“What do you mean?” Eden’s belly tightened.
“Quinn. Kai. They saw things they shouldn’t have.”
“You told the Council they were there last night?” Eden couldn’t hide the panic from her voice.
Wiping memories that strong would be dangerous. Quinn and Kai might lose more than just one night. Her own attempt to erase the memory of being kidnapped as a child had proven disastrous.
“Relax,” Alex said. “I haven’t told them anything. And I won’t, if you do the right thing.”
Her words hung in the air, and Eden held her breath.
She knows what I did.
Eden had thought Alex unconscious when she’d consumed Bes’tal, but somehow, she knew. And the price of her silence about Quinn and Kai was…what? Leaving Coventry House? Admitting it to the Council?
“Let’s talk about Jules.”
Eden whipped her head up. “Huh?”
“Jules. She betrayed you.”
The tortured look on Jules’s face when she’d made her confession flashed in Eden’s mind. “Yeah. She did.”
Jules had tried to save the rest of Coventry House by giving Eden to Bes’tal.
“It probably feels good to hate her. Maybe you think it absolves you in some way. Washes some of the blood off your hands.”
Eden spoke slowly, unsure where this conversation was headed. “I don’t hate Jules. And nothing will erase what happened that night or my part in it.”
“Your ‘part?’”
Anger flashed inside of Eden. “Is this why you wanted to see me, so you could be the first to remind me of all the death I’m responsible for? Trust me, there’s nothing you can say that I haven’t already said to myself.” Her voice softened. “And I am well aware that even though Jules made a choice, the only reason she had to was because of me.”
Alex tilted her head, studying Eden. “You really feel that way?”
Eden nodded, biting the inside of her cheek. Jules’s plan to sacrifice her to Bes’tal still burned, even if she’d had cause.
“Are you willing to say that to the Council? If you don’t, they will posthumously kick her out of Coventry House and deny her burial rites. If you defend her actions…”
Eden narrowed her eyes, unsure if Alex was laying a trap. “The Council has no idea what Jules did. Not unless you told them.”
“I haven’t told anyone anything,” Alex said. “I’ve gotten out of questions by faking sleep since I was healed.”
Eden’s mind worked. “This threat—about ratting out Quinn and Kai—it goes away if I keep Jules’s legacy intact?”
“Coventry House was all that girl had. I think she deserves to be properly buried and mourned.”
“So do I.” Eden hadn’t known anything about being expelled from the coven after death. She’d just wanted to honor who her friend really was—before Bes’tal. “I didn’t say anything—not even to Sarah. You and I are the only two people who know what really happened. The Council thinks it was just bad luck that Bes’tal found us in the basement.”
“Bad luck.” Alex snorted with contempt. “More like typhoid Eden.”
Eden didn’t respond. People were dead, killed by a monster Eden had allowed in—not just to Coventry House but to herself. What was there to say? The oil slick in her belly churned anew.
“Does the Council know you brought him?”
Eden nodded. “As far as I know, they consider it an accident. I have no idea what they’re going to do about it.”
Would they kick her out or keep her under their thumb? She prayed for the latter…however uncomfortable it would be. She deserved to lose Coventry House, but she couldn’t bear the thought.
“They’re going to let the new High Priestess rein you in. They agreed with my assertion that Carolyn gave you too much leeway to screw up.”
Eden swallowed around the lump in her throat. “I didn’t know they’d already picked someone.” It was necessary to replace Carolyn, but also wrong. The whole situation was all just so wrong. “When does she arrive?”
“Oh, sweetie.” Alex’s eyes glittered as a slow smile spread across her face. “She’s already here.”
Chapter 3
“Alex is the High Priestess.” Eden could barely choke out the words.
She paced on a landing of the hospital stairwell while on a video call with Sarah. Her best friend’s face appeared drawn and tired.
