Page 7

He gave her a small smile and held his arms out. “I can hold both twins. C’mon.”

“Get over here.” Emersyn scooted over a little to make room between her uncle and their father, then patted the couch. “Here, kitty kitty.”

Her cheeks flushed a soft pink as she hurried back over and wedged herself between Hunter and Kessler, who had also scooted a bit. Hunter threw his arm around both his twins’ shoulders and squeezed them close, his magic coiling around them. My heart sank. This poor Bishop family was really going through it.

Tenn looked a step away from being sick. He just stared at her. “ Babe . . . ” he whispered.

Tim cleared his throat. “Perhaps we should get this meeting going so we can get the rest we need?”

Tegan looked like a toddler who’d fallen asleep on her father’s shoulder in line for a ride at Disney World. Her eyes were half closed. She licked her lips. “Cooper, Deacon is in dreamland wanting to be here. Let him join us.”

Emersyn flinched like she’d been slapped. Her gold eyes widened and stared at the door to downstairs like she was desperate for him to walk through it. Hunter squeezed her tighter, his fingers digging into her white sweater.

Tegan cursed. “I said that out loud, didn’t I? Sorry, twin.”

“Umm . . .” Cooper shifted his weight around and stared at Emersyn. “I don’t know how to do that.”

Tegan glanced down to his hand, still holding Savannah’s, then she flicked her fingers and shot rainbow magic at Savannah. She cursed but smoky black magic flew out of her and into Cooper. He gasped and a rosy-pink cloud burst from his hands. It slowly turned to a rich red color, then Deacon emerged from within it. His purple eyes were bright and looking rather devious. There were no injuries in sight. He looked perfectly healthy, glowing even.

“ Deacon, ” Emersyn cried and rushed over but her hands went right through him. He wasn’t physically there. Tears spilled down her cheeks. “ Deacon. ”

‘D?’ Royce mouthed and signed at the same time.

Deacon shrugged. “In the words of Archie, I’ve had worse.”

We all just stared.

Deacon glanced around, then his smile faded. “I feel perfectly strong like this. Trust me when I say I’m not dying from these wounds.”

Emersyn’s whole face scrunched up.

Deacon sighed. He looked his soulmate up and down, then brushed his fingers over the tears on her face even though he couldn’t touch them. “I’d feel better if you continued to function, Butterberry. Take a shower, take off your blood-stained clothes, but most importantly help them. They need you, okay? Don’t you dare hang down by my bed. Got it?”

She nodded.

Royce’s sapphire eyes were wide as he stared at his cousin. He tapped on Thiago’s chest excitedly. He wanted to say something but couldn’t.

Tegan scowled. “Royce, they didn’t fix your voice?”

Thiago grimaced. “Myrtle has not been able to heal his voice, and Willow cannot hear yet either.”

Tegan nodded and held her hand up. “ Willow, come here and hold my hand. I’ll relay everything to you telepathically for now. Okay ?”

Willow rushed over and stood behind the couch so she could take Tegan’s hand. “Thank you.”

Tenn cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. Without a word, he walked over to stand behind Tegan. She reached up and took his hand.

Royce was making strange faces at Thiago, but his boyfriend must have finally put the pieces together because he cleared his throat and raised his hand. Then he pointed to Deacon’s astral projection. “If we can do this with D, why not with Henley or Devon? You said Henley was in a meeting before?—”

“It’s not the same circumstance,” Tegan said softly. “It’s complicated. Just trust me, please.”

Royce and Hunter nodded.

“Butterberry, please sit back down.”

She huffed but went and reclaimed her seat next to Hunter. “Come closer.”

“Right. So, the new prophecy?” Tim rubbed his hands together. “Let’s have it.”

Tegan gasped and jumped to her feet. Then she exhaled roughly. “Sorry, I think I fell asleep for a second there.”

Tenn glared at her, but I knew he wasn’t angry with her.

“I’m just gonna stand.” She held her hand out and Willow moved over to sit on the ledge next to Bentley so she could hold Tegan’s hand. Tegan nodded. “Y’all move over for D so Em will simmer.”

They all scooched to one side so Deacon could sit on the far end next to his soulmate. It was weird for an astral projection to need to sit down, but he just looked so real. I glanced over at Cooper and found him and Savannah sitting on the bench against the wall, leaning against each other.

“Bentley, read it.”

