37. Adrian
Adrian
T he motor of his truck whirred to a halt as they came to a stop in the driveway.
“Do you really think everything about your brother and this Calvin guy is true?” Adrian leaned back in the driver's seat, rubbing his temples. He had picked Cori up from Carl’s after another abysmal weigh-in at the dock. On his way to get her, his stomach had twisted into a knot, and he knew she was upset before she even got into the car.
Her face was pale, as though she had seen a ghost. She had filled him in on what she learned from the Grays on their way back to the farm.
“There was no sign of deception that came from them when they were telling me. My Eye sensed nothing but sincerity.” She sighed. “As much as I don’t want to believe it, and I hope to the Goddess there’s more to the story, what they’re telling me matches up with the visions I’ve been having lately.”
She told him about the argument between Enzo and her mother.
He leaned back, studying her. “Can you tune in to what they’re doing right now?”
She shrugged. “It doesn’t work that way. I can only get snippets of information, and it comes to me at unexpected times. ”
“Like when you had the vision about the electrical cord.”
“Exactly. Some visions come in my dreams. Sometimes they’re connected to strong emotions.” She closed her eyes, shaking her head. “Delivering the prophecy was completely unexpected. It came out of nowhere. I can’t control it. According to my nonna, it’s not meant to be controlled. Visions and prophecies are gifted to us from the Giver.”
He crossed his arms and shook his head heavily. “Some gift,” he said with resignation. He reached across the armrest, grazing his fingers along her charm bracelet.
“Nonna always said I wouldn’t get information that I wasn’t meant to know,” she mused aloud.
The passenger door of the trunk clicked heavily behind them as they made their way up the gravel path to the farmhouse. Adrian and Seth had collected her buoys—or as Seth liked to call them, sea doughnuts—while they were out on the water earlier. They could accomplish more in a day than Cori would have gotten done by herself in a week.
“Anne and Jordan should be back by the end of the week. Anne emailed me this morning. Thanks to Jordan’s powers of persuasion, they negotiated a deal. I appreciate you collecting my samples today.” Her voice was wary. “Did you tell your parents about…everything?”
He nodded. “Everyone except Ariel, but I expect she heard by now.” His speculation was short-lived. As they opened the door to the house, Ariel practically bombarded them in the foyer.
“Cori, when I heard you were Celestial—I nearly died. Literally—almost had a heart attack . Do you think you can read people through photographs? There are at least three guys on the lacrosse team that have said some things to me in the past few months that made me say hmm , was that flirtation, friendship, or am I just imagining things?”
Seth stood in her way at the top of the staircase. “Ariel, what the hell is wrong with you?” he asked.
“Seth, get out of our way right now!” There was a steady billow of steam coming from the top of Ariel’s head, and the flames of candles in the window surged as she spoke.
Adrian crossed his arms as he shot his little sister a warning look. “Cori is not your personal tarot card reader.”
Cori bit back a laugh as Ariel gasped. “Do you read tarot?!” she asked excitedly.
Cori shrugged. “I mean I can, but I don’t make a habit of it. It’s not nearly as accurate as reading palms.”
Ariel’s eyes widened. “Shut up !” Within a few seconds, she had set Seth’s pants on fire, causing him to leap out of the way as Ariel pulled Cori by the arm up the steps into her bedroom.
Ariel held Cori in her room for a while, and by the time she was free, the table was already set for dinner. Seth, wearing a fresh pair of pants without burn marks, had a surly, sour look on his face. He glared at his little sister as she and Cori joined them on the back deck, but Ariel smiled devilishly at him in return.
Adrian leaped from his seat to pull out Cori’s chair.
“Whoa, such a gentleman all of a sudden,” Ariel teased him. “Where did you learn that move?”
David’s deep voice echoed from the doorway as he balanced a salad bowl and a water pitcher in his arms. “I know where he learned it—from his dear old dad.”
Adrian groaned. David put down the salad bowl and placed his hands on Cori’s shoulders. “Glad to see you in one piece.” He smiled down at her. His voice turned serious. “I’ve never been prouder of my sons as I was when I heard how they rescued you.”
He pulled her into a hug, and blood rushed to her cheeks. Adrian had been dreading how his father would respond to Cori, but he puffed out a sigh of relief. David could be brash sometimes, but at his core he was a loyal person.
“So, what’s the deal with the Gray witches coming to live here?” Ariel asked abruptly, her mouth full of pasta.
