24. Scout
Nobody wanted to be here, and it was very obvious.
I wasn’t sure who was more uncomfortable, Finn or Autumn. The only one I cared about was Autumn. Finn could go fuck himself for all I cared, but for now I was playing the nice guy role because it was best for my coven and Autumn to do so.
Personally, I didn’t understand why we all had to be here when this could easily be a two person job now that the threat had been eliminated.
The bodies had been wrapped up in sheets and they were now on the ground side by side each other, right where the other bodies here had been burned.
“Would anyone like to say anything?” Rain asked the group as a whole.
I covered my mouth with my hand as I choked back my laughter when not a single soul stepped forward to speak up. What the hell was Rain thinking about here?
Ariel ignored everyone, stepped forward, raised both her hands, and the bodies immediately caught fire.
No one spoke as we watched them burn.
I watched Autumn the whole time. She was quiet, which wasn’t exactly a surprise because she always seemed to be a quiet person. I didn’t know if it was something she’d outgrow with time or if she’d always be a quiet, watchful person.
I didn’t care either way, just so long as she was comfortable to be whoever she wanted to be.
With Ariel’s magic fueling the flames it didn’t take long for the bodies to burn down to nothing but ash.
And I was more than ready to get the fuck out of there and never come back. I thought this had been all we’d come here for so I was surprised, to say the least, when Autumn stepped up beside Ariel.
She dropped to her knees and placed her palms flat against the ground.
My stomach dropped when she did. I did not like this at all. Surprises weren’t my thing and with Autumn I certainly didn’t like anything happening that was out of the ordinary because she had already been through so much and I was likely going to be over protective of her for a very long time to come.
I didn’t want her taking any risks or putting herself in any situations where things could go sideways.
“What’s going on here?” Gunner demanded to know.
Liam shook his head. He had no idea either.
Raven’s mouth was tight but he didn’t say anything. He knew something the rest of us didn”t. It made me relax slightly because Raven would never allow any harm to come to her, but I still didn’t like being kept in the dark.
Mason grumbled something under his breath irately and I knew that Raven was going to catch shit from at least him when we were all alone again. The men wouldn’t ever call our leader out in front of anyone outside of our coven members. We wouldn’t embarrass him like that and we would always put on a united front.
Ariel placed her hand on Autumn’s shoulder and I was not surprised to see Romero step up on Autumn’s other side and see him place his hand on her other shoulder as well.
We were witnessing history in the making as the new Council Ariel was building for the witches come together for the first time.
They were lending her their support and their magic if she needed it.
It was heartwarming to witness because I knew she’d never had that kind of support before. It also scared the absolute shit out of me because I knew most of my coven had started falling for her and it would be a devastating blow to all of us if this meant she’d no longer be staying with us as a result.
This girl was either going to be the best thing to happen to our coven or the thing that tore us apart.
I hoped she didn’t completely destroy us.
I didn’t think we”d be able to make it through another female witch bringing us down to our knees, but at least this one wouldn’t be doing it on purpose and was a good person and would not be doing it intentionally. Not that it would really matter in the end if it ended badly.
The ground beneath our feet started to shake before there was a great cracking sound. The ground split where Autumn’s hands were pressed into it and ripped open in front of her in a long line.
Vines and plants of all kinds started coming up out of the tear in the earth.
We all watched in quiet awe as plants and greenery of all kinds spread out all across the earth and the vines climbed their way up the trees.
Beautiful flowers exploded all over the place and it looked like we’d been transported into a scene from a movie and I almost half expected the birds and other small forest animals to start dancing around Autumn while she busted out into some happy song and dance.
It was surreal but the entire forest changed in almost the blink of an eye.
Autumn sat back and she stared around her with wide eyes and almost as if she was shocked to see what she had done.
She stood up shakily and looked around her in wonder as tears streamed down her cheeks.
It was incredible and she’d completely wiped away any and everything that had been left behind by the people who’d inhabited these woods for so many years.
I was very proud of her, without a doubt. She’d turned the place of her nightmares into a place of beauty.
I didn’t know how anyone else felt about it but it didn’t make me want to be here anymore.
Mason leaned ito me and whispered, “It’s still creepy as fuck though. Ya know? I don’t ever want to come back and I really hope she doesn’t want to either because fuck.”
I nodded in agreement. My brother took the words right out of my mouth.
“It’s beautiful, yes,” Liam whispered as he leaned into our huddle. “There’s no denying that. Autumn’s capable of doing anything when it comes to her magic, obviously. Just look around you. The bad juju is all gone but this place still gives me bad vibes. Bad memories, bad vibes, it’s just all bad.”
“Shut the fuck up, all of you.” Raven growled. “I don’t want her to hear you talking any of that shit.”
I grinned at him. Raven was so gone for the girl it wasn’t even funny.
“I’m ready to go home now,” Autumn chirped happily as she skipped over to us.
Home. She’d said home.
We all smiled at her indulgently.
“Then let’s get you home, gorgeous.” I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and tucked her close into my side. “I bet you’re hungry after that show you just put on. I think we should grill out when we get home. You’re gonna love it.”
She snuggled into my side as she wrapped her arm around my middle. “That sounds awesome.”
Anything with her sounded awesome.
And, fuck me, I was pretty attached to her, too.