Bentley cleared his throat and held his left arm out. “ On this dawn my word is here, in Aether’s hand it will read clear. Seek the words from centuries before, or ask kings and angels if need more. Schemes and truths must be awoken, words of war, fates have been spoken. Fear thee not, ‘tis not too soon, thy final battle lies in many a moon. To best the dark that comes to call, knowledge will serve to defeat them all. Take thy rest to soothe thy scars, for when I’ll call watch the stars. But fasten thy rope of will and deed, for changes are swift in speed.”

Constance shuddered. “Changes are swift in speed. We’ve heard that line before.”

Daniel pulled her close. “It could mean anything.”

I raised my hand. “ In Aether’s hand it will read clear ? What does that mean? Aside from it indicating Tegan.”

Tegan took a deep breath and gripped the crystal hanging from her necklace. There was a flash, then the Book of Shadows sat in her hands. She pressed her palm to the front cover, letting her rainbow magic sprinkle over the book. It flipped open on its own to a page about halfway through, then stopped. Her green eyes widened.

Tenn cursed and hung his head until it rested on Kessler’s shoulder.

“Don’t like that.” Deacon pointed to his cousin. “Right?”

Royce nodded.

“Okay, so . . . so this is the prophecy . . .” Tegan licked her lips. “The one about the final war with Lilith.”

The air turned cold and electric. The fire crackled behind me. No one spoke.

“Yeah.” Tegan took a deep breath. “After the One Hundred Years’ War, when Edward Proctor took Lilith down—with all the help we know he had— this prophecy was given by Valathame. The Coven has been guarding this prophecy, keeping it secret even from me until just now.”

“That bad?” I asked, my stomach in knots.

Tegan nodded. “It’s for the war. This is the real one. And it’s worse than the real one from Samhain, so brace yourselves.”

Then she turned the book around to show everyone the original writing in an elegant black script. It was long. Too long. Panic was bubbling inside of me just looking at it, I couldn’t even read the words from here. I didn’t want to, but I knew there was no avoiding it forever. Somehow the war just got real. There was no more waiting for the day the war started. This meant today was that day. This meant life was about to get uglier day by day.

“Just read it, dammit.” I wrapped my arms around my waist and rocked forward. “Rip the Band-Aid, Tegan.”

Tegan cleared her throat and wiggled her fingers to make the words appear written in the air for all of us to see as she read them out loud. “ The Devil marks the start, She must fall to set the chart. Seek within thy Empress heart, for in his blood he is the part. With this Mark and the heirs unfrozen, the Court will claim their promotion. Now sides of fate must be chosen, for the bonds of peace are unwoven. Seek the one who paid the price, change the name, she won’t play nice. Release the son, betray the vice, deep in the Lore they’ll feel his bite. When the Angel of Tides rings his drum, beware the time has finally come. One for glory, one must succumb, in Heaven’s shine or Evil’s thumb. Raise arms together, make your stand, gather thy army to guard your land. Last, summon thy magic to Power’s hand, unleash Aether’s Spirit upon command. Earth’s final war to settle the brawl, a long fated fight you cannot stall. But we do not yield, we will not fall, for Coven or Lilith to rule us all. ”

Release the son.

Everest.

My pulse quickened. I gripped my body and rocked. This prophecy was telling us to set Everest free. I wanted it desperately while I was also terrified of what that moment was going to look like . . . if he was going to survive it. My chest grew so tight I struggled to breathe. My hands trembled. In the back of my mind, I registered the sounds of my Coven-mates all panicking over the words we’d just heard. I heard their voices, but it was just sound. No distinct words. It was like a roar in my ears. My vision tunneled, the corners turning black.

“STOP,” Tegan shouted and everyone went silent. “Look, you heard the words. This is not for right now. It’s here, we’re at war, but Valathame is giving us warning so we have time to prepare. Ask kings and angels if need more , so that means I need Henry. Jackson, please call your father and get him here. Bentley, the angels?”

Bentley nodded but his gaze was far away. “They know we need them and will be here when they’re allowed to be. They’re quite aware of what those words are.”

Tegan nodded and closed the Book of Shadows, then she turned and sat it in Emersyn’s lap, pressing her twin’s hand to it. Rainbow magic swirled around their hands and the book. “Show Deacon everything he needs to know about The Devil Card.”

Deacon paled.

