Page 12 of Agony of Our Regret (Sorcerer’s Society #11)

TWELVE

“Why can’t emergency meetings ever happen during business hours?” Gavin complained, as we got into Luca’s car.

“I’ve thought that same thing several times,” Luca chuckled.

We left the parking garage, heading for his parents’ house.

“It would be so much easier to gather when everyone’s in the office. One all-hands meeting and done.” Gavin dropped his head back in the passenger seat while I stretched out in the back.

I sighed. “The AS isn’t known for being considerate.”

I wanted to be back in our room, curled up in bed, watching the romcom I’d been waiting to come out on a streaming site for months. I had snacks and blankets and two very snuggly men.

Now I was in pants and shoes and forced to wait to find out if the hero figured out the heroine was his soulmate in time. Not how I wanted to spend my Sunday afternoon.

“Did you hear what this is about?” I asked.

They usually had more information than I did about what was going on in the world beyond our office.

“No. At least I don’t think so,” Luca replied.

“It doesn’t have to do with your dinner this week?”

“That wasn’t directly tied to the AS. It was a potential informant,” he explained.

“I was in a meeting on Friday with updates. Whatever it is happened yesterday or today and is urgent enough to call in everyone,” Gavin added.

Great.

I closed my eyes and dozed for the rest of the trip until Luca pulled into his parents' driveway. A dozen or so cars were parked along the street, and I recognized Gwen’s.

Once we were inside, I sought her out.

She’d been on site in New Mexico this week, looking over the renovations for the school. Even though the committee said we wouldn’t have to fly out, Gwen wanted to be more involved and check on the progress in person.

“Hey.” She pulled me in for a hug. “Noah, Vince, and Sky are already here.”

I smiled at the stress in her voice and stepped back. “It’s okay. They know.”

Her brows shot up. “They know?”

“About the pregnancy,” I confirmed.

“Are you serious? How did they take it? Are you okay? Do I need to deal with them? Vince is big, but I could take him.”

I laughed at her ramblings. “It’s fine. I promise.”

She let out a sigh. “It better be. I didn’t realize I missed so much while I was gone.”

Her stern tone made me cringe. “Sorry. I should have called you, but there’s been a lot going on.”

“Apparently.” She glanced around the room. “So, what’s the status now? Do we hate them?”

I loved her immediate support. “No, we don’t.”

She crossed her arms. “We’ll see.”

“I promise they––”

“If we can have everyone gather in the living room, please.” Daniel waved everyone toward where he and Bruce stood.

“Lunch tomorrow, okay? You’re telling me everything.” Gwen waited for me to confirm before walking off.

Noah and Gavin appeared at my side. The latter pointed to an empty spot on the couch. “Sky saved you a seat.”

I smiled at the greetings and familiar faces, made my way forward, and dropped next to Sky. Tessa gave my leg a reassuring squeeze as her husband spoke again.

“Thanks for coming on short notice. We wouldn’t request a meeting like this if it wasn’t necessary.” Daniel exchanged a look with Bruce. “Something happened today, and we wanted to make everyone aware while also keeping things as secure as possible.”

They worried about phone calls, texts, and emails. I knew from experience what he meant without him saying it.

“Correct,” Bruce agreed. “There was an attempted attack on the community in Spokane, Washington, today.”

Someone behind me gasped.

“Attempted, not successful, because one of our members had a vision of the attack. We not only prevented it but captured the suspects.”

My head snapped to Noah. He met my eyes for a fraction of a second before focusing forward again. Was it him?

Sky took my hand in both of his. He was comforting me. Why? Because he didn’t want me to freak out.

It was Noah.

Holy shit.

He had a vision, remembered enough to narrow the location, and warn the leaders in time? That was insane.

“So, we have hostages?” a male voice asked from somewhere in the kitchen.

“No, they were turned over to the proper authorities,” Bruce answered before continuing. “Thanks to the quick action of our members, we saved over eighty lives and have evidence of the attack. They will be questioned and prosecuted.”

A few people clapped.

“We’re using this as an opportunity to speak with the leaders of the AS as well.”

“We’re past the point of peaceful negotiations,” a woman shouted. “They tried to kill us.”

Bruce held up his hand. “Correct. But we are not them. We don’t take matters into our own hands. We don’t act outside of the law. We live and abide by the governance of the land. It is what separates us from them and what keeps the humans on our side. They are fighting with us. They are taking steps where we can’t. We will not sink to the AS’s level. That will be their downfall. We will be on the right side of history.”

Daniel nodded. “We can’t share too much more right now, but if you have any questions––”

A hand immediately shot into the air. I looked back at the guys and caught Noah staring blankly ahead.

