Chapter 18
Aria leads us through the employees-only door downstairs.
We’re met with a wall of cardboard boxes stacked nearly to the ceiling of the cavernous room.
She maneuvers through a maze of boxes to a set of swinging doors.
They open up to what looks to be a lounge space.
There’s a workspace with an assortment of bookbinding tools and a stack of books that have seen better days.
On the other side of the room is a kitchenette with a round wooden table where my brother is seated. His hands are clasped together atop the table. Golden threads of magic bind his wrists together.
I whirl on Aria, but the mountain of a man tightens his grip on my arm.
“Is that really necessary?” I ask.
Aria lifts her chin. “You’re telling me that you came into enemy territory and didn’t expect to be treated like a threat?”
“To be fair, I didn’t really expect to get caught.”
It was a half-baked plan at best. I blame myself for not thinking through all our avenues of escape.
A flash of something like amusement shines behind her eyes, but the rest of her expression remains stoic. She beckons, and the man releases his grip on me. After glowering at me for a long moment, he disappears back the way we came.
Aria gestures to the seat across from Orion. “Sit.”
I stare at her with narrowed eyes. “Only if you let him go.”
“Do you really think I’m stupid? Sit down.”
I contemplate resisting, but with Orion out of commission, I’d have to rely on the strength of my own magic. I’ve surprised myself recently, but I’m not confident enough yet to take on a Hightower witch. I’m not sure how much extra power they’re actually able to harness from their sacrifices.
Orion meets my gaze but doesn’t speak aloud. In my head, he says, “This is all you, sis.”
Fine. I pull out the chair and sit down.
Satisfied, Aria plucks a forest-green mug from one of the cabinets and sticks an electric teakettle beneath the tap. As the basin fills with water, I study her profile.
Her shoulders are relaxed as she sets the kettle onto the base and flips on the power switch.
She opens up a brand-new box of flavored tea bags and takes her sweet time selecting one.
A tattoo peeks out beneath her sleeve; it looks to be some sort of bird in flight.
She doesn’t seem overly confident or nervous.
She just…is. It’s almost like she’s a completely blank slate.
I can’t get a read on her, and that throws me off-kilter.
The Hightowers are a dangerous threat, and I have to do everything in my power to show them that we’re not to be played with. The consequences are steep if I mess this up.
“I’m assuming you already know why we’re here.” I place both palms on the edge of the table and lean forward. Despite my self-assured tone, my hands would tremble if I didn’t have something to press them against.
Aria leans against the counter and crosses her arms over her chest. We stare across the room at each other, neither daring to blink or even breathe. Seconds pass as the water in the kettle basin begins to bubble. “I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about.”
I grit my teeth. After overhearing her conversation with Gloria, I know for a fact that she’s aware of what’s happening in our coven.
“Do you want me to spell it out for you?”
“I would love that,” she deadpans.
Her tone is so different from when she was with her grandmother. In the house, she sounded hesitant, almost afraid of what Gloria would say. But the girl standing before me is confident. Orion and I don’t scare her, but her grandmother does.
Without even realizing it, Aria’s given me something to work with.
“We know you’re the ones who’ve targeted our coven.” Her expression doesn’t change. “You know, we never would’ve found this place if it weren’t for you.”
Her eyes narrow. “This is a busy part of the Quarter,” she says. “It was bound to happen eventually.”
“Oh?” I lean forward and raise an eyebrow. “And what about that nice brick house you live in? What would your grandmother say if she knew that you led us straight to the heart of your coven?”
That gets a response from her. Her eyes widen as the kettle lets out a shrill beep, signaling that the water is at a rolling boil. Aria turns her back on us and pours the water into her mug. Her hand shakes as she dips the tea bag into it.
I exchange a quick glance with Orion, and he shoots me a thumbs-up. We’ve got her.
Her expression is composed when she sits down opposite us. Tea splatters over the rim of her mug as she sets it on the table. We all watch it drip down the porcelain.
“It doesn’t matter because you’ll never get the chance to tell her.” She leans back and inhales. “Look, Mikaela, if my family wanted to harm your coven, we could’ve done it ages ago.”
“So, why now?” I demand.
“Did you not hear me? I’m saying we have nothing to do with your little problem.”
Orion shifts in his chair. “A ‘little problem’?” He flexes his wrists, but they chafe against his restraints. “Someone is dead.”
“She already knows that,” I say, studying Aria. “How is it you know our coven’s business if you’re not involved?”
“We have eyes and ears all over this city. Nothing gets past us.” Aria snaps her frigid gaze to Orion, and he stiffens in his chair. “Stop that,” she commands. “Try it again and we’re done here. I won’t say another word.”
Confusion colors my expression until I spot the sheepish look on my brother’s face. It clicks in an instant. “You did not!”
He kicks me under the table and simmers in his embarrassment.
“I had to try.”
Establishing a mind-to-mind bond isn’t easy. For the most success, the pathway must be consensual. Orion and I have been able to speak within each other’s minds since we were young. We can only hear what the other chooses to share, but sharing my thoughts with him is as easy as speaking aloud.
It was one thing for me to read Joelle’s mind, but hell would truly have to freeze over before I ever tried to read another witch’s without their consent.
Aria crosses her arms over her chest. Her entire demeanor has changed. Any shred of amusement or indifference she’s shown before is gone. Pure fury consumes her features now.
“You’re searching in all the wrong places and wasting your time,” Aria snarls. “If you come back here again, I won’t be so nice.”
Orion lifts his hands. “You call this nice?”
“Shut up,” I snap at him, turning my gaze back on Aria. “You’re messing with the wrong coven. If you attack us again, we’re going to come for you. You realize that, right?”
Despite all my bravado, my voice trembles at the end. This is all new to me. I’m not sure how far to go with my threats.
Aria’s eyes focus on a distant point past my head. “We’ve survived worse and come out stronger on the other side.” Her eyes meet mine. “I mean it—don’t come back here again. You’re on the entirely wrong path.”
She snaps her fingers and the restraints around Orion’s wrists disappear. He rubs his raw skin and mutters, “Finally.”
“You can leave now.”
I study Aria for a long moment, searching for a hint of vulnerability.
Her aura pulses a vibrant shade of green with red streaked throughout.
It tells me that she’s going through some serious transformation.
Reading her cards would tell me a lot more about her current state of mind, but she’d never allow me to give her a reading.
She found the courage to question her grandmother in private. Maybe there will come a day when she’ll walk out of her grandmother’s shadow entirely. From the expression on her face, that day won’t be today.
The demonology book rests heavily inside my bag as we leave the shop. I’ll search for more answers within its pages.