Page 44

Forty

HARLOW

I give Alec the directions Carina gave, and he tosses me onto his back with a wicked grin, walking me down the path, past the mailbox with my name, and out onto the street without a peek back at the house that’s mine but not really mine.

“Close your eyes. Or don’t.”

The wind picks up, and colours become a muted blur of grey, black, and green lit only by the moon above. He’s moving much too fast for me to make anything out, and I think I scream his name, but that too is eaten up by the wind.

A moment later, it all dies down, and Alec stops in the middle of the forest. He crouches slightly and releases my hands so I can slide off his back.

Very few of the smiles Alec has given me have been genuine. Most were sneaky, the smile of a victor, which is essentially everything he’s been. But this time, there’s a lightness to his midnight-coloured eyes that makes the stretch of his mouth seem perkier. While his fangs are visible, his lips aren’t curled back, purposely trying to be threatening.

“Fun?”

“It was…something.” Something cool, if I’m really honest.

He points between the gathering of trees to the people mingling around in black cloaks, and all the happiness I was feeling dissipates for anxiety. I’m about to have a coven meeting for the first time ever. People will meet me. They’ll know I was gone and that I’m back. They’ll ask me questions. They’ll demand answers. They’ll?—

Two hands come down on my shoulders and pull me back into his otherworldly body. His hair tickles the side of my face as he dips into my neck, making me shiver at the telltale ghostly sensation of his fang sliding up my neck.

Relax. You’ll be fine.

“It always throws me when you do that—speak in my head.”

Worked, didn’t it? Got your mind off your stress. Say the word, and I’ll take you away.

“No. I want to do this. I’ve been looking forward to it all day.” Even if present feelings indicate otherwise. I step from beneath his hold and toward the— my —coven. When I’m between two trees, I whisper, “Thanks, Alec.”

My pleasure, Hellion. Go kick ass.

I step from the treeline, scanning the crowd for Morgan or Carina; people I know, while hoping everyone else doesn’t notice me. There are dozens of people gathered in mini groups, talking amongst themselves.

A woman breaks away from a group, immediately followed by a guy holding a black cloak in his hand. When realizing they’re Carina and Jasper coming to mob me by the treeline, only a dozen feet from where Alec waits, my lungs breathe easier. They position themselves so others don’t have a clear line of sight.

“Hey,” Carina greets. “Mom mentioned you might be overwhelmed if we start approaching everyone, so if you wanna stay back here for a bit, we can. She understands. They don’t have to realize you’re you until she begins the circle.”

“That’d be good.” I cast a grateful glance towards Morgan, who’s off to the side speaking with two other women but watching me from the corner of her eye.

Jasper hands over the cloak, which looks like a smaller version of the one he’s wearing. “Here. It’s yours to keep. Every Highridge Coven member needs a ceremonial cloak.”

“Thanks.” The material is thick and heavy, but soft. I find the top and loop it around my neck, tying it together.

“Look at you, all grown up and ready for your first coven ceremony. Aren’t you so proud?” Carina blinks wide, dramatic eyes up at her cousin, who merely shoves her arm, chuckling.

“You’re an idiot, Car. Harlow, you look great. Fits you well.”

You’re beautiful, Hellion. His voice slides down my spine, softer than the material of this cloak.

I fight the urge to turn and call attention to his presence when Jasper’s head whips up, eyes narrowed on the exact place I left Alec waiting. “Shit,” he curses at the same time Carina demands, “Is that your vampire?”

Jasper’s palms immediately light up white—air magick, I learned earlier, but I reach out to block any impending attack.

“Don’t,” I plead, right as Morgan crosses towards us, a warning look aimed at her nephew. “He won’t attack. He’s with me.”

Thankfully I’m saved from the questions when Morgan forcibly shifts her nephew and daughter to look another way. “Stop calling attention to him,” she grits. “I’m aware he’s here, Jasper. It’s like Harlow said. We can trust him for now.”

“Besides...” Carina winks. “He’s only interested in eating one of us.”

And I’m fucking ravenous, and not only for your blood.

Jasper throws me an incredulous look but obeys his High Priestess, who’s now walking in Alec’s direction. Hopefully not for anything bad, but I resist looking because I’m noticing others glance our way. Instead, I debate lifting the large hood over my head and hiding from the coven.

“I want the story later,” Jasper mutters. “And ignore Carina. She enjoys romanticizing our enemies. She’s a bit obsessed with sneaking down the mountain to check out our resident shifter pack.”

Carina scoffs, putting her hands on her hips. “’Kay, enemies or not, have you seen the alpha’s son? That man is something else. I’ll overlook the wolfy part of him for the rest.”