I almost stood, but didn’t want to draw attention. Vince and Luca were paying attention to Daniel. Gavin rubbed the back of his neck and glanced my way. When our eyes locked, he frowned. I nodded my head slightly to the right, and he looked in that direction. He didn’t notice immediately but finally saw Noah’s face and put his hand on his back.

Vince turned and caught on. He slipped his arm around Noah, pulling him to his side and stepping back. Luca and Gavin cleared a path, and they disappeared down the hall to Bruce’s office and his and Renae’s room.

I faced forward and squeezed Sky’s hand.

He smiled at me, and I widened my eyes.

“What?” he mouthed.

“Noah.” I barely whispered his name. Sky glanced behind us, and his brows furrowed.

“Where––”

I tugged on his hand to pull his attention back and leaned in. “He was having a vision. They took him out.”

Sky nodded and straightened.

“Everything okay?” Tessa asked softly from my other side.

I ducked my head toward her. “Noah had a vision.”

She nodded but didn’t respond.

Bruce answered another question. Daniel looked at his wife, and they shared a silent exchange.

Once Bruce finished, Daniel put his hand on his back. “We can continue with further questions, but I want to let the rest of you either head home or move into the kitchen and dining room.”

Renae stood. “We have food and drinks if anyone would like to stay and chat.”

She took over as hostess, and I nearly hugged Tessa.

“Go check on him,” she said, and I pulled Sky with me.

Muffled voices floated toward us in the hall. They were in Luca’s parents' room with the door closed. When we let ourselves in, their heads snapped toward us but immediately relaxed.

“Are you okay?” I asked Noah.

He shook his head, not meeting my eyes.

“What did you see?” I looked from Gavin to Luca.

“He won’t tell us.”

“It can’t be any worse than last night.” Sky moved to sit next to Noah at the end of the bed.

Noah shook his head. “That was awful, but this could be worse.” He hesitated. “For us.”

“It was your vision? The one that stopped the attack?” Luca asked.

“Yeah,” Noah admitted. “It was awful.”

“But you stopped it,” Gavin pointed out. “That’s huge.”

Noah slowly nodded.

“So whatever you just saw, we can stop it, too.”

“I hope so.” Finally, Noah lifted his head and met my eyes. Pain, more panic, and so much sadness stared back at me.

“What is it?” Did I even want to know?

Noah rubbed his palms over his face before shoving his fingers through his hair, making his curls stick out in all directions. “Fuck.”

“What?” Vince demanded.

“I can’t be positive, but I’m pretty sure,” Noah started. “I remember when I was little, before Cynthia was born, something similar happened to my mom.”

My heart was racing. Why was he dragging this out? It was something bad enough to have him pale and freaked out.

“What happened?” Gavin pressed.

“She was pregnant. Then she wasn’t.” Noah blinked. “She had blood on her pants.”

I put my hand over my stomach. “You saw me bleeding?”

Slowly, he lifted his eyes to meet mine and nodded. My stomach dropped, and Vince put his arm around my waist. He lifted me and sat me on the bed next to Noah.

Gavin kneeled in front of me. “Hey, you’re okay. You’re going to be okay.”

I pressed my palms against my belly. I hadn’t felt any fluttering or kicks yet, but the absence felt wrong.

“What exactly did you see?” Luca asked Noah.

He sucked in a breath and dropped his head into his hands. “She was in the office. She stood from her desk and someone––I didn’t see who––said something like, ‘Are you okay?’ She looked down, and there was blood between her legs. A lot of it.”

“That’s it?” Sky asked when Noah went quiet.

“Yes.” He turned and finally looked at me. “You have to go to your doctor.”

I nodded.

“My mom miscarried. I don’t––”

“You told us,” Sky reminded him. “You warned us, so now Ave knows to go get checked. You changed this morning, and you can change this.”

Noah relaxed. Sky knew exactly what to say to pull him from his funk.

“You promise you’ll go as soon as you can?” he asked me.

“Yes, you can even come if it will make you feel better.”

He sighed. “Thank you.”

“Can I come?” Sky’s eyes brightened.

I smiled. “Sure.”

“What about me?” Vince’s eager grin nearly broke me.

“Have you done what we talked about?”

His shoulders fell.

“What does that mean?” Noah asked.

Vince shifted on his feet. “Gavin and Ave want me to start therapy.”

“And have you?” Noah continued.

“No, not yet.”

I wasn’t planning on talking about this in front of the rest of the guys, but I was proud of him for telling them.

“Then no, Vince,” I answered his question.

“But––”

I shook my head. “You need to do the work on yourself before I let you back in.”

He sighed. “Fine.”