The Secret Witch (The Coven: Academy Magic Book 5), page 25
“All right, Hope, what do you need us to do?”
Personally, I thought it was adorable that they were still calling each other by their real names even though no one else was going to. And every time he said her name, there was a special light in his eyes. I couldn’t imagine the relief he must be feeling.
Bettina bit her lip. “I don’t know. I understand the spell and the writing in English beside it, but I can’t speak angelic.”
Tenn nodded and turned to Tegan. “Babe? Care to do the honor?”
“Thought you’d never ask, babe.” Tegan grinned and rubbed her palms together. “Okay, I need my angel lines. Tenn, Bettina, Lancaster, and my Bishops— Sorry, Mom, only blood.”
Devon winked and backed away with everyone else.
Oh wait, that’s me, too. I turned and jogged to the edge of the courtyard where everyone else had moved to. When I spun back around, Tegan had Ruth’s spell book in her hand— No, wait. The little leather-bound book was floating in the air in front of her. Tenn stood on her right, and Bettina was on her left. The other Bishops lined up with them to make a circle in the center of the courtyard.
They threw their arms up with their palms facing the afternoon sky. Tegan closed her eyes and chanted in what I assumed was the angelic language. The sound was both strong and soft at the same time, like a symphony. The clouds above our heads parted, leaving only a blue sky that seemed to have a golden haze over it. The sun brightened. All the colors in the trees grew more vivid in hue, the grass suddenly greener.
Tegan’s chanting grew stronger and sharper. Her palms sparkled. All at once, they dropped to their knees and pressed their hands to the ground like they were bowing. The world seemed to hum under my feet, vibrating into my legs. Tegan called out, and then the others repeated her. With each line, the ground began to glow until it was a bright yellow gold. It shimmered like liquid gold metal mixed with glitter. As far as I could see in every direction, everything was gold.
Light flashed and it reflected off the golden ground like tiny spotlights. I flinched and shielded my eyes. Behind me, Easton cursed and Chutney hissed. I heard “oohs” and “ahhs,” which I understood since it was quite beautiful.
Their chanting harmonized together until they sounded like a choir.
And then there was a pop and a flash, and it was all gone.
I blinked and pulled my arm away… Everything was back to normal-looking.
“Wow. That was cool,” Warner whispered behind me.
Tenn jumped to his feet and looked around. “Feels good.”
“Is that it? Did we do it?” Cooper frowned and shuffled his feet around. “How do we know if it worked?”
Bettina closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She smiled. “It worked.”
Cooper narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, not exactly proof.”
“Yeah, prove it. That sounds like fun.” Bentley chuckled.
Tegan rolled her eyes. “Fine.” She dropped to one knee and slammed her palm to the ground. Rainbow mist billowed out from under her fingers and coiled around her arm. White and gold light flashed, and then her black hair turned snow white. She arched one now-white eyebrow at her brother, and it looked rather unsettling with her white and gold eyes. “Better?”
Cooper shuddered and looked away. “Sure. Thanks. Make it stop.”
Tenn frowned. “I agree. Make it stop.”
Tegan chuckled and jumped back up. Her hair and eyes went right back to their normal color. She shrugged. “So, now that that’s settled…” She strolled over to where the rest of us stood.
Hunter rubbed his palms together and walked up beside me. “Right. So what is our next step?”
Kessler rubbed the back of his neck. “Son?”
Tenn pointed to the two best friends. “Hope? Tegan? What now?”
Bettina held her hand out, then Tegan set the book in her palm. “Right, well, let’s go find out what went wrong? Deacon’s idea?”
“Perfect.” Tenn turned to the good shadows. “Until Trey is…neutralized…I’m going to ask you all to stay in the Great Hall while we’re gone.”
“Can we not go with you? We want to fight Joseph, too.” Ellis cracked his knuckles. “We want to take him down.”
