“Move.”
Jordan’s energy rushed in before she did. Black smoke leaked under the door. Christy moved back in enough time to dodge it as it was flung open. She floundered to the other side of the room and huddled on the bed with Donovan. Tyler shriveled from the tall, cloaked woman with black fog whipping around her feet. He glanced once at Ryder, accusatory and unnerved.
Jordan raked her gaze from Ryder to Tyler. Her eyes were jet black. When she exhaled, steam dampened her chin.
“Are you all right?” Jordan asked softly, her hand outstretched toward Ryder. Her voice was as haunting as his, but more, somehow. The voices of everyone she’d ever killed and brought back stained her.
“What’re you doing here?” Ryder hissed. “I’m fine!”
“You’re not,” Jordan mumbled. She glanced at Liam. “Your familiar found River while Thalia and I were meditating in the woods. She’s a good bird. Not scared of necromancers.”
“She’s been around one for two years,” Liam said softly. His fingers curled into Ryder’s jacket, trying to push him back more.
Thalia stepped into the room next to Jordan. “Secrets,” she said to Ryder, the same way someone would say I told you so.
Ryder looked at the floor. His eyes returned to their Lewellyn green, but his hands didn’t stop shaking. He touched the top of Liam’s hand and Liam’s fingers laced through his, giving a slight squeeze.
“Are you scared?” Jordan hissed at the three huddled on the bed.
“Jordan,” Thalia scolded.
“What?” Jordan’s teeth snapped down and more steam trickled over her lips.
“Yes,” Thalia droned, “of course they’re scared.”
“We’re not evil.” Jordan’s magic lunged for them, twisting and bending above their heads. The heaviness of it almost made Ryder nauseous. He couldn’t imagine how the others were handling it.
Thalia set her hands on Jordan’s shoulders and gave a gentle push. “Take those two,” she said calmly, nodding toward Ryder and Liam, “and I’ll handle this.”
“He’s my little brother,” Jordan seethed at Tyler. “Remember that.”
Thalia’s knuckles whitened as she pushed on Jordan’s shoulders again, straining against her.
“Jordie,” Ryder groaned. “Just stop. C’mon, I need a ride home.”
Jordan pursed her lips. The black fog that circled her feet dissipated, but her eyes were still pools of midnight. She curled her top lip back in a snarl, a shared gesture between the siblings, and her mouth spread into a wicked grin.
“Christy, is it? You’re the Carroway girl?” Jordan asked.
Thalia’s power swelled. Christy stayed silent, but her eyes went wide.
“Bet your mother didn’t tell you I put breath back into her lungs four years ago, did she?” Jordan’s voice was chilling and deathly cold. “It’s always easy to look down on magic you don’t understand until you need it.”
“That’s not your place!” Thalia’s eyes glowed gold. She shoved Jordan backward and waved her arm toward the hallway. Jordan’s magic was virtually unshakable, but so was Thalia’s. When they collided, it sent a ripple through the air that Ryder felt in his bones. Thalia said, “I’ll meet you at the loft in an hour.” It was a command, not a question.
Jordan stomped away, but not before grabbing Ryder’s arm and hauling him with her. Ryder’s fingers slipped from Liam’s grasp, but Liam followed nonetheless.
“Really?” Tyler blurted. “You’re going with him?”
Ryder glanced over his shoulder. Liam answered by slamming the door.
“Good choice, fish,” Jordan said under her breath.
Liam’s cheeks darkened, but he simply sighed and walked close to Ryder as they exited the empty house. The other witches must’ve fled after feeling the rise and clash in Tyler’s bedroom. He didn’t blame them. Jordan and Thalia’s arrival was enough, but mix that with his magic, Liam’s, Tyler’s, even Christy’s white light, and it turned into a cocktail of energy that was too tense to swim through.
Cool night air hit Ryder’s face. It tasted like 2 a.m. Too late to be considered morning, and too early to still be night. The witching hours were weighed down with finality, and yet nothing seemed final. Ryder felt as up in the air as he’d ever been.
“Here.” Jordan searched the pocket of her hooded black trench and handed him a joint. The paper was decorated with tiny yellow pineapples, which brought a smile to Ryder’s face. She caught the roll of his eyes and lifted her brows at him. “It’ll help.” Her eyes faded to their normal dark brown. “Trust me.”
Opal landed on Liam’s shoulder and screeched at Ryder.
River circled above them, cawing and cawing.
“Yeah, hi, Opal.” Ryder glanced from the owl to Liam. He saw the conflict on Liam’s face, strewn across his brow and present in the hard set of his shoulders. “You didn’t have to come.”
They walked side by side, dipping into the woods to trail after Jordan. The trees seemed to shift around them, huddling close to whisper to one another. Ryder wondered what they said, if it was bone bender and darkling over and over, or if they were talking about his future, if he had one at all. Moss climbed their trunks, and clusters of gray-capped mushrooms popped up between their knobby roots.
Liam’s jaw slackened. He shook his head and looked from Ryder’s scuffed black boots to his nose. “Seriously? Even after tonight you’re still skeptical?”
“You went down on me on the hood of a car,” Ryder said through a sigh. He pinched the joint between his teeth and inhaled. The tip sparked and smoke filled his lungs. “Don’t give yourself that much credit.”
A few steps ahead of them, Jordan threw her head back and laughed.
“Has wanting you all this time been a waste?” Liam asked quietly.
“Lovers’ quarrels after I drop you off, please,” Jordan said over her shoulder.
Ryder’s gaze shot sideways. Liam didn’t look at him, he just tipped his head back to look at the sky and kept walking.
Jordan: You’re so mean to him.
Ryder: I’m not.
Jordan: You are. Did he really go down on you on the hood of a car?
Ryder: Is that a serious question?
Jordan: If the answer is yes then you should probably keep him.
Ryder: Lots of people would go down on me on the hood of a car.
Jordan: But none would stick around.
Ryder frowned at his phone.
Jordan: Since you have such a winning personality and all.
Ryder: Fuck you. Thanks for tonight.
Jordan: Yeah yeah. You need to talk to Dad though.
Ryder: Later.
He placed his phone on the kitchen counter and waited for the kettle to start whistling. Percy meowed at him from the couch, perched comfortably in Liam’s lap.
“Do you want tea?” Ryder asked.
They hadn’t turned on the lights. The plants curled and swayed in the presence of their magic, tame and tempered. After the outburst of energy at Tyler’s, Ryder wasn’t surprised to find his magic sated under his skin. Jordan’s pre-rolled helped too. Liam stroked Percy’s back and nodded.