4. Rina
FOUR
rina
So, exactly how long are you going to keep watching me?” I asked, turning to glare at the vampire who had followed me when I’d stepped outside Willow’s house. The dreary weather from earlier had turned into a drizzle, and I wasn’t looking forward to traipsing through the mud later.
“Until I figure you out,” he said, shrugging. He was wearing a different suit today, but looked no less put together.
I groaned, rubbing the bridge of my nose. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Did this man not understand why it wasn’t socially acceptable to stalk someone? I just wanted to go home and center myself before dusk came.
Ezra’s eyes roved over my body, and I tried not to react to his blatant perusal. That flicker of heat from the diner came back with a vengeance, but it fizzled just as quickly as I remembered his terrible personality. “I told you, you’re different.”
“And I told you, I’m not. I’m nothing special,” I retorted. When would he get that through his thick skull?
He pursed his lips. “You see, I don’t think that’s true. I think you’re hiding something.”
I threw my hands up to the sky. “What would I be hiding? Look, I’m just a witch with unexciting powers, a degree in journalism that I’m never going to use, and a shitty job as a waitress in a small town diner, okay?
There’s not anything about me that’s anything but ordinary.
” A simple witch whose pass-times were reading and watching historical documentaries alone for fun.
This time, he frowned. “You really believe that’s true, don’t you?”
I nodded, taking a deep breath. “Yeah, I do. Haven’t you been listening to me?”
“Hm.” He looked up at the sky.
I glared. “What?”
“I think you’re wrong, and I’m going to figure out exactly what you’re all about.” He smiled, but it was devoid of any warmth. All teeth.
I wasn’t sure I liked the sound of that—especially not if it meant spending more time with the man who got under my skin like no one ever had.
The sun sank below the horizon as we all followed Cait into the backyard.
“It’s time,” she announced, arms full of everything we’d need to draw the spell circle. She was our coven’s best at spells and hexes—the latter of which she loved to inflict on unsuspecting men who had done one of us wrong.
Was this the right call? I didn’t know. A sense of dread trickled down my spine, but no one else seemed worried. We all wore identical velvet cloaks and witch hats—something we’d incorporated from the covens of old.
Magic was all around us, and I could feel it pulsing through me. Everyone’s aura seemed stronger, to shimmer with the energy, and I took a deep breath, letting it flow through me. Soon, the full moon would be high in the sky, and we’d have to be prepared to start at the right moment.
“We’ll perform the ceremony in the spot where the barrier is the weakest,” Willow explained, turning to her mate and Ezra. “You two are on standby in case that… thing—” A shiver ran through her body. “—decides to make an appearance. And Barrett will stand in for me.”
Of course, the vampire was here. It felt like everywhere I went, there he was, with his smug face and dark aura that seemed to call to something inside of me. Something I really wasn’t sure I wanted to look deeper at.
Damien pulled Willow off to the side, both of them sharing whispered words.
I could tell how concerned he was for her and their baby.
Since we didn’t know how the magic would affect any of us, let alone her while pregnant, it made sense to keep her away from the circle.
They shared a soft kiss, both of their hands resting on her bump, and I looked away, my heart clenching.
I couldn’t explain the rush of emotions in my chest. Only that watching them felt like intruding on an intimate moment. A moment that reminded me of just how alone I was.
How much I yearned for someone to take care of me like that. Someone who would stay. I could take care of myself—but that didn’t mean I wanted to forever.
“We’re all going to be okay,” Wendy whispered, sliding in next to me and squeezing my hand.
“I hope you’re right,” I murmured back.
Because I couldn’t shake this bad feeling that everything was going to go terribly wrong.
The wards were weakest deep within the woods—information we’d learned thanks to Barrett and Ezra, who had both scouted them prior to us heading out.
Our ragtag group—thirteen witches, a demon, a wolf shifter, and a vampire—was nothing I’d ever expected to see in Pleasant Grove, but it felt like maybe this was the way the world was supposed to be.
Eryne’s words kept pinging around my brain.
We’ve been kept in the dark for hundreds of years.
We deserve better than this.
She was right. Seeing how happy Willow, Luna, and Eryne were, I couldn’t imagine how many of us had missed out on our soulmates by isolating ourselves in Pleasant Grove. While some of us left for college in the human realm, how often had we come into contact with other witches?
We had to keep our powers hidden, fearing persecution from the humans who didn’t understand us. None of us wanted a repeat of the witch trials from the seventeen-hundreds.
Now… I wanted all of us to have a chance at that same happiness.
I walked hand in hand with Wendy, feeling thankful that no matter what happened in my life, I always had her.
She was my twin flame and the closest thing I had to a sister.
My parents were too busy gallivanting around the country to parent me, let alone a sibling.
I tried not to resent them for it, but part of me could never shake off the hurt I felt because of it.
Candles levitated beside us, as well as the herbs and chalk we needed for the circle. Telekinesis was one of the first skills any witch learned in school, where we could almost control items with our eyes closed.
One day, we’d be teaching them about this moment, right now, where we changed our fates.
We were righting our ancestor’s wrongs while making a future we could be proud of.
One that would improve the lives of future witchlings, who would learn about what all was out there.
They’d be prepared for whatever they would face, good or bad. Demons, vampires, and shifters alike.
“You good?” Wendy whispered at my side, squeezing my hand.