I perk at the mention of creatures I’ve had no passing with. “Actual shifters?”

Jasper chuckles. “There’s a lot to it, but it’s a story for another time.”

Morgan passes by, gesturing for us to follow, so Carina takes my hand and leads me forward. I twist to wave at Alec before merging with the ranks of the coven, who all stand in a circle with Morgan positioned by what I assume is North. They spot me immediately, a low buzz of conversation filling the area.

Ignore them.

Hard to ignore the confused and excited exclamations of my name being tossed around, but Morgan calls them to attention.

“Sisters. Brothers. Welcome to September’s full moon. As you see, we have a new witch amongst our ranks, but it’s a member we’ll be welcoming back. Harlow Sinclair, so it seems, never died. I found her yesterday and brought her home, and I ask that we use tonight to thank Hecate for her safe return.”

Safe? For once, I agree with Alec’s scoff. After learning what I had, was I ever safe?

“Is she truly Harlow Sinclair?” a man on the other side of the circle calls. “She could be an imposter.”

Alec growls in my head. Disrespectful fuck.

“I felt her signature,” Morgan replies. “I feel her as though she never left. The accident that led to us believing she died did not involve her or the Hartmans.”

“What happened to them?” a woman asks, casting a nervous glance my way.

“They died,” I answer before Morgan has to. “They won’t be coming back.”

The witch opens her mouth with a follow-up question, but Morgan waves her down. “Afterwards, I will answer any questions you may have, but for now, I would prefer to celebrate her return. I also request we use tonight’s full moon to call upon combined energies and help Harlow retrieve memories that have been stolen from her by Arthur and Violet. Harlow has no recollection of anyone here, nor her childhood with the coven.”

Or my real parents. Everyone here would know Emily and John more than I ever will.

What will these “combined energies” consist of? His possessive growl vibrates through my mind, but this time, I use the sensation to calm my racing heart.

There’s an agreement that runs through the circle and Carina squeezes my hand, reminding me she’s still holding it. Jasper takes my left, and I notice how everyone’s now holding hands.

Morgan breaks away from the circle to begin calling the elements using the same incantations she spoke inside her house. There are no candles this time, but regardless, the elements make themselves known.

With Earth joining us, leaves circle the area before forming a ring behind everyone’s feet.

With Air joining us, a gust of wind snakes around us.

With Fire joining us, a heat blankets the group.

And with Water joining us, my anxiety is momentarily washed away.

“Harlow,” she calls, stretching her hand towards me. “Join me in the centre please.”

Another squeeze from Carina before I release her and Jasper and walk towards Morgan, failing to ignore the intense attention from everyone around me.

Morgan clasps my hand to position me in the centre of the circle. “We need to focus every positive thought toward Harlow. Recall your memories of Emily and John. Remember any and all, no matter how brief, interactions you had with Harlow as a child. Focus on the fateful news we received and how the absence of the Sinclairs felt to us individually and as a whole. Control those thoughts and redirect them to one another, to a collective consciousness we can send to Harlow. I feel—I hope—we may help her retrieve memories long concealed.”

Alec’s voice rumbles in my head. I don’t like this.

I’m not sure I do either.

Morgan rejoins the circle, taking the hands of the witches on either side of her. “Are we ready?” Her question is for the coven, but her attention remains on me.

A murmur of agreement goes through the group, and I’m forced to nod.

Hellion...

I stare through the coven at him, hoping he recognizes from the distance what I’m trying to tell him. To remain hidden before we have a bigger problem. To not worry about me, because Morgan won’t let them hurt me.

I also look his way to seek comfort.

If you’re harmed at all, I’ll rip them apart. That’s a promise, not a threat, so tell them to consider how much voodoo shit they’re about to do. Your well-being isn’t up for debate. The memories, your past, nothing matters more than your present.

Strangely enough, his deadly promise eases me, even if I remain silent to the coven who’s trying to help.

“Begin.” Morgan’s demand circles the group and, one by one, witches and warlocks shut their eyes.

The clearing falls silent.

No wind. No animals. No sign of life.

It’s not working. They can’t do it.

Realizations crash upon me.

Arthur and Violet fucked me up too bad.

Morgan murmurs something I don’t catch.

And then— pain.

Blinding, agonizing pain that slams my knees to the ground, hands gripping my temples as throbbing pressure assaults my head. I bow over the grass, screaming into the earth, begging it to help me. To save me from this.

Harlow!

The murmurs around me grow louder, and though I’m not looking at any of them, sparks of blue and white fill the area, the combination of air and water magick swirling around me but not touching.

Stay away! I mentally yell at Alec, though he can’t hear me.

It’s all I manage before my mind gets yanked viciously to another time and place.