“Beingacoven?”Chrysieasked,soundingsad.
“What’swrongwithyou?”Iasked,ignoringFelix.
“I’mnotawitch.Ican’tbepartoftheclub.”
“Ofcourseyoucan,”Felixsaid,softlysluggingherintheshoulder.
“Youprobablycan’tleadanyspells,”Isaid.“ButIdon’t’seewhyyoucan’tbe partofthem.”
Abitofspringcamebacktoherstepatthatandshegrinnedwithoutsayinga word.
“Whatdon’tyoulike?”ChrysieaskedFelix.
“I don’t like leaving it to Saffron. We don’t know her. We don’t know what she’lldoorifwe’llbecomfortablewithit.”
“Wecan’tgoafteradarkwitch,Felix.Wedon’thavethatskillset.”
“Youhaveyourarsenal.”
“AndyousawwhathappenedwhenIusedit.We’reluckytobealive.”
“Ijustdon’tlikeit.”
Damnit,Ithought.Damnit.Thiswasthekindofstuffthatmadeyouendup beingafreakingkeeperandhavingtodothingslikeriskyourlife.
“We could join another coven,” Chrysie said, sounding sad again. Only a covenwemadewouldletherin.Weallknewit.
“Can you honestly see Rue letting anyone else tell her what to do?” Felix asked.
Chrysiegiggledatthethought.
“She’s like a wolf. Some other pack comes into town and suddenly she’s all bristlingandmean.”
“Rude,”Isaid.
“Butsotrue,”Chrysielaughed.
“Shut up,” I said, grateful to have reached the college library, so I could escape.Iranupthestepsignoringthemagiclaidintothebuildinganddownthe halltowardsJessie’sdesk.Jessiewasoneofmyfewotherfriends.
Ournormalhumanfriend,Cyruswaswithher.
“Saveme,”IpleadasIdroppedintoachairacrossfromJessie’sdesk.
“YouguysknowI’mworking,right?”
“Whatever,” I said and leaned the chair back to put my feet up on Jessie’s desk.
“We’regonnamakeacoven,”Chrysiepipedassheskippeddownthehallto
joinusfollowedbyFelixseverallazypacesbehind.
“Really?” Jessie was excited. Really, I thought. Why? She was an excellent witch.Shecouldjoinanycoven.Iwaskindofsurprisedshedidn’talreadyhave one.
“Iwanttobepart,”JessiesaidasCyrusspokeuptoo.
“Iwantin.”Heshiftedhisgaze,probablythinkingwewouldn’tlethim.
“Kay,”ChrysierepliedassheleanedagainstJessie’sdesk.
“Arewetakingallthestrayswhoapply?”Felixaskedashetookthelastchair.
“Hey,” Cyrus protested. He was a normal human who had barely started to learntousemagic.Or,rather,failatusingmagic.
“I meant Jessie,” Felix said. “ Of course you’re in. We have to have at least oneotherdude.”
“Not nice,” Jessie said as she typed into her computer. She didn’t stop working,justtalkedasshewent.
“Whatdoyouknowaboutdarkmagic?”Chrysieasked.
I sighed and closed my eyes tighter thinking if I squeezed hard enough I wouldn’tbeabletohear.Jessiehadstoppedtypingandpossiblybreathing.
“Whydoyouask?”Hervoicewassoverycareful.
“Wecameacrosssignsofdarkspells,”Felixsaid,andhetoldthestorywith occasionalinputfromChrysie.
“But this Saffron is going to find the dark witch?” James asked, sounding relieved.
“Supposedly,”Felixsaid.
“Whatdoesthatmean?”Cyrusasked.IcrackedmygazetoseeJessiestaring atus,takingitallin,butatalossforwords.
“NeitherdoesRue,”Felixsaid.
“Leavemeoutofit,”Ibegged.
“We can’t,” Chrysie said gently. “You’re the coven leader. And this is our territory.”
I closed my eyes again, leaned forward, and let my head pound into Jessie’s desk.Itdidn’thelp.Myonlyreplywas,“SweetHecate.”
“Sowe’llhavetogetstartedwithouther,”Chrysiewenton.“SinceRueisstill indenial.”
“Wehavetoregisterourcovenwiththecollege,”Jessiesaid.
“No,”Isaidinstantly.
“It’sintherules.Allcampuscovenshavetoregister.”
“LastIcheckedHallowHousewasn’toncampus.”
