Chapter Twenty-One
The whole gang of us trudged into the cabin in silence. It wasn’t necessarily that we were trying to be quiet; it was that nobody had much to say. I’d been wondering during the trip home—when I wasn’t busy beaming over how understanding Asher had been about everything—whether it would be weird now that I was coming back. I mean, the last time I was there, I’d pretty much ditched them. Of course, in my mind I’d had reason: I was just trying to keep them safe. Still, I could see how they might’ve interpreted my exit as abandonment.
On the other hand, they had come looking for me in the end and that had to mean something. Since we’d all been in separate cars, I hadn’t had the chance to talk to any of them and gauge how they were feeling.
All I really knew was that it felt oddly good to be home—odd because the cabin had begun to feel more like home than anywhere else.
It was about 11 p.m. as we walked in the front door of the cabin, and I was expecting the house to be quiet with all its inhabitants asleep. But as I walked into the living room, I saw that almost everyone was still up. It was possible they’d been waiting in the same spots since the others had left to find me; people were leafing through magazines or had books open, and a few were just sitting there staring off into space. But when we shuffled in, all heads and eyes turned to us.
Here we go.
I was trying to figure out what to say—whether I should apologize for leaving or thank them for coming to my rescue—but it turned out I didn’t need to say anything. Almost immediately, I was tackled from the side in a hug. I looked down at my attacker and saw Penelope, a thirteen-year-old who I’d come to associate with horses, because she always wore the same pony necklace every day. We’d barely said more than hi to each other; she sort of stayed in the background of our coven and was rarely seen or heard. And now Penelope had attached herself to my lower half, hooking her arms around my waist with a surprisingly strong grip for someone her size.
“Please don’t leave us again,” she whispered. Her voice was inaudible to anyone but me. There was so much emotion behind her words that it nearly broke my heart.
I looked up at the rest of my coven. Judging by their faces, I thought they were happy that I was back too. They weren’t annoyed or looking to fight with me. Their smiles ranged from relief to joy to excitement and that’s when I knew.
The cold war was over.
There would be no hard feelings, between them or me, and we would move past this. Hell, we were already past it in a way. They were glad for my return and so was I.
“I promise I won’t take off again,” I said, glancing down at Penelope, who was full-on crying now. “You guys are stuck with me whether you like it or not.”
I felt a tap on my shoulder and spun around to see someone else I hadn’t expected.
“Jazzy!” I screeched, reaching out to grab her. But she was too quick for me, throwing her hands up to ward me off before I could get to her. I’d forgotten she wasn’t the mushy-gushy type, so I settled for giving her a grin instead. She smiled back and I knew she was just as happy to see me.
“What are you doing here? When did they let you out?” I asked after taking a moment to pull myself together.
Jasmine waved off my question. “I’m fine. You really thought a little rumble like that was going to keep me down? Nah, I’m tough. Have you seen these muscles?” She pulled up one of her sleeves, showing off her scrawny arms.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Very impressive,” I said. “But really, are you sure you’re okay?”
“Thanks, Mom, but I think I’ll be fine,” she said semi-sarcastically. “I just couldn’t take lying there like that any longer. It was like prison, only cleaner. The doc said I just had to take it easy the next couple of days and sent me home with some of these.” Jasmine shook a bottle of what I assumed were painkillers. She talked a good game, but I could tell her head was still hurting, as she winced at the quick motion.
“And Jinx?” It hurt me to ask, but the question was on my mind, since Jasmine had made it home.
“She’s still at the hospital. They were able to stop the bleeding and she even woke up for a little while. But they’ve got her all hooked up to these monitors and they’re giving her meds that have her sleeping round the clock. They said there was no use in sticking around since she won’t be conscious most of the time anyway. So I came by myself.”
“Is she going to be okay?” I asked hopefully.
“That’s the rumor,” Jasmine said, shrugging. She was playing it cool, but I knew that Jinx’s condition was hitting her pretty hard.
Hearing that Jinx had made it through her surgery and that the docs were feeling hopeful about her recovery made me feel like I could finally breathe again. Of course, I’d always hoped she’d be okay, but a part of me was constantly waiting for the bad news. Now that the more pressing crisis appeared to be over, another question popped into my head.
“Wait, how did the others find me, anyway?”
“That was all Fallon,” Peter said, walking in the front door with Sascha, Emory, and June in tow. Fallon, however, was nowhere to be seen. When Peter saw the look on my face, he chuckled. “We were surprised when he suggested it too. But he insisted that you’d be at your house. Said it would be the last place we’d check and the first place you’d go.”
