Page 21 of Untraced Magic (Cutters Cove Witches #1)

Tyler

My feet moved before my brain could register, bolting out the front door after Morgan, but she was fast and had a head start, already halfway down the street.

Her frame disappeared as she rounded the corner ahead of me, and I pushed harder to close the gap between us. Rounding the same corner, my feet faltered, and I whipped on my heel, throwing my head in every direction to find her. The track was straight from here, but she was nowhere in sight.

I slowed to a stop, searching my surroundings when movement caught my eye, spotting her as she ducked behind a large rock on a rise I knew well.

Veering off the road, I followed the narrow trail that became barely visible, long grass brushing my knees as the wind whipped a path through it. The trail soon turned to rocks, and I placed one foot after the other, carefully judging my next steps.

As I got closer, my body froze, feet nailed in place. Air sucked from my lungs, my chest tightening as I stared at the place that held some of my darkest memories .

Morgan stood at the top of an overhang, a gust of wind trailing her long hair in billows behind her. She was close to the edge. Too close.

“Morgan!” I yelled, and her neck craned to the side, spilling her hair wildly over her face.

Through wisps of hair, even from a distance, I saw the stains of red in her eyes. A life of lies and unanswered questions pooling beneath thick lashes, slowly cascading down her cheeks.

She lowered to the ground, tucking her knees into her chest, staring off into the distance. I needed to get to her.

Letting go of a long breath, my feet clambered up the track as if I were in a dream watching from above, my body lagging like an afterthought. I climbed my way up, settling beside her in silence, a torrent of my own memories rushing at me like a storm’s rogue wave, unexpected and forcefully strong.

Visions of Ava’s funeral forced their way into my thoughts, remembering how the rain had muddied the ground beneath my boots as I’d stood alongside her casket sheltered underneath a black umbrella.

Fuck. I clenched my hands into fists, the urge to paint the sky with fire so strong, it took every inch of my control to contain it.

“Morgan, talk to me,” I choked out, trying to stall my own demons pushing to the surface.

When she spoke, it was to the mountains in the distance, a whisper.

“I just… I just needed to breathe.” Her voice broke.

“It’s just, too much. I killed my parents, Ty, and now this?

Suddenly I’m a witch… and I have a grandmother.

And somewhere out there are my birth parents.

I was barely holding it together, each day molding into the next.

But this?… I never thought I would find them. ”

I let her soak up the information, breathe it into her lungs. Her new life, that in one week would change, whether she liked it or not.

I focused my breathing. The panic attacks that usually hit in the night, now taking control of me in the worst possible moment. Tear-stained eyes found mine, and I threw my gaze into the distance before they spoke of the storm brewing inside, threatening to break me.

Another vision of Ava’s pale face flashed before me, blood matting her hair from the two puncture holes in her neck. She didn’t deserve to leave this world in such brutality.

“Tyler…?” Morgan said softly, drawing closer.

I slammed my eyes shut.

“Tyler, what is it? What’s wrong?”

One. Breathe in. Two. Breathe out. Three. Breathe in. Four. Breathe out.

No. Not here. Not now. Not like this.

Five. Breathe in. Six. Breathe out.

A guttural noise came from somewhere within me, and I hung my head between my knees, my fists balled tight, too afraid to release them. Too afraid of what magic might explode from this torrent of emotion clawing from my chest.

“Tyler?” The heat of her palm warmed my shoulder blade, and a calm fell over me .

She turned my face to hers, her kind eyes colliding with mine. They felt like home. Like the only sunshine in this shithole town of stone.

“She died,” I choked out, shaking my head as if it would rid the words from me. “Because of me.”

The last words came as a whisper as I drowned in the guilt suffocating my heart. Words I’d never had the balls to say before.

“I’m so sorry,” I sputtered. “This place, it’s…” An agonizing sound left me as I fought between wanting to comfort Morgan and fighting the panic building inside me.

“What? Tyler, talk to me. Is this the woman… in the photo?” Morgan grabbed my hand, squeezing it tight.

Another breath.

I nodded. “Ava… she was human.”

Morgan’s hand fell to my thigh, her tender voice conveying no judgment. “Tell me about her.”

My gaze pulled to her once more. How could this woman be so selfless, to care about me right now when her entire world was in chaos? My palm released, and I ran my free hand through my hair until it rested on the back of my neck.

