Together

Bambi

I didn’t know if it was the magic from the book or just the fact that I was completely shell-shocked, but it felt as though time had slowed down.

~This can’t be real.~

~The witch who took Ekon’s sight is actually his half-sister?~

“Bambi, snap out of it!” Ela yelled at me.

I turned to Victoria and Ela, both of whom looked just as shaken as I was.

“Should…should we tell Ekon?” Victoria stammered.

“No!” I shouted suddenly. “Not until we’ve learned more. Let’s keep reading.”

Victoria looked nervous. She was clearly afraid of unearthing more dark secrets, and she was honestly smart for being hesitant.

But I’d made a promise to myself. I’d find this witch, no matter what.

I ran my fingers across the symbol of the crown of thorns again. “We’ll start here.”

The pages of the book started flapping wildly as if a gust of wind had just blown into the room, but this was a windowless storage closet.

It was the book’s magic. The page stopped on a section dedicated to the coven that bore the sigil of the crown of thorns—~et covina de entrapment.~

“The Coven of Entrapment,” Ela read aloud.

The Latin words rearranged on the page, forming English words.

“The Coven of Entrapment was founded in the year 1256 by Joan Cabot,” Ela said as she continued reading. “They believed in harnessing the darkest of magic for attaining the most powerful of positions, to have dominance in the realm of the living. The witches of this coven were indeed born with the most powerful of abilities.”

“I don’t like this,” Victoria muttered. “We shouldn’t be messing with dark magic.”

Ela glanced up at me, and I nodded at her. “Keep going.”

“They were extremely good with herbs and potions, and the spells created by the coven were closely guarded. Poison was a particular specialty of the Coven of Entrapment. They enjoyed torturing their victims before killing them, ensuring long and painful deaths.”

Victoria shuddered, and I was beginning to feel queasy myself.

“Joan Cabot was said to be a master in torturing people through whispering with her mind. Her words were so powerful that she caused her lover, the King of Arcadia, to jump from a cliff at a mere suggestion. The descendants of Joan received her abilities, and they favor themselves as superior witches.”

“Rosette must’ve been a descendant of Joan, which means so is Devina,” I said, looking at its short list of members.

Rosette was listed as “excommunicated.”

~Maybe she left the coven to pursue a normal life with Ekon’s father?~

But not before mothering Devina... Had she abandoned the girl?

Or left her to be raised by the coven?

There were still so many unanswered questions.

“Rosette Vivian Jedrek,” I said, speaking to the book.

The pages again began to turn on their own until they landed on Rosette’s entry.

ROSETTE VIVIAN JEDREK nee CABOT

DOB: JANUARY 8, 1956

SPOUSE: ALPHA SUPREME HELIOS ADRIAN JEDREK

STATUS: DECEASED

SUCCESSORS: DEVINA ESTONIA CABOT

There was no mistake. Rosette was definitely both Ekon and Devina’s mother.

I searched through her entry, looking for some sign or clue as to why she’d left the coven, but her reason for excommunication was unclear.

“It simply says that she was exiled for desertion, disobedience, and destruction of a prophecy,” I said aloud as Ela read over my shoulder and Victoria gave us an annoyed look. “What prophecy could she have destroyed?”

“We shouldn’t be doing this,” Victoria huffed. “This is some really dark shit. If Ekon finds out, he’ll throw us all in the dungeons.”

“He’s not going to throw his own mate in the dungeon,” Ela scoffed.

She was probably right, but I didn’t want to find out.

“And how will this reflect on your sister, Kalindi? The Gamma and head of the guard? Did you even think about that?” Victoria seethed.

Ela looked unsettled. It was obvious that she hadn’t.

I slammed ~The Great Book of Witches~ shut, startling both of them.

“I can’t ask you two to be involved in this. It’s too dangerous. Victoria is right. As the Luna, I’m probably safe, but you two could lose your jobs, or even worse. And you both have people you love who are loyal to my mate.”

“Wh—what are you saying?” Ela stammered.

“As your Luna, I’m commanding you to step away from this investigation. I’ll handle it on my own.”

***

I felt bad about dismissing Ela and Victoria, but I couldn’t continue to put my friends in danger. This was becoming so much bigger than I could’ve ever anticipated.

Matthias…

Devina…

How were they connected?

She’d helped him rise to power, but why?

And why had Rosette abandoned her baby girl?

What had she been running from? Did it have to do with the prophecy mentioned in the book?