“Good guess,” I said, surprised by how right he’d been. I looked around for him, but saw that he still hadn’t come inside.
Pete shrugged. “He saw how close you were to your parents when we were all there after the fire and figured you’d go there before disappearing for good.”
“So he came after me, even after I told him not to?” I asked.
It was hard to believe that what Peter was saying was true. Since when did Fallon do anything out of the kindness of his heart? Or at least without some sort of evil motivation behind it. Did he finally realize that my powers were in a whole different league than his and decide it would be better to have me around? Or were his motives more sinister than that? I couldn’t ignore the fact that each time the Parrishables had attacked, Fallon had mysteriously shown up to save the day.
The others nodded. “He started coming up with the plan about an hour after you left.”
“Well, that was nice of him, I guess,” I said, still bewildered.
None of this derailed me from the fact that I was back with my coven (well, most of them, anyway) and had a whole new perspective on this war with the Parrishables. None of us could do this on our own. Yes, it might be safer if the others had never met me, but as of right now, there was no spell to turn back time. So it looked like they were stuck with me. And I with them.
Thank God, because I’d learned—almost at the expense of my life—that as powerful as I was, I wasn’t strong enough to bring down an entire coven on my own.
“Who’s he?” Peter asked, a bit of a growl creeping into his voice. He was just being protective of his family, so I ignored the fact that he was acting rude toward our guest.
“Yeah, who’s the honey?” Jasmine asked, nodding to the space over my right shoulder. Turning to follow her gaze, I saw that Asher was standing a few feet behind me, trying not to get in the way, so that I could have some time to reconnect with my friends. It was sweet of him to give me some space, but I also noticed that he hadn’t retreated far enough away that he couldn’t be at my side within seconds. It looked like he was keeping his promise to not let me out of his sight anytime soon.
I walked over to Asher and placed my hand on his arm protectively. The gesture was not lost on the others. I may as well have flashed a neon sign that said, “He’s okay and he’s mine,” because everyone seemed to relax a little.
“Everyone, this is Asher. Asher, this is the Cleri.”
People gave him variations of hello and a few showed off shy smiles. The guys mostly grunted and walked away, probably to complain about another man invading their territory. Especially one as good-looking as Asher. I wasn’t worried, though. They’d all get over it when they realized he wasn’t a threat—he was here only because of me, not to take his place as the alpha male.
“Hadley, we never wanted you to leave before,” Sascha said. “I know you think we’ll be safer without you, but we won’t. We can’t afford to lose you now.”
I crossed the room and knelt down next to her, noticing how weak her voice still was. She was at least sitting up now, but her face was pale and she looked drained. All because she’d worked her magic on me back in my living room. Without her, I would have been done for. As far as I was concerned, she and the others were the reason I was still alive.
“Then you won’t lose me, Sascha,” I said, laying my hand on hers just like she’d done to me back at my house. “Because I think you’re right. We need each other.”
I looked up at everyone in the room. During the drive home, I’d managed to find time to do some thinking about our next steps. Now that I had everyone’s attention, I knew it was the best time to let them in on what I’d decided. I only hoped they’d see things the way I did.
“So, I have good news and bad news,” I said, standing up and making my way to the middle of the room so I could see everyone better. “The bad news is that our fears have come true. The Parrishables are back and they’re out for blood. In fact, I don’t know how it’s possible, but I think I was attacked by Samuel Parris himself tonight.”
Gasps escaped from a few mouths and whispers erupted around me.
“Creepy old guys aside, they’re strong. Really strong. And they’re a lot more experienced in fighting battles,” I said. “They know how to find us and that we’re running scared. And if we keep letting them ambush us, they will take each and every one of us out.”
I’d been pacing the floor as I talked, but now I turned around and looked into the eyes of my fellow Cleri as I continued on.
“But we’re strong too,” I said, emphasizing each syllable. “I realized something tonight, guys. They want our power. I mean, think about it. They wouldn’t be coming after us otherwise. It may not seem like it, because we haven’t had much experience using our magic in a fight, but it’s true. Like Sascha said, Samuel basically confirmed it tonight. He wants us gone because we’re a threat.”
“Yeah, but the Parrishables sort of handed our asses to us at the mall,” Jasmine said. Realizing she’d just said this out loud, she stood up a bit straighter. “I mean, you know I’m always looking for a fight, but I’m not sure everyone else is ready.”