“Technically, yeah.” Sarah didn’t sound any happier about it than Eden. “I got a text from Brianne. It’s temporary. Apparently, there’s some kind of shortage of those qualified, and since Carolyn personally groomed her…”
Alex was Carolyn’s niece and had benefitted from Carolyn’s knowledge even more than Eden had.
“What else did Alex say?” Worry filled Sarah’s face. “What does she know?”
“Only what the Council knows. Bes’tal was electrocuted, and it weakened him enough for me to kill him.”
Sarah was visibly relieved. “Then she’s got nothing on us.”
“I wouldn’t say that.” Eden fudged the details of her deal with Alex. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Sarah with the secret of Jules’s betrayal, there just wasn’t a reason to burden her with it. “She’s going to use the threat of mind wipes to keep us in line.”
“We should maybe keep that threat to ourselves,” Sarah said. “I don’t know how Quinn would react, but Kai isn’t really feeling the magic thing right now.”
“Quinn is beaten to hell.” By me. “And all he’s worried about is how I’m doing. I’m not adding this to his burden. We’ll just have to do whatever Alex wants until we can get out from under her control.”
“Gotta say, my ‘things that suck’ list is getting pretty long.” As soon as she spoke, Sarah’s face contorted with regret. “Sorry. I know it’s so much worse for you. Are you okay? Is Bes’tal still…”
Eden glanced around. The stairwell remained empty, but she pitched her voice low anyway. “He’s quiet, and I’m okay.” She sighed. “As okay as any of us are. Look, you don’t need to worry about me. We’re going to fix this.”
“I know we are. I’ve been doing some research and—”
The door on the platform below creaked open.
“Gotta go,” Eden whispered and disconnected the call.
Eden knew she was being silly. It was probably just a nurse. But with so many secrets, she couldn’t take a chance the wrong person might hear the wrong thing.
She peered over the railing, eyes widening when she saw Davida and Mikel huddled together on the landing below.
The raven-haired woman shook her head in disgust. “That stone should have been turned over to the Council the moment it was found, not held by a shadow coven and given to a novice as a prize.”
Eden’s breath caught, and she drew back to avoid being found out.
“For once we are in agreement.” Mikel’s voice was softer than Davida’s but just as intense. “Though surely the coven had no idea what they possessed.”
Eden’s flesh pebbled. Bes’tal had mocked her for believing the stone was a portal key and the reason he’d been able to travel through worlds. And then he’d crushed it. Had he been wrong?
“I assume we are also in agreement that we cannot linger here in Somerland much longer.”
“Sadly, yes. There is much I would like to do to ease the burdens these young women bear, and even more we must do to guide Eden on the right path, but the stone was crushed, and if the rumors are to be believed—”
“I put no faith in whispers.” Davida’s words cut the air. “I trust only my bones, and my bones tell me a storm gathers.”
Mikel gave a noncommittal sigh. “What do we tell her?”
“The truth—the version she will understand.” Davida’s heeled boots clicked on the tile as she paced. “There is no danger of Eden acting as a key again. She knows little of how magic actually works. Carolyn lamented her struggle to interest the girl in theory. She will believe what we tell her.”
/> Davida yanked open the door. Mikel’s response was swallowed as it closed behind them.
Sarah stared at her phone for a long minute before setting it down. Her fingers itched to text. Eden had seemed startled as she’d disconnected, and Sarah’s mind ran through scenarios—one worse than the next—of what might be wrong. But she’d said, “gotta go,” not, “help,” and Sarah warned herself not to buy trouble.
A few months ago, the only danger she’d felt was walking alone after dark, gripping her keys through her knuckles to create spikes. But she, and every other girl she knew, had been doing the same since puberty. It was routine. She refused to let demons, death, and fear of discovery by the Council become commonplace. Being under constant threat was exhausting.
She and Eden would find a spell to get rid of Bes’tal, and life would go back to normal.
Or whatever normal is after everything that’s happened.
She took a deep breath, marveling at her ability to do so. When Bes’tal had taken over Eden’s body, he’d fractured Sarah’s rib. The struggle to breathe had been excruciating. She’d masked it as best she could once Eden regained control, not wanting to add to her friend’s guilt.