“Ariel,” Hannah warned. “Cori has had a long day, and she doesn’t need to rehash everything for the hundredth time.”
“No…it’s OK.” To Adrian’s surprise, Cori told them everything. About her meeting at Carl’s, what she saw in her reading of Pr udence on the island, how she moved to Yale, all the way back to the day she delivered the prophecy itself.
“I’m still having a hard time with this weakness through the Other part.” Seth furrowed his brow.
Adrian nodded. “I’ve been having trouble understanding that part, too.”
“It’s simple,” Hannah explained, folding her napkin into a neat square. “Magic comes from a lot of different sources. Different Others . Charms witches pull their energy from other witches. Gray witches pull from light and dark magic, Celestial witches from the stars, and Elementals from the elements. The Other is different depending on what kind of witch you are.”
“Why did you never tell us about the prophecy?” Ariel asked. “You had to have known about it.”
“You know what,” David said, crossing his arms. “I remember hearing about it, but I had completely forgotten about it until now. I think I got word through your grandmother. She had a few friends who were Charms witches. It was never something that worried us—being Elemental and all.”
Hannah nodded in agreement.
“This prophecy is supposed to come true on the winter solstice of this year?” Ariel shivered as she spoke.
“Ninety-seven days,” Cori said ominously.
“What are you going to do about your brother?” Seth asked.
Adrian’s anger swelled at the mention of Enzo. He would rather die than hurt his family. Enzo had betrayed his sister, and that told Adrian everything he needed to know about him. Cori locked wide eyes with him, her face pale. He diverted his gaze to his plate, his jaw clenched.
She let out a heavy breath. “I think we need to get more information. Prudence and Alfie hope that the combination of my visions and the intelligence in the San Francisco Gray Coven might give us a better idea of what is actually going on.”
“So what? Prudence and Alfie have a bunch of special-agent, private-eye Gray witches just roaming around the city?” Ariel asked as she stabbed a noodle with her fork .
Cori laughed at the description. “It sure sounds like it.” She told them about the binder full of Enzo’s pictures. “It sounds like they have a task force just for my brother and my mother. The group that’s here in Maine was protecting me all this time.”
“They also police whatever area they’re living in. Banishing dark magic, witches that fall out of line, and evil objects,” Adrian explained.
Ariel leaned back, crossing her arms. “I always just thought Grays were quirky freaks. I had no idea they had all that responsibility.”
Cori told them how hurt Prudence had been when she had shown the same ignorance about Gray witches and what their roles were.
“Prudence explained that when the Covenant was formed, the dark witches of the day went in two directions—those who would abuse dark magic and those who would protect it,” Cori explained. “The reason dark magic had to be banished in the first place was because humans had grown so fearful of it.”
“Which is why the Covenant was put into place after the Salem trials,” David chimed in.
“So, you mean to tell me that for the past four hundred years, the Gray witches have been in charge of keeping all the dark magic under control?” Ariel asked.
Cori nodded. “That’s why they were so excited about the prophecy.”
“I still don’t get how they can pull energy from dark magic and not use it,” Seth said.
“I’ve seen them do a few spells and charms,” Cori said with a shrug. “None of it seemed dark at all to me. Today they used something called a veiling stone at the restaurant to muffle our voices.”
David choked on his drink. “Are you serious?” he asked, clearing his throat.
“Yeah, totally serious.” Cori raised her eyebrows. “It seemed innocent enough, just a piece of rock and some gems.”
“A veiling stone is a magical object that is pulled from the grave of a witch,” he explained. “It’s considered very dark to take from the dead.”
Hannah laughed at his explanation. “It makes perfect sense, though, doesn’t it? They’re taking a dark object and using it for good, right?” She paused, sensing the minds turning around the table. “That’s what makes it Gray . Who knows? Maybe they even had permission from the witch who they took it from before they died.”
“Dark objects like veiling stones are really powerful,” David said.
“And why humans were so terrified of us,” Hannah added.
“Well then, we know one thing for certain,” Seth said standing. “At least we have a bunch of badasses on our team now.”
Our team . They laughed in agreement at his rationalization as they all stood to clear the table. Adrian’s heart swelled. His family had fully embraced protecting Cori, and he knew they were doing it for him. Even though she had been in his life for only a few short days, they embraced her without question.
Meanwhile, in California, Cori’s own brother was plotting against her. Cori bit her lip as she twirled the charm bracelet around her wrist. Anger gripped Adrian’s heart, squeezing until blood laced with hatred buzzed through his veins.