Page 46

POLARIS

“ W ait a fucking minute. Can someone start from the beginning so we're all actually on the same page?”

I raise my eyebrows at the outburst, but Asher nods eagerly.

“I agree with Wylder,” he declares, folding his arms over his chest as he glances around the room while Lincoln grunts.

“You're the one who knows things we don’t,” he says in response, his nostrils flaring with a hint of irritation.

The energy in the room is concerning. Everything feels out of sync, possibly because there have never been this many people in my room all at once before. So many factions, too.

Standing on my bed—literally standing—I glance around the room, taking a deep breath as I figure out, or at least try to understand, what we do next.

Minnie and Bryony lean against the armoire, their arms linked as they gaze around the room with a sense of helplessness.

Wylder, Tatum, Lincoln, and Asher are at the foot of the bed, bickering among themselves, while Blaze stands to the right near my desk with Ben by his side.

Apparently, the reason Blaze had to leave was because it was no longer safe to keep him hidden, and it seems a silent decision has been made for him to come here. He’s going to be safer with others present than alone, I guess.

So that leaves witches, wolves, a vampire, and a human in my room. Who would have thought it was possible? All on the same side. To do what, I’m not entirely sure. Regardless, I don’t think it’s something Professor Whitmore could’ve envisioned.

Running my hands through my hair, I clear my throat, gaining everyone’s attention.

All eyes turn to me, but the embarrassment I expect to feel doesn’t arrive.

Somehow, it’s more guilt. Not a new feeling for me.

But this time it’s because I made a decision, took a deal, and now all these people are involved.

It doesn’t matter if it’s of their own accord; it’s still because of me.

“Perhaps we should go around the room so everyone can express their thoughts.”

I trust everyone in this room enough to tackle this chaotic situation together.

Fortunately, Minnie nods eagerly. Part of me knows that once Minnie agrees, the wolves will follow suit. It’s almost amusing that Lincoln is the Alpha of the pack, given how soft he is on his sister. He ends up following her lead more often than not.

Testing the waters to my right, my gaze locks with Blaze, and he winks, immediately confirming that he’s on board.

“Let's ensure we express everything,” Minnie states, unlinking her arm from Bryony’s as she climbs onto the bed with me and stands a step in front, pointing a finger first at her brother. “Lincoln, you can begin.”

He frowns, his eyebrows narrowing as frustration appears to take hold of his features before he rolls his eyes and shrugs. “I actually don't have anything to say.”

“That’s a first,” Blaze retorts, causing Wylder to snicker while Lincoln glares at the vampire.

“Fuck you.”

Blaze winks. “You wish.”

Who on Earth is this funny vampire, and where’s my dark and broody asshole? I’m sure he’s still in there somewhere.

Minnie cackles, pressing her hand to her mouth in an attempt to stifle the sound, but it’s futile. Once she finally regains her composure, she points her slender finger at Tatum.

He takes it as a hint to go and his eyes find mine immediately, a softness clear as a small smile curls at the corner of his mouth. “I am mated with Polaris,” he states, reaching for the hem of his t-shirt and lifting it high enough to reveal the mark on his chest that matches mine.

“Holy shit!” Ben gasps in disbelief as Wylder claps.

“That’s fucking awesome, man,” he gushes, and the two of them fist bump, making my cheeks heat. Especially when he turns to me, eyes dark with a promise in his gaze. One that swears I’m destined to have another mark on my body soon.

“Asher?” Minnie calls out, and he shakes his head.

“Nothing.”

Minnie shifts her focus to the vampire in the room, crossing her arms over her chest as she gives him a piercing look. It feels as if she’s ready for the unavoidable argument.

Blaze tucks his hands behind his back and nods. “Okay, I have about forty-eight hours to kill Tatum, or The Crow will come for me,” he states, and I gawk at him, nearly falling from the bed.

“What?” Minnie and I say in unison, and he shrugs, giving me a tight smile.

“Hence why we're all here, Amica Mea. We're trying to figure it out,” he states, like that's enough of an explanation.

I glance at Tatum, who is clearly not surprised by the news. I can’t help but wonder when this all happened. However, seeing him remain calm helps ease the panic and fear in my chest.

“Ben, right?” Minnie says, moving on from the topic more quickly than I would like, but I guess we need to hear what everyone is dealing with.

Ben smiles and nods as he lifts his hand. “Oh, I don’t have anything. I’m just glad to be out of the basement,” he says, and I smile slightly at his admission, despite how horrible I remember it being down there.

