Page 10

VIOLET

“A nd we’re all done” Brenda said, declaring my first day back officially over. “Good job, guys. Violet, you did amazingly despite the week-long pause. I’m proud of you.”

My chest swelled at the compliment, but I could do nothing besides smile and show her two thumbs up. I felt torn apart. Mind and body alike. My eyes were heavy, hard to keep open, and my thoughts felt like a yarn ball that a hyperactive cat had come across—tangled up and all over the place. Being that close to my boys wasn't helping.

“A few things before I let you go” she went on, sitting behind her desk to shuffle through a stack of papers. “I did tell you about your next mission, didn’t I?”

“You did” Kenji confirmed. “Violet doesn’t know, though.”

A confused expression made its way onto Brenda’s face as she looked up, documents still in hand. “I thought I’d ask you guys to inform her?”

“Indeed” Quinn replied, before flashing a smile that was obviously directed at me. “Thing is, we couldn’t—"

“We didn’t get a chance to tell her because apparently colds make it impossible to f—to communicate with your teammates” Nicholas interrupted him, and while he was talking to Brenda, his eyes were on me. Oh, he was mad. “Interesting discovery, huh?”

We hadn’t really… interacted during class. Of course, we’d communicated to better execute the exercises instructed by Brenda, but that was it. We hadn’t had a chance to really talk about my week-long disappearance or whatever was going on with us. I couldn’t tell if, to me, it was a relief or a total disaster.

“I’m sorry, it was my fault” I said, raising a hand. “I was asleep most of the time. They really couldn’t reach me.”

Their magic thundered, pure, powerful electricity coursing just beneath my skin.

"It's okay" Brenda assured me, pulling out a single piece of paper from the stack and waving it like a flag. "I'll keep it short and sweet so that you guys can go have a well-deserved rest." She got up and walked around the desk, eyes on the printed sheet. "There's a feral vampire in the woods northwest of Ravenfalls. Massacred a number of deer and bears, and a farmer, too. The husband was out of town for work, and when he came back, he found her… well, what was left of her, anyway.”

I blinked, trying to chase away the clear images in my head. “How do we know it’s a vampire, though?”

"He drained the victims dry" Kenji replied, giving me a look I couldn't read. How original. "Leaves little room for interpretation."

Alright, buddy. No need to get all smug with me now.

I ignored him, turning my attention back to Brenda. “Shouldn’t the vampires take care of it? To each their own— everybody cleans up their own mess. Isn’t that how it works?”

I was pretty proud of my intervention—I’d learned about the topic in class, and I was glad I was finally able to understand and actively participate in the conversation—but I was quickly humbled by Nicholas’s dry, annoyed response. “It’s in our territory, Princess. It’s up to us now.”

I’d learned that, too. My brain had just conveniently forgotten about it at the worst possible time. I told myself it didn’t matter, that I was still learning and I couldn’t care less if they didn’t think me a capable member of the Team, but I knew I was lying to myself. I cared—quite a lot, in fact.

"As Nicholas said" Brenda confirmed with a nod. "The vampire has taken multiple lives in our territory. Stopping him is our job. Well, your job" she corrected herself. "And you will be accompanied by a rookie Tea—"

She couldn’t even finish the sentence: a choir of protests echoed in the room, forcing her to shut up.

“Not a rookie Team” Nicholas grumbled, letting his head loll back. “Anything but this. Fucking spare me.”

Lips slightly upturned, Quinn turned to me. “See, love… We don’t dislike them for no reason. Rookie Teams tend to ask countless questions.”

“At the worst f—at the worst possible time” Nicholas muttered, sending a quick glance my way; too quick for me to distinguish the multitudes of emotions seething in his eyes. “They’re whiny, too. And clingy. And a damn pain in the ass.”

“Qualifying exams are months away” Kenji chimed in, before I could say anything. “Who are these people?”

