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CHAPTER 19

FOX

I t was easy to forget that alongside everything Nova was—all the magnificent power that she exhibited—that she was, in fact, also a witch . Or had been raised and trained to be a witch, to use her magic in a similar and symbolic way.

Although, I had a feeling that a change was coming to all witches and what they considered ‘normal.’ I could even feel the difference in the Earth’s magic, especially as we stood surrounded by a forest on all sides.

A forest that reminded me a lot of the Horde, if we were being honest. The type of forest that my brother and I would have found ourselves hiding in when trying to escape our grandmother.

Our grandmother, who was very dead. I knew that Cassian felt relief from the fact, and while I felt similar, I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to completely remove the sensation of the unknown hanging over our heads. Never knowing when an unexpected threat would appear.

Something I did feel relief over was understanding what had gone wrong with our mom.

For the longest time, I simply assumed she didn’t care—that once she had us she wanted no responsibility for us, that she regretted us because we reminded her of the horrific act that brought us into this world. Now, though, we knew differently. We knew that our grandmother had kept her from us both physically and mentally by subduing her. By dulling her perception of the world.

I was interested to see where her presence in our life would take us. Especially because Nova seemed to be interested in getting to know her as well.

“Bit spooky. Reminds me of the Blair Witch Project .” Nova chimed as all of us began to set out the materials Nova would need to conduct the ritual to reveal Earnest’s location.

Apparently, the bastard had all but hid himself away—like, underground—so now we needed to bring him or the entrance of his hideaway up to the surface.

“ Blair Witch Project? ” I asked.

“Yeah, it’s a super creepy documentary-style movie about some teenagers who go into a forest and all the creepy shit that happens to them,” Nova said. “We should totally watch it.”

“Might be pretty funny since we are the things that go bump in the night now,” I said. Nova flashed a smile, seemingly entertained by that notion, as she gathered some pine needles from the ground.

“I felt similar in the God realm. It was fun feeling like the scary thing in the room, especially when the pieces of shit who are scared deserve to feel fear. Before I met all of you, I didn’t ever feel like I had power—not the way I do now.”

“You should have,” I told her. “You’ve always been insanely powerful, since the day we met you.”

“Oh yeah?” Nova teased. “I just don’t know if I believe that—you guys didn’t seem very scared of me when you arrived.”

“I was terrified of how strongly I felt about you,” I leveled. She stopped and turned to me, her cheeks flushing.

“Really?”

“Really, gorgeous, from the first time we met.”

Nova stepped closer and I tugged her against me, keeping the pine needles we’d collected to the side of us. I dipped my head and kissed her hard, loving the easy way she responded to me, practically melting under my touch. I swear, this woman was made for me.

“I love you.”

“I love you more,” she said before slowly drawing back and flashing me an upbeat smile. “Which is why I’m so excited to kill Earnest with you—it’s essentially the perfect date.”

“We need an actual date,” I countered. “Promise me when we’re done.”

“I promise,” she said softly. “Let’s get this shit done so I can keep that promise.”

The afternoon light struggled to break through the thick foliage as we continued setting up. There was also a stillness to the Earth, the forest animals avoiding the clearing and making it eerily silent. Which meant Nova was most likely right on the money about Earnest’s location. He had to be here.

As Nova began to lay out candles, the others followed behind to light them, and I carried the final ingredients toward the center. With each candle lit, a phantom breeze ran through the area, and I watched curiously as Nova made her way toward me and kneeled down, her skin flashing with a gold sparkle in response to the magic. I knew Nova complained about all the markings on her skin, but they were as unique as she was—the woman was captivating to look at. Something I did far too often and probably for far too long.

“Alright, everyone stand near a candle. Fox, I need you to help with the blood part,” Nova said.

I would never say no to that. My magic had been amplified to such an extent that I could hear the blood rushing under her skin and scent it exactly, her pulse like a siren call. When she handed me her wrist, I ran my nose over her pulse as she let out a small shiver, causing me to smirk. I loved how she reacted to me, and I didn’t hesitate to nick her skin with my teeth, the taste of her blood making me groan as I pulled away and let the blood fall onto the ground.

“Damnit,” Nova grumbled at her own body’s reaction, her cheeks painted a soft pink. I sat back and let her get to work, smirking at her frustration.

I couldn’t tell you anything about witch magic, rituals, or spells—at least not with any confidence—but I could tell you that watching Nova call on the elements was pure magic.

The earth rumbled, grass and dirt shifting under my fingers. The sound of wind rushed through my ears, and the scent of salt water from the coast filled my nose. A golden glow surrounded Nova as flames, black and green, broke across the clearing, creating lines from each candle back to us. When she whispered a set of three words, the earth buckled and the sky cracked with thunder. Nova stood and I followed, backing up as the world turned tumultuous under the assault of her magic.

Suddenly, the ground ruptured, and three stone pillars rose from the ground, a temple being drawn up from the earth. The stone was old and rounded, worn away with time, and I found myself pulling Nova back into my arms, not knowing just how fucking huge this thing was or if enemies would emerge from the stone door.

Then a very familiar scent of blood, one that I despised, hit my nose. Earnest.

“I can smell him,” I said as we gathered at the top of the stairs. “Him and forty-plus other witches. Probably the husbands of the women that Claudia told you about.”

“So, are we ready for a fight?” Nova mused, jogging down the steps and humming a happy little tune. I chuckled because she knew damn well that we were always ready for some type of fight—especially in the name of keeping Nova safe. Or removing an enemy. There were no limits to what I would fucking do for her, if we were being honest.

