“You just did,” she teases, a playful smile pulling at her lips.
“What do you think about Gina?”
She immediately scowls, and her words only confirm what her expression already tells me. “She’s an entitled bitch that gets away with everything just because her mother is the coven leader. Neva even let her out of helping with the sacrifice because blood makes her squeamish.”
“Ha! That’s a lie,” I scoff, then cover my mouth when I realize that Nolan feeding from Gina might not be public knowledge.
Mei laughs and gives me a sly look. “Thought so considering she’s your other boyfriend’s ex.”
“Just friend. Not boyfriend,” I correct, chewing on my lip, “but please keep the other thing to yourself.”
“Lips are sealed,” she promises, pantomiming zipping up her lips and locking them with a key.
By the time we get back, the chanting is done, the empty landing strip now has young saplings covering it, and my aunt’s arms are being bandaged by an older man as she sits on the hood of her car still dressed in the vibrant red robe.
“Wear these for the rest of the day, and you should be all healed up by tomorrow,” he explains from his spot before her, dropping the excess bandages into a small medical kit. “Though take it easy for the next few days. You lost a lot of blood.”
“I’ll be fine. Thank you,” Mildred replies with a polite but wane smile.
Mei hands me an apple juice, and I race over to my aunt while she walks over to her moms who are investigating their handiwork.
“Drink this,” I order, dropping the juice box in my aunt’s lap, then wrap the brown fleece blanket around her. “And just for the record, I’m mad at you.”
“It had to be this way,” she tells me, eyeing the juice box.
“You could’ve warned me at least,” I hiss, trying not to be overheard, “instead of distracting me with false promises of driving lessons.”
“You’ll be driving us home,” she replies like it’s obvious, then sighs, punches the straw through the box, and takes a sip. “I told you I had everything handled. If I was an earth witch, I could’ve done the blasted ceremony myself.”
“But since you’re not, blood magic?” I counter with heavy sarcasm.
“Since I’m not,” she echoes with a pinched expression, “it was my duty to offer up additional magic to those who would perform the ceremony.”
“It should’ve been me,” I mutter, tucking the blanket around her, hating how pale and drawn she looks.
She gives me a warning expression as a lecture blooms in her brown eyes, when the sound of Neva screeching interrupts us.
“You…stupid…child,” she cries, and it’s only due to the awful shouting and snarling that I realize she’s talking to Connor. “Sign it!”
How could I forget him?
Spinning around, I witness Neva standing toe to toe with Connor, holding a scroll and dagger in her hands. Her olive skin is flushed a red so vibrant it matches her robes. While Connor looks calm, the rigidness of his posture and the narrowing of his eyes show that the calm is only skin deep.
“No,” he answers, crossing his arms over his chest.
She gapes at him for several seconds, her mouth opening and closing, before she grinds out, “Care to explain why?”
“You failed to protect my pack,” he explains, with hints of his true anger now evident in his low voice. “We no longer recognize your authority here.”
With that he turns away, the twins falling in behind him, then with gleeful yipping, so does the rest of the pack. Stunned, we all watch in silence, the witches’ gazes bouncing from their leader to the new Alpha.
“That’s preposterous. The only enemy to your pack has been yourselves, you glorified, rabid dogs!” she screams at his back. “You’ll regret this! You have no idea with whom you toy!”
He ignores her, but as if he can’t help himself, Connor meets my gaze over his shoulder. There’s too much in his eyes for me to decipher it all before he disappears into the forest. However, with the way Neva looks at me, I know that whatever the meaning was, it wasn’t lost on the leader of the coven.
Crap. Now what have I gotten myself into?
Chapter 7
