43. Cori
Cori
C ori awoke alone in the tent the next morning to the sound of the ocean’s roar. The cliffside campsite on the periphery of Huxley Farm was adjacent to a cluster of greenhouses, and as she peered through the tent flap, the late morning light danced off the glass and metal frames in the distance.
She squinted as her eyes adjusted to the gleam.
Adrian had agreed to accompany the Gray witches when they left town with Cori. Even though his sister was still unconscious. Even though Cori was the reason they were all in danger. Despite the rope bind that she had cast on him. With no regard for the lacerations that marred his arms. He was willing to risk everything for her.
And it made her sick.
The remnants of hot tears stung her eyes as she examined the sky, the fading moon low on the horizon. Stars tumbled above her, whispering despite the light of the sun drowning them out.
She desperately needed to tell Adrian about her father’s prophecy. A large part of her wanted to run. Hiding was always comfortable for her, but Adrian had made it clear—he was ready to follow her.
She took a breath, her heart cracking with the bite of Enzo’s betrayal. Somehow, power had won over love. She knew her brother had to still love her. Love is not something you can turn off, like a switch.
As she approached the steps of the Airstream, Adrian and Zion spoke in hushed whispers through the door. She halted, gripping the cold metal of the door frame.
“Wherever you plan to take her, I’m coming with you,” Adrian explained matter-of-factly. “I already told my dad that I wouldn’t be getting on the boat again until after the solstice.”
“I figured,” Zion’s deep voice replied.
Cori peeked into the trailer. Zion was hunched over his laptop at the dinette with Adrian. He reached back to his record player and grabbed a Marvin Gaye record from the stack. The Gray witch was constantly researching, even in the middle of a conversation.
Like Cori, Zion had received a conventional education in addition to a magical one, earning his doctorate in Medieval Studies from Harvard last year before joining Prudence’s team.
He typed feverishly as he conjured a flame to his incense, washing the campsite with the scent of patchouli. His uncanny ability to multitask truly baffled Cori.
“I haven’t found the person I’m fated to yet…if there is one.” Zion shook his head. “But if I were in your position, I wouldn’t let her out of my sight. I don’t know how you two are handling it.”
Cori held her breath in the shadow of the door as she waited for Adrian to respond. They had still not spoken of the bond, even though his magic wound itself more tightly around her with every passing day.
Adrian sucked in a breath, and it felt as though time were standing still. She tamped her magic down as she waited for his response.
“I’ve never been more terrified in my life,” he replied with a ragged sigh. Even though she couldn't physically see him from her position in the doorway, she sensed him dragging his hands through his thick chestnut hair. “If something happened to her, I don’t know if I could make it. ”
She let go of her breath. He had not denied being fated to her. She had a feeling he must know as strongly as she did, even though it had not been brought up in their conversation. But what he said in response to Zion made her stomach turn. This was exactly what she had feared when she first saw him, walking toward her on the beach with the impending tide rolling toward her.
How could she drag another witch into her cursed destiny? Especially now. Especially him . After all he has already gone through. Adrian may be fated to her, but the entire Huxley family had been at risk because of her. She closed her eyes and let her Eye bubble forward.
You love him .
She had never let herself think so freely of it before this moment. He had become a part of her, something that was interwoven into her existence. She bit back tears when she realized what her death would do to him. The bond was already too strong. Maybe Enzo wouldn’t kill her on the solstice, thanks to her father’s sacrifice.
But someone else in the LARC might step up and finish the job. Adrian would never be capable of loving anyone else in his life if she was killed.
You need to tell him what you plan to do.
She had never felt so on the brink of death. The experience in the fire made it seem more real. Death threats were always a part of her future, something she had been preparing for over the past nearly ten years. Adrian was recently thrust into this. Her guilt was immense and all-consuming.
If she tried to run away, she knew he would stop at nothing until he found her and assured her safety.
Her hand tightened on the handle of the door as she hoisted herself up on the metal stair.
“Good morning,” she said nonchalantly as she slid into the dinette seat next to Zion.
Across the table, Adrian’s face flushed and his heart quickened, the blue pools of his eyes swirling .
“Zion and I were researching the best places to go into hiding,” he said hastily. He slid his long leg across the table brushing it against her calf. Her cheeks brightened as she leaned toward the laptop to get a better look at the map on the screen.
