask, but his eyes were full of the same pain in my heart.
I nodded toward the stairs. “Come with us?”
He smiled just a little and jumped to his feet. Everyone else watched in silence as he headed over.
I peeked over his shoulder to Jackson, who gave me a wink and a smile. Warmth filled my chest despite the chill in my bones. I couldn’t imagine going through the last few days without him. My life had flipped inside out, and I felt like I was lost at sea during a hurricane, surrounded by fifty-foot waves crashing down on me from every angle. But Jackson was more than just my anchor; he was the lighthouse in the storm lighting up the way to safety. I would’ve fallen apart without him. Just knowing he was here made all the difference.
I turned and headed up the steps with my brother behind me. Tegan reached out to him and ran her fingers through his hair. The energy rolling off of him lightened and warmed under her touch, and I was thankful for it. I wanted him to have something to give him happiness after…well, after all those years…alone.
I knew he’d had Kessler and the rest of The Coven. But he also had the knowledge that he was missing something. And knowing that weighed down on me like something was sitting on my chest. It was guilt, plain and simple. I just wondered if I’d ever live another day without it or if it would be my constant companion.
“Hope?”
I jumped and looked up to my brother.
He frowned. “You okay?”
I opened my mouth to say no, I was definitely not okay, when I realized we were standing in the attic. My jaw dropped. I’d been so lost in thought I hadn’t even consciously realized I’d gone upstairs. I shivered then shook my head.
“Yo, B!” Tegan shouted.
I flinched. “Yes?”
“How the hell did we manage this at ten years old?” She giggled. “I’m impressed by little me.”
That made me smile. I grabbed Haven’s arm and dragged him across the room with me to where Tegan stood in the far corner of the attic, facing the back wall. I hurried over then peeked out the small window to the backyard, the same view I had from my bedroom window directly below us. A million memories flashed through my mind. Twelve years I lived in this house thinking it was my home, that it was all I ever had. How was I going to merge my two lives into one? How would I be both Bettina and Hope?
Something warm wrapped around me, and when I looked up, it was Haven’s arm. He gave my shoulders a squeeze and smiled. I sighed and leaned into him. It’d been twelve years, yet this still felt entirely familiar and comfortable. He still smelled like him. He was still the same amount bigger than me, proportionally speaking. He still knew when I needed support.
Tegan stepped back and shook her head. “How the hell did we get this thing on top of it? Dad didn’t help. Neither of us had our magic.”
I frowned and then the memory hit me. I giggled. “As I recall, you said physics.”
&n
bsp; Tegan pursed her lips then shrugged. “Sounds like me.”
“It’s in this dresser?” Tenn asked with a frown.
I shook my head. “No, it’s under it.”
“Oh.” Tenn nodded. The dresser slid effortlessly to the side, then Tenn leaned down and stared at the empty space. “I don’t see anything.”
“That’s the whole point, babe.” Tegan wiggled by him then sank to her knees. She held her palm out, and the broken wooden plank flew into her hand. “That’s so much easier than physics.”
“Is it in there?” Oh Goddess, what if it’s not? My pulse quickened and my palms got sweaty. I took a shaky breath then held it as Tegan leaned over the opening in the floor.
She sighed. She curled her fingers, and a little box floated into the air in front of her. “Yup.”
Relief hit me so hard I actually swayed on my feet. Heat filled my cheeks. “It’s in there?”
There was a cherished piece of my childhood that was so utterly familiar to me it hurt my head to think about. It was my ballerina music box. Inside, there was a little raven-haired girl with a halo and golden wings. When it was open, she twirled to a twinkling little tune. The outside of the box was a soft, pale pink color made entirely of glitter. I knew every centimeter of this box. Just looking at it now, I could hear its song. I used to keep all my very favorite things inside of it. It had seemed only natural to hide my locket inside. I shivered as knowledge changed my memory of that moment.
We’d burned half the kitchen down—which Hunter had put out in less than two minutes—but my locket had been broken in the process. I’d been devastated beyond consolation. My mother—my adoptive mother—had told me since I was little that it was the most important thing I owned. She’d said it was all I had left of my grandmother and I could never lose it or break it. And when I showed her what happened, she’d been hysterical. Livid. I’d never seen her like that, before or after. It had scared me so much I hid the locket away where no one would find it.
Just knowing what the locket really was made me panic. I’d almost destroyed it. My mother’s locket. My body trembled.
“Is that a lock around it?” Haven walked over to Tegan and stared down at it.
I gasped. “Oh, shoot! The lock!” I’d completely forgotten we’d added an extra layer of protection. We’d gotten pretty paranoid after my mom panicked.
“Wait, what made you do all this?” He looked back and forth between us. “You didn’t know…”
I flipped my hair over my shoulder. “You tell him. Imma get the key.”
“So what had happened was…” Tegan chuckled.
I shook my head and sped down the steps. The stairs up to the attic were right next to my bedroom, so I didn’t have to go far. And I knew right where they key was. It was hidden in plain sight, and no one would’ve known what it was for. I smiled. Guess I’m like Mom after all.
I yanked the door open—and gasped.
Standing inside my bedroom was Trey.
My jaw dropped. I knew I needed to scream or run or do something, but my body locked in place. His eyes widened. The room was chaos behind him. All of my books had been pulled off the bookshelf. My drawers and closet were empty. There were clothes everywhere. But all of that I registered in the back of my mind.
My eyes were locked on Trey. The backstabbing, traitorous prick that he was.
For a moment, neither of us moved.
And then he threw his arms up. I cursed and pushed my magic out with everything I had. A wall of ice shot out of me in a solid wall just as a cloud of dark magic billowed out of him. It slammed into my ice, and bright light flashed. Everything went pink, and then the world exploded around me.