“ The Devil marks the start .” Tegan shook her head and backed away. “That was the line in the prophecy we got after your initiation. I’ve been stuck on that line since that night. She was warning us. Your arrival, your Mark, set things in motion. Libby had to fall—for reasons we’re going to learn more about—in order for you to claim your role. These lines mean this is your destiny, and therefore, I need you to know all the things I’ve read about your Mark so you can be the very most lethal version of yourself.”

Emersyn made a face. “But . . .”

“For now, he should be able to flip through. Might need your help, Em. We don’t have time to wait for him to be here in his corporeal form. But the sooner you are, the better.”

Deacon nodded. “I’m on it, boss lady.”

Tegan pointed across the room. “Savannah, if that rune of yours can help him out, do it.”

Savannah nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

Tenn lifted his head off his father’s shoulder and looked to her. “If it’s black magic, then let me and Tegan know first before you do it.”

Savannah grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”

Tegan tapped on her chin. “ With this Mark and the heirs unfrozen, the Court will claim their promotion. The Mark part is Deacon but the heirs unfrozen are obviously Tenn and Bettina. Haven and Hope. They are Michael’s heirs and their power was unfrozen?—”

“We need her actually up and moving then!” Jackson snapped, then held his hands up. “Sorry, sorry. I’m fine.”

Tenn looked sick but he walked over and squeezed Jackson’s shoulder. “You don’t have to be fine , Lancaster. You just have to be here, okay? You’re allowed to break. There’s enough of us here to catch the pieces. Okay?”

Jackson buried his face in his hands and nodded.

I knew Jackson was struggling over his soulmate being unconscious and very injured, we all knew that, but it didn’t mean we needed to stare at him while he was falling apart, so I cleared my throat and raised my hand to get everyone’s attention. “What are you about to do, Tegan? That line on Bentley’s arm talks about knowledge, so she’s telling us to do research, yet you gave the Book to Deacon. You’re doing something.”

Everyone looked back and forth between me and Tegan.

Tegan stared at the ground. “I need to sleep. I can feel Witch’s Shock creeping in, and I’m not sure how much longer I can stand here.”

Tenn cursed. “I’ll get Katherine.” He raced out of the room and was down the stairs in the blink of an eye.

Tegan stared at the doorway her soulmate had just gone through. “Constance and Timothy, I need you two to act as Leaders until I’m confident I will stay on my feet. Tenn can never think clearly when I go down, so I’m pulling you both in now. I can’t . . . I need?—”

Bentley lunged forward a second before her eyes rolled and she collapsed. He was there with open arms ready to catch her before she hit the ground. She was unconscious before he caught her, her arms flopped over his arms. Her skin was sickly pale and already covered with a sheen of sweat.

Tenn flew up the stairs with Katherine behind him, but those mismatched eyes spotted her in Bentley’s arms and a strangled noise left his mouth. He leapt across the room in one step, then scooped her out of Bentley’s arms. Katherine cursed and shouted before hurrying back down. He turned and sped down the stairs after Katherine.

For a moment we all stared at the door, then we turned to Constance and Timothy.

Constance shuddered. “It’s scary how well she knows her own magic.”

Tim sighed and pushed to his feet. He strolled over and shut the door to downstairs and then turned to the rest of us. “All right, well, I guess we’re in charge until those two are back. Hope everyone is cool with that.”

Easton scoffed and tossed a throw pillow at him. “Timmy boy, you two were our Leaders while we were still children. We’ll follow you two anywhere.”

“Thanks, Easy E.” Tim blushed, then blew Easton a kiss, which made the whole group giggle. “Right, let’s get started. We need to place a curfew. No one outside once the sun goes down. If the Unseelies make a move—or their bloodsucking friends—then we need to know civilians aren’t out on the streets.”

Constance pulled out her phone and started typing on it. “I’ll get on that. Daniel and Kenneth can help get Eden locked down and I’ll get word out to all the Headquarters around the world.”

Tim started to pace. “I’ll contact the majors and get defense-only battle strategies prepared. Let them know they could very well be attacked.”

Constance’s face fell. “We need to get as many civilian arcana to either Eden or one of the headquarters.”

“Landreia, can you take our beloved pets and resident humans and see if you can start looking for anything of use in those books they collected? Anything at all.” When she nodded, Tim turned. “Mona, we have to expect the worst in terms of demons. You’re the expert there. We need to know what else might be coming our way. I suspect we may see demons we haven’t seen in a while. Really, anything you can think of to help us out here.”

Mona nodded. “I’ve got you. How much of all this am I relaying to the students of Edenburg and SOMA?”

