40. Cori
Cori
T he muscles in her shoulders and back cramped with tension as she craned her neck over her laptop. Data points from her metallic deposit samples had been entered meticulously into the spreadsheet, and all there was left to do was run the preliminary statistics.
She stretched her arms over her head as she rubbed her sore shoulders with satisfaction. This was precisely what she had been brought here to do, and it felt good.
The next phase of Anne’s project—and the essential funding she had secured—hedged on the fact that they would get a publication out of this data. They would show the impact of dumping into the local waterways to the EPA.
Anne had been lobbying politicians in Maine for the past few years to strengthen their laws and fines, and now she would have the data to back up her claims.
A soft knock sounded on the door frame as Jordan peered around the corner arching his eyebrow expectantly.
“Well?” he asked.
She smiled up, raising her brows. “I’m running the stats now.”
He sipped his coffee, trying to conceal his excitement with a casual act, but the restless drumming of his fingers on the mug gave him away.
She smirked at him. “You want to help?”
He beelined to the seat next to her as she pulled her laptop between them. “Of course, I want to help. Move the hell over.” He took another excited sip as he squinted at the thousands of data points on the spreadsheet.
Cori sighed. She had never met anyone with so much energy in her life. It probably had something to do with the endless stream of caffeine the man ingested through the day.
“I promise I won’t tell anyone that you’ve been stalking me all morning over this spreadsheet,” she assured him.
“I love math, Cori. It’s not my fault I’m a big nerd trapped in this sexy body.” She snorted, and he punched her on the arm. “Just run the numbers, and stop being a buzzkill.”
She tallied the columns carefully and plugged the data into a series of statistical formulas. With the samples she had collected, she could build on Anne’s original data and make it into something worth trending. She and Jordan had worked late the past couple of nights, and it all led up to this moment.
Cori leaned back on her chair as she made her final calculations. Her head turned toward Jordan, who had his hand clasped to his mouth with excitement. “Is that the final p-value?” he asked with a wide grin.
She blew out a satisfied breath. “My friend, you are looking at genuine, bona fide statistical significance.” They both sprang to their feet, hugging each other as they jumped and squealed like a couple of teenage girls at a K-pop concert.
In their excitement, they did not notice the man leaning on the door frame watching them with crossed arms.
“Holy hell!” Jordan yelled as he spotted him in the doorway. “You cannot sneak up on people like that. Are you trying to give us a heart attack with your Michael Myers impression over there? Halloween was almost two weeks ago.”
Adrian raised an eyebrow, trying to stifle a laugh. “I tried to say hello, but I was overwhelmed by the squealing.” He strode over to Cori and planted a kiss on the top of her head. “I left my ski mask at home today, anyway. Ready to head out? ”
“Michael Myers does not wear a ski mask.” Jordan huffed, shuffling his papers into folders on the desk. He angrily scooped up a pile of paper clips. “You just waltz in here with your tight T-shirt and—party over.” Dull green jealousy radiated from his aura. “This is one of the biggest moments our organization has had in the past two years. There is no way in hell you’re just going to head home with your hot boyfriend and not celebrate this.”
He pulled out a disinfecting wipe, clicked the cover shut emphatically, and began vigorously wiping the surface of her desk.
“Oh God,” Cori said cautiously, glancing expectantly at Adrian. “He’s starting to rage clean. He means business. Carl’s?”
“Obviously.” Jordan smiled easily, his jealousy melting away as he pulled out his phone. “I’m sending a text to Jess and Anne to meet us there.” He rolled his eyes. “I’ll tell Anne she might as well bring Geoff.”
Jordan and Geoff had not been on good terms recently after a heated argument over who Rory Gilmore’s preferred boyfriend had been. Geoff was team Dean, and according to Jordan that was the biggest red flag he had ever seen .
“I’ll ask Prudence to meet up with us,” Cori suggested, pulling out her own phone.
Jordan arched his brow.
“Make sure she brings those hotties she’s been camping with.” Jordan had liked Prudence immediately when he met her. Everyone had. The more Cori got to know her over the past two months, the more she knew it was incredibly hard not to like Pru. She had an infectious, bubbly charm that seemed to win over everyone she met.
Pru was spending almost all her time with the Huxleys when she wasn't taking a turn guarding Cori or patrolling town for signs of dark magic. She had helped Hannah with a complicated series of charms to defend the farm, and she had won over Ariel when she gifted her a crystal that glowed warm in her hand when someone nearby had sinister intentions.