Tenn shook his head. “I know you do. I can’t begin to thank you all for your help, and mostly for your faith in us. But you were innocents. You weren’t supposed to live this kind of life. This is our job. We are The Coven. I refuse to put a single one of you in danger one more time. You’ve done your fighting. Now let us handle this. Trust me, if Joseph didn’t hesitate to kill innocent civilians to get to us, then he won’t hesitate to kill each of you who betrayed him. I can’t let that happen. Stay here. Stay safe. I want to see all of you healed and healthy at the end of this.”
Rebecca smiled and turned to the shadows. “He is right, and mostly, he is our Leader. C’mon, back inside now.”
Each and every one of the shadows turned and followed Rebecca and John back inside.
Except Ellis.
“I want to fight,” Ellis said with a growl in his voice.
Tenn sighed sadly. “Ellis, I cannot let you risk yourself when freedom is within our reach.”
Bettina stepped up and put her hand on his shoulder. She looked up at him with her mismatched puppy-dog eyes. “Please, Ellis. Trust us?”
“Besides, you’re the most in danger out of everyone.” Tegan shrugged.
Ellis cursed and scrubbed his face with his hands. “Okay. All right. Sure, yeah. I’ll go inside. I understand. I just wanted to…I don’t know…”
“I do,” I heard myself say. My stomach was still in knots. “Trust me, I do.”
Ellis nodded. “Okay, I’ll go back inside now. Thanks.” With that, he turned and sprinted to catch up with the others inside.
“Thank you, Ellis,” Bettina yelled after him. She sighed and pushed her long sleeves up her long arms.
Timothy gasped like he’d been injured. We all jumped and reached for him.
His eyes were wide. He grabbed Bettina’s right arm and held it out in front of him. “You have a soulmate?”
Bettina blushed a deep pink. “Um, yes.”
My heart fluttered and my palms grew sweaty. Wait a second. It’s on her fingers? I glanced down at my own hand and my eyes widened. It grew. I had no idea when, things had been pretty crazy, but I was almost certain I hadn’t had black lines stretching over my fingers this morning when I woke up. Bloody hell, it finished. I smiled and looked back up just as Timothy inspected her hand.
Tim held her hand up closer to his face as he inspected all the black lines. “Who? Do I need to kick his ass?” he growled.
I chuckled. “I think you’ve done enough of that these last ten years, but if it’s a rite of passage, I understand.”
Tim’s jaw dropped. “Jackson?”
I grinned and pulled my sleeve up then showed him my right arm.
Cooper nudged Tenn. “See how civilized Lancaster is? Didn’t attack Tim.”
Tenn rolled his eyes. “You attacked me first, brother.”
Then Tegan held her hand up. “Wait. Hold up.” She grabbed our hands with the glyphs. “It finished. I didn’t see that! Oh my Goddess, we have to do the soulmate ceremony thingy right now!”
Chapter Fifty-Three
Bettina
“Soulmate thingy?” My pulse skipped a few beats. There was something in the mischievous sparkle in her eyes that made my nerves go apeshit. I swallowed roughly. “What soulmate…thingy?”
Tegan rolled her eyes and smiled. “The soulmate thingy is a ritual that you do when the glyph is fully grown.”
Fully grown? But ours isn’t. I looked down at my right hand and my jaw dropped. The vines had grown all the way out and covered my fingers. I’d been so caught up in Hope that I hadn’t noticed our soulmate glyph was fully grown. My heart fluttered. I spun and looked up at him. He smiled down at me and it took my breath away.
Hunter cleared his throat and rubbed his palms together. “Okay, y’all know the drill. Circle around them.”
I frowned and glanced around at all my Coven-mates circling around us. “Wait, everyone watches this?”
Jackson blinked. “Is that not weird?”
Deacon shrugged. “Only if you make it weird.”
“Please make it weird,” Royce said with a wild grin.
“Royce.” Haven shook his head then turned away from him. He gestured toward us. “Uncle Timothy, why don’t you do the honors for them?”
Tegan held her hand up and a folded-up piece of white paper appeared between her fingers.
“Oh. All right. Yes, I – uh - I’d like that very much.” Uncle Timothy took the paper from Tegan, then walked up to me with a wide smile and flushed cheeks. He nodded then handed the paper to Jackson. “You’re going to read this in a minute. We’ll explain first.”