“ButCyrusandIare,”Jessiesaid.
“Iliveoff-campus,”Cyrussaidhelpfully.“Withabunchofguys.”
“Move in with us,” Chrysie offered without asking me. Which was fine. I didn’tcareifJessiemovedin.Wehadlike14openbedrooms.
“Really?”Jessiebreathed.ShewassotakenabackthatIopenedmyeyes.
“Youcouldhavealwaysmovedin,”Itoldher.
Shestaredforamomentbeforeshereplied,“Well,tellagirl.”
“Yeah,”Chrysiesaid.“Tellagirl.”
“CanIhavearoomwithaworkspace?”
“Martha will show you the open rooms. Pick one,” I said, not caring which shechose.
“Really?”
I laughed even though they were smothering me with their enthusiasm. I wasn’tagainstacoven.Butadarkwitch.Damn.Anddamnagain.
“Wedon’thaveanarsenalfordarkwitches.”
“We could just try to find them,” Jessie said. “And…like…alert the authorities.”
“ThePresidium?”Idon’thaveanyfaithinthemevenifHazelknewthemand called them herself when we’d found witches who’d murdered their kid on the
island.
“WecouldcallElisabeth,”Chrysieofferedupthewitchturnedvampirewho
hadchangedChrysie.“Shewouldknowwhowecouldtrusttohelpus.”
“WecouldleaveittoSaffron,”Isaidagain,notlikingwhatIsaidanymore thantheothers.
I glanced around. Felix shook his head. Chrysie made a no face. And Cyrus saidnothing.ButIcouldseeinhiseyesthathedidn’tagree.
“Fine,” I replied. “But we do this together. No one goes out alone. Etcetera.
Etcetera.”
“Yesfearlessleader,”Felixagreed.Hegrinnedatme.
“NoMonica,”Iadded.
“Shehasacoven,”hegrinnedentirelyunbothered.
“Butstill,”Chrysieadded,“NoMonica.”
CHAPTERFIVE
“I found like a hundred spells for finding things,” Jessie said. “But I think theseonesmightbethebest.They’remoretowardsfindingpeopleorthingsyou didn’thavebefore.”
Shehandedmealistoftwentyspells.
“Butwhichonedoyouthinkistheverybest?”
Sheshrugged.
“Pickoneandaroom,”Isaid.IhadaskedMarthatoleadmetoaroomthat wouldworkforgroupmagic.Unshockingly,sheledmetoonethathadclearly beenusedforthatpurposetimeandagain.Iputmyhandsonmyhipsandspun.
“We’llneedtocleanseit,”Isaidtomyself,butFelixanswered.
“I’m sorry I’m pushing you towards this dark witch. I know you don’t want to.”
Iturnedtofacehim.Heseemedtohavegottentaller,butIrealizedthathewas juststandingupstraight.Ilookedathimforalongmoment,takinginthechange ofair.
“Idon’twanttobekeeper,”Itoldhim.“Thisfeeltoomuchlikeasteptowards that.”
“Whydon’tyouwanttobekeeper?”ItwasCyruswhoasked.Hewasinthe
doorw
ayandChrysieandJessiewerebehindhim.
“Otherthanmymotherwhoranforherlife,”Istarted,“Theothertwokeepers thatIknowofforthisthinningdied.Horribly.Doingtheirjob.Iamtheeldestof theeldestoftheeldestoftheHallow.Andtheotherlinesareallprettydistant.
Youknowwhatthatsaystome?”
“Thatyourfamilyalldiedbeforetheyhadkids,”Felixanswered.
“Yeah,” I said. “I don’t particularly want to die I am fine with this calling going to some other line of idiots. But also if you’re learning necromancy you aren’tlearningotherthings.TherearesomanywitchcraftthingsIwanttolearn.
Choosingnecromancymeanslettingthosego.”
Felixnoddedonce,acceptingmyanswerandtheothersletitthesubjectdrop without further questions. Cyrus disappeared into the hall. Chrysie followed Jessietohelpherfindaroom.AndIsaid,“Martha,canyouopenthewindows?”
Thewindowsanddoorsopened.
I started to do the cleansing spell and then thought better of it. So I waited untilwe’dallgatheredagainandledtheminacleansingspell.ItwasbasicandI was sure that Felix and Jessie at least had done it many times. But, we did it together and the power of it was different. I had never lead a spell before. I’d onlylearnedthetheory.Andinleading,youfeltthemagicoftheothers.Icould feeltheburningfireofFelix’s.HewasfarstrongerthanIhadsuspected.Jessie’s magicwasadeeppool.Clearandlovely.
