Chapter 10

10

ROWAN

No more clues. Violet is increasingly on the verge of losing her shit, and Dorian has no answers either. A sweep of the address connected to Joe the Builder revealed nothing apart from a house with traces of residual magic. Psychometrists went through the place, touching the few strewn items left behind, but sensed nothing from the empty water bottles and beer cans.

Unless something violent or a highly charged emotional scene happened close by, the items aren't likely to hold onto memories.

No past images from the junk at least proves Viktor never took Holly to his place. Dorian locked down the renovations and the owners, the Brightgrove witches, suffered a lot of questioning. He continues to harass Cornelius Whitegrove for answers, who's invoking his position and loudly pointing out that Dorian's greatly insulting his family name. The man is amassing sympathy.

Dorian checked Marci and her friends' backgrounds, again, but nothing untoward showed up in records.

Having missed her chance to catch the shifter, Violet now borderline stalks Marci, which I explain will have the opposite outcome to what she wants. How can Marci hold a secret meeting if Violet appears everywhere she goes? Begrudgingly, Violet pulls back on the surveillance. Give things a few days to settle, and Marci and co. might start up their activities again.

Marci knows that I'm watching her along with Violet, but equally, she's watching me. Interestingly, she continues to avoid us, which Violet sees as Marci's guilt. We've checked out the coven's room beneath Pendle House, but even the candles and runes Violet saw at the so-called committee meeting have gone.

I can't picture Marci as someone who'd kidnap and assault another student. Or is she involved in secrets deeper inside the academy as well as those within her coven? How are the brooches connected?

It's taken some persuasion to stop Violet from launching herself blindly into the world in search of Holly. She's beginning to accept that finding a witch as powerful as Viktor won't be easy, and that clues to where he might be will come from other sources.

When the moment finally arrives where Dorian mentions anything close to a lead, we'll need to tie Violet down to stop her from rushing thoughtlessly into something. I bite my lip—the only thing that'd ever restrain Violet are the shadows. That's a topic I do not like being brought up. The further the shadows are from my mind, the less of a possibility that Dorian might pick up on the magic each time we meet.

No. Instead, we insist that Violet focuses on the academy, and whatever's happening that we've only touched on so far. The new fashion for so-called protective silver brooches could be something or nothing, but I'm inclined to believe they mean something. I've casually mentioned Leif could return the Willowbrook stone to me, but was met with an emphatic no, due to the shadows' response to the item, and how they're growing within me.

Violet is pissed about the shifter, doubly so that the creature hasn't appeared on campus since. She avoids all classes that Marci doesn't attend, and the relationship between Violet and Darwin House has returned to the strained early days. At least Violet has enough awareness to watch her tongue, especially after the slip up when we encountered the students hunting the shifter.

Violet and Leif met with Eloise today, Eloise attempting to locate and break the spell in Leif's head. The last witches failed; all they could see is the same as Violet the day she looked—splintered memories that Leif is gradually piecing together. I asked Violet why Eloise didn't help originally, and she quietly told me that Eloise worried she'd damage his mind. When Leif told me that Dorian was bringing in the big guns, and Eloise would try today, I forced a smile and wished him luck. Hopefully she doesn't blow his head off.

Leif hasn't felt well since that session with Eloise, and I worry how ‘unwell' because I've heard of people losing consciousness for a day after intense mental magic intrusion. Apparently, Eloise had to stop before she'd finished working on his mind, worrying she might cause damage as the magic is glued. Violet assures me that Leif is fine, and that his massive migraine should subside soon.

Poor guy. He never asked for all this. Violet blames herself, as she does with Holly, but I remind Violet that Leif wasn't even connected to her when Viktor put the spell in his mind. The witch is tracking Leif for more than one reason. Hopefully, not any longer. Time will tell if Eloise managed to neutralize the whole spell before stopping.

Naturally, Violet won't drop her shifter search tonight, Leif or no Leif. This will become a regular activity until Holly— or the shifter—are found. I'm not complaining about one-on-one time with Violet because that's rare recently, although our meetups are always unpredictable and recently uncommon. Is this step backwards due to my stopping her heart? Violet hasn't mentioned that incident again, but something is wrong. I mean, it's not the best thing to do to the girl you're in a relationship with and then expect everything to be okay.

Will tonight involve more traipsing around campus looking for invading shifters despite Leif taking a break? Or can we stay inside for once? Although, building furniture is definitely not on Violet's mind either—we've barely touched. That's the last thing I spoke to Holly about, the morning we prepared to leave for Scotland. Not sex, but the reason why Holly described things in that way. Holly isn't keen on talking to me, but when I quizzed her, she took delight in expanding the metaphor. My last image of Holly? The back of her curly head as I called out, "I don't need instructions."

My phone sounds.

I'd like to go out tonight

A step in the right direction? As long as she doesn't take me hiking like she did Leif. My worst nightmare.

sure, should we still meet at my room?

no

My lips purse. To avoid coming here?

You're already late what happened?

I'm on the bench in the cloisters, left of Pendle entrance

okay…

Be quick

To clarify, Rowan: I'm okay I just saw something

The shifter?

no come here now

My navy hoodie lies on my bed, so I grab hold, and prepare to meet the only person in the world who'll ever talk to me like that.

Violet waits in the covered stone walkway, barely visible in the dark, and she rises from the bench as I approach. Without gauging her likely reaction, I draw Violet to me and kiss her.

A brief kiss. Very brief . "Rowan. This is urgent. I can kiss you later."

My mouth tips into a smile as I lick the sweet taste of her from my lips. "Promise?" No response. Oh well. "How's Leif? Any better?"

"Not well enough to join us."

"But he's alright? You're telling the truth?"

"I always tell you the truth. I sat with Leif earlier, but he was asleep. His friend stared at me too much, so I left." She waves a hand. "Listen. I saw Marci and the other two witches sneaking around in dark clothing."

I blink. "Where?"

"Leaving Pendle. The girls never saw me, and I followed them."

Sitting on the bench, I look up at her. "And what did you do?"

"Nothing. Came back and waited here, for you." She tugs at my sleeve to get me to stand. "But now we can track them down."

"Have you told Grayson? He could join us. Safety in numbers."

"No. He won't walk campus at night. You know he's paranoid about the consequences if he's found allegedly stalking witches. Understandable, since he once accidentally brought one to the brink of death. Come on . I saw where the girls headed."

Now I'm confused, and a little concerned. The cloisters are empty apart from us, and campus is quiet, especially with the human curfew. "Where are we going?" She says nothing. "Violet?"

"I didn't follow the girls all the way. Just observed."

"All the way where?" I ask suspiciously.

"Into the woods."

My eyes widen. "No, Violet. We can't go into the woods at night."

"Why not?" she snaps. "There isn't a body in the woods every time we walk through."

"Bad things happen in the woods," I warn her.

"Good grief. Are you worried about local shifters? They won't touch us, even if they are wandering close to town."

"I'm uneasy," I admit. "Why don't we look for the shifter on campus again