I’m glad about that too.

Minnie points her finger at herself. “What about me?” she says, teasing in her voice, and the humor lightens the energy in the room. Her gaze settles on her brother as she shrugs. “I like girls,” she blurts, her shoulder muscles coiling tightly as Lincoln stares at her in confusion.

“Well, duh,” he breathes, eyebrows raised in slight confusion, and Minnie’s jaw falls slack with surprise.

“Just… duh?” she repeats, and he shrugs.

“I mean, I love you, Minnie, but you’re so obvious about things. Your ability to keep a secret or hide how you feel is hilariously poor,” he states with a shrug, and the tension that riddled Minnie’s body moments ago depletes as she smiles from ear to ear.

“Oh, well, nothing else to report then,” she declares, turning her megawatt smile to Bryony, who beams back at her.

“Anything you have to say, Bryony?”

“Apart from liking girls too?” she adds, and I can’t stop the smile from spreading across my face.

“Apart from that,” Minnie murmurs, her cheeks pink, and Bryony’s gaze snaps to me for a moment, her eyebrows pinching for just a second before she turns her attention back to Minnie. “No, nothing.”

All eyes cast my way, the last one to be asked. “Polaris,” she breathes, acutely aware that we’re all here because there are things I need to share.

“Well, I had a visit from The Crow this morning, and I now have the locations for two more coins. He said the remaining coins, but I?—”

“Coins?” Ben says with a frown, and I dig my hand into my pocket, revealing the piece of gold that has saved me more times than I dare to count.

“Coins,” I offer, turning it in his direction, and to my surprise, both Blaze and Tatum do the same thing.

Ben’s eyebrows remain gathered as his jaw falls slack. “Oh, wait, one of these?”

I watch in slow motion as he reaches into his pocket, pulling out a gold coin for everyone to see, and I freeze, my body locked in place with shock.

“What the fuck?” Wylder grunts, scrubbing a hand down his face. “I’m not sharing again. The Vampire is bad enough,” he states, and Ben’s face scrunches up in disgust.

“Ew. No offense,” he quickly recovers, turning to me with a grimace. “She's like my sister,” he states, and I smile at him.

I've never been anyone's sister before. What's strange is that we weren’t very close back at Florentine’s, and I’ve hardly seen him here. However, since he’s the only one traveling with me and didn’t abandon me the moment we learned our true factions, I feel a similar connection to him as well.

“So if you've got the fourth coin, that means these are the final two,” I say, pulling out the piece of paper, and the room grows solemn.

“We need to analyze this,” Blaze murmurs, pointing his thumb at Ben beside him, who offers the coin to the vampire without question. Blaze takes it, slipping it into his pocket as I nod in agreement.

“For sure, but I think it might be easier to analyze everything once we have all of them together.”

Everyone murmurs their agreement as Lincoln clears his throat. “So, we're all going?” he asks, and I nod.

“We're all going.”

Lincoln purses his lips. “Half of us might be dead by the end of the week anyway, so maybe we try and get this done as quickly as possible. Nothing is stopping us from splitting up to cover more ground. Then we can check both locations and get back here to try and figure out what it all means.”

“And what The fucking Crow expects too,” Asher adds, and I nod, nerves bundling in my stomach, but I force the worry aside.

“Let's do this.”

“When The Crow gave you the paper, did he happen to mention that we would have to consider that these coins would still belong to somebody?” Blaze asks, and I hide behind my hands, embarrassed.

“I hadn't really thought of asking that,” I admit, and when I spy him through my spread fingers, he gives me a pointed look. But it’s Wylder who rolls his eyes, grumbling my name under his breath.

I hold my hands up in defeat. “It was my first time meeting him. Excuse me for not knowing what I was doing,” I protest, throwing my hands up in surrender, and I’m quickly swept into Wylder’s arms.

“I know, Little Witch. We’re sorry, it’s just… there are so many unknowns at play,” he states as we head down the sidewalk, passing house after house.

When we arrived in the middle of a field a few minutes ago, Wylder quickly explained that we were approaching a suburb. Somewhere normal humans with everyday lives go about their day, or so he says. Honestly, I’ve never felt more out of place in my whole life.

Perfectly cut lawns match each house, which are painted to perfection. Some are pale blue, others yellow, but they complement each other in some strange way.

When we reach the last house, the address matching the paper, I frown.

“What would somebody in a house like this be doing with a coin?” I ask, and Blaze shrugs.