Page 10

FRANKIE

Everest had kept his word. He’d kept the dreams away. I slept. Like really, truly slept. No lucid dreaming, no astral projection, no nightmares, not even a happy dream. Just blissful rest. When I woke to the smell of food being cooked downstairs, I discovered that sunrise had quickly turned into mid-day. Breakfast had turned into lunch, and the second we all spotted Emersyn cooking her famous fried chicken in the kitchen, we all sat down at the table and waited patiently.

Everyone looked as frazzled as I felt. We all just sat at the table in silence, though that may have had something to do with the tense energy rolling off Bentley. A nervous psychic was not a comforting sight. Yet not a single one of us wanted to ask, we didn’t want to know. Not yet. We’d already gotten two major prophecies at sunrise. We didn’t need another. If he knew pertinent information, then he’d let us know when the time was right.

Ignorance was, in fact, bliss.

My mind kept replaying certain lines of the prophecies. It was torture, because I didn’t have a clue what they meant. Release the son, betray the vice, deep in the Lore they’ll feel his bite. That was clearly Everest. We were to release him and betray Lilith. Deep in the lor e could’ve meant a lot of things but my gut kept trying to tell me something I did not want to think about. We’d become too familiar with the word Lore and it was only in a certain place and no one— no one —wanted to go there again. I refused to even think it, though I did wonder if that was why Bentley was so damn tense. Yet again, I wasn’t going to ask.

Dream-Deacon, as we were referring to him in this state, was reading the Book of Shadows intently, but he let out a long, deep sigh. “I’m so glad my body is downstairs and cannot smell this chicken.”

Savannah giggled next to him. She’d taken up Em’s job of helping him turn the pages so neither him nor Cooper drained themselves. “I wonder if you’d be able to taste it if we put it in your mouth.”

Lily slammed her hand over Easton’s mouth but the look on his face was priceless.

Dream-Deacon wagged his eyebrows at him. “When they’re not looking, Easy-E, put it in my mouth.”

“But not without me there.” Cooper shook his head, but he was grinning. “Someone has to make sure he doesn’t choke.”

Royce made a graphic gesture, then cackled silently.

Dream-Deacon’s grin turned absolutely wicked. “I may be heterosexually monogamous—and happily so, just so we’re clear—but prior to my arrival in Tampa . . . I didn’t prefer one over the other, and I assure you I excelled in both departments.”

“Just for that I’m going to go downstairs and hold fried chicken under your nose without letting you taste it.” Cooper grimaced. “The visuals, man.”

Lily snorted. “Emersyn was right. Deacon was worse than you, lover boy.”

Easton threw his hands up like he’d scored a touchdown.

Emersyn strolled in and sat a big glass of iced tea on the table at an empty seat. “Easton, didn’t you spend some time in New York with Deacon right before Lily finally gave in to you?”

Lily gasped and slapped a hand on the table. “YOU DID.”

Dream-Deacon pretended to zip his mouth closed. “Snitches get stitches.”

“Em, do I wanna know?”

She giggled and flipped her hair over her shoulder, the ends burning fire. “Ten out of ten do not recommend.”

Lily pursed her lips and nodded. "You hear that, lover boy? You snitch to me, and I will stitch you myself.”

Easton grinned. “Kinky. I like it.”

“Gross. Boo." Cooper threw napkins at Easton and Dream-Deacon.

“What? We got you a girl. Thought you’d handle this better?” Dream-Deacon laughed.

Easton wagged his eyebrows. “Savannah needs more time to work her magic for us.”

Savannah’s head perked up from the Book of Shadows, her eyes wide. “I got distracted. Do I want to know?”

“NO,” the rest of us shouted at the same time.

Hunter sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I really hope that potion Frankie saw above my head was for a magical lobotomy.”

I snort-laughed. “I’ll see what I can do for you, papa bear.”

“Like . . . why do I have to hear about this stuff?” Hunter shuddered. “Why must they give me visuals? I say nothing. I let them do their thing. Shouldn’t I be rewarded for that and not punished?”

