49. Adrian
Adrian
H e had made peace with Cori’s need to confront her brother, but he had not made peace with the possibility that she could get hurt—or worse—in her attempt. Cori pulled on her clothes, her movements slow and her eyes heavy with thought. He bit his lip.
This will not be the last time you lie beside her , he vowed to himself.
When they had collected themselves and made it out to the motel lobby, they found Seth, who had taken one of Zion’s historical texts, reading with a furrowed brow as he sipped his coffee from a paper cup.
He raised his eyebrows at them as they approached but didn’t say a word about how long it took them to join him as he handed them some bagels and their cold cups of coffee. Adrian made a mental note to be extra nice to his brother for the rest of the day.
No matter how much Seth teased and beat him up, he always had the interest of his little brother at heart. His chest squeezed as he realized that Seth had dropped everything—fishing, being with Jess, his precious free time—to help Cori. To help him .
Adrian felt his phone vibrate at the same time as Cori’s and Seth’s. They exchanged a dark look. It was a text from Prudence.
Meet @ the coffee shop on Essex Street. 11:00 a.m.
Adrian drummed his fingers on the back of his phone. He had been dreading this moment but knew it was inevitable. Another text flashed across the screen.
Cori—pack a bag.
His stomach lurched. He diverted his gaze to Cori’s face, her eyes wide and blinking rapidly. He couldn’t read auras, but he knew her. She was anxiously twisting her charm bracelet around her dainty wrist as she chewed on her lower lip.
He tried to push down the fear and anger that rose in him as he turned over in his mind all the possibilities of what was to come. He clenched his jaw and tightened his shoulders as he looked up at Seth, still scrolling through his phone as he rubbed his temple.
Suddenly, his brother sighed and stood up purposefully. “If Cori needs to pack a bag, so do we.”
Her eyes flooded with tears, before she turned toward Seth and hugged him fiercely. “Thank you,” she whispered into his shoulder.
Seth bit back a smile as he shared a confused look with his brother. “I don’t know why you’re acting surprised by this. We go where you go, kid, that’s the deal.” He gave her a little kiss on the head. “You’re stuck with me, too.”
He felt Seth’s hand clap him on the shoulder as they walked away. If Pru’s plan didn’t include him staying with Cori, the plan was going to have to change.
As she wiped her eyes, he recognized the tears for what they truly were. Tears that were weighed down by years of loneliness and resignation of living a life in hiding. A life where the answer was not togetherness, support, or camaraderie against a common goal, but solitude and isolation for the sake of the greater good.
She had spent almost a decade of her life convinced that she was better off alone, and even now he sensed trepidation from her every time someone else volunteered to help her, support her, hold her hand.
The burden of this prophecy had been hers alone for so long, and the thought of her carrying this burden alone was like an iron fist around his heart. He bit down hard on the inside of his lip as he thought of Cori’s brother, conspiring against her from afar, despite his knowledge of everything about her. What could have driven him to turn against someone who he was supposed to love and protect?
And at what cost? For the sake of magic?
Fuck magic , he thought. His head was swirling with anger.
If someone told him right now that magic would cease to exist in its entirety if she lived, he would kill anyone who tried to get in her way. He would give up every magical connection in his life if it meant they could be together. If it meant she was safe.
He would rather sink himself to the bottom of the ocean and summon the water to crash through his lungs. He would let his own magic steal his last dying breath before he would let anyone harm her.
Lines of concern shadowed over her brow—he knew what she was sensing from him.
Anger. Disgust. Lust for revenge.
“Let’s go pack up,” he said, squeezing her hand. He was sure that she was reading him, but he was grateful that she couldn’t read his mind. Because at that moment he realized what was going to happen next.
He would find Calvin, and anyone who he worked with. And he would kill them.