Page 7 of Unbound

“You know that would’ve killed her, right?” Leo asks, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes. Two seconds ago, he was ready to rip my throat out, and now he’s defending me.

“We don’t know it would’ve killed me,” I counter.

“No,” Antonio says sarcastically. “Not kill you. Just take your soul.”

“Technically, she could still be alive without one,” Mabel says, making a face like she’s not sure if agreeing with me right now is a good thing or not.

“I don’t know the exact terms of the arrangement,” Marie says carefully, and I know I’m to ‌blame for that. I didn’t tell her the truth because I was ashamed of what I agreed to do once I found out my family was the one who put Vaelric away.

“I had an interesting dream,” she continues, “which made me do some digging. By the time I realized what was going on, I feared I was too late.”

She looks across the coffee table at me. I’m seated in a tufted armchair, holding my tiny cup of whiskey on its matching saucer.

“You should have come to me from the start,” she says.

“I know,” I say, my voice small. “Trust me, I know.”

“There’s so much you don’t know,” she says, but it’s far from an insult. She takes another tiny sip of whiskey. “I suppose that was my plan. I want to bring you home, Wren.”

“Home?” everybody questions at once, including me.

Marie smiles. “My home,” she says. “Come to my Covenstead and learn about who you are.”

“What’s a Covenstead?” I ask, ignoring the inquisitive looks from my brothers and Mabel. I know they’re wondering why I’m not instantly turning her down, but I can’t help my curiosity. I still haven’t quite decided if Marie is someone I should trust, but I know that so far, everything she’s told me has been true.

And I can’t help but feel like I desperately need to reach out and grasp the one thing bridging me to my biological family.

“Simply put,” she says, “it’s a sacred and safe gathering space for a coven. Only witches belonging to that particular coven can enter. Unless you come with me as a guest, of course.”

“Is it close by?” I ask, wondering how the hell Xavier could be clueless about a Covenstead in his area.

“There’s an entrance not far from here,” she tells me, which only intrigues me further. An entrance? Is this some sort of underground tunnel situation?

“Slow down a second,” Antonio says, holding up a hand. “You can’t just show up here, tell us you had no plan, and then reveal your plan was to take Wren away to some coven.”

Marie shrugs but doesn’t get worked up in the least. “I let my intuition guide me, and so far, it hasn’t led me wrong. Its timing may be off, but things tend to work out exactly as the universe wants them to.”

“That doesn’t sound reassuring,” Leo says.

“I suppose it’s not.” Marie smiles. “Sometimes what the universe wants is the exact opposite of what we want, or even what we think should happen. The universe isn’t fair or just. It simply is.”

“And the universe wants you to take Wren to some secret society?” Antonio questions. “And then what?”

Marie looks at me. “Well, I suppose that’s up to Wren. My plan would be to show her around and get her acclimated. Let her meet other witches. Then she can decide if she’d like to stay for however long she wishes for training.”

“Training?” I ask, not sure if I should hate the excitement bubbling up inside of me or not. “Like magic training?”

“Yes. We could tap into your gifts and figure out exactly what comes naturally to you.” She finishes her whiskey and sets the tiny teacup down. Then she holds out her hands and closes her eyes.

A few seconds tick by before she opens them again and smiles.

“You have a natural way with summoning energy,” she says. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we found out telekinesis was strong on your mother’s side. But I’m also sensing clairvoyance, and it’s very much buried inside of you.”

I swallow hard and lean back, thinking over everything I’ve ever said to Marie. My brain is so muddled right now I can’t remember if this is information I’ve given her or if she’s really picking up on it.

I’m so paranoid. But can you blame me? I only recently found out my entire life was a complete lie.

“What if I get there and want to come home?” I ask.