Chapter 18
18
ROMAN
“ Y ou’re leaking shadows,” Bram says as we walk back to my car. Fuck, he’s right.
I’m practically bursting with energy after our coven’s new moon ceremony. I pull my magic back in, struggling to control the immense power. It’s not usually this bad.
The main Blackthorn family magic is control over shadows. We can snuff out any light and conceal a room in complete darkness with a snap of our fingers. I have some control over elemental magic as well. Summoning fire is the easiest for me. Then there’s the Blackthorn soul-rending magic. It’s rarely used, and most of the family hasn’t been able to tap into this power, but Bram and I can. It’s different for each of us, but it stems from the same ability.
If I wanted to, I could pull the souls out of every person I meet. It would be an instant death. Bram, on the other hand, can suck the magic out of someone like a soul vampire. We’re a lot of fun at dinner parties.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I fight the smile that threatens to take over my face. After what happened at my house, I thought I’d scared Josephine away. There was a day or two of silence, but then she shocked me with her very creative dick pic. Since then, Josephine has been texting me almost every day. If she doesn’t, then I find myself reaching for my phone to find out how her day is going. I’m not sure what the hell I’m doing, but there’s something innocently exciting about the whole exchange.
“Why are you smiling like your middle school crush just asked you out?” Ambrose nudges my shoulder enough to move me, but I don’t feel the contact.
There are enough streetlights illuminating the gravel lot where my car is parked that I’m able to see Odie’s hands as she signs.
“Because his crush is texting him.” She points to the phone now in my hand and bats her eyes like a cartoon character in love. I flip her the bird and frown down at my phone. Josephine’s name pops up on my screen, but it’s not a text. She’s calling. My stomach flips, and a completely foreign nervous energy skitters down my spine. Neither of us has called each other yet.
I don’t hesitate to answer. “Hello.”
“Yeah, hey. You don’t know me, and I have no clue what you’re up to with Jo, but she needs your help.” A woman, who is definitely not Josephine, is on the other end.
“She needs my help? What happened?” That nervous energy is quickly turning to fear.
“Hang on. I’ll drop a pin on the map and send you our location,” the woman responds, completely ignoring my question.
“Why does she need help?” Anger surges, my question coming out as a command that won't be ignored.
“Because you’re the only one who can touch her, dumbass. Get here.” The phone clicks as she hangs up without another word.
“Did someone just call you a dumbass?” Bram has the door of my car open, one arm thrown over the top of the frame.
“Get in. We need to get to the other side of town,” I growl, throwing open my door with enough force that the hinges creak. What the fuck is wrong with Josephine? Bram, Odie, and Ambrose scramble in before I take off and leave them all behind.
“By other side of town, you mean Lumen coven territory?” Ambrose asks with an excited bounce. He’s sitting in the backseat behind Bram. Odie’s behind me.
My phone vibrates again, and I toss it at Bram. “She’s sending their location. Where are they?”
Bram makes an unintelligible sound. “They’re in the Grimwood.”
The forest surrounds the city of Mystic Hollows. We just came from the Grimwood, but on the Tenebris side of town. They are obviously in the woods on the Lumen side of town.
“Are you sure this isn’t an ambush? What if they’re waiting for you to cross into their territory, and then bam.” Ambrose smacks his hands together.
“Bam, what?” Bram turns around to glare at Ambrose, shaking his head. “Are you afraid they’ll shoot off a cannon?”
“Odie says it could be fireworks or a car backfiring,” Ambrose adds in helpfully. I can’t see Odie from where I’m sitting to know if she truly said that or if Ambrose is being a smartass.
“It’s not a set-up. Something’s wrong with Josephine.”
“Josephine, huh.” Ambrose says her name in a sing-song voice. “Are things heating up? Are the two of you playing out a kinky Romeo and Juliet roleplay?”
