I sense Kole raising an eyebrow at me.
“Sam also sent a message.” I tell her. “He said he’s doing good, and that he’ll see you soon. We just couldn’t risk him coming with us tonight.”
A million questions burn in Sarah’s eyes but even if she asked them, we wouldn’t know the answers. We don’t know how Sam ended up being owned bySpine’sMadame. We don’t know the gritty details of his life there, and I’m not sure he wants us to know.
“We have to go now,” I say, hugging her briefly. “We’ll see you soon.”
We’re at the bottom of the stairs when I feel Sarah start to sob.
* * *
PromisingRev we’ll be careful, we leave the center of town and make our way slowly toward The Hollow. Everywhere is now eerily quiet, wrapped in a stifling blanket of darkness. Even the stars are hard to see tonight, and the closer we get to The Hollow the more I feel like we should turn back. Knives of ice are pricking my skin. Kole is so deathly quiet that I know he’s feeling the same.
By the time we get there we’re both breathless, but not from exertion—from the cloying heaviness in the air. Fear grips my insides. I stop and brace my hand on a nearby tree. Kole turns back. “Tanner?” His face is etched with concern.
I shudder. I’m shaking all over. “There’s too much of it.” I swallow hard and a sickening metallic taste fills my mouth. Not blood. Something else.
“Evil,” Kole mutters. “Tastes like evil.”
We don’t even try to approach via the gates, instead heading straight for the trees. Remnants of the damage Kole did when he tore the trees’ roots from the ground are evident in the rivets of upturned earth and fallen branches. Kole conjures a small green light and sends it ahead of us, so that if there is a barrier it will warn us.
We find nothing until we are at the tree line. With the lawn and the house in full view, the light bounces off an invisible shield. Not a mask, just a shield.
As we look out toward the fountain, my blood runs cold.
Eve, the witch who almost killed Kole, is standing on the rim of the fountain. She’s barefoot. The lower half of her dress is sopping wet, and she’s smiling up at the stars.
The jolt of fear that rushes through Kole’s body makes me flinch. But then his features settle into something else… anger.
“They’re here,” he whispers. I follow his eyes and see a tall, dark-haired woman striding down the steps from what was our kitchen. She has a scar on her face, cropped hair, and she’s wearing a short leather jacket. Nico is next to her. Side by side, they share something—a resemblance. “Kayla,” Kole growls.
“That’s her?” I narrow my eyes and stare at the woman Kole has told me about over a hundred times. The woman who haunted his nightmares for years after he left The League. I heard about her while I was their prisoner, but I never met her.
At the bottom of the steps, as Kayla shouts at Eve and asks what the fuck she’s doing, Nico puts his hand on Kayla’s arm. It’s a strange gesture. Not one of a subordinate or a lover.
“He’s her son,” Kole breathes. “That traitorous little weasel is Kayla’s son.”
Looking at the two of them, it clicks. She is very clearly his mother. “What are they doing?” I ask, scanning the rest of the lawn. “Is that a coffin?” I tug Kole’s arm and make him follow my gaze.
“Looks like one,” he replies darkly.
We continue watching as Eve hops down from the fountain. She’s too far away to hear, but she looks happy. Excited. With bouncing footsteps, she skips over to the coffin then bends over it as if she’s talking to whatever the fuck is inside.
From the house, a group of werewolves in human form emerge. They’re carrying a large wooden chest. They bring it to Eve and, when they open the lid, she plunges her hands inside.
She starts taking things out. White stones, a skull, feathers, crystals, and lastly a thick, leather-bound book.
“They’re getting ready to perform a ritual,” Kole says. I’m about to ask him what the hell kind of ritual involves an open coffin when movement catches my eye. A tall figure appears at the top of the steps. White-blond hair, slicked back over his thick skull. Long black coat. Tattoos on his knuckles.
He gazes down at Eve, then his eyes snap up. He tilts his head. He’s looking right at us.
7
NOVA
“What do you remember about them?” I ask, propping myself up on my elbow.
Sam and I are playing cards upstairs on the bed, staying out of Mack and Luther’s way. He has a terrible habit of exposing his hand, but this time places it face-down as he considers my question. “Your mom and dad?”