“Wait.” She paused and looked at the group of us. “Should some of us stay up here? Just in case we get trapped?”

It was a fair question, but there was no way any of us would agree to it.

When no one offered, Nova smirked and shook her head. “I get it, don’t want to miss out on the action.” Or her.

“How do we open this door?” August asked. I eyed the engraved pattern that curled out from the center. I had a feeling what would open it, but the others weren’t going to like it.

Nova, though, never hesitated. She offered me her wrist and I dug my teeth in, making a larger cut than before.

My eyes closed at the explosion of taste on my tongue. Nova’s magic was chaotic and dangerous—like her blood—but there was more heat to it. Something old, something primordial. I could have drunk from her all day, and once all of this was done, I planned on doing exactly that.

The sudden groan of stone against stone when Nova pressed her bloodied wrist to the surface had my eyes snapping open. The stone began to glow bright red as her blood flowed in an unnatural suspended state over the door, filling in each and every line—before shattering open. I cursed, tugging her back as the door crumbled and began to rain down in chunks, revealing a gaping hole with a staircase that led into darkness.

“One of us could have done it,” Ramsey said, wiping the dust and debris from his face. I did the same but stopped mid-motion when I heard commotion down in the darkness.

“He sealed them in there almost permanently.” Volkan shook his head. “Why would you do that?”

“Because he’s scared,” Everett said, and I agreed. I had no doubt that Earnest was terrified of Nova. The rapid pumping of heartbeats grew closer, and I knew enemies would be on us in seconds.

“We’ve got company,” I warned.

The moment the words were out my mouth, figures surged up from the darkness. Magic exploded through the clearing as an assault of bright lights and natural magic hit us. I ducked, stone exploding behind me as I broke ahead and grabbed my first victim. I snapped their neck and threw them down the staircase before turning to the next. The fear and desperation in the man’s gaze didn’t stop me from doing the exact same thing to him.

My brothers fought next to me as a wave of fifteen witches tried to stop our descent into their hideaway. I kept Nova back and out of the way throughout the fight, and I could practically feel her pouting, which would have been funny if these fuckers hadn’t kept aiming for her.

“I can help?—”

I slammed my body into another bastard, throwing him back down the stairs. He cracked his head open on the stone, slamming into another witch trying to make his way up and taking him down too. It reminded me of bowling—imagery that had me smirking.

“Just want you to save your energy, gorgeous,” I promised her.

“Fucking finally.” My brother shook his head as the last body tumbled into the dark.. I knew there would be more, but their first line of defense had been simple enough to get through, so I felt a lot more secure about Nova going down into this shit hole.

I still would have preferred her to stay up by the RV, but there was no hope of that, and after everything Earnest did to her, she deserved this kill.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” Nova sang as she bounded down the stairs. I followed right after, smirking as my own excitement grew alongside hers. There were no lights, but Ramsey sent his gold magic ahead so we could avoid stepping on the bodies we’d sent below. The stairs were steep, and I could feel more than fifty heartbeats in a chamber about sixty feet away. I could have expected numbers like that—possibly more—all in the name of protecting Earnest.

Unfortunately, what none of us expected was the trap door we walked right over.

One moment we were walking down the corridor and the next we were fucking free falling for what felt like hours. I tried to search for Nova, wanting to reach out to her, wanting to cushion her fall?—

Icy water surrounded me as I plummeted deep beneath its surface.

I fought upwards, needing to draw a breath and find Nova. After what felt like lifetimes, I broke the water’s surface and drew in a ragged breath. All around me I could hear the others, but our magical signatures were absent. I couldn’t sense any of our magic or even where Nova was.

When the water started glowing from the depths, I found Nova near me, kicking to keep afloat. The domed ceiling was extremely close, leaving only feet of air available, and a mechanized lock sounded, as if the ceiling had just fucking closed. Nova’s eyes were glazed and her teeth were chattering, a deep-rooted panic filling her expression as I pulled her toward me.

Fuck—this was bad. Really fucking bad.

When the crack of an audio system sounded, my eyes shot down to the light in the water. I was tempted to swim and get a better look, but I worried about leaving Nova for even a moment.

“This is absolute bullshit,” Rowan growled.

“We don’t have much air to even fucking talk,” August agreed. Cassian was quiet next to me, but when he went beneath the water, Nova’s breath went fast in panic.

“See anything?” I called out to River and Nour, whose heads had just emerged. Cassian looked furious as he appeared back at the surface.

“Yeah,” Nour spit out.

“There are witches watching from an observation window,” Cassian reported. Motherfuckers.

“Why can’t I feel our magic?” Nova asked.

“They’re controlling it somehow,” Everett said. We all knew how, but no one was going to say it out loud. Nova was already panicking enough. I could still feel a trickle of magic coming from her, but it was suppressed heavily.

“We will get out of here, sunshine,” Ramsey tried to assure her.

The audio system cracked again, and Volkan nodded down toward the window. I could see the outline of it, now that I knew what to look for. “Earnest just appeared.”

“What a fitting end for you, Nova,” Earnest said, the static of the loudspeaker making my ears buzz. “Drowning where you should have a hundred times before.”

Nova didn’t respond, her lips going blue and fear filling her face. Right at that moment, water began to flood in from all sides. I immediately went under, locking eyes with the bastard responsible for all of this bullshit.

Both he and John’s father stood watching through an observation window like they were at a damn aquarium, and the other heartbeats I’d felt were standing behind him, watching. Entertained. Anger surged through me as I resurfaced, finding Nova clinging to my brother, her expression haunted.

I finally said what we all knew. “This submersion pool is going to become our grave if we don’t get the fuck out of here.”