Making her way across the room, Brenda folded the paper and gestured toward the closed door she was rapidly approaching. "Believe it or not, they're in the same situation you were in a few years ago. The newly founded Omicron Team didn't make it home after what looked like a routine patrol on the southeastern border of our area. They're still trying to find out what happened to them." She stopped by the door and rested her fingers on the knob, turning her shoulders just enough to look at us. "None of the Teams below Omicron were prepared enough to climb up one step of the ladder, so the Council had to improvise and form a new Team. They've hardly trained together, so I thought they could benefit from seeing you on the field." She smiled brightly as she pushed the door open. "You're the best, after all."

I saw them right away: four people stood in the dimly lit gym, right by the long row of blue mats; three guys and a girl. She was scrolling through her phone, short red curls hiding her face, one of her boots rhythmically tapping against the floor; she was at least one head taller than the boy standing next to her. He rocked back and forth on his heels, sneakers squeaking on the linoleum floor; he had strong features: blocky shoulders and hips, a wide pale face with dark, bushy eyebrows and square jawline. The buzzcut did nothing to soften the sharp angles of his figure. A few feet back, the remaining two guys were busy in what looked like a playful fistfight. One of them had big muscles stretching out the fabric of his white t-shirt, a stark contrast to his warm brown skin; he moved rapidly, easily avoiding the swings of the other guy… guy who, the realization being sudden and quite traumatic, I knew. The ashy blond hair tied in a loose ponytail, the tall, lanky figure, the dimple digging a heart-shaped hole in the middle of his chin—years might have passed, but I recognized him effortlessly.

"Caleb?" It rolled out of my mouth before I could stop myself. I was just so stunned to see him there, though it made perfect sense: the main reason we'd stopped hanging out was his magic. Thirteen-year-old Caleb had suddenly become too busy with basic magic training to spend time with his old friends. Shortly after manifesting his powers, his family had moved closer to the Coven, into a cute apartment I'd only ever seen once. We'd lived next door all our lives; seeing him move away had been a punch in the stomach, because despite the fact he was only a ten-minute walk away, the distance between us had felt unbridgeable.

When he twirled around, an unsure, quizzical smile on his face, memories came back at me with the intensity of a raging flood. Caleb daring Daisy and me to steal tangerines from somebody’s garden, then ending up doing it himself because the ones we’d picked ‘tasted rancid’, only to get caught red-handed by the very much bitter owner. Caleb rolling down a hill with a wheeled storage container and breaking three teeth in the process. Caleb forcing us to dive into dumpsters with him to search for bottle caps—he collected them and glued them to the ceiling.

For a number of years, along with Daisy, he'd embodied my idea of friendship. And then everything had changed. By that time, the relationship with my mother had already started to strain, but somehow, the awakening of his magic made it so much worse. How could it be that he was a warlock and I was a mere mortal? Why weren't my powers showing up as well? Didn't I realize I was ruining the financial status of the family by being an egotistic brat?

I'd been quick to put some of the blame on him, to take my mother's frustration and project it onto him; I guessed it made it easier to accept a drastic change that had no real reason to be. But at that moment, looking at my old friend, I couldn't find any of the anger, the envy, the resentment I'd felt for a long while. All that was stirring in my chest was a deep sense of nostalgia for a time that was long gone.

His smile grew bigger once he recognized me, though at the same time, a flicker of hurt and longing lit up in the pale, light blue of his eyes. A pang of guilt made my stomach twist. He hadn't been the one who'd built a solid wall between us. His life had become busier, of course, but he'd always reached out to me no matter what. I'd been the one to shut him out. I had been too hurt and angry to see that nothing in our friendship had actually changed, and I had ruined it all.

“Violet” he exhaled, taking two slow steps forward. “Hi.”