Chapter Forty-Five
Bettina
I flew into the air then slammed into the wall. Sharp pain laced down my back. I cursed and threw my hands out to try and catch myself, but my ass hit the ground before I could get control. A solid wall of ice covered the back half of my room from floor to ceiling, from wall to wall.
Bright light shined through the ice.
I scrambled to my feet then leapt to my handiwork just as a large, dark object dropped from the ceiling. Shit, shit, shit.
“TEGAN!” I screamed, even though I was pretty sure everyone heard that explosion.
It took me a beat of a second to focus my thoughts enough to melt my ice wall, but when it was gone, I sucked in a startled breath. The entire back wall of my room was gone. Oh my Goddess. I blew up my house. Holy shit, shit, shit.
Trey was nowhere in sight. I ran to the edge of my broken house. My jaw dropped.
What the hell?
Trey was on the ground, flattened on his back.
With Jackson on top of him.
I gasped. Jackson had him pinned…and was pummeling him mercilessly. His fists were bloody already, and Trey’s face was busted open. Jackson punched him over and over, alternating hands. Haven stood behind him with his arms crossed over his chest. Just watching. He was a menacing dark shadow— OH. That dark object I saw was him.
Tegan stood behind Haven with narrowed pale green eyes.
“Shit.”
I spun around and sprinted to the wall where all my jewelry was hanging on little pegs and grabbed the bedazzled ribbon with the tiny little key hanging from the end. Shit, shit, shit. Once I triple checked the key was there, I sprinted back toward the hole in my house. My magic poured ahead of me in a glittery pink path. The ground froze. I flicked my wrist, and then I was sliding down an ice chute to the ground.
As my feet hit the grass, I spotted the Bishops ready and waiting for action. They stood in a protective half circle behind Jackson. I hurried over only to slide to a stop. What do I do? DO I stop him? Do I let him kick Trey’s ass? Do I help?
“Am I supposed to be seeing something right now?” my dad yelled out. I spun and found him running for us with a baseball bat in hand. “Just tell me where to swing!”
“Nothing yet, love,” my mom said in a rush—with a sword in hand.
What is happening right now?
Since when does she have weapons?
Jackson roared like a tiger and slammed his fists into Trey’s face a few more times. Haven leaned back on his heels, like he had no plan to step in at all. Just then Jackson stopped. His face was flushed and his breaths were ragged. He reached down to his thigh and pulled his dagger out of its holster. He raised it up over Trey’s head, and thick black smoke covered him.
And then Trey was gone.
We all gasped and looked up to where the smoke was coming from to find Joseph standing between the trees in his shadowy form. His big yellow eyes shimmered against the darkness, and I could have sworn I felt him chuckle. And then they vanished into thin air.
Silence.
I just stared.
I couldn’t move or speak.
“Oh, shit. No,” a familiar voice yelled from behind us.
I turned to find Dean standing there with wide eyes and an ashen face.
“Dean?” Haven frowned. “What are you doing here?”
My mother raised the blade of her sword up. “I called him.”
“Was that him? Oh, no, no, no.” Dean shivered then shook his head. “Nope. Hell no. That was creepy. Goddess, that’ll leave nightmares.”
“Dean…”
He spun—then cursed. “Holy shit, you blew up the house.”
“Dean.”
He turned back and faced Haven, still shaking his head. “I got the house, man. Promise, I’ll fix all this. Y’all go handle…that.”
We all turned to Haven. He was our Leader, the one in charge of handing out orders—not Dean.
But Haven just smirked and shook his head. He looked to Tegan. “Get us home, Kitten.”
A white portal opened up right next to her immediately. “After y’all.”
“Call me if you need me,” Dean shouted.
I turned to my best friend and scanned her body. “Do you have the box?”
She grinned a
nd held her hand up in the air—with my pink ballerina box in her palm.
Chapter Forty-Six
Bettina
I stepped through the portal…and right back into Coven Headquarters.
I felt like everything had changed.
I felt like an entirely new person.
A gutted, emotionally shattered person…but a new person.
Our Coven-mates were ecstatic to see us return, and in the back of my mind, I registered the relaying of the story—or at least parts of it. I was struggling to concentrate. Shit just got real. I didn’t know which of it all to focus on first. My mother and her schemes? Uncle Timothy? My adoptive mother—a Lancaster? Or maybe the part about me being the granddaughter of archangel Michael.
A loud whistle ripped through the room.
I jumped and looked up expecting it to have been Deacon, only to find it was Jackson.
Everyone went silent, and it was only then that I realized just how loud the room had been. I sighed and some of the tension in my body eased.
“Dude, nice mouth work,” Deacon said with a grin and a thumbs-up.
Easton opened his mouth, but Lily slammed her hand over it. “Don’t.”
Jackson smirked then looked down at me. He placed his hand to the small of my back, and the heat in his skin chased away the chill in my bones. “I’ll be happy to relay what we learned in Charleston, but for now, let’s focus on the locket. Please?”
Tegan smiled and held my ballerina music box out to Haven, then nodded toward me.
He took it, and his eyebrows furrowed. It looked so comical in his hands with all that pink glitter. He stared at it for a moment longer, then turned to me. “Did you get the key?”
I nodded and crossed the room to where he stood, even though my legs felt like concrete blocks. I didn’t know why I was so nervous. It was fine. My mother’s magic pulsed from inside of the box, and I hadn’t even touched it yet. Our answers had to be in there. I fumbled with the bedazzled ribbon in my hand a few times before I managed to get a good grip on the tiny little silver key. Haven held the box in front of me with the lock out.
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