All of this was making my head spin, and I felt no closer to the answers than when I first started this investigation.

Now there were even more unanswered questions.

My main goal was to prove that Matthias was still alive, but that was going to be more complex than I’d realized.

Ekon suddenly entered the living room, and I instantly forced a smile on my face.

“What’s wrong?” he asked gruffly.

I neglected to realize that he couldn’t actually see my fake smile, but he could still feel my emotions through his heightened senses, and I wasn’t happy at all.

There was no point in trying to deny it.

“I’m just feeling a little overwhelmed,” I responded. “But it’s nothing you need to worry about.”

“I think I know why,” he said, sitting next to me.

“You…you do?” I asked nervously.

“Yes, this is about earlier. I’m placing too much pressure on you to…to have sex. For that, I’m sorry.”

Oh, he thought this was about ~that?~

I let out a sigh of relief. “Ekon, it’s fine. Really, it’s fine. But thank you for the apology.”

He held my hand and lightly squeezed it, eliciting a genuine smile from me.

“How are things with you? How is the investigation of the Northern Pack going?” I had to be careful with this question, making sure I didn’t sound too interested, but it wasn’t something out of the ordinary for me to ask.

“There has been a development actually,” he responded. “It seems there were several survivors.”

“What?” I gasped. “How? I thought everyone was dead.”

“A few teenagers had gone for a hike before the attack. Fate must’ve been smiling down on them that day. They’ve been hiding out in the woods ever since, but some of my scouts found them. We’re taking them into our pack as refugees.”

“That’s…that’s very kind of you,” I said, touched. Ekon never really struck me as the kind of person who’d take in homeless teenagers.

“One of them is a girl not much younger than you—an avid reader. I’ve suggested she join your book club.”

I inhaled deeply. How could I explain to him that I’d just disbanded my “book club.”

Maybe it would be better to just figure that out later.

“How is she holding up?” I asked, changing the subject.

“As best as one can in a situation like this. Her home is destroyed, and we have no leads on who might be responsible,” Ekon replied.

No leads? Is he serious?

“You do have a lead,” I said, angrily. “Matthias.”

I regretted saying his name almost instantly. I knew better, but I was tired of my own mate not listening to me.

Ekon’s eyes grew dark, and the hairs on his arms and neck stood up, growing at a rapid rate.

“I told you…” he growled. “NEVER SPEAK THAT NAME AGAIN!”

His roar filled the entire room, causing my eyes to well up with tears.

“I’m…I’m sorry. I…”

“He’s dead, and what’s dead should remain in the past!” he snarled. “I’m tired of your fucking questions and your fucking disrespect of my authority!”

I stood up and ran from the room, sobbing. I had thought he was done speaking to me that way, that he’d started to respect me, but I guess I was wrong.

I was still just an inconvenience to him. A thorn in his side.

I threw myself onto my bed and wept into my blankets.

There was one thing I was sure of now…

I was truly alone in this. Ekon would never listen.

My phone suddenly began buzzing, and I wiped away my tears as I read my texts.

Victoria

Bambi, we need to talk.

Ela

like right now

Bambi

It’s not really a good time

Victoria

Come to my café.

Ela

tea and scones on the house

Victoria

Hey, I didn’t say that!

Ela

🙄

Ela

just come bambi

Victoria

You’ll want to hear this.

***

As I walked into the café, Victoria and Ela were waiting for me. They gave each other looks and nodded in unison.

“Sit, please.” Victoria gestured to a chair across from them.

“What is this about?” I asked, confused. “I hope it has nothing to do with the investigation. Because I ordered you two to—”

“Sorry, Luna, but we’re going to have to disregard that command.” Ela smirked.

“Agreed,” Victoria said with uncharacteristic resolve. “I won’t act like I’m not scared of this, but there’s no way I’m leaving you to do it on your own.”

“We want you to know that you’re not alone,” Ela added. “We’re in this together.”

Tears filled my eyes again, but this time, they were happy tears.

~What did I do to deserve friends like this?~

They placed their hands in the middle of the table, and I placed mine on top, in solidarity.

“Okay then…together.” I smiled.

I was grateful to both of them for wanting to stand by me and push ahead with the investigation.

But there was also a sinking feeling in my gut that I couldn’t ignore.

A part of me wondered if I was dragging my friends into danger...

~Am I jeopardizing their lives in my hunt for the truth?~