For the first time since she was a young child, perhaps for the first time in her life, Cori felt like she had a genuine friend. Someone who knew the real her and accepted her for what she was. Death threats, sinister prophecies, and all.
Despite Pru’s sweet and genuine likeability, Jordan seemed even more drawn to Alfie. It was easy to imagine why.
Alfie had a casual confidence and a sharp, sarcastic tongue that was incredibly seductive, if not a bit grating. Most of his clothes were sleek black and high fashion. With the contrast of his platinum blond hair, black leather jacket, and tall, muscular frame, he looked like he stepped right off the pages of British Vogue . Although Alfie tried to play it cool, Cori could sense the satisfaction oozing from him any time Jordan entered the room and started drooling.
“I’ll meet you guys there,” Jordan said as he gathered up his things. “Jess said I should drive home first so I can have as many drinks as I want, and she can drive me back to our place later. Plus, I need to grab a heavier coat.” He winked at them as he grabbed his car keys. The days had become shorter and the nights bitterly cold as November weather settled on the coast.
Cori gathered her own things at her desk, noting the sun was dipping low on the horizon over the trees. The tops of the pines stood out in dark contrast against the amber glow of the sunset.
Her tattered notebook was tucked into her bag, and she realized with a pang of guilt that she had forgotten to mark down the day. November 10th. Forty-one days until the solstice.
She felt Adrian slip his arms around her, and she leaned into him. “Congratulations, Cor.” His voice rumbled through her chest as she stared out the window over the bay.
These past few months had felt like a blur. It was inconceivable to her how she could feel so at ease with someone she had known for such a short period. Everything about him—the feel of his hair between her fingers, the curve of his shoulder, the muscular fortress of his arms around her—felt like home.
She knew why. And she had a feeling he knew, too, even though they had not spoken about it.
Part of her magic was sensing the emotions of others, but she was starting to sense Adrian even when she was not physically near him. He had jumped into the water yesterday when the line on one of their traps had broken, and although he was nearly a mile offshore when it happened, Cori had felt a flush of ice dance on her skin the moment his body hit the water. She shivered when he told her about it later.
Adrian’s magic was…it felt like home. There was something comfortable about him she had not felt since she had left San Francisco. As she felt his arms around her, she let his magic penetrate her skin. Her body surged with a salty, cool mist of the ocean beyond her window, and the air became heavy with the smell of pine. Cool mint danced on her tongue as his magic washed over her all her senses.
She pulled away after a moment and took his hand. “It’s a Friday night,” she reasoned with a mischievous shrug of her shoulder. “Might as well go get a little sloppy at the bar.”
He smirked back at her. “As long as you promise to let me get sloppy with you later.”
Her lip curled as she let her imagination run wild with heat, and she knew he could feel her desire at the thought. His gaze narrowed on her as she closed her eyes and sucked in a breath. “Deal.”
They set out on the path into town as leaves drifted down from the trees. The air was pleasantly crisp, and the spiced aromas wafting from the bakery filled the atmosphere with the smells of autumn.
The equinox had come and gone uneventfully, but an unease stirred within Cori with the realization that the seasons had changed a final time before the impending winter solstice. A chill rippled across her skin.
Despite their closeness. Despite feeling the bond take root, stronger with each breath, there was one thing she didn’t have the courage to share with him. With anyone.
The secret of her father’s prophecy remained locked in her heart.
Whenever Enzo’s name was mentioned in conversation, powerful hatred surged from Adrian, his aura a bright crimson with angry swirls churning around him like a hurricane. He felt that Enzo’s involvement in the LARC was the ultimate betrayal, and he was more than happy to keep her safe and hidden for the next forty-one days.
Cori had been secretly tracking Enzo’s and Calvin’s whereabouts through the LARC’s social media. Prudence’s father had planted some wiretaps in their boardroom. Paolo was right. They were planning to kill her at the site of the formation of the Covenant.
But nobody knew that she planned to leave for Salem to meet them there.
Adrian dropped her hand and put his arm over her shoulder as they walked up the path to Carl’s. “You OK?”
She sighed. “I’m OK,” she assured him as she tipped her eyes up to the sky. The half-moon allowed the stars to surface with bright radiance.
