But now Shane was here, and if we were going to fight together, I needed to know he was up for it. “Are you okay being here?”
His eyes grew glassy for a second, and I instantly regretted putting him on the spot. “I’m better,” he said after a bit.
“I hate to ask, but you stayed away because of the demon injury? Are you okay?”
“I’m okay. What happened to Raphael was different than me. The wound I had was infected. I’m a witch, so the injury had some human side effects. Nothing supernaturally dangerous, but it was a little scary for a while. And…” He looked around the table, and stopped on Blaze and then again on Lucas. I thought he wasn’t going to keep talking, but after a second, he heaved a big sigh and continued. “For better or worse, la Aquelarre was home for me. I’m not broken like Beth, but what Luciana did made me question everything. The thing that scared me the most was that there could be another Luciana lurking in a different coven.”
The thought had occurred to me, but I’d had too many other things to deal with before I even thought about connecting with other covens and figuring out who was good or evil. “So that’s what you’ve been doing? Checking out the other covens?”
“Yes. I wanted assurance that there wasn’t another coven out there hurting like we were. If I could stop this from happening again, then maybe everyone dying wasn’t for nothing.”
“And what’d you find?” Raphael asked.
“Most of them didn’t want to talk to me,” Shane said. “We’ve been blacklisted. They wouldn’t give me the time of day.”
“Shit,” Chris said. “That’s messed up. The packs aren’t like that.”
I took another bite of pancake as I listened, fascinated. I didn’t have any experience with any other covens. I wondered what they were like.
“I started making a record of each coven I visited—what I found, who was there, if they seemed good, and how open they were to talking to me. Adrian told me that there was a database with all the Weres and I wanted to replicate that if I could.”
“Yes,” Mr. Dawson said. “We keep a close watch on everyone, and if there are any major changes in a pack, one of the Seven makes a point of visiting.”
I didn’t know that about the packs. I knew that the Alphas met every year, but beyond that—I figured everyone kept to themselves.
“Witches don’t have anything like a council,” Claudia said. “We’re all very isolated and there’s a lot of competition between covens. No one wants to share any secrets about their magic or how a spell is done.”
That lined up with my first impression of them. “I remember when you gave me your book of shadows. Raphael looked like he wanted to murder you, punch me, and keep the book for himself.”
Raphael’s cheeks heated a little. “It wasn’t that I didn’t want you to learn about our magic, but that book was ours. In my mind, you hadn’t earned it yet.”
“That’s the fucking problem,” Shane shouted as he slammed his hand down on the table, rattling the plates. “We’re too secretive. That’s how this shit went unnoticed. And why when Luciana went to New Mexico, the coven there was fucking clueless about how evil she was. They all died in that chapel and they didn’t have to. If that lady had just believed us or even given us more than two seconds to explain, then—” He stopped suddenly, as if he only just realized that he was yelling. After a second, he cleared his throat. “I want to change that,” he said much quieter. “We need more discussion between covens.”
“We do,” Claudia said as she reached across the table to him. He met her halfway, giving her hand a squeeze. “Did you go to New York?”
New York? That was where her evil ex-fiancee lived before he died.
“Yes,” Shane said, but he stayed silent as he gave Claudia’s hand one more squeeze and let go.
“And?” I asked, hoping that with Matt dead they’d straightened their shit out.
“If we’re not careful, that coven leader’s going to be Luciana all over again.”
“Fuck,” I said.
“Language!” Mom chimed in.
“Sorry.” I covered my mouth with my hand. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I muttered. Blaze chuckled, and my face heated.
I’d been so happy in my ignorance, but now checking in on all the other covens was just one more thing to add to my massive to do list after I finished dealing with Astaroth.
There’s nothing we can do about the New York coven right now.
I guess not, but it’s annoying. You know? People need to get their shit together and stop being evil.
Dastien gave me a grin that showed both of his dimples. He tapped his finger on my plate and I rolled my eyes at him. Fine.
I glanced at Chris as I ate a bite of pancake. His hair was one big poofball, which meant he was stressed, but he was here. I wondered if he’d emailed Cosette again after the fight. I was really hoping she’d be coming back soon, along with three other fey. I trusted her. She’d be here in time. I hoped.