20. Adrian
Adrian
W hen Adrian walked into Cori’s bedroom, he found her in a dreamlike haze, standing as still as a statue. Her eyes were out of focus and opaquely black. Only this time, it was not subtle or fleeting. There was no question in his mind. She had left her body. When she snapped back to herself this time, however, she moved with purpose.
She held a note in her trembling hand, defiled with a pentagram etched in bright red blood—a mark of dark magic. The symbol of the devil himself, some said. As he stood alone in the room with her, uneasiness surged within him.
How could I be so stupid?
All this time, he had fought a feeling that she was hiding something from him. She appeared out of nowhere in town with a seemingly simple story. She’s a witch, but she is also a scientist. Charms witch, but she says her spells aloud. A witch whose home had been targeted, broken into.
When he had touched her on the boat, the influence of her magic had overcome him, and now she was holding a bloody pentagram.
His chest swelled with realization. He had sensed lies and secrecy in her from the moment he met her. She opened her mouth to speak, but his words came out first. “You’re a Gray witch,” he said sharply.
His words seemed to cut through her. “Adrian…”
“I had this feeling,” he admitted, rubbing his hand through his thick hair. “I don’t know what you’re doing to me. I wanted to be near you. I was pulled to you.” His chest twisted with the sting of betrayal. “I had never felt something like that before. On the boat. You were leading me, using dark magic.”
Her face paled. “Adrian, please let me…”
“You could have told me you were a Gray witch. You didn’t have to lie.” Bitterness rose in his throat. It was one thing to lie to him, but she had lied to his entire family. Heavy humidity rose in the air, summoned by his anger. “As soon as I told you we were Elemental, you wanted a piece of us, didn’t you?”
She gaped at him. “What the hell are you talking about?” It was her turn to get angry.
“Please, Cori, it makes perfect sense now. We met a group of Gray witches once, and they wanted my sister’s hair. What are you trying to get from us? A vial of a Water Elemental’s tears, or a Ground Elemental’s fingernails for some dark magic ritual?”
Her jaw tightened, the golden embers in her eyes flaring at his words. Her mouth opened, words hanging on her lips but no sounds came out. He could practically see the wheels turning in her mind.
Her throat bobbed, and she stared at him for a hard minute before she spoke, “I’m not a Gray witch.” Her lips turned down in a hard line, her eyes wide. She took a deep breath and steadied herself through her trembling breath. “But you’re right. I’m not a Charms witch, either. I lied to you. I’m sorry.”
“Then tell me the truth,” he said earnestly.
She fixed her gaze at his eyes, golden with intensity, and took a deep breath. “I’m Celestial.”
The weight of her words hit him, permeating the heavy humidity between them. The tension in his shoulders lightened, and he willed the vapor in the room to dissipate. Despite willing the water away, heavy tears trailed down her cheeks .
“Why would you keep something like that from me?” he asked, his voice softening. “From anyone?”
“Because the minute you learn the truth, you’re in just as much danger as I am.”