“I know this is a wild theory,” Tim said from the stairwell that led down to the infirmary and guest rooms. His voice carried up before we could even see him. “But you two also need to eat and rest. It’s actually equally as important as the rest of us. Who will heal us if you go down?”

“You have a point, doll.” Katherine giggled and bounced into sight in the doorway. Then she stopped and sniffed the air like a dog. “But you should have led with Em’s fried chicken and you wouldn’t have gotten a fight.”

Myrtle appeared behind her. “After all, it’s important to know how to fight all your battles.”

As both women danced over to the table to take two empty seats, Tim stepped into the living room with a smile on his face. “I hadn’t realized fried chicken was on the menu or I would’ve just called you and got my plate ready.”

Everyone laughed. Several people lifted their empty plates into the air to show they’d done just that. I smiled and reached down to pet Houdini who’d rested his face on my foot.

Constance rubbed her belly. “Is everyone steady down there?”

“As steady as can be,” Myrtle said softly, avoiding everyone’s eyes. “Olli and Albert are on guard down there. They’ll howl if anyone needs medical attention.”

Cooper leaned back in his seat and frowned. “Aren’t you missing one?”

Myrtle smiled. “I told him he had three minutes to get his behind up here or I’d whoop it.”

Emersyn carried out a plate full of fried chicken and sat it in front of the empty seat at the head of the table right next to that glass of tea. Then it hit me. That was Tenn’s seat. She pointed at us and glared, a flame dancing along her finger. “Any of you touch that and I will set you aflame.”

We all stared at that fresh mountain of fried heaven, but none of us moved an inch.

We were probably drooling though.

The front door opened, and Daniel hurried over to his wife, then leaned down and kissed her forehead before taking the seat beside her. “Kylie and Kendall are with the Coven’s younger siblings at Monica’s house with Aspen. They’re having fun.”

Constance let out a deep breath. “Good.”

“Do we . . . do we tell them about Libby?” Lily asked softly, her purple eyes haunted. “Feels wrong to hold on to that knowledge when they’re hurting.”

Easton cringed. “They’re hurting so much. I don’t want to tell them until we know what’s going on. False hope is . . . dangerous.”

Everyone nodded.

The air pulsed with energy. Strands of hair lifted off my shoulders and began to float. I glanced around the table and saw everyone else was in a similar situation. I scowled. But then Tenn marched into the room grumbling and growling to no one about how he wanted to stay down there next to Tegan. I knew the moment he smelled the fried chicken because he stopped short. His eyes narrowed on the kitchen, then he sniffed the air.

Everyone else at the table pointed to Tenn’s seat at the far end with a pile of chicken waiting for him. And only for him.

Tenn shrugged. “A few minutes will be fine I guess.”

Everyone chuckled as he took his seat and eyed his mountain of food. The glass of tea was his first move, surprisingly. We all were so starving we watched in envy as he shoved a chicken tender in his mouth and did a little happy dance. We lived vicariously through him as he ate at least five pieces in about ninety seconds. My stomach growled. No one seemed upset that he’d been fed first, and I wasn’t any different. As our Coven Leader he was under immense amounts of stress, but also . . . when you were the one destined to kill Lilith and save the world, you kind of deserved special treatment. That was a lot of pressure to live with. I just loved watching the way they all adored him silently. Discreetly. As if they knew he’d be spooked if they did so out loud. But it was there, in their actions. Especially the little ones like this.

It really made me understand all those conversations my friends in Tampa had about him.

“Oh shit.”

Everyone jumped and turned toward the kitchen.

“Tegan usually flies all the food in for me.” Emersyn giggled. “Kessler, wanna give me a hand?”

“You got it, kiddo.” Kessler hurried into the kitchen only to come right back out carrying two massive trays stacked with chicken. Kessler grinned as he sat them on the table and then leaned into the kitchen to grab the third tray. “Feast time, y’all.”