“Hi.” I cleared my throat, suddenly aware of the people staring at us. Of my boys staring at us. I couldn’t see them—they stood right behind me—but I felt them. Their magic was a living entity inflating to submerge the entire room, charging the air with crackling, dangerous energy. “Hi everyone” I added, waving like a weirdo. I forced myself to put my hands down. “What’s up?”

Worse and worse, Violet. Congrats.

“You two know each other?” Brenda asked, stopping right between the two Teams, head turning from him to me and vice versa.

Why did she sound so surprised? The Coven didn’t have that many students; Ravenfalls itself was a tiny town where everyone knew each other. I wasn’t big on interactions, alright, but she couldn’t have known that.

“We were…” Caleb stared at me a moment too long before peeling his eyes away. “We were childhood friends, one could say. Though there’s always been this obvious idol-fan dynamic between us” he whispered in a secretive tone, then placed a hand over his chest. “I was the idol. She orbited around me, yearning for crumbs of my attention. Poor soul.”

“I did no such thing.” My reply was automatic, the smile on my lips uncontrolled and authentic. “Liar.”

“Let’s be real, Viv” he said, taking another step forward, lips twisted in a lopsided grin. “You and Dais hung on my every word. It’s a normal occurrence.” He waved his hand dismissively. “Every friend group has its natural leader. It just happened to be me.”

Him mentioning Daisy made me realize something important—crucial, in fact: she’d never severed ties with him. I knew they were still in contact because she would mention him every once in a while, mostly by accident. But still. Before I could find the words to ask about her, someone else joined the conversation.

“I don’t believe it to be the appropriate time to trot down memory lane” Quinn observed, taking a step forward so that he was right beside me. “Let’s keep it professional, shall we?”

My cheeks warmed, and I was sure they turned a bright shade of pink. "Of course. Sorry."

“You have nothing to apologize for” Nicholas uttered, materializing by my right side. “You weren’t the one out of line.”

Neither was Caleb, but I kept it to myself.

Kenji appeared out of nowhere to stop in front of me, completing what apparently was their favorite formation: the triangular one around me. “Omicron Team. Introduce yourselves.”

What was this, military school? Why were they being so hard on these poor rookies?

Caleb stepped forward, and, as if he’d read my mind, he did a little salute, winking in my direction. “Caleb García, sir. At your service.”

The joke wasn’t well-received: I attempted a small laugh, but otherwise, it fell into thick silence.

“Marissa Peck” the only girl introduced herself, a tiny smile softening the sharp angles of her face. “Nice to meet you.”

The boy Caleb was playfully fighting raised two fingers. “Moriarty.”

“And I’m Spencer” the last guy concluded, a clear smile hiding in his words. “I can’t believe we’ll be working with Alpha Team. It’s, like, such an honor.”

“No.” Kenji’s voice was sharp. “You’ll be observing. You won’t partake in the mission.”

Awkwardness filled the room like a bad smell, and Spencer’s smile dropped so fast I doubted it had ever been there.

I waited for somebody else to say something a little more polite, but all was quiet, so I walked past the three of them to greet Omicron Team. “Nice to meet you guys. I’m Violet. These are Kenji, Quinn, and Nicholas. I swear, they don’t bite.”

“Oh, but we do” Quinn murmured, as he slid a hand around my waist. His breath was warm against my right cheek. “You just need to ask nicely. Isn’t that right, love?”

I grabbed him by the wrist and shoved his hand back, hoping and praying I wasn’t turning purple. The memory of him biting my neck was pretty vivid in my mind—too much, I’d say.

“We’re glad you’ll be joining us in our next mission” I went on, ignoring Quinn’s low chuckle vibrating on my temple. “It’s a pleasure.”

“Is it?” he whispered, voice so low I had trouble hearing it. “My definition of pleasure is vastly different from yours, it appears.”

Jesus. I didn’t know if I wanted to punch him or kiss him until I couldn’t feel my lips anymore.

Brenda walked up to us in wide steps, a big smile lighting up her face. “I’m sure both Teams will come out enriched from this experience. Now excuse me, my hot yoga class won’t wait for me to start. See you!”

