Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Dafni
“Just get in here!”
I moaned; the voice was too loud.
“You’ve been out there all night. I can see your feet under the door, you bonehead.”
“Shhh.” The sound left my lips, drool falling out of them.
“Be quiet! She’s just waking up!”
“I’m awake,” I squeaked, my eyelids peeling open slowly.
Brooke brushed the hair away from my face, tucking it behind my ears as I lifted my head. A large body filled the doorway, light pouring in behind their frame. I closed my eyes tight. The light was sending pulses of pain through my brain.
I closed my eyes, flashbacks of before flooding my brain.
Fingers squeezed my cheeks, my lips popping open.
“Don’t touch her like that.”
“Dafni, wake up.”
My eyes opened, meeting the concrete ceiling. It amazed me how the concrete, riddled with cracks, could support all the dirt above it. My right eye squinted as a face slid in front of it. Brooke. My left eye squinted as a different face slid in front of it. Gideon.
Gideon.
I pushed myself up, pulling my elbows behind me. Both Brooke and Gideon backed away from my face, Brooke’s warm hands pushed me back down into a horizontal position.
Ouch. My head hurt. My stomach hurt. My whole body hurt.
“Who did this to you?” I hadn’t been able to turn my head toward Gideon’s voice, but it was his. His usual purr sounded more like a growl, the vibrations must’ve licked his throat as he spoke.
I closed my eyes. Petunia.
“It was Petunia Fox.” Brooke’s voice met my ears loud and clear.
I mumbled at her not to name Petunia. I didn’t need any more drama with any of the witches.
“I thought so,” he said.
I heard the door to our room squeak open. “Get some ice for her head while you’re out,” Brooke yelled.
The door to the room slammed shut.
Soft fingers smoothed the curly hair away from my face. I opened my mouth, willing words from my throat. It’d been too much. My eyes closed.
Time passed before cold ice pressed against my head. That felt good. The sting retreated as the ice numbed the lump.
“You scared me.” The purr of his voice made my arms relax by my sides. “That’s good, kitten. You need to rest.”
However long later, once again I slowly opened my eyes, taking in the shadows in the room.
Someone had left the bathroom light on and the door cracked, letting in some light.
A large silhouette took up most of the room, with wide shoulders and hair that stuck up straight from their head like they’d just run their fingers through it. Gideon.
My hands met my forehead, squeezing it as the memories from last night flooded my brain.
Kitten. Why did he call me kitten?
I wiggled my toes…my human toes. I was still in human form.
My body instantly relaxed.
Wait…did I accidentally transform? I’d been unconscious, not in control of my body. It was entirely possible I’d changed into the little orange kitten.
Does he now know I shift into a kitten because I don’t have poison?
I tried to lift my head. It felt heavy, like a pail full of milk. I relaxed my neck, my head falling back onto a pillow.
“That’s it…” It was his voice.
I wiggled my body against the spring-filled mattress I laid on.
I was back in my bed.
“Try to stay still…for just another day…” His voice was soothing—almost as soothing as the cool cloth he placed on my forehead.
I drifted off, the back of my head numb and my body tired.
“You must’ve hit your head hard. You’ve been out for two days.” Brooke helped me sit up, and I battled a wave of dizziness from the sudden movement. “Whoa. Let me help you to the bathroom.”
My feet hit the floor, my arm wrapped around Brooke’s.
Gideon walked forward to help, but she shooed him back, leading me to the bathroom.
“Are you okay on your own? Or do you want me to come in?” Brooke asked.
I grabbed on the pedestal sink and gave myself a minute to get my balance. My head was still woozy, but I could manage using the toilet alone. I shook my head at her.
“I’ll be right outside if you need me,” she said.
I used the bathroom and began washing my hands in the sink.
I looked up at the mirror and cringed as I saw my face for the first time since Petunia’s attack.
My eyes were still swollen from sleeping, and my hair needed to be brushed.
I put a finger to my lips, gasping as the gash stung underneath the pad of my finger.
I must’ve bit my lip when I hit my head.
I froze.
Right above my lip, just above the corner, something was there. It looked different from the pimples I’d gotten when I’d been younger. It was red and angry looking—it was a sore.
Was this really happening?
I got closer to the mirror, examining my skin for any more spots. Nothing. I came back to the spot above my lip. This was just the beginning. Soon, like every other witch here, I’d have a hooked nose and warts, making my skin bumpy.
This was not what I had imagined when I came here.
In truth, I didn’t know what I’d imagined.
Maybe a path laid out in front of me? Some sort of guidance that I’d somehow accrue from an unknown source.
What had I been thinking? It’d been all too easy to visualize myself taking over the Coven, gaining information, and eventually infiltrating my spot as Prime.
Before I’d come here, I’d thought it’d be easy.
A tear trailed down my cheek. I quickly wiped it away, not wanting the salt to stain my skin.
All my thoughts about coming here had been nothing more than wishful thinking.
I choked a sob down my throat and back into my chest. With a flick of my wrist and two pointed fingers, I used the air magic no one was supposed to know I had, to pause the surrounding air.
I stopped it from vibrating so that the embarrassing sounds about to leave my body wouldn’t leave the bathroom.
As soon as I felt the air hesitate, I let it out—a deep, guttural cry that hurt my ribs as my lungs clawed for more air.
Was it even worth it? I could just disappear, live in the woods—although that hadn’t gone great for me the first time.
Maybe I could hide in the Velkans’ trailer?
But what kind of life would that be? In both scenarios, I’d be hiding.
That was exactly what my mother would’ve wanted me to do if I wasn’t supposed to be dead already.
Maybe I wasn’t meant to be a leader. I’d been born into the role—that didn’t mean I was the right witch for it. If my mother was in my place, she’d already have the Coven under her thumb.