I leaned forward as Jackson read the paper. “What is it?”
“Bentley, cast the circle, please?” Uncle Timothy said then returned his attention to us. “Now, you two, press your right palms to each other’s chest, over the glyph origination crystal.”
I lifted my hand up and hated the way it was shaking. There was no reason to be nervous. This was Jackson. My soulmate. And this was something that was going to bring us even closer together. Just breathe.
I pressed my palm to the center of his chest, right over the lavender heart-shaped crystal. Despite the icy chill in the air, his skin was warm through his shirt. I wanted to snuggle up to his chest and inhale that Christmassy scent. If it wasn’t for this glyph I might not have even recognized my own hand. It was so tan now. The last time I saw it this tan I was a quarter of my size. But these black glyph lines were utterly familiar. Ever since they’d first shown up on my chest I’d been staring at them nonstop.
Jackson beamed down at me. He pressed his big palm to my chest and my pulse went nuts. The tips of his fingers grazed over my collarbone and the base of his palm rested between my cleavage. It was a little awkward, for him to be touching me like this in front of everyone, except no one was making any jokes or smirks. The heat radiating off of his skin warmed my entire body like I was sitting in front of a fireplace.
My cheeks were burning. I had to be bright red. I cleared my throat. “Okay, now what?”
“When we close the circle Jackson will need to read that spell out loud.” Uncle Timothy pointed to the little paper and smiled as he backed away. “Each spell to complete a soulmate glyph must be specific to that pair, and only the Goddess herself can give it. This spell is the one requesting Her to give you the one you need. When She does, simply read it out loud. You’ll know when it’s over.”
We nodded and watched as he stepped out of the circle Bentley had made. Bentley made quick work to close the circle he’d drawn in salt. The second we were closed in together the air around us changed, it pulsed with electricity and warmth. A gust of wind whipped around the circle. Energy seeped up from the ground and into my feet. Noises, lights, smells…all of our surroundings vanished.
It was just us.
Me and Jackson.
My Lancelot.
Finally, after all this time. After all the heartache and crying. All the wishing and praying. My dreams had come true.
Jackson stared down into my eyes and his sparkled. I felt his love for me pouring out of him. His cheeks flushed a deep pink. He smiled. “We call our Goddess here and now, bless us with this special vow, to bind two souls as forever one, please show us how this can be done.”
Energy pulsed out of his chest, tingling against my palm. My magic poured out of our hands. For a moment, all I saw was a kaleidoscope of colors. But then the air crackled and popped, little flashes of light sparkled together until words appeared written in the sky.
My breath left me in a rush.
“I hear you now this blessed hour, to bind two souls of Heaven’s power,” I heard myself say. “A spell for roses as red as blood, and an Angel’s gift born of the bud, thy love shall be an eternal flood.”
Bright white light pierced through the back of my hand. I saw the same flash shining up from my chest. My pulse skyrocketed. My whole body tingled. The black lines of the glyph covering my hand and fingers twinkled like stars in the night sky then glowed a bright gold. Inch by inch the glyph vines changed from black to gold.
My palm grew hot and tight. The white light got so bright I had to squint. I was about to look away when light erupted in the air between our bodies. The wind in the circle vanished. The cold slammed back into my bare skin. That pulsing energy disappeared. Instead I felt each and every one of my Coven member’s magic standing nearby. I heard their whispers and giggles.
Our friends cheered and clapped. I bit my lip and glanced around at them. They were so supportive. Unconditionally. I’d never known this kind of love and support could come from so many people. And right now, they were just happy for us. It filled my heart with so much warmth I was afraid it might melt my ice powers away.
Uncle Timothy stood next to Haven, with his arm around his shoulders. They were smiling and laughing and it made my heart happy. I still couldn’t believe they’d been right in front of me that whole time. All those private training sessions from both of them. Looking back at those moments took my breath away.