“Everything. If this is the start of the war with Lilith, the final war, then not a single person on this Earth is safe.” He snapped his fingers. “In fact, Kenneth, let’s amp up Haven’s plan with school. Everything from here on out, until further notice, is focused on defense and survival.”

“Good idea.” Kenneth tapped his fingers on the table. “So they can protect themselves and not go running headlong into battle at their fancy.”

“If they know just how terrifying battle will be, they may just hunker down instead.” Tim pursed his lips. “Kessler, we need to know if any of our students are actually ready to fight. I don’t want to enlist them too soon, but we most likely will need more. You’re the one who trained our Coven these last twelve years, so I trust your opinion on where we stand.”

Kessler stretched his legs out and stared into the distance. “I can evaluate all students, of all suits. I’ll start with Edenburg and then move to SOMA.”

“We need more schools,” I said with a sigh.

Constance closed her eyes and touched her belly. “Just for lockdown purposes alone. For safety.”

Tim cursed. “Haven’s been wanting to open more SOMA locations, but we haven’t caught our breath long enough to do so.”

Emersyn looked up from the Book of Shadows. “I’ll call Heather.”

Everyone else looked to her with raised eyebrows.

She shrugged. “That woman is a force to be reckoned with. If there’s any non-Coven member, and non-Coven pet, that can be tasked with getting that ball rolling, it is Heather. And I can help.”

Tim smirked and looked to her soulmate’s apparition sitting next to her. “Deacon, what do you think?”

Deacon grinned. “I think if I tell my mom to get on a plane and come down here, let her talk to us face-to-face so she’s fully in the zone on the situation . . . she’ll have schools open before we’re actually ready to fill them.”

Tim chuckled. “Get her here if that’s what she needs, but don’t waste time. Tegan needs you to absorb that entire book so we can unleash all the twisted shit inside of you that we haven’t seen yet.”

“Dude.” Deacon wagged his blond eyebrows. “I might not ever sleep again with how excited I am.”

“Says the guy who is currently asleep as we speak.” When Deacon’s face fell, Emersyn waved it off. “I’ll call Heather. She’ll like that.”

Royce smiled and mouthed, ‘ Facts .’

Constance sat at the table and opened a laptop. “Savannah, perhaps you can go downstairs and lend a hand with the injured where you can? Especially Deacon.”

Savannah eyed Deacon. “Are we sure seeing the Death Card in a sick room doesn’t freak people out?”

Lily lifted her head from the back of the couch. “On the contrary, you can give reassurances on a soul’s strength that no one else can.”

Deacon turned a page in the Book, then grinned like he didn’t think he’d be able to do it. Then he looked to Savannah with eyes that were too sharp for a person who wasn’t really here. “I agree. I’d very much like to see you pulling some tricks on me right now.”

The door to downstairs flew open and slammed into the wall next to Savannah, which made her jump—and two spirits popped up from the floorboard. She hissed and swatted at them as Tenn flew into the living room. His hair was more disheveled, and his face was flushed. Those mismatched eyes bounced around the room.

He was frazzled as fuck. He ran a hand through his hair. “Shit. Sorry, I know we have a lot to do. Shit, I don’t even know. Um . . .”

Tim hurried over and squeezed Tenn’s shoulder. “Your soulmate asked me and Constance to take temporary leadership until she wakes so that you don’t hurt yourself.”

Tenn swayed with relief, and the energy rolled like a wave through the living room. “Thank fuck. Okay, so you’re good? What do you need from me? I can’t think?—”

“Rest. Stay with Tegan. Check on your sister.” He slid his hand around to Tenn’s other shoulder and gave him a side hug. “We need you as a warrior right now more than we need you as a leader, understood?”

Tenn nodded. “Thanks. I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”

“Tenn?” Mona called out.

Tenn paused in the doorway. “Yeah?”

Mona frowned. “When did you eat last, and what was it?”

Tenn stared at her blankly.

Mona stood with a smile. “I’ll bring you breakfast.”

He smiled. “Thanks, Ma.” Then he disappeared again.

“All right, we’ve got a plan for now.” Constance looked around the room. “But everyone needs to be as rested and well-fed as possible at all times. We need our strength. This is probably going to be a lot like Salem in October. It’s early as hell right now, so no reason for us all to be awake. As Tegan said, this was just a little talk. Go back to bed. I’ll have breakfast ready in a couple hours.”