I dared to look back at the mirror. Luckily, my face was already so red from sleeping that no one could tell I’d had a complete breakdown in the bathroom. I flicked my wrist again, the fans in the ceiling resuming their humming.
There was a single knock on the door. I opened it slowly, looking out into the room.
Gideon was leaning against the wall outside the bathroom, staring at the doorway.
“Have you been crying?” His hands grabbed my upper arms as his eyes scanned my face. “Why didn’t I hear it?”
I looked down at my feet. Maybe my face was redder than I’d thought.
Gideon wrapped his arms around me, pulling my entire body against his.
I held my muscles tight, my body tense as our chests touched each other’s.
Even though I was stiff, he didn’t let go.
I took a breath in through my nose, inhaling his mossy scent.
I let it settle in my nose, breathing out of my mouth, my lungs collapsing along with the rest of my body.
Gideon held me vertical as I leaned against him, my body a perfect fit in his arms. Here with my face buried in his chest and his arms wrapped around me, I felt safe and protected.
It was quiet and dark—it finally felt like I had the ability to quiet my mind.
There was a knock on the door to our dorm, and Brooke rushed over to open it. “Oh…hi…” She leaned on the doorknob, with her mouth open wide as a man with blond shaggy hair ducked through the door, his eyes wide as he scanned the room, only stopping when his eyes landed on me.
“Are you okay?” Luke asked. “The kitchen staff said something about an incident a couple days ago, and I just found out you were a part of it.”
“She’s fine,” Gideon said, ending our hug and pushing me around him until I was tucked behind his body.
His hands never stopped touching me as they moved, finally stilling, each gripping one of my forearms. My nose brushed against the back of his shirt.
I closed my eyes, allowing myself a small inhale of his mossy scent through my nose.
“Dafni?” Luke asked, taking a step toward us as Gideon pulled me even closer against his body.
“I’m fine, Luke,” I said, peeking my head out from behind Gideon’s arm. I was sure I didn’t look all that fine. My hair was like a mane around my head, and I knew my face was still blotchy and red.
“You know him?” Gideon asked, turning his head, his eyes meeting mine.
“Yes, I know Lu—” I snapped my mouth shut, immediately realizing my mistake. I was supposed have come from living with human parents, presumably from far away.
“Her grandparents are old acquaintances of my mom’s,” Luke bluffed. He’d said the lie with such confidence, even I believed him. I supposed it was plausible someone two generations removed from me had known his mother at some point.
Gideon grunted, believing him too.
“If it’s okay, I’d like to see her—just to make sure she’s okay.” Luke moved, trying to peer around Gideon’s frame.
“You just did,” he growled.
“I only saw a part of her face…probably half of it. I know my mother would feel better if I saw with my own eyes that she was okay.”
“She’s fine—I promise,” Brooke intervened.
“Still, I’d like to see her.” Luke planted his feet and crossed his arms over his chest. He was tall, and his body honed from working manual labor around the Coven and helping his mother and sister around the trailer.
Gideon stood still for a moment, the two men staring at each other. I couldn’t see Gideon’s, but Luke’s face was stoic. He wasn’t going to leave without seeing if I was okay with his own eyes.
Gideon must’ve realized the same thing. It wasn’t worth the fight. He shuffled me over to the closet, where he grabbed my green sweater off the hook and passed it to me where I still stood behind him.
“Thank you?” I questioned.
He kept his gaze averted, motioning with his head to the sweater.
I looked down, following his eyes. I was in my Academy-issued nightgown.
Brooke must’ve changed me out of the muddy clothes I’d been wearing when Petunia had knocked me unconscious.
The gown was thin, the darker hue of my nipples showing through the fabric.
My face heated as I quickly shrugged on the sweater to cover myself.
Once the sweater was over my shoulders, Gideon turned around to face me, brushing my hands away so he could fasten the buttons. He went slowly, his knuckles brushing against my stomach and then my breasts as he pushed each opaque button through each hole.
I couldn’t breathe as he buttoned my shirt painfully slow. His knuckles drifted across my skin, lingering as if his touch was intentional…like he’d wanted to feel that part of my body.
I liked it. I liked how his fingers felt on me, how my sensitive skin reacted to the heat of his. How there was a pulse between my legs that made me want to bring his fingers to touch me lower… How my torso tilted toward his as if it was begging him to slide his…
Luke cleared his throat from across the room.
Gideon turned, stepping to the side to reveal me. “Satisfied?” he asked, giving a lively flourish with his arms.
Luke glanced at me up and down, nodding.
“Great. You can go now,” he said, crossing his arms, mimicking Luke.
Brooke hung onto the doorknob, staring at Luke. “Or he can stay. He probably wants a break from work…”
“No, he can go,” Gideon snapped.
She opened the door for Luke, who took one more glance at me before walking through the doorway and down the hallway.
Brooke shut the door, leaning her back against it. “Quite the family friend you got there…”
“His mother’s been kind to m—to my family,” I corrected.
She pushed herself off the door and sighed. “Well, I’m glad you’re finally vertical. I’m going to need someone to watch the air evaluation with tomorrow.”
Tomorrow? Brooke had said I’d been out for two days. That meant the air task was tomorrow and the water task would be a few days after that.
“You’ve been absent from your classes for the last two days,” Gideon said, as if he was reprimanding me. “You need to practice, get the feel for your water magic again.”
I sighed. “I don’t even know what to practice—the water task could be anything.”
“The witches from your group were complaining about all the potion drills Arcana’s been putting them through last night at dinner,” Brooke said. That sounded like Arcana. “Maybe you could start there?”
Gideon nodded. “Get dressed. I know just the place.”