The magic of Cyrus and Chrysie was there. Tiny flames in comparison, but theyaddedtothestrength.IdirectedsomeofthemagicbackintoChrysieand saw her cheeks bloom with color. I directed some at Cyrus, tickling his magic until he felt it. He stared at me, shocked. And then he laughed,a guffaw of a laughthatsetChrysieintogiggles.
This. This was why Hazel trusted Saffron. Hazel had been able to feel the flavor and depth of Saffron’s magic. She had been able to feel, I bet, Saffron’s emotions. At least on occasion. I felt so much better about Saffron finding the darkwitch.SomuchbetteraboutherlivinginMarthawithus.Somuchbetter aboutheringeneral.
*
Thefindingspellwasabarelyvisiblelinethatwentfromusto…wherever.I had the most intense sense of what-the-hell were we doing? I wanted to call Hazel,butshe’dtoldmetoleaveitSaffron.Iwantedtocallmymotherbutshe was proving herself to be like she always had been; more and more untrustworthy.Whatdidyoudowhenyourparent,whoyouloveandwholoved you,wasbadforyou?Godsandmonsters.
IwantedtocallBran,butshehadn’tbeenansweringfordays.Ididn’tknow whattodowiththat.IhadcalledDaddyearlierthatday,andhe’dsoundedupset buthadsaidnothing.Hadleavinghomedestroyedmyfamily?Ourbalancehad been so precarious, and I was coming to the lengthy and undesired conclusion thatallwasnotwell.
But I couldn’t go back. And I couldn’t fix it. You couldn’t fix dysfunction withafewwell-chosenwordsoveralongweekend.WherethehellwasBran?
WhattheHELLwerewedoing?HowhadIgottentothisplace?Iwasrunning
some sort of poor man’s dorm in a freaking mansion. I had started my own covenwhenIhadn’tevenbeenabletoleadspellsathome.Ihad…Iwasrunning aroundblithelydoingwhateverIwantedandignoringthosearoundmeandtheir advice.Andyet…
Andyet…ascrazyasthisseemed,anditdidbothseemandfeelcrazy,italso feltright.Itfeltrightlikethecalmofthemorning,whentheskywasstillgray andeverythingwasstill.
Felixwasnexttome.Chrysiewasahead,sortofdancingassheleadtheway whileJessieandCyrusfollowed.Iglancedoverandsaid,“Ifwehavetorunfor ourlives,you’regoingtodiefirst.”
Hegrinnedashesaid,“Yeah.”
“Giventhatwe’retryingtotrackdownadarkwitch,likeapackoffoolswho wanttodie,youprobablyshouldbealittlemoreconcerned.”
He grinned again, full of mischief and a touch of madness and said, “These aretheitemsthattrymen’ssouls.”
“Sowhoareyouplanningtotrip?”
“Cyrus,”Felixansweredimmediately.“He’sthenewestandI’mtheleastfond ofhim.”
I grinned and took a sip of my energy potion, handing him a vial. Might as wellgivehimafightingchance.“YouknowthatMonicacanprobablybeatyou up.”
“Ohforsure,”Felixagreed.“Youseemglum.”
I shook my head, but yeah. I was a bit glum. I had been since I’d tried, yet again,togetaholdofmysister.Ijustnodded.
“What’shappening,mightyleader?”
“Other than you guys conned me into chasing after a dark witch when it’s clearlygoingtoleadtoourdeathanddestruction?”
“Thatfeelsredundant,”hesaid,punchingmeonthearm.
“Youfeelredundant,”Ireplied.
“Ohforsure.So,nicetryonevading,butwhat’swrong?”
“Ican’tgetaholdofmysister,”Isaid.
“Whatdoyourwitchysensessay?”
Iglancedoverandthenbacktothetrailwewerefollowing,justsoIwouldn’t havetomeethistooinsightfuleyes.“Theysayshe’salive.”
“Issheindanger?”
Istartedtoansweredandthenthoughtaboutwhatacrazyquestionthatwas.
Wassheindanger?Yes.ButBranoftenwas.Wassheindangerrightthen?No.
Butsomethingwaswrongallthesame.Ishruggedinreply.Icouldn’texplain.I wasn’tconnectedmentallytomysister.Icouldn’tspeaktohermentally.But…
when I followed the strings of my heart to her, I often knew some things I probablyshouldn’tbeabletoknow.