“Stop talking,” I snarl, my anxiety creeping up with each second that passes. “Her friend wouldn’t have called unless something serious happened. I don’t know what’s going on, but I need you to shut the fuck up before I pull over and use my fists to relieve some of this fucking tension.”
“Turn here.” Bram indicates a back road that will take us as close to Josephine as possible.
I pull off on the shoulder, barely getting the car turned off before I’m out of the vehicle. Bram’s right next to me, still holding my phone and pointing us in the direction we need to go. At least I’m dressed for a hike in the woods from the Tenebris coven’s new moon ceremony. I’d prefer to leave my friends behind, but there’s no way they’re going to stay in the car and wait for me. I don’t bother suggesting it.
We’re not on the beaten path. The brush is thicker here, but still sparse because of the time of year. There’s no hope of us sneaking up on anyone, though. The sounds of snapping twigs and crackling leaves would alert someone of our approach from a mile away. If that doesn’t do the trick, then Ambrose will.
“Hello,” Ambrose calls out after we’ve been in the woods for a few minutes. Odie smacks his side.
“Ow. What was that for?”
I’m too focused on finding Josephine to turn around to see what Odie’s saying, so I only get one side of the conversation.
“They already know we’re coming. Even if it’s an ambush,” Ambrose deadpans.
Bram is still giving directions based on the map. We have to be close. The faint buzz of hushed voices reaches my ears. I pick up my pace and follow the sound. Just ahead on the path are the shapes of four bodies. Bram turns my phone’s flashlight toward the group.
“My retinas, mother effer.”
“Easy tiger, some of us need to walk out of here without help,” a man huffs.
The two speaking are brother and sister, and obviously have the same personality. They’re both standing, but my eyes drift to the figures on the ground. The redhead Piper is sitting cross-legged, close to, but not touching, Josephine. Josephine is resting back on her heels, her shoulders slumped, her hair forming a curtain around her face.
“Josephine?” I move in front of her, crouching to get to her level. That’s when I notice her whole body is shaking. “Are you cold?” I’m ready to whip off my coat, but Piper’s soft voice stops me.
“She’s exhausted. Completely drained.”
And her friends have all left her here to suffer?
“We can’t touch her, dipshit. We’ll make it worse,” Ava drawls, as if she’s read my thoughts. Bram sucks in a breath, and Ambrose hums. I haven’t told them what Josephine’s curse is, but I think they might have some suspicions after this. That’s if Ambrose doesn’t already know. The sneaky bastard overheard something that night in the library.
“That’s real fucking interesting,” Bram murmurs. I ignore him.
I know Josephine’s curse causes her pain when touched, but I didn’t realize it was this bad.
“You just had the new moon ceremony; she should be flush with power.”
“You think we don’t know that? Something is obviously very wrong.” Stellan has his arms crossed, glaring at me and my friends like he’s daring us to start throwing punches. It looks like I’m not the only one itching for a fight. Josephine doesn’t have time for that, though. I lean down to speak directly to her. “I’m going to loop your arm around my neck and pick you up.”
Josephine’s mouth parts, “Too heavy.”
“That was a waste of energy,” I say and scoop her up into my arms. Her head is tucked into the crook of my neck, but her arm is barely holding on. She inhales deeply, and my body reacts instantly. Shit. The last thing I need is a hard-on with all these people around. Not to mention, this is not at all the right time.
“Let’s go,” I bark out, turning back toward my car without waiting for the others to catch up. There’s enough light from flashlights behind me that the path is visible. I peer down at Josephine’s face. My heart seizes in my chest. She’s asleep. That should not make me feel so good.
There will be time for questions later, but for now, I need to get her home.
“Where are you parked?” Bram asks. Then he and Ava argue for the next five minutes about whose car we’re taking and what car Josephine will ride in.
“Leave it here or drive it back to her place. I don’t give a shit. I’m taking her home,” I snap, sick of the arguing. I toss my keys over my shoulder, and Bram catches them without fumbling. “Send me her address.”