But then the Council had arrived. However much Sarah was afraid of them, it had been Grace who had healed her. She only wished Kai had benefitted as well. But if the Council found out Kai had been there that night…
As if on cue, her girlfriend entered, looking awful and carrying a bag from the bakery down the street.
Sarah did her best not to wince at Kai’s awkward gait. It wasn’t fair she still suffered while Sarah only felt exhaustion.
Sarah had offered to get breakfast, but Kai had refused, insisting they stick with their routine of Sarah making coffee and Kai running to the bakery. But Kai wouldn’t be running anywhere anytime soon.
She limped forward and lowered herself to the chair opposite Sarah.
“They were out of sesame, so I got you plain.” Kai pulled two freshly baked bagels from the paper sack.
“That’s perfect. Thanks.” Sarah leaned across the table and brushed her lips to Kai’s, soft as a feather. Anything else would hurt her. “What did you tell the bagel guy?”
Sarah reached for the coffee pot, trying to make the question sound nonchalant. It was anything but. If Kai ever revealed the truth to anyone, it would be bad for both of them.
“Just what we agreed. A short-lived experiment in ultimate fighting.” Kai tore off a piece of her bagel, twisting it in her hands. “You don’t have to worry about me, you know. I’m not going to tell your secrets or put your coven in jeopardy.” Her mouth twisted around the word as though it left a bad taste in her mouth.
“I’m not worried about Coventry House. I’m worried about you. About what the Council would do if they found out what you know. What you saw.”
“I’m not afraid of the Council.” Kai said it with conviction, but her eyes gave away the lie.
“I’m afraid enough for the both of us.”
That was what made Sarah nervous—that Kai was pretending not to be.
“Did you get a hold of Eden?” Her name too, now made Kai’s mouth twist. Sarah regretted the change, but it was a problem for another day.
“Yeah, but she had to go.”
Why hasn’t she called back to tell me what happened?
Taking a bite of her bagel made Sarah realize just how hungry she was.
“How’s she holding up?” Kai stirred her coffee. Sarah wondered if she, too, was trying to appear casual.
“Better than I would in her position.”
“You shouldn’t do that.” Kai fixed her with a firm gaze, and Sarah stopped chewing.
“Do what?” she asked around a mouthful of bagel.
“Idolize Eden. Sell yourself short.” Kai wrapped fingers around her mug. Her knuckles were bruised and raw, having landed more than her share of punches.
Sarah swallowed. “I’m not doing either. I’m acknowledging she’s carrying a burden neither of us can imagine.”
Kai pressed her lips into a firm line and held her tongue.
It had taken the better part of the night to get Kai to agree to keep Eden’s secret. Even knowing the Council might strip Eden of her magical abilities hadn’t swayed her. To Sarah’s horror, Kai actually seemed to think that might be for the best.
They hadn’t fought, exactly, but they’d had strong words. In the end, Kai had given her word to keep quiet, but she hadn’t been happy about it.
Kai was adamant Eden was dangerous and couldn’t fathom not telling the Council everything. But she’d never touched magic and didn’t know what it would do to Eden to be stripped. She didn’t know Eden might not survive it with her sanity intact.
Doesn’t know or doesn’t care?
Sarah shoved the thought aside. There was time for Kai to forgive Eden. Right now, Sarah was just grateful they were both still here. She traced circles on Kai’s forearm and looked into her eyes. Something passed between them, and Kai’s face softened.
“Did you get any sleep?” Kai brushed the bangs from Sarah’s forehead.
“A little.”
Sarah had stumbled back to Kai’s dorm yesterday afternoon to find her waiting. As the shock and adrenaline drained from each of them, exhaustion had set in. They’d curled up together, but once Kai had drifted off, Sarah fired up the app Jules had told her about—filled with ancient texts right at her fingertips. She’d been scrolling through spells ever since.
The thought of Jules cut deep into Sarah’s heart. So many friends gone, and for what?