I waited for Emersyn to come join us, but she didn’t. “Does she do all the cooking?”

Hunter nodded. “Lately, yes. It’s her happy place. She gets that from me. I need to get back in there and help her though.” His face fell, those golden eyes darkening.

Kessler reached out and squeezed his brother’s shoulder. “We’re all coping the way we know how.”

At that, Tenn’s eyes glazed over.

I leaned across and put my hand on his forearm, waiting for him to register my touch. It took alarmingly long. The Tenn I knew would’ve felt it before I even got my hand on him. When his gaze finally looked to me, I smiled. “How is she?”

Tenn swallowed the bite he was chewing, then shoved both hands into his hair. “I just don’t understand. She hasn’t gotten Witch’s Shock since she first got to us—when she’d been using magic for a few days. This is not the same Tegan as that Tegan. The amount of magic she can use is astonishing, the feats she pulls. She wasn’t even white witch when she went down. It makes no sense. I’ve been replaying last night in my mind over and over and over. Something had to have happened in that fight at Avolire that I missed.”

“It was Sam.”

We all jumped at the sound of a new voice in the room behind us. When I turned, I spotted the largest human being I’d ever seen. This guy had to be a few inches taller than Tenn and Kessler and they were six-foot-five. He was tan, had big muscles, and had long brown hair that seemed to have a natural ombre with many different color strands mixed in. It was wild and windblown and in desperate need of a brush. The guy sauntered toward us with all the confidence in the world. His purple eyes were menacing, but as he scratched his scruffy beard and gave the room a small smile, I saw his eyes soften.

I frowned. “Who are you?”

He looked right to me and smiled. “I’m the massive black dragon who carried Tenn and Tegan out of Avolire last night.” His voice was as deep as Tenn’s yet somehow less terrifying. Slightly. It was an apples-to-apples game, both were deep and terrifying.

I gasped. “OH. The purple eyes. Duh. Hi, I’m Frankie.” I held my left hand out.

He shook my hand. “I’m Koth.”

Dream-Deacon chuckled. “King of Shifters. No big deal.”

My eyes widened. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know?—”

“How could you?” He winked. “Welcome to hell—I mean, The Coven.”

We all laughed.

“What did you mean?” Tenn’s deep voice was rough and gravelly.

Koth’s face fell. “Elan informed me Tegan went down with Witch’s Shock. Is this true?”

“Yes,” Tenn growled.

Koth cursed. “I thought that was strange for her, so I’ve been replaying what I saw in my head for hours until I finally came up with an answer for you, which I figured would be the case given the way my shaman kept side-eyeing me.”

Easton walked up and held a piece of fried chicken to Koth’s face. “Have one.”

Koth scowled down at the food. “Is this fried chicken?”

Easton grinned as he sat back down. “Yep. Humor me.”

“Sure, I’ll humor you.” Koth shook his head in confusion but then he took a bite, like he wanted to humor Easton, then his whole expression changed to shock. His purple eyes went wide. He nodded and made a grunting sound. “Oh my God. Oh my God. Mhhhmmm. My God. That’s good,” he mumbled as he chewed.

Emersyn carried a new plate of chicken and sat it down in the seat across from me next to Kessler, which was next to Tenn. “Elan said you liked yours with hot sauce, and yes, I have the brand you like. Sit.” She sat the bottle of hot sauce next to the plate.

Koth sighed. “He warned you I was coming.”

Em winked.

Kessler pulled the chair out next to him, which Koth took right away. He grabbed the bottle of hot sauce and drenched the chicken in his hand with it. He took a bite and moaned. We all laughed and nodded in agreement. That girl fried a mean chicken.

“Em, can I have some of his hot sauce?”

“No, Easton. You like spicy food, but he’s a fire-breathing dragon. You’re not the same.” She smacked the back of his head playfully. “Eat your chicken and shut up.”

“I tried.” Easton shrugged, then his blue eyes sparkled at something behind me. “Hey, Silas!!