“Okay, yeah, no. I mean, that’s great, but we aren’t just going to let you take off with Jo.” Ava sounds a lot less confident when she isn’t arguing with my brother.
“We’re parked in the lot just down there,” Stellan says. “I’ll ride with you, and someone can ride back with Ava. We’ll meet at Jo’s apartment.”
Ambrose agrees to ride with Ava and Piper, waggling his eyebrows as he drops an arm around each of their shoulders. Ava spins away from him with a growl, but Piper freezes. I get in the passenger seat with Josephine on my lap. There’s no way I’m setting her down. Stellan and Odie slide into the backseat with Bram in the driver’s seat.
Stellan gives us directions with very little else to say. By the time Bram pulls up in front of her building, Ava and the others are parking behind us. Josephine is still asleep in my arms. Is there something else wrong with her? What happened tonight?
“Let me know when you need a ride, brother,” Bram tells me as I open the door, carefully extracting myself and Josephine.
“It was a pleasure, ladies!” Ambrose calls out as he trots over to my car and slips into the passenger seat. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” He winks at me.
“I didn’t think that list existed.” I give him a knowing look.
Ambrose grins, his whiskey-colored eyes twinkling. “Exactly.”
“I’ve got a spare key,” Ava says as we walk up a set of steps to the front door. The building is faintly pink and over a hundred years old. Frost covers the railing, and the bare trees creak as the wind blows.
Everyone is quiet as we traverse a short hallway and stop before another door. Ava unlocks it, and I follow her inside. Stellan and Piper are right behind me. Great, I guess we’re having a party.
“You can put her down on the couch. We can take it from here,” Stellan says.
“Can you, though? What if she needs help getting up? What if she doesn’t wake up and needs to go to a healer? Are you going to make it worse by carrying her? Why the fuck is that even a thing?” I murmur the last part to myself. I can’t bring myself to set her down. Instead, I round the couch and sink down with Josephine still in my arms. My instinct tells me to keep holding her. In fact, I’d really like to strip off some of our clothes and get more skin-to-skin contact.
“Can you help me get her coat off?” I ask reluctantly when I realize I can’t keep hold of her and do it by myself. “And her flannel.”
“Here. I’ll help.” Piper carefully unzips her coat and tugs at the left sleeve. Ava works on the arm draped loosely around my neck, both of them operating as a team to free the coat and flannel without ever touching Josephine. I grit my teeth, realizing that I can’t get my coat off, either. I sigh.
“Would you mind?” I pull my arm out from under Josephine’s legs and hold it up. My coat isn’t buttoned, but it’s also not as flexible as Josephine’s.
“This is so weird,” Ava mumbles as she grabs my cuff and yanks. I nearly dislocate my shoulder but finally get my arm free. I pull Josephine closer to my chest, holding her with my now liberated arm so that Piper can tug the sleeve on the other side.
“This feels like the start to a really sad orgy.” Stellan cringes, watching the whole thing from the other side of the room with his arms crossed. Now that we’re not in the dark woods, I get a good look at how damn big the dude is. He’s like a lumberjack who moonlights as a boxer.
“Gross.” Ava shudders, and then joins her brother in his staring with her arms crossed.
I resettle Josephine in my arms, still wishing for more exposed skin, but this will have to do. She’s down to a short-sleeved t-shirt. I have on a henley, but the sleeves are pushed up my forearms. I press our skin together everywhere I can.
“Are you guys just going to stand there and stare?”
Stellan grunts and nods, walking over to one of the chairs. “Right. Might as well sit.”
Piper quietly moves around the apartment, appearing a few moments later with a glass of water and a soft blanket. She sets the throw on the couch next to me and the water on the coffee table.
Ava takes the chair opposite her brother, sitting sideways with her feet dangling off the side. She turns on the TV and proceeds to scan through Netflix endlessly. Piper sits down on the floor, her back against the couch. She’s far enough away from me and Josephine that there’s no chance of an accidental touch.
“Everyone’s staying, then. Great.”