Here we go.
I was trying to figure out what to say—whether I should apologize for leaving or thank them for coming to my rescue—but it turned out I didn’t need to say anything. Almost immediately, I was tackled from the side in a hug. I looked down at my attacker and saw Penelope, a thirteen-year-old who I’d come to associate with horses, because she always wore the same pony necklace every day. We’d barely said more than hi to each other; she sort of stayed in the background of our coven and was rarely seen or heard. And now Penelope had attached herself to my lower half, hooking her arms around my waist with a surprisingly strong grip for someone her size.
“Please don’t leave us again,” she whispered. Her voice was inaudible to anyone but me. There was so much emotion behind her words that it nearly broke my heart.
I looked up at the rest of my coven. Judging by their faces, I thought they were happy that I was back too. They weren’t annoyed or looking to fight with me. Their smiles ranged from relief to joy to excitement and that’s when I knew.
The cold war was over.
There would be no hard feelings, between them or me, and we would move past this. Hell, we were already past it in a way. They were glad for my return and so was I.
“I promise I won’t take off again,” I said, glancing down at Penelope, who was full-on crying now. “You guys are stuck with me whether you like it or not.”
I felt a tap on my shoulder and spun around to see someone else I hadn’t expected.
“Jazzy!” I screeched, reaching out to grab her. But she was too quick for me, throwing her hands up to ward me off before I could get to her. I’d forgotten she wasn’t the mushy-gushy type, so I settled for giving her a grin instead. She smiled back and I knew she was just as happy to see me.
“What are you doing here? When did they let you out?” I asked after taking a moment to pull myself together.
Jasmine waved off my question. “I’m fine. You really thought a little rumble like that was going to keep me down? Nah, I’m tough. Have you seen these muscles?” She pulled up one of her sleeves, showing off her scrawny arms.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Very impressive,” I said. “But really, are you sure you’re okay?”
“Thanks, Mom, but I think I’ll be fine,” she said semi-sarcastically. “I just couldn’t take lying there like that any longer. It was like prison, only cleaner. The doc said I just had to take it easy the next couple of days and sent me home with some of these.” Jasmine shook a bottle of what I assumed were painkillers. She talked a good game, but I could tell her head was still hurting, as she winced at the quick motion.
“And Jinx?” It hurt me to ask, but the question was on my mind, since Jasmine had made it home.
“She’s still at the hospital. They were able to stop the bleeding and she even woke up for a little while. But they’ve got her all hooked up to these monitors and they’re giving her meds that have her sleeping round the clock. They said there was no use in sticking around since she won’t be conscious most of the time anyway. So I came by myself.”
“Is she going to be okay?” I asked hopefully.
“That’s the rumor,” Jasmine said, shrugging. She was playing it cool, but I knew that Jinx’s condition was hitting her pretty hard.
Hearing that Jinx had made it through her surgery and that the docs were feeling hopeful about her recovery made me feel like I could finally breathe again. Of course, I’d always hoped she’d be okay, but a part of me was constantly waiting for the bad news. Now that the more pressing crisis appeared to be over, another question popped into my head.
“Wait, how did the others find me, anyway?”
“That was all Fallon,” Peter said, walking in the front door with Sascha, Emory, and June in tow. Fallon, however, was nowhere to be seen. When Peter saw the look on my face, he chuckled. “We were surprised when he suggested it too. But he insisted that you’d be at your house. Said it would be the last place we’d check and the first place you’d go.”
“Good guess,” I said, surprised by how right he’d been. I looked around for him, but saw that he still hadn’t come inside.
Pete shrugged. “He saw how close you were to your parents when we were all there after the fire and figured you’d go there before disappearing for good.”
“So he came after me, even after I told him not to?” I asked.
It was hard to believe that what Peter was saying was true. Since when did Fallon do anything out of the kindness of his heart? Or at least without some sort of evil motivation behind it. Did he finally realize that my powers were in a whole different league than his and decide it would be better to have me around? Or were his motives more sinister than that? I couldn’t ignore the fact that each time the Parrishables had attacked, Fallon had mysteriously shown up to save the day.
The others nodded. “He started coming up with the plan about an hour after you left.”
“Well, that was nice of him, I guess,” I said, still bewildered.
None of this derailed me from the fact that I was back with my coven (well, most of them, anyway) and had a whole new perspective on this war with the Parrishables. None of us could do this on our own. Yes, it might be safer if the others had never met me, but as of right now, there was no spell to turn back time. So it looked like they were stuck with me. And I with them.
Thank God, because I’d learned—almost at the expense of my life—that as powerful as I was, I wasn’t strong enough to bring down an entire coven on my own.
“Who’s he?” Peter asked, a bit of a growl creeping into his voice. He was just being protective of his family, so I ignored the fact that he was acting rude toward our guest.
“Yeah, who’s the honey?” Jasmine asked, nodding to the space over my right shoulder. Turning to follow her gaze, I saw that Asher was standing a few feet behind me, trying not to get in the way, so that I could have some time to reconnect with my friends. It was sweet of him to give me some space, but I also noticed that he hadn’t retreated far enough away that he couldn’t be at my side within seconds. It looked like he was keeping his promise to not let me out of his sight anytime soon.
I walked over to Asher and placed my hand on his arm protectively. The gesture was not lost on the others. I may as well have flashed a neon sign that said, “He’s okay and he’s mine,” because everyone seemed to relax a little.
“Everyone, this is Asher. Asher, this is the Cleri.”
People gave him variations of hello and a few showed off shy smiles. The guys mostly grunted and walked away, probably to complain about another man invading their territory. Especially one as good-looking as Asher. I wasn’t worried, though. They’d all get over it when they realized he wasn’t a threat—he was here only because of me, not to take his place as the alpha male.
“Hadley, we never wanted you to leave before,” Sascha said. “I know you think we’ll be safer without you, but we won’t. We can’t afford to lose you now.”
I crossed the room and knelt down next to her, noticing how weak her voice still was. She was at least sitting up now, but her face was pale and she looked drained. All because she’d worked her magic on me back in my living room. Without her, I would have been done for. As far as I was concerned, she and the others were the reason I was still alive.
“Then you won’t lose me, Sascha,” I said, laying my hand on hers just like she’d done to me back at my house. “Because I think you’re right. We need each other.”
I looked up at everyone in the room. During the drive home, I’d managed to find time to do some thinking about our next steps. Now that I had everyone’s attention, I knew it was the best time to let them in on what I’d decided. I only hoped they’d see things the way I did.