Emory stepped up. “What I think Jasmine’s trying to say is, how can we possibly go up against the Parrishables? We need to train, but there’s no time. We’re willing to do whatever you want us to, Hadley, I think you know that. But we need to do something more. Otherwise, how will it be enough?” Emory said.
The others were staring at me now, waiting for me to say something. They were nervous, and honestly, so was I. What I was about to ask them to do was not only dangerous but scary. I needed them to put all their faith in me and what I was about to say without any proof that it would end in anything other than bloodshed. But I could feel it in my bones. Together we would be enough.
“You’re right. In order to beat the Parrishables, we have to be more,” I said.
I watched as everyone began to look around at each other, wondering what I was getting at.
“And even if we up our game, we will be risking our lives. I wish it wasn’t true, but it is. It’s not fair that this random group of people wants us dead, even though we’ve never done anything to them,” I said. I hated that other kids our age were worrying about who was going to ask them to the winter semiformal and we were stuck here stressing over whether or not we’d still be alive long enough to even go. “Plain and simple—this sucks.”
“Uh, Hadley? Is this supposed to be a pep talk or a pity party?” Jasmine asked, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and continued.
“This sucks—but it’s not over,” I finished. “You guys did some amazing stuff while going up against the Parrishables tonight. It made me think that we may be selling ourselves short about our ability to fight back.”
“Maybe you should’ve gotten checked out at the hospital when the others were too,” Peter said. “Sounds like you may have amnesia or something.”
“No, really. Just hear me out,” I said. I was happy that Peter was joking around, because it meant he was starting to feel better. Turning my attention over to Sascha, I went on. “I know you did something earlier tonight. Something I’ve never seen before.”
Sascha looked at me wide-eyed, like she’d just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
“Now, either I was out the day Jackson taught us how to do that or you learned it somewhere else.”
“Um, it sort of just came to me,” she said helplessly. “Look, Hadley, I’m sorry, I know we’re not supposed to—”
“Why are you apologizing?” I asked, cutting her off. “If you hadn’t followed your instincts and done that voodoo that you do, I don’t think I would’ve survived that fight back there. I owe you my life. Don’t you ever apologize for using the power you’ve been given. Any of you.”
Even though Sascha looked embarrassed by the sudden attention, I knew that she was feeling honored by the compliment. The color had even begun to return to her cheeks and she was starting to look alive again.
“And I think most of you know by now that Emory has some unique gifts of her own.” I turned to look at my new friend. “I’ve never met anyone who has abilities like you. Communicating with those who’ve passed . . . do you have any idea how special that is? How special you all are?”
I surveyed the room and realized I was growing to care about everyone in it—even Fallon, who’d finally appeared in the doorway behind me. They were my friends, my soul mates, my family. But I couldn’t forget that one of them was a traitor, either. One of our own was planning to sell us out. I just hoped he or she wasn’t more powerful than the rest of us together. Once I knew what special abilities each of us had, I’d also know what the potential traitor was capable of. And traitor or not, the coven was tighter than ever.
“You’re all probably wondering why we were hit so hard at the mall and earlier tonight. How we can possibly win a fight against the Parrishables? What’s so different about us now that will lead us to a victory? Well, the answer is you—you and your individual gifts are what’s gonna keep us all alive. That’s what will make us stronger than them. The natural gifts that run through our veins—passed down through our ancestors—that’s something the Parrishables don’t have. Our individual powers. And that’s how we’re going to get rid of them once and for all.
“Starting now we’re going to teach each other everything we know. Every spell you’ve ever created, whether you think it’s relevant or not, can help us win the fight against our enemies. And for those of you whose powers can’t be taught, we’re counting on you to hone those skills and use them when the timing’s right. Of course, all of this means more training, but not just in our magic. We need to become proficient in hand-to-hand combat, because we’ve learned the hard way that they’re not limiting the battle to spells.” I looked over at Sascha, who still had yellowing circles of bruises decorating her jaw and cheek.
“We have to truly learn how to fight, and I’m not going to lie: it’s going to be hard, really hard, and you’re probably going to hate me before this is over. But I don’t care, because this is what’s going to keep us from ending up like our parents. And if you have to yell at me and talk about me behind my back to do it, so be it. I’m not letting you all down again. We will win this thing.”
They were hanging on my every word, and even without asking, I could feel it in my heart . . . they were ready to do what had to be done.
“I’m not sure whether we’re being watched or followed, but I think we need to assume that the Parrishables will come looking for us,” I said. “And I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of waiting around for them to find us. They were looking for a war and now they’ve found one.”