“It’sveeringintotheoakgrove,”Chrysiesaid.“Thewilderpart.”
“Ofcourseitis,”Isaid.
“Ofcourse,”Felixagreed.
WeglancedbackandsawJessieandCyrus.Theywereasunsurprisedasthe
restofus,thoughCyrusseemedtobefarmoreconcerned.Itwasn’tthatIdidn’t
worry. I was worrying big time. But I also thought that if I were to go evil, I would definitely do my evil spells either in the basement of an abandoned buildingorthewoods.Giventhatthepathledfurtherandfurtherfromtown,I figuredwewouldendupatsomelonelycabininthewoodsorpossiblyacave.
Someominousplace.
How very wrong I was. The path led through the oak grove, onto a hillside, andupawindingcurvetoasmallneighborhoodofbeautifulhouseswithviews ofthecountryside.
Myeyeswerecaughtupintheprettycapecodbluehousewithwhiteshutters andwidewindows.Thegrasswasperfect,theflowerswerestillblooming,and thehedgesweretrimmed.
“Is that our car?” Felix’s voice cut through my observations to the ancient stationwagon.
“Nooneelsecouldpossiblyhaveacarlikethat.Wherearethekeys?”
“Ilefttheminthebowlonthetable,”Felixsaid.
“Gods,ithastobeSaffron,”Jessiesaid.
“Well shiz,” I muttered. And then because I was angry, I told the others to scatterandmarchedupthedrive.
“What the?” Felix said loudly enough to carry to me and then I heard him scuttlingbehindme.Iturnedtofindhislong,lankyformbackingmeup.“You aren’tgoinguptherealone.”
“What?We’rejusttryingtofindthecar,”Itoldhim.
HeraisedabrowandthenIknockedonthedoorbeforehecouldtellmehow stupidIwas.Yes.Obviously.Sostupid.
The door was opened by a woman in her late twenties or early thirties. She hadbrownfrizzyhair,paleblueeyes,palewhite
skin,andsheremindedmeof someone.OnlyIcouldn’tplaceher.ThatisuntilSaffronsteppedupbehindher.
Saffron was gorgeous. This other woman was like the ugly version of Saffron.
Softontheedgesratherthansharp.
“Rue?”
“Wecouldn’tfindthecar,”Isaidlamely.
IcouldseeSaffrondidn’tbelieveme,butshesmiledandsaid,“Ambria,thisis mycoven-sisterVerucaJones.”
InoticedthatSaffronhadbypassedmylinktotheHallowfamilyandIcould seethatshewastensearoundhermouthandhereyeswereblazinginfury.
“Hi, I’m sorry,” I said, all bubbly while I quested forward with my witch sensesasdelicatelyasIcould.IwaspushedbackbeforeIcouldbypasseventhe threshold of the house. “I didn’t realize you’d take the car and we were concernedthatsomeonewasplayingaprankonus.”
Felix nodded and said nothing. I wondered if he noticed the resemblance between the two. Probably. Felix might look like a idiot, pot smoking, college student,butthatwasturningouttobetheoppositeofthetruth.
“I’msorryyoudidn’tseemynote,”Saffronsaid.
“Musthavegotshuffledaway,”Ilied,butSaffronknewIwaslying.Idon’t thinktheotherwitchknewmewellenough.ButSaffronIveswasnofool,and she’dbeenamemberofmycovenforthelastfewyears.I’msureshehadheard ofsomeofthetroublethatBrankaandIhadgotteninto.
Neither of us were angels. Both of us would have interfered. If Bran were here,Idon’tthinkSaffronwouldhavetrustedusoutofthehousewhileshewas doingherownsleuthing.
“It’sfine,Iwasjustleavinganyway.Icangiveyouaridebacktothehouse,”
Saffronsaid.Ididn’tpointoutthatitwasmycar.Andmyhouse.Andshewas my guest. Or that she was pushing far past the boundaries of what I felt to be safe.
Instead,Iletherleadthewaytothecar.FelixandIgotinthebacktogether.I sawhimtextingChrysieandtheotherstoheadbackandnotstickaround.
“Thatwasutterlyandcompletely,stupidlydangerous,”Saffronhissed,asshe backedupourwagon.
I didn’t owe her an explanation, so instead I asked, “Why are you here, Saffron?”