The Coven Awakens (Hollow Hill Academy #1)

16. Caius

Chapter 16

Caius

W hen Soren and Audrey walked in together after her healing training, I immediately noticed two things. The first was she looked awful. It wasn’t a matter of her being unattractive; she looked exhausted. Her pale skin gave mine a run for its money, waxy and almost transparent. There were now deep bags under her eyes, as though she hadn’t slept in weeks. She certainly hadn’t looked that way when she left with him this morning. I expect Henri would make her go back to bed; he was always meddling in how we took care of ourselves physically. Regardless of whether we knew our limitations, he would be there with a disapproving look and an illusion if we really tried to push him.

The second thing I noticed—they were holding hands. Things must have really gone well, no matter how much it had drained Audrey. It was a potential problem which would need to be observed. She wasn’t like Lydia, trying to come between us. Or if she was, she was much better at hiding her intentions. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t cause a rift. Ewan was still sore about what happened with Lydia, even if he claimed otherwise.

I wasn’t the only one who noticed both Audrey’s state and the way her hand linked in with Soren’s. Henri was out of his chair and across the room before they could say anything, his hands cupped her face and tilted it up so he could see her better. So much for keeping things strictly platonic between them, Henri was very good at convincing people and was especially skilled at lying to himself. She had wormed her way into his heart in a different manner than the rest of us, and he did not know how in love with her he was already. Or maybe he was doing the noble thing, which wasn’t like him at all. Being a teacher wasn’t good for him, especially if it was keeping him from being happy.

Soren left Audrey in Henri’s arms. There were no words spoken between us as he took the seat beside mine, both of us watching the way Audrey leaned toward Henri like their bodies were magnetized. Perhaps neither of them knew what was happening. It would make it even more interesting when they finally gave in to what they were feeling. I wasn’t looking forward to the ripples it would have on the coven dynamics, but I knew better than to argue with Fate. She was a cruel and vindictive cow.

“How did the healing session go?” I directed the question to Soren, letting the two fated mates talk softly to each other. Just because Audrey looked like she hadn’t slept in a week didn’t mean it went badly.

“She is going to need to learn control, but that always comes second.” His words were as frustrating as always. My eyes narrowed in annoyance before I looked at him. It took a couple of seconds to realize what I was seeing. A lash of darkness struck out from my chest, acting on instinct. The inky appendage wrapped around his throat and pulled him over the arm of the chair toward me.

“What. Is. That!” The words were hissed between my clenched teeth. I ignored the exclamations from Audrey and Henri as my gloved hand gripped the braids that held Soren’s hair back and twisted them to turn his head to the side. The darkness around his throat tightened as I took in Audrey’s name, seared across the skin behind his ear. Soren’s cheeks were turning red, but he looked as smug as always, his lips clamped shut.

The world turned white as bright light emanated from everywhere, and I recoiled backward so sharply the chair I was in tipped over. Darkness flung out of me in all directions, keeping me upright and wrapping around me until I was cocooned away from the light. It took more effort to use my powers than normal. Darkness and light weren’t supposed to exist in the same place.

My every instinct was on alert. I could hear Soren coughing, and Audrey asking him if he was all right. Henri’s voice was closer, clearer.

“You can come out when you are ready to act like the civilized being you claim to be, mon frère.” There was patience in his tone, but also annoyance. It was something I was used to hearing, although usually not directed at me. Slowly, I pulled the darkness back into my soul where it lived. The light was gone, and only Henri’s office remained.

At first, I thought the light must have come from Audrey. However, given the way Henri was standing between me and the others, and the narrowed eyes he directed my way, it must have been one of his illusions. Effective, if annoying. I held his stare as I straightened my coat, then adjusted the cuffs so they sat perfectly.

“You, more than anyone, know to use words, Cai. We don’t attack each other.” His admonishment grated, but I rolled my head from side to side, adjusting the way my collar sat against my neck. The clothes felt stifling against my skin, but better to be completely covered right now than risk the darkness getting free.

“And I suppose you are fine with all this, then? Your mate has another fated to her. That doesn’t bother you and your progressive sensibilities?” My voice was as cold as steel, and sharp enough to cut. I saw my words open wounds as he looked at the pair. Audrey worried over Soren, the way Henri had been fussing over her only moments ago.

“She is going to be part of our coven. We would all stand alongside her, whatever Fate decreed. This is further proof she is one of us, and that we need her as much as she needs us.” His justification didn’t fool me. I knew Henri well enough to know his tells, and beneath his calm, accepting demeanor, his green eyes were filled with jealousy.

Henri wasn’t one to let someone attack him, though. He looked back at me, curiosity filled those damn green eyes the girls always gushed over. “Are you worried you are her mate, too? Or that you’re not? If the two of us are, maybe we should get it over with and see if all four of us are connected to her.”