Jackson’s hand slid up my chest then wrapped around my neck. His thumb brushed over my jaw. I grinned and looked up into his eyes. Mine. Forever. I felt the heavy thud of his heart pounding against mine, through our glyph. I liked knowing that from now on I’d know how we was feeling even if we were thousands of miles apart. Just like Tegan and Haven had known the other was in trouble or hurting from opposites sides of the Atlantic ocean. Now that would be us. No more wondering and worrying. All I’d have to do is look down. Maybe not even. I could already feel the flutter in his pulse.
I smiled and looked down at my hand still pressed to his chest. There on the back, twinkling up at me, was a vibrant lavender, heart-shaped crystal that was identical to the one on my chest. Our crystals weren’t pink like Tegan and Haven’s, it didn’t represent a deep profound mutual love of divine connection. But lavender did symbolize true love. It meant even though we had a rough start, even though the beginning hurt like hell…we made it. He was mine and I was his. Forever. I didn’t need some rare, profound, inexplicable love. I just needed Jackson and to know his heart was mine.
His thumb brushed over my bottom lip and heat exploded inside me. I fisted his shirt and pulled him closer just as he dragged my mouth up to his. Our lips met…and the rest of the world melted away.
Chapter Fifty-Four
Bettina
“Um, question before we go.”
We all turned to Warner.
Haven arched one eyebrow. “Yes, Warner?”
He grimaced and ran a hand through his hair. “Just wondering…we’re going to the Gathering site, right? But, like, is it gonna be as traumatic as it was before? ‘Cause if so, I mean…” he shuddered.
Emersyn groaned and closed her eyes. “Don’t put that out into the universe.”
I bit my bottom lip and looked to my best friend and my brother. “Is it bad that that night still haunts me?”
“No, not at all.” Tegan sighed. “That was our first taste of this world, naturally it would’ve had the most impact. And it was terrifying.”
“But that shouldn’t matter for today. First of all, it’s daylight.” Haven rolled his neck to stretch. “Secondly, tonight is not the night it went down. Which is when the spirits are at their worst.”
“But let’s keep our heads on straight, just in case.” Uncle Timothy glanced around. “Got your weapons?”
Everyone nodded and held their weapon of choice up.
“All right, Tegan.” Haven gestured in front of the group. “We’re ready when you are.”
She winked and her white portal box opened up. “Last one there’s a rotten egg!”
Despite the seriousness of the situation, we all charged through like we were six years old and were taking that threat seriously. Even the adults. There were giggles and playful shoving as we jumped through. As that fresh, chilly mountain air hit my face I turned to see who lost and frowned. It was Bentley. The only actual child in the group. Granted, he acted the most grown up.
“Ahhh, rotten Benny!” Easton teased.
Bentley shook his head. “I’ve seen Lion King. I know how stampedes end and I am the smallest. I’ll be rotten, it’s cool.”
“Yeah, I think we bloody well covered that by now, mate.” Jackson smirked.
Bentley grinned and he looked exactly like Tegan. Cooper chuckled and ruffled his brother’s shaggy brown hair.
A cold chill slid down my spine. It felt like someone was watching me. I glanced over my shoulder and my pulse quickened. I knew that tree line. I knew that opening, it was the one we’d escaped through that night. As my Coven-mates teased Bentley, I tried to keep my mind on the present. But I failed. It was hard to stand here and not think about it.
It was still daylight out, but in my mind it was midnight and the sky was black. There was an orange glow radiating up into the clouds from the dozens of bonfires spread around the clearing. I heard the cackle of the flames and laughter in the warm wind. I smelled the burning wood and the smoke mixing with fog.
Something warm touched my hand and I jumped.
But it was just Tegan.
She held my left hand and smiled up at me. I glanced around her and found Emersyn gripping her twin’s other hand. Her golden eyes were sharp and watching the shadows, like she didn’t trust this place one bit. Tegan looked on with a hopeful expression…and I was a mix of emotions.
Deja-vu slammed into me hard.
This was exactly how it’d been that night. The three of us holding on to each other and staring into danger. The nostalgia of this moment was strange. This was where it all started for us. And somehow we all managed to be here together that night. This is where Tegan met her twin. This is where I first met my brother again. This is where everything changed.
