Page 37

Chapter 37

T he most powerful sleeping potion couldn't have knocked me out that night.

Penny had curled up in bed next to me and promptly fallen asleep the moment the sun went down. I didn't know how much rest she'd had since we escaped, but I doubted it was much. Hecate sat in a loaf on my vanity stool, eyes closed. She didn't often keep watch. I felt kinda special.

When lying in bed got frustrating, I crept around a sleeping Penny and into my concealed workspace. I didn't switch the lights on, the powers in the cabinet radiating a gentle glow around the room. Although, the absence of the powers I had stashed away added an extra gloom to the place.

The weight of the past few days had me curling up into a ball, hugging my knees to my chest. Asher's confessions needled me, sharp and unrelenting as I rolled them around in my mind over and over again. Any other time, I would have gone down a rabbit hole thinking what it all meant and unearthing the answers to the questions they presented. But I had no energy left. Once again, the Bishops had taken me into their fold and squeezed the life out of me. Who knew how long it would take to get it back.

I looked up at the powers in the cabinet, but the three stolen memories on the top shelf drew my attention. Did the Franklins keep an inventory of all the memories they stole? After the mess Hecate, Asher and I had created, they probably would. Which meant it wouldn't take long for them to figure out that I had them.

Coupled with my escape from the Bishop house, the Franklins would surely do everything they could to track me down. Sure, we liked to keep this place private and very few people knew where we lived, but with the Franklin family's resources, how long would it take them? Days if we were lucky.

"What are you doing?" Hecate padded into the room and brushed up against my legs.

"Thinking."

"That's a dangerous thing for you."

No. For once, she was wrong. All this thinking would make everything and everyone much safer.

"If you need to talk..." Hecate reached up and placed her front paws on top of my knees. "...you can always-"

"I don't need to talk, Hec. I need to leave." What other option was there? Staying would endanger everyone I cared about, leading both the Bishops and the Franklins to our doorstep when I was the only one who had wronged them.

"Don't be stupid. You can't leave. Where would you go?"

I unravelled from my ball, dropping Hecate's paws from my knees, and got up. The bag of powers I had already packed sat on the shelf, glowing dully from within.

"I have an idea," I muttered, picking the bag up and holding it in both hands.

There was a power waiting for me down in Australia that I needed to pick up. It wouldn’t hurt to hang around down there and scout the place out for a while.

I transferred the bag to one hand and pulled up my sleeve, exposing the rune magically tattooed onto my skin. Not to mention, I still had a promise to fulfil.

Danger lurked in every shadow, whether it came from the Bishops, the Franklins, or the mysterious contact who had bound me to them. Nobody under this roof deserved to suffer if I made a wrong step.

Stay put. Stay out of trouble. That was what Asher had told me. But I had developed a habit of defying him at every turn lately, even if he had all but proclaimed that his feelings for me weren't dead. In fact, they were more alive than ever. I had expected that to make me feel better, but it just twisted the knife in my heart.

Only one thing made sense in all of this and that was to leave and not look back until I could clean up this mess. Staying put to wait all this out wasn't an option, and I was in too deep now to back out. Only one path lay ahead of me and that was to take off and finish what I started by uncovering my prophecy. With that insight, I was better equipped to deal with the Bishops, and in turn, the Franklins.

"If you try and stop me, I'll lock you in the bathroom," I warned Hecate.

"You do that, and I'll curse your lineage until the end of time."

I snorted. "You're a petty bitch."

"And you're a stupid one. If you must leave, then I'm coming with you." Hecate jumped up on my desk and swished her tail at me.

"It isn't safe, Hec." I held the bag to my chest.

"I know, and that's why you can't go alone. Besides, you'll only get into more trouble without me."

There was a truth to that I couldn't deny. For all the shenanigans Hecate got me into, there were at least two she had fished me out of.

"You know we'll probably move around a lot?" I said. "No settling down."

"Bring my favourite blanket and I won't moan."

"Yes you will."

"I'll moan less then. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth."

I snickered and scratched behind her ear. She closed her eyes and purred, leaning her head into my hand.

What would I do without this crazy ball of fur, anyway?

"Better help me pack then." I cast one last look around my workspace, taking it all in for a moment.

For everyone's sake, I had to leave the only place I had called home behind.

My stomach writhed as I secured a full duffel bag to the back of my bike, obscuring Hecate's view from her little carrying case. Leaving like this felt like a betrayal of some kind, knowing everyone would wake up in the morning and finding only a note. But nothing had felt this right in a long time.

Hecate mewled in protest, pawing at the bag.

"There's nothing I can do. You're going to have to live with it," I said.

"I'd at least like to know where we're going if you won't let me look."

"I'll explain when we get there." I hoisted a rucksack onto my back, swung a leg over the bike seat and jammed my helmet onto my head.

The three jars holding the stolen memories clanked around inside. I had tried to keep them apart by stuffing underwear and socks between them, but they refused to stay still. I would have to find a better way of keeping them than in little glass canisters.

Taking a deep breath, I started up the engine and pressed the garage door button on the wall next to me. Moonlight spilled across the floor and as soon as the door was clear, I took off into the night.

Tears welled in my eyes no matter how hard I tried to blink them back, my heart already heavy with the loss of the family I had to leave behind. But if I was going to protect them from a mess I had created, leaving was the only choice I had.

I swallowed the lump in my throat as I wove down the empty streets. This choice didn't just keep everyone safer, it would finally unravel the mystery I had spent my whole life dreaming of understanding.