Silas? The dragon that carried me? I craned my neck around to see what he looked like in human form, and I had to say, the human vibe matched the dragon vibe. Sure, he had tan skin and black hair and not light-gray scales, but it just matched. And the yellow eyes were identical.

He nodded to the table, then turned to his King and arched an eyebrow. “Koth?”

Koth just held up a piece of chicken.

Silas sighed and put his hands on his hips. “You called me down here to eat chicken?”

Koth nodded. Silas rolled his eyes, then walked over and snatched the food from Koth’s hand. He took a bite and immediately sank down into the chair next to Koth, reaching for the hot sauce as they continued to eat.

Tenn stared at them blankly. “Really, Em, you couldn’t have waited until he told me what happened to Tegan first?”

Em cringed. “Sorry, the laws of physics cease to apply to my kitchen, so the food cooks faster when I’m nervous.”

Tenn glanced to Dream-Deacon, then grimaced. “Sorry, Em. Thank you for cooking for us. Will you please sit and join us?”

She cocked her head to the side. “Is that an order?”

“Yes,” Tim, Constance, and Tenn said at the same time.

She huffed and sat next to Dream-Deacon, who smiled down at her. “I’m all right, Butterberry.”

“I’ll believe that when your physical body is sitting here,” she grumbled.

Hunter cleared his throat and used a chicken to point at the dragons. “So, Koth, you were saying?”

Koth shook himself. “Right. Sam was about to shift, I felt it. Silas did as well. This would have been potentially catastrophic for Sam, so Tegan hit her with magic to prevent it, but it took a lot out of her. It’s a very specific form of magic needed to prevent a person’s first shift from happening.”

Silas poured hot sauce on the stack of food in front of him. “Like trying to stop a runaway train by standing in front of it.”

Kessler took a sip of his drink and nodded. “What does she shift into?”

“We don’t know yet, and neither does she.” Koth’s energy was tense, like a bomb about to explode. “I think you can all imagine how dangerous this could be if Lilith got her hands on that.”

Everyone shuddered, myself included.

Silas pointed to Dream-Deacon. “Is he here or not?”

Savannah nodded. “Both?”

Cooper smirked. “Me.”

“Wait, where’s Bentley?” I glanced around. “We need to show them the prophecy.”

Hunter’s face paled. Kessler’s head whipped back and forth like he was looking for him. Emersyn and Cooper froze like a deer in headlights.

Myrtle raised her hand, but she was chewing so we all watched until she swallowed. “Sorry, zoned out. Bentley is in Seelie. He’s helping Saraphina with something.”

Everyone nodded like this answer satisfied them. It gave me more questions.

“No matter, Elan relayed the prophecy to us before I came here.” Koth leaned back. “The first shaman ever gifted to Issale was right after the One Hundred Years’ war, so that prophecy has been passed down from shaman to shaman. It sounds horrifying.”

“The prophecy or the shaman secrets?”

“Both, Thiago. Both.” Koth grinned. “I came here to relay what I know about Tegan’s Witch’s Shock in case it helps . . . but also to remind you all that Issale is with you one-hundred-percent in this mission. Whatever help you need to bring them down, we’re here.”

Kessler nodded. “Thank you, Koth. We knew that but it’s always nice to hear. We’re all a bit frazzled right now.”

Timothy cleared his throat “Tegan appointed me and Constance as temporary Coven Leaders while she’s down?—”

Koth and Silas flinched and looked to Tenn with worry, but he was just staring at the table.

Tim sighed. “Yeah, that’s why.”

Koth watched Tenn with concern, then looked to Tim. “What don’t we know?”

Tim grimaced and scratched his jaw. “When Tegan goes down . . . it’s too hard for him to think. Their bond is simply too strong.”

Koth cursed. “Elan said the pink heart was a blessing and a curse.”

Tim’s expression darkened. “His sister clinging to life in the bed next to her is not helping.”