“Acadia?” she questioned. A northern territory of Maine’s national park was highlighted.
“Acadia is protected natural land. There are several areas north of the park that are rich in iron ore. The Brits used to mine the area before it became protected. Hiding there is a good idea if you are fleeing dark magic,” Zion explained.
“What do iron mines have anything to do with dark magic?” Cori asked, an eyebrow arched inquisitively.
Zion stretched his arms and smiled excitedly. As a magical historian, he never missed an opportunity for a history lesson, and he got a gleeful glint in his dark brown eyes whenever he was asked to delve into the past.
He tied his braids into a neat ponytail as he dug under the seat, producing an ancient-looking book with a thick brown leather binding that gleamed in the light of the overhead lamp. He casually gestured toward the coffeepot that floated to Cori magically. She greedily filled her cup.
“It’s documented well into the Middle Ages that the element of iron has been used by humans to ward off evil. It’s the reason horseshoes were used as good luck charms and hung over the doors of ancient dwellings. People believed that iron repelled darkness. Magical historians have traced it back to witches in antiquity setting out three iron stakes in a triangle around their homes to repel those who practiced dark arts.”
Zion and Adrian exchanged a look before Adrian spoke again. “My family owns a cabin up north of Bar Harbor near some of the old mines. My grandfather passed it to my dad. It’s a great fishing spot. Right near the Devil's Oven.”
“Devil’s Oven?” she asked incredulously.
Adrian smirked at her as he took a deep swig from his own mug.
“Terrible name for a place to hide out from evil. The irony is real. But—it’s a very protected place,” Zion explained, the subtle Caribbean accent blooming in his voice. “The rangers in the park won’t even speak of it. Many humans who have tried to explore the area have gotten injured or killed.”
“It’s a place that can only be safely inhabited by a Water elemental,” Adrian chimed in with a wink.
Her pulse quickened. They planned to hide out in a dangerous camp near a cursed cave. She spun her charm bracelet as she sipped her coffee. Adrian’s eyes swept over her face, and she knew he sensed her anxiety.
His large hand clasped over her own, squeezing. When she looked up into his eyes, his amusement had melted away. “Cori, I would never bring you somewhere I thought you were going to be in danger,” Adrian assured her. She locked her eyes on his face, feeling the sincerity of his words wash over her. Electric bites of his magic charged his touch.
Guilt washed over her again. If it was hard for dark witches to find her there, it would be even harder for her to escape.
“It would be extremely unlikely for a dark witch to get to us out there. Between the iron under the earth and the protection of the ocean,” Zion paused dramatically. “It would be a death sentence. It’s a perfect place to wait it out until the solstice.”
She let out a tenuous sigh and shrugged. “Forty more days. I guess this is our only option.”
“It’s a good option, though,” Zion assured her. “Prudence, Lionel, and I are coming with you. We’re going to park the Airstream near the cabin away from the danger of the ocean so we can sense if anyone is coming. Alfie is going to stay here to guard the Huxleys and Anne’s place. Prudence’s dad put together a task force in California to try to track what happened to your mother after the fire. Fern is going to be in charge. She took the first flight out this morning.”
A chill ran down her spine and her lips tightened into a thin line as she digested the plan. If anyone could find her mother, it was Fern. The Gray witch moved like an angry ghost and tackled every task without fear .
“I already wrote to Anne last night and told her I had a family emergency back in California and would need to be out of work for the foreseeable future,” Cori chimed in.
It had been difficult to lie to Anne and even more difficult to ask for time away from her work. The more time she spent at her new job, the more she fell in love with the research. She would miss out on submitting her data and the rough draft of her paper to the EPA.
“I’m sorry you have to miss out on your data submission,” Zion said sympathetically, shaking his head. If anyone would understand, it was him. “Before you know it, this will all be behind us. You won’t have this prophecy hanging over your head, and all of us Gray witches can practice magic peacefully, without having to patrol and police everyone else.” A determined look flashed in his eyes as they grew quiet.
“Then life can really begin,” Adrian said, breaking the silence. Her attention snapped to his face, and he smiled back at her.
She couldn’t stop the flush rising to her face as she soaked in his smile, because she knew exactly what he meant by those words. Their life really could begin—together. If they made it.