As soon as the gym door slammed shut, the sound echoing across the vast room, Kenji took a step forward. His shoulder shielded me almost completely from the sight of the other Team. Was he scared I was going to make them look unprofessional? Ah! What a fool. Given the rudeness showcased earlier, it was clear they didn’t need my help at all. They were fine on their own.

“Tomorrow” Kenji said, or rather, ordered. “Seven a.m. sharp, outside the Coven. Latecomers will stay behind.”

Seven in the morning seemed a bit drastic, but nobody dared uttering a protest. I’d grown kind of used to his cold, bossy behavior, but I had to remind myself he looked scary as heck from the outside. Not someone you want to contradict, like, ever.

While Omicron Team dispersed, heading toward the door, Caleb took a few steps in my direction. “No more braids and braces, huh?”

“They were not braces” I automatically replied, stepping out of Kenji’s shadow. “They were retainers. There’s a difference.”

He seemed to evaluate my words for a moment, tapping on his heart-shaped dimple, then he clicked his tongue. "Don't believe you. Sorry."

“Well, it’s not my problem if you—” I pressed my lips together, stopping mid-sentence. Twelve years had passed, but it was like nothing had changed. Our banter seemed unbothered by the time we’d been apart, like a muscle that remembers exactly a movement it hasn’t performed in ages. “I’m glad to see you” I said instead, first because we weren’t thirteen anymore, and second because I could nearly feel the air thrum with barely contained magic. It was safe to say my boys weren’t happy.

“Getting sentimental, Hardy?” He raised an eyebrow, taking another step. “Thirteen-year-old Viv would’ve fought me to death over her braces. Why so docile?”

The closer he got, I noticed, the heavier Alpha Team’s magic grew. Like his proximity was directly proportional to the lack of control of their magic. “I’m twenty-five now. And I don’t wear retainers anymore.” Also, the whole situation with my mother had erased most of the confrontational bones from my body, but I kept that to myself.

“Tell me all about it over a cup of salted hot chocolate, how does that sound?”

"The containers were unlabeled, okay?" I snapped at the memory, though I could feel a principle of laughter forming in my throat. "It wasn't my fault. It was an honest mistake."

“Maybe” he conceded. “My proposal is still valid, though.” A small smile formed on his purplish lips. “It’s been, what, ten years?”

“Twelve” I corrected him immediately, then I cleared my throat. “Twelve years.”

I took a moment to think about it. Class was over for the day, and I had no scheduled shifts at the bookstore until Thursday. I had plans to go to the movies with Maggie, Len, and Mei after dinner, but I had time. I could ask him about Daisy.

“I think—”

“Time to go” Nicholas interrupted me, wrapping an arm around my waist to pull me close. “She’s busy.”

My head snapped toward him. “I’m n—”

“I’m afraid Nicholas is right” Quinn said, his tone apologetic. Theatrically so. “It’s a Team’s matter. Urgent. Sadly private.” His long fingers brushed my temple and pushed a strand of hair back, lingering on the shell of my ear like he couldn’t bring himself to stop touching me. “There will be plenty of time for you two old friends to catch up.”

I frowned. What on earth were they trying to do?

Kenji didn't say a word; he merely nodded toward the door, waiting for the three of us to start walking and then tailing us closely.

“I’m sorry” I managed to say as Nicholas dragged me forward. “See you tomorrow, Cal.”

I didn’t even wait for the door to fully close behind our backs: as soon as we were out of the gym, I started shooting my questions. “Why did you lie? There’s no Team’s matter to discuss, am I right? What’s going on with y’all?”

“Not here” Kenji stated. “Sharing private information with outsiders is prohibited.”

Basically kidnapping me should’ve also been prohibited, and yet. “Okay, but I’m not coming into your room.”