“There’s the woman of the hour.” Seth’s booming voice grounded them back to reality as he set up the steps, his arm wrapped around Jess as Jordan trailed behind them, scrolling on his phone. “Jordan tried to explain something about a chi-square…”
“Seth learned that a chi-square and a chai latte are not the same thing,” Jordan scoffed.
Jess stifled a laugh.
“Whatever. It seems like a super impressive thing that only smart people would understand. But I’m always down for drinking to celebrate.”
When they entered Carl’s, Anne and Geoff had already secured them a large booth in the back in the direct line of sight of the television airing the Patriots game. Seth and Geoff immediately became invested in the game as Jess and Jordan ordered a round for the table.
Cori felt the air become heavy with magic as Prudence and Alfie sauntered in. Prudence wore a fashionable cashmere sweater with a neat, pleated skirt that hit just above the knee and navy tights. She pulled her Chanel lipstick out of her designer handbag and used her phone camera as a mirror to reapply. Alfie, as usual, looked like he stepped right off the runway, even though he was wearing a plain black T-shirt and strategically ripped jeans.
Alfie and Pru tried to fit in around town these past couple of weeks, but they always turned heads wherever they showed up. The dangerously cool vibe they gave off was in stark contrast to the rugged and laid-back attitude embraced by the locals.
Prudence gave Carl a warm smile and a hug when she spotted him coming near their table. “Carl! Did you try that snickerdoodle recipe I gave you?” she asked him excitedly, wrinkling her nose.
“I did, honey,” he replied. “I would have never thought to add cardamom, but you were right again.” She winked at him as he ushered her into the booth. “Cori, I heard you had a major scientific breakthrough today. Should I pour you a glass of that nice Riesling we got last week?”
“Carl, you’re the best.”
The barkeep blushed for a moment as he wiped down their table. “My pleasure, kiddo. Adrian, I’ll grab you a nice, dark ale,” he said, clapping him on the shoulder. Carl hurried away to the bar as Pru settled into the booth next to Cori.
“Fern is here, too,” Prudence informed Cori in a low voice. “She’s doing a perimeter check.” With her nose ring, multiple tattoos, and electric blue hair, Fern would fit right in at any biker bar. Cori smiled to herself as she pictured the Mainer locals gawking at Fern as she stalked around the bar. Unlike the other Gray witches, Fern was quiet, sullen, and introverted. She was all business. Calculated and cunning.
Cori watched Fern slide into the booth like a ghost, nodding at them. “Everyone checks out,” she reported to Pru as she pulled out her phone and started scrolling. Even though she appeared to be absent-mindedly scanning through social media, Cori knew she was watching the door as she turned over a crimson red crystal in her palm.
Shortly after their second round of drinks, the conversation got heated .
“You mean to tell me you’re fine with what he did?” Jordan asked with disgust.
“What did she expect him to do? Shut down his life for her?” Geoff replied heatedly.
“The guy claimed to love her, and she was out of the picture for less than a fucking day before he did her dirty!” Jordan fired back.
“They were on a break!” Geoff argued, throwing up his hands.
Anne shook her head as she took a long sip of her beer. “Are we still arguing about Ross and Rachel twenty years later?” she asked in disbelief.
Jordan put his hand on her arm gently. “I am saying this because I love you. If you need the name of a good divorce lawyer, I know a guy. And you can stay with me anytime, right, Jess?”
Jess laughed, shaking her head. “Absolutely, Anne, we got your back.”
Cori smiled, letting the warmth of wine and friendship wash over her. She leaned back into the booth, sighing deeply and savoring the feeling of being comfortable and a little tipsy.
But the peaceful feeling was fleeting. She had just finished her second glass of wine when the sharp edges of a folded piece of paper materialized in her hand. Her stomach turned and her heart pounded like a hammer as she unfolded the paper under the table. She recognized the curling lilt of her mother’s handwriting immediately.
351-555-1221
Just a phone number.
She looked down at her hands as all the blood drained from her face. Her friends continued chatting heartily around the table, undeterred and unaware of what she had just received. When she met Adrian’s eyes however, he was fixed on her, worry etched into his face.
He knew. He felt it, too .
She shot him a pleading look, and he rose from the seat casually. “Yawn…early day tomorrow,” he announced. “Cor, you want to walk home with me?”
Seth arched a suspicious brow at him. Tomorrow was Saturday.
“Sure, I’m exhausted anyway after all that number crunching.” She rose from her seat as well, kissing Jordan good-night before they hurried out the door, hearts pounding in tandem.