Morgan turned her body to mine, her brown orbs absorbing my words with an intensity I hadn’t seen before.

A shaky breath tore through my lungs. “I fell in love with her. Made a bad call, introduced her to our world.” I paused, not wanting to part with the words. “A vampire killed her. ”

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

“I used to come here after it happened,” I continued, rubbing my knuckles together. “Some of my darkest moments were sitting right here, on this rock. I haven’t been back, I couldn’t.” My head turned to her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

Morgan smiled softly beside me. “Thank you for sharing such a personal thing with me. I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“Don’t be sorry,” I said with a shrug. “Life is cruel. I’d been meaning to come here but couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

She didn’t speak, her thumb instead drawing thoughtful circles on my thigh. The wind scoured through the trees as it whipped over the cove, my eyes closing under Morgan’s touch.

It was like nothing I’d felt before, each caress staining me with her own imprint. Could it be real? The bond talked about among the supernatural that I’d never believed in? A bond I’d scoffed at. I guess not having felt it myself, it was hard to believe such a thing existed.

I couldn’t be sure, but this was so different from anything I’d ever experienced. Even with Ava.

“I’m sorry this happened. Of all times, now. I can’t control these… moments. I’ve never told anyone about them.” The panic attacks. It was nice having someone here.

“Tyler, it’s okay, really. I’m glad you did,” she reassured me.

I couldn’t help but smile, relieved to have her support. “How are you feeling?” I asked, keen to change the subject.

Morgan looked out over the cove, at the lapping waves in the distance. “I’m alright. Just overwhelmed.” Her expression held the weight of so many thoughts I knew were going through her head.

I knew the feeling. “That’s understandable.” I squeezed her hand, and her warmth spread into every part of me. “You may have a grandmother back home wanting to get to know her granddaughter.”

She nodded. “I was just thinking that. This whole thing is so surreal.”

“We are all here for you and will help in any way we can.”

It was a promise, and one I intended to keep.

I looked to the sky where gray clouds loomed overhead, drops of rain starting to fall.

“Thanks.” She warmed me with her smile again. “I think I’m going to need it. I feel bad for running out on Betty. You’re right; she’s probably waiting for me.”

We made our way down the rise, where I paused at the bottom, steering my gaze to the side. A vine of periwinkle covered the ground, its violet flowers scattered throughout. What was it even doing flowering in winter?

I turned to face Morgan behind me. “Do you mind waiting here for a moment?” I grazed her hand with my thumb. “There’s something I need to do.”

Her head dipped to the side. “Sure.”

Morgan rested on a rock as I strode over to the periwinkle, plucking off a lone flower, then made my way over to a small cemetery that lay within sight of the track.

I hadn’t been back since Ava’s funeral, the scattering of dirt as it landed on her casket still fresh in my mind, as if it were only yesterday that we’d laid her to rest .

A layer of thick moss clung to the narrow footpath leading up to the grave site, shadows dampening the air from loosely scattered branches above, clinging to winter.

A wrought iron fence surrounded the modest cemetery of gravestones, pushing from the ground in all shapes and sizes. Many stood crooked, others cracked.

The iron gate groaned in protest as I pushed it open, clanging shut behind me as I passed through, one foot in front of the other, making my way to Ava’s grave.

Her headstone appeared to have barely aged, only muted in color over time with dust nestling in the intricately carved scripture, buried into the stone. Not a day had passed since her death that I hadn’t wished my life had been taken in place of hers.

I hated myself for being so selfish. For thinking I could protect a human in my world.

But most of all, I hated the vampires. I didn’t know if hate even covered it. A word so brashly used, it had lost its sharp edges.

The overgrown grass pressed into the ground beneath my knee, and I rolled the periwinkle stem between my thumb and pointer finger, spinning it slowly.

One by one I plucked off a violet petal, letting them fall to her grave.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. In my palm lay the remaining stem, and I stripped it back until the fairy toothbrush, as Ava had called it, remained.

I remember laughing when she first showed me the tiny stem that indeed resembled a fairy’s toothbrush. I’d shaken my head in disbelief.

Placing it in my palm, my breath forced it into the air, where it landed with the petals. My palm landed on the grass beside the dissected flower, and I stilled, shutting my eyes. A raspy craw from a raven scraped the silence.