“I hear you,” Luther says loudly. “But it’s too dangerous. First of all, you’ve got to get close enough to speak to her. Second of all, you know jack-shit about her these days. It’s been five years since you saw her. You don’t know she’ll even give you the time of day. You don’t know it wasn’t her who told Tom to do what he did.” Turning to me, slamming his glass down on the counter, Luther continues, “Ask himhowhe’s planning to get in front of Annalise.” He jerks his thumb at Mack. “Go on. Ask him.”
I chew the inside of my cheek. Flames bite at my insides. Luther is infuriating, but there’s clearly something Mack isn’t telling me. “Mack?” I wait for his answer.
Bracing his hands on the counter behind him, Mack exhales heavily. “We need to get you in front of Annalise. We need to show her your blood tests, and we need her to see you. Talk to you.”
I nod slowly. “Right…”
“Every year, the Bureau holds a fundraising gala.” His shoulders are tense. Hell, his entire body is tense. “It’s tomorrow night. If we could—”
“If you could sneak Nova past an entire hotel full of agents who want to lock her up, everything will be rosy?” Luther scoffs. He picks up his glass again and waves it as he speaks. “You’re supposed to be the big papa bear. The one who wants to protect her, and you’re suggesting parading her in front of—”
“Iwillprotect her.” Mack practically roars his reply and launches across the kitchen.
Flames surge in Luther’s glass-free hand.
Before he can throw them, I jump between them and hold out my arms. My own fire rushes from my palms, forming two walls of heat. “Stop!” I whirl around, staring at them. “Both of you.”
Behind my fire, Mack stops and lifts up his hands.
Luther dampens his own flames and backs up.
“Do you realize what you’re doing right now?” I clench my fists, and the fire disappears. “You’re talking about me as if I’m not here. You’re fighting about something that involves me, and neither of you have bothered to ask whatIthink. What Iwant.” I stare up into Mack’s face. “I know Luther can’t stand me, but I thought you respected me more than that.”
Mack’s face crumples. He puts his hand on my arm. “Of course I respect you.”
“Then ask me,” I say defiantly. “Ask me what I think.”
A soft smile appears on Mack’s lips. “What do you think, Nova?”
Drawing my shoulders back, I nod at him. “I think we should do it. If you know how we can get into the gala, we should do it.”
As Mack squeezes my arm, Luther tosses his glass into the sink. “Fuck this.” He throws his arms up, pushes past me, and storms outside. As the door clatters on its hinges, the place where Luther’s body touched mine burns red-hot.
6
TANNER
“You’re sure?” I ask. “The Hollow? Could it just be because of the fight? All the magick we used battling the S.D.B. agents?”
Rev is about to reply when a door on the other side of the room creaks open. A gray-haired woman, perhaps in her sixties, steps out. She’s tall and thin, wearing a thick beige cardigan on top of long white pajamas. “We’re sure,” she says, answering my question. “I don’t know this place—The Hollow—but that is where the spell led us.
As if to prove it, Rev spins around and pulls a large town map from a drawer behind her. She spreads it onto the table. Sure enough, right where The Hollow sits, there’s a big black mark. Scorched, like charcoal.
“Then I guess we’re off to The Hollow,” Kole says gruffly. He’s standing up, leaving his barely touched mug of tea, when Sarah steps toward him.
“You’re Nova’s…” She searches for the word. “Friends?”
Kole folds his arms in front of his chest. Anger pulsates around him. Sarah betrayed Nova. She might have been doing it to save Sam, but she still betrayed our girl.
His anger merges with Sarah’s guilt. It’s nauseating. She’s consumed by it.
“Kole.” I put my hand on his arm and look at him in a way I hope says,Don’t be too hard on her.
Turning back to Sarah, Kole says, “We are Nova’s boyfriends.”
Sarah doesn’t seem surprised, just sucks in her cheeks then lets out a shaky sigh. “Please tell her I’m sorry for what I did.”
“She knows.” I step in and clasp Sarah’s hands between mine. I can’t stand here and let her feel this way; it’s suffocating. “She knows you’re sorry and she’s forgiven you.”