Quinn turned around, somehow climbing the staircase backward. "Agreed. Coming into a bed would be far more comfortable. How does mine sound?”

It took me a moment to understand, and when I did, I had to suppress a giggle. God. Why was it so hard to stay mad at them?

To be fair, they didn’t try to take me to their room: they led the way to mine, lining up beside the closed door like obedient toy soldiers.

“Okay, so, what’s the deal?”

Nicholas tapped his tattooed knuckles against the wooden door. "Get inside first. Questions later. One would think it's fucking common sense" he added under his breath.

“There’s literally nobody a—you know what, fine” I mumbled, fishing for the keys in my pockets. “I’m saving myself the useless argument. Come in. Make yourselves at home.”

I plopped down on the edge of the bed, watching as the boys did exactly as I’d told them—occupying the space like it belonged to them. Quinn sat on the chair in the corner, one leg propped up on an armrest. Kenji leaned back against my desk with his arms crossed over his chest. Nicholas sat on the windowsill, the heels of his combat boots knocking repeatedly against the wall.

“Is this okay?" I asked, spreading my arms wide before letting them fall back down. "Do you want to check for wires while you're at it?"

“Depends.” Quinn flashed a smile filled with bad intentions. “Are the wires hiding underneath your clothes?”

His remark was met with silence.

Kenji tapped on the desk’s edge with his fingertips. “Being part of this Team comes with responsibilities. Disappearing for a week without explanation is unacceptable.”

My throat grew tighter at his words. He was right, of course. I'd stayed hidden because the weight of all I was going through was unbearable, not stopping to think about the consequences of my actions; not even acknowledging that I wasn't only answering to myself, that I was part of a system that required my presence to function. Well, sort of.

I immediately regretted the sassiness of my answers, but there was no way to take it back now.

“I’m sorry.” I lowered my gaze, too mortified to hold any of their stares. “I wasn’t thinking. I was just…” I licked my lower lip. “I was dealing with so much stuff, I felt overwhelmed. And I knew you’d be angry after what had happened with Fia.”

"Of course we were" Nicholas snapped. "You almost got yourself killed for the umpteenth time. Did you expect cheers and praise? A fucking cake, maybe?" He pointed at Kenji. "I almost never agree with him, but this time he's right. We're a Team, Violet. You don't lock us out, especially if you're in danger or having a tough time."

“I sent a text” I pointed out under my breath. “I’m not used to asking for help, but I’m… I’m trying.”

A moment of silence followed my words.

“I believe he’s also referring to your week-long silence, love” Quinn chimed in, his voice a soothing caress after Nicholas’s biting, accusatory tone. “Why didn’t you talk to us? We could’ve found a solution together. We could’ve tried, at the very least.”

How could I tell them they were part of the reason I'd been so distraught and confused? Where to start? Where to end? Most of all, what was the goal? I couldn't find an answer to any of those questions, so I didn't say anything.

“Disappearing like that wasn’t right” I admitted, fighting to keep my voice steady. “I’m sorry I stood in the way of the Team. I promise I’ll do my best to prevent it from happening again.”

Nicholas snorted. “You better.”

“We expect commitment and reliability on your part” Kenji said. “Give an honest answer, Violet. Can we count on you?”

I paused for a moment to think about his question, but the answer was obvious, so I nodded curtly. “You can.”

I hadn’t chosen my new reality, but there was no changing it. Trying to escape was pointless. And deep down, I didn’t even want to. With them, I felt at home as I hadn’t felt for so long.

“Good” he murmured, staring at me with a glint that was half disappointment, half rage. He pushed off the desk, heading to the door. “Don’t be late tomorrow.”

I blinked. That was it? Weren't they going to say anything else? I'll admit, I was half expecting an outburst about Caleb; or, at the very least, a snarky remark. Nothing came.

With fluctuating degrees of friendliness, my boys said goodbye and left the room, leaving me alone to wonder what the hell was going on.