Her phone buzzed, breaking the grip of memory.
Eden—Sorry. Had to go but I’m fine.
“She’s okay.” Sarah did her best to smile and set the phone down.
“Why do you still look worried?”
There were a million things Sarah could have said, and each would have been true. The real answer was, “I wish I knew. I mean, the worst already happened, right?”
“God, I hope so.” Kai’s gaze stayed locked on Sarah.
“Then why am I still braced for impact? Why do I think the next terrible thing is just around the corner?”
“You’re still in shock.” Kai squeezed her hand. “That was more trauma than anyone should live with in a lifetime. You’re still processing.”
Sarah nodded. “I’m sure that’s it.”
She didn’t want to worry Kai—not when she had nothing to go on but a queasy feeling in her stomach, and not while Kai had so much healing to do. But as she looked out the window at the gathering clouds, she knew.
A storm was coming.
Chapter 4
“Planetary alignment?” Eden forced her features still. Something as small as a quirked eyebrow would give away her skepticism.
Upon agreeing to tell a half-truth, Davida and Mikel had exited the hospital stairwell, leaving Eden to wonder at the whole story. Had Bes’tal been lying? Was it the stone that had brought him? She longed for it to be true, but if it was, why would the Council not tell her?
Now the three of them stood in a hallway near the waiting room Eden still intended to avoid.
“Written of in a text so ancient Carolyn would not have been aware.” Mikel appeared so earnest in his lie. Eden would not have thought him capable of such deceit. “We only just learned of it because we went looking and have access to the Council’s most highly guarded knowledge.”
“The veil between worlds was thinner that night than it has been—or will be—in millennia. You have no reason to fear opening another portal.” Even Davida’s tone was absent its usual bite. “We will make the same clear to your sisters.”
“But my energy…”
“Was unbalanced. Yes, both you and Alex have mentioned that,” Mikel said. “And it played a role, but it was not the only factor in what happened. You must not shoulder all the blame.”
Relief and grief and sorrow washed over Eden. Not being completely at fault changed nothing, and yet meant everyth
ing. Whether it was planets or the stone didn’t matter.
“We have a memorial to arrange.” Davida now appeared impatient. “And you look like you haven’t slept all night. Get some rest. The ritual will begin at twilight. We’ll meet in the grove.”
“Behind Coventry House?” Eden’s eyes bulged. “But it’s—”
“Not as damaged as the fire department first thought,” Davida finished.
They’d left a council member behind, and now Eden suspected why.
“Twilight,” Davida repeated, and then she and Mikel turned away.
Eden returned to Quinn’s to find him propped up on the sofa. She winced at the sight of his bruised face and bandaged arm.
“You left.” Quinn was stone-faced.
“Didn’t you get my note about Alex?” Eden laid down her purse and coat and sat next to him.
“Anyone can write a note.”
“I didn’t want to wake you.” Eden reached for him, but he flinched. “Oh.” Eden pulled her hand away. “You’re worried someone else wrote the note. Bes’tal?” Her heart sank. If Quinn stopped believing in her…
“No, I—” He studied the carpet. “I just…wasn’t sure.”
She couldn’t blame him. Look at what she’d done.
“I don’t know how to prove I’m still me,” she said. “If I was Bes’tal, I’d just lie.”
Was that why Bes’tal and the other voices had quieted? To lull her into a sense of security, only to wrestle control when she least expected it?
“I guess I’ll just have to trust my instincts.” Quinn’s face softened.
“You don’t.” Eden shook her head. “You should break up with me. At the very least, we shouldn’t see each other until Sarah and I get these things out of me.”
What had Sarah wanted to tell her? They needed to finish their conversation.
“I told you last night, I’m not abandoning you.”
“I could hurt you, Quinn. Worse than I already have.”
“You could.” He squeezed her hand. “But you won’t.”
“You don’t know that. Just two minutes ago you were worried I was Bes’tal again.”
Bound Page 2
