Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 73252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
“We’ll figure something out,” she tells me. “But it has to be one step at a time. And the first step is being in a place where you belong.” We slowly make our way toward the door. “You don’t belong in the dark, Wren. You belong here. With us.”
And the truth of those words settles heavier inside me with every step. Because Marie is right. I was never meant to marry a vampire.
Chapter
Seven
“You can drop me off here.” I motion to a hotel.
“Are you sure?” Marie asks, slowing to a stop at a light.
“Yes,” I tell her. “Xavier and Theo are still downtown doing something for work.” We just got back into Charlotte, and I’ve been ignoring the slew of text messages that came through my phone. Most are from my brothers wondering where the hell I am. A couple are from Mabel. One is from Delphi, telling me about another disastrous man she matched with on a dating app.
And a couple are from Xavier.
He’s surprisingly calm, which unnerves me for some reason.
“I’m going to head to my hotel and then fly home in the morning,” Marie tells me.
“This may be a silly question,” I say as the car starts moving again when the light changes. Marie heads toward the hotel where Xavier and the rest of the coalition are meeting. “We can’t just jump through portals to get from one place to another?”
“Technically, yes,” she says, “but it’s prohibited by the Grand Coven. It’s very dangerous. A door to a Covenstead opens to a very specific place using very concentrated magic. Opening a portal in Charlotte and trying to walk through it and emerge in New Orleans isn’t that simple.”
“What could happen?”
“The most common answer is…we don’t know,” Marie tells me. “Which is why it was banned. Witches have opened portals and stepped through, only to never be seen again.” She shakes her head, eyes wide with fear. “Where they went, what happened to them—nobody knows. And I mean that quite literally.”
I lean back, my mind immediately filling with possibilities. What if you stepped into some endless void and got stuck there forever? Would you be suspended in some kind of animation for centuries? Would you die of starvation? Maybe there’s no oxygen wherever you end up, and you’re dead in a matter of minutes.
“I think I agree with the Grand Coven on this one,” I say. “Even though I don’t actually know what the Grand Coven is.”
“Think of it as the vampire council, but for witches.”
“Makes sense.”
Marie puts the car in park, then leans over and gives me a hug.
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” she tells me. “Don’t feel pressured to give me a decision one way or another, but promise me you’ll think about it.”
“I will.” And I know I’m not only going to think about it. I’m going to obsess over it. Probably for the rest of my life, if I’m being honest. I hug her back and get out of the car. I walk into the hotel lobby acting like I know exactly where I’m going.
But once I’m inside, I stop and send a group text to Mabel and my brothers, letting them know I’m back in Charlotte and I’m okay. Then I silence my phone and shove it into my purse. The receptionist behind the desk eyes me curiously; I’m fairly certain she knows who I am. And she definitely knows Xavier is somewhere in one of the meeting rooms.
I take a seat on a fancy tufted sofa, giving myself just a few minutes to collect my thoughts and slow my racing heart. I half expect Xavier to come flying out of the elevator, grab my hands, look me in the eyes, and tell me it was stupid and dangerous to go with Marie.
But he doesn’t.
I take a slow breath, get to my feet, and walk back out of the hotel. It’s like I’m moving on autopilot, but sitting still only makes everything worse. As long as I keep moving, I can keep the nagging thoughts at bay. I don’t know where I’m going. I just let my intuition guide me. Maybe Marie was onto something with that.
I don’t stop walking until I get to the garden where Xavier and I had our engagement photos taken. I slow at the entrance and just stand there, letting my mind wander back. And then I start laughing, probably sounding completely insane if anyone is nearby.
“And I thought my life was complicated then,” I say out loud, shaking my head at myself. I step into the garden and hold my hand out in front of me, trying to summon a ball of energy and make it hover in the air the same way Marie did. It takes a few tries, but eventually I get it. I stare at the little ball of energy, going solely off my intuition and what feels right. I can feel myself pulling energy from the air around me, and the ball grows brighter.