I nodded. The emotional strain I felt as I opened myself up was overwhelming—like everyone’s auras pouring into me—but I could manage this. I had to. Not just because I needed to prove myself to the vampire, but because I needed to prove myself for me.
“We’re ready to begin,” Cait said, looking up at the moon high in the sky.
The circle was complete, thirteen candles levitating around us, the other ingredients for the spell in the middle. Each member of the coven was spread evenly around the clearing—Cait, Gretchen, Tammy, Talley, Sophie, Olive, Iris, Constance, Celeste, me, Wendy, Eryne, and Barrett.
We took a step forward, each in front of a candle, joining hands with the person next to us.
I could feel the magic flowing through us as Cait began chanting the spell we’d all memorized, a mixture of Latin, and the old language, one that had long ago lost its meaning.
Joining in, I let my magic flow through me into the circle, feeling it grow and grow within me like an endless well.
“What is that?” I heard Gretchen ask, and I knew exactly what she was referring to. There was a darkness, a wrongness that our powers pressed against, like the wards had been infested, rotting from the inside out. Like the magic had been corrupted entirely.
“Feels like death,” Constance remarked, her voice sounding hollow.
“Goddess,” someone gasped. I could barely tell who it was, too lost in the spell.
Then each candle flickered out, leaving us in total darkness, the only light coming from the full moon shining through the tree branches.
“This would be a great time for Luna to show up with her weird moon powers,” Willow murmured to Damien.
The temperature dropped, rapidly plunging several degrees colder.
Magic crackled, like the old wards were shattering, traces of old magic sparking and scattering right in front of our eyes. Suddenly, the feeling of the wards dropped away.
A bolt of lightning hit the direct center of our circle, and we all stepped back, breaking the connection.
“Did it work?” Eryne asked.
Cait’s face paled. “I think so. But I…”
A horrible noise shrieked from deeper in the forest, one that set my teeth on edge.
“What was that?” Wendy’s eyes were wide.
“The wraith,” Ezra answered. “We’ve angered it. You stole its energy source.” He inspected his nails, like he couldn’t be bothered.
Fear, potent and uncontrollable, poured from everyone, and it overwhelmed my system.
“Rina,” my best friend gasped as I dropped to the ground, head in my hands.
What was happening to me? This had never occurred before, no matter how much I’d used my powers. Something was wrong.
Wrong with me.
“Too much,” I grit out, shutting my eyes and shaking my head from side to side. “It’s too much.” I groaned. “Make it stop.”
Warm hands brushed at my cheek, and then a deep voice was saying, “Breathe, Rina. It’s going to be okay.
” I opened my eyes to find Ezra crouched down next to me, his hands brushing loose strands of hair off my face.
“That’s it. In and out.” I didn’t know why looking at him centered me, but air surged back into my lungs, and I no longer felt like I had a weight pressing down on my chest. “Get her out of here,” he told Wendy.
“No,” I croaked. “I have to—”
“You could get hurt,” he said, eyes holding mine. “Go. All of you.”
Willow was in Damien’s arms, and he gave the vampire a brief nod.
Barrett snarled, wolf-like and terrifying, and I didn’t have to hear bones crunching and rearranging to know he’d shifted into his other form. He took off in a flash, disappearing into the trees in a blur of paws and red fur.
“What’s happening?” Eryne asked the vampire next to me.
Ezra flashed his fangs as he stood up, looking every bit the vampire I knew he was. “Now we hunt.”
“I should be out there,” Eryne murmured, staring out her back door. We were all at her house, since it was the closest to the edge of the woods.
“You know he wouldn’t want you to risk yourself, babe,” Wendy said, wrapping her arms around our ginger friend.
I squeezed her shoulder. “Wendy’s right. You could get hurt.”
The same words Ezra had lobbed back at me as I’d argued with him to let us help less than an hour ago.
“Don’t you remember what that thing did to Barrett? How I found him?” Eryne’s eyes filled with tears. “I can’t lose him again, you guys. I just can’t. And I hate that we’re here just… hopeless. We didn’t even get a new barrier up.”
I knew exactly what she meant. I didn’t want to be locked up here, unable to do anything. Feeling worthless. As if I needed a reminder of just how weak I was.
“You love him, don’t you?” Wendy whispered.
Eryne nodded, tears streaming freely now. “I don’t want to lose him.”
“You won’t,” I promised, even though I couldn’t know that. I wasn’t the one with seer abilities. What else could I say? The man she loved was out there, fighting evil we could hardly fathom, and there was nothing we could do to change that.
She gave me a sad look, going back to the couch and snuggling next to Willow.
“I hope you’re right,” Wendy said to me.
My heart ached at the ripple of emotion that flowed from everyone. “I hope so too, Wends. I hate seeing everyone like this.”
Scared and afraid. Vulnerable. I felt weak, and I hated that.
We’d left the whole town vulnerable to these wraiths, these creatures that seemed to come right out of a nightmare. I shuddered, remembering the feeling as they’d descended around us. The cold.
Our coven was stronger together, no matter what happened, but we were no match for creatures that had crawled out of the pits of the underworld.
Wendy slid an arm around me, both of us holding each other. She leaned her head on my shoulder, and I relaxed into her. “No matter what happens, we’ll get through this the way we always do—together.”