My whole body stiffened at the thought. I hadn’t considered it. All four of us being fate-bound to her. Fate didn’t bind people together for fun, no matter what the Olympians might say. Those same Olympians would claim the Moirai were of their line, when it wasn’t true. The Olympians would beg the Fates for help, for answers. But Scions of the Fates rarely appeared in Olympian lineages, and only where they had intermingled with Primordial Scions. The Fates were the Daughters of Night, after all.

Very few of Nyx’s children had been pleasant deities. Perhaps it came from being born of Darkness and Night, or Chaos and Night, depending on which tales you believed. Perhaps it was simply that the Primordials differed from the other gods. Regardless, you could not hold the Fates to human morality, like you could the Olympians. They didn’t care about it. Their actions were dictated by what needed to happen. No argument, no begging—just existence and death. Each thread woven as they deemed it should be.

“I am not the one we need to be concerned about, or have you forgotten what happened the last time a girl was involved with more than one of us? Who is going to tell Ewan?” Our last coven-mate was out preparing the ritual site. He liked to take care of things like that, saying he was more in tune with the ley lines than the rest of us. All our rituals so far were successful, so why mess with something that worked?

Henri’s smug expression fell as I deflected the verbal attack he had sent at me. He turned to look at Soren and Audrey, and the way she fretted over him and the bruises that were already appearing around his throat. We both watched as a wave of white light came from her chest. It didn’t reach us, only washing over Soren. His bruises faded away, leaving no sign I had attacked him other than the tension in the room.

“I don’t know whether to hope we are all fated for her, or hope we aren’t. Maybe they will finally be able to move past what happened with Lydia and become as close as they used to be, or closer.” Henri always had a theory about Soren and Ewan. I never saw it, but then, he was always better at reading desire than I, and not only because he was a Spring courtier.

“He’s going to find out eventually. Better it be tonight, and better she not be there when he does. I don’t want her to see him upset, she doesn’t understand their history.” We all had a dark side, and while I didn’t think we should shield Audrey forever, this was an exception. This was history between Soren and Ewan, which didn’t involve her. The fractures Lydia put in our coven still hadn’t healed properly. Maybe that was why the Fates sent us a healer.

“Speaking of the she-witch, she will not take this well. We are going to have to keep an eye out on Audrey, and likely for Ewan. I am sure she will find some way to make him think this was a failing of his. She knows all his weak spots.” Henri’s arms were crossed now, our conversation quiet, as private as it could be in an office with other people.

Soren had risen from his chair and walked Audrey over to the bar. Perhaps he knew what we were talking about, I could never remember what the thirteen charms Odin knew were. Soren wasn’t exactly forthcoming about which ones he knew either. I admired his ability to keep secrets, in fact, I envied it greatly. He always told us what we needed to know, so I wasn’t worried he was keeping anything damaging away from us. It was his nature, like mine was to dwell in darkness.

“I will make sure Lydia knows to stay away. She and I have an understanding.” It was if she caused harm to my coven-mates again, I would throw her into the void and she would never see the light of day—or any light—again. She scoffed when I delivered the threat to her, but she had dialed back her efforts. She liked to push boundaries, constantly inviting Soren to things, but I knew he would not take her up on it, so I wasn’t worried.

I could feel the darkness writhing inside me at the chance of being freed from its prison. I tried not to let it out too often, unless I was in the warded safety of my room. The void wasn’t meant for this world. Chaos had given birth to the world, but the world was not chaos. Just as none of us were our parents.

As my conversation with Henri reached a lull, Soren brought Audrey over to join us. The temptation to roll my eyes at his perfect timing was strong, but I resisted. They were holding hands again, her body leaned into his. It was a far cry from her storming out of our apartment, leaving us trapped within our bodies. I didn’t have to be looking at Henri to feel him tense beside me.

“Audrey, why don’t you get some sleep? Healing must have taken a lot out of you, non? We have some preparation to do before the ritual tonight and will see you when you join us for dinner.” That French accent of his could make anything sound convincing. If it had been me who suggested she needed a nap, no doubt she would insist she wasn’t tired, like a toddler at bedtime. All Henri got was a nod, though, and she left his office without complaint. If I didn’t despise people so much, I would try to learn how he did that.

Instead, I focused on Soren. “We need to talk to Ewan before he sees the marks.”

It wasn’t often our Viking brother slumped, but his body looked like all the wind had been taken out of his sails. He nodded, though he looked rather like a man who was about to walk to his death. I immediately questioned if this was a good idea, but he hadn’t argued, nor tried to put it off. If he knew what was going to happen, he was still going to go through with it, so it couldn’t be too bad. But I would stop past my room on the way and grab some of the blood-loss potions and wound-mending potions I had been brewing, just in case.