53. Cori
Cori
T he Whitemarsh Inn was a bed-and-breakfast, furnished in a cozy aesthetic. She positioned herself in the great room, a cup of tea balanced in her hands in front of the fireplace. Tea that had been given to her by the concierge.
The scent of juniper berries wafted from her cup. Someone had slipped a sleeping draft into this tea. A sleeping draft that smelled suspiciously like her mother’s.
Tapered candles flickered over a holly centerpiece, casting light on a gorgeously appointed Christmas tree. She had been so caught up with the solstice, Christmas had completely slipped her mind this year. She realized she did not even get a present for Adrian before they had abruptly left for Salem.
If we make it to Christmas . She pushed the thought out of her mind and focused instead on surviving.
She reviewed her angle in her mind. Enzo didn’t know she was aware of his involvement in LARC. He didn’t know that she had been working with a group of Gray witches for the past several months, and he certainly didn’t know that those Gray witches had been silently protecting her since she was twelve years old.
How much about her life did he know? How much about his own would he be willing to share? If she had intelligence on him, he must have some intelligence on her .
He had needed to use dark magic to send her Fin’s Byzantine fire, which meant until that moment, he had not known her location. Had they escaped in time before he could track her? She shivered despite the warmth of the fire. She did not doubt that Fern had completely decimated the memories of the witches that had been sent to her, but she sent a silent prayer to the Mother that her friends in Farley were safe and sound.
Would she ever see them again?
Her heart ached. For the first time in her life, she had felt like she belonged somewhere, only to have it ripped away. She wouldn’t be able to return to San Francisco, and she could never ask Adrian to leave his family. A family that had become her own.
The light was bright as the door opened into the dimly lit room, reflecting the snow. A tall, dark-haired man entered and shook snow off his jacket, and her heart leaped.
Enzo.
He locked eyes with her, and although she knew that this chance meeting was not by chance at all, his aura radiated genuine shock. “Cor? Is that you?”
She stood, despite her legs feeling like they were made of jelly, and clasped her hand to her mouth. It was really him, standing in front of her. Even though she knew the real reason he was there, she could not stop herself.
Her feet practically glided across the floor as she flew into her brother’s arms. Tears fell from her cheeks as he hugged her back.
This man—who had taught her to ride a bike down the steep hill in front of their town house, who had told her silly stories before bed when Mama was late from coven, who had made her grilled cheese every time she was sad because he knew it was her favorite comfort food—was the same man who was charged to take her life tomorrow.
“Enzo?” She looked up at him. He was the same man he was then, though more fearsome and distinguished-looking in his thirties with whispers of smile lines around his eyes. “What are you doing here?”
She knew what he was doing here .
“I should ask you the same thing,” he said seriously, falling easily into the role of protector.
“I had a vision,” she explained carefully. “It was vague, but it told me to come here.” What she said technically wasn’t a lie. She continued to choose her words carefully. “Is Mama with you?” she asked hopefully.
He didn’t answer her question. “You had a vision to come here, the day before the solstice, and you came?” he asked with exasperation. “What if someone was luring you here?”
He was luring her here. Did he wish she had not come?
“I didn’t get that impression,” she said carefully. “It felt like I would be safe here. Like it was supposed to happen.” Enzo knew that Cori’s hunches were never coincidental. He arched a brow at her.
“Mama isn’t with me,” he lied. “Are you staying here, too?”
She nodded. “Now I know why I had the vision; it was because you were going to be here. I've been so anxious. The closer we get to everything being over, the more worried I’ve been that something would go wrong.”
He clenched his jaw and pain etched his features. It became clear to Cori at that moment that despite his involvement and responsibility, Enzo did not want this to happen. Her eyes fluttered closed. The sleeping draft made her arms and legs feel heavier as she fought to support her weight.
“Cori, let’s take a walk. It’s not safe to talk out in the open,” he said seriously, his eyes darting back and forth.
He led her by the hand down the steps of the inn, snow crunching under her boots as she pulled on her coat.
As they headed down the side street next to the inn, Enzo held her elbow protectively. Suddenly, she was a little girl again, learning how to ice skate as her older brother patiently held on. “Cori, let's walk this way. I have a lot I need to tell you.”
As she walked on, the trees seemed to sway unnaturally, and the colors bled together like a watercolor painting in the rain as she stumbled .
Enzo caught her fall as she heard him whisper, “I’m sorry, Cor.”
Even as the potion raced through her veins, clouding her mind and blurring her vision, she saw his familiar brown eyes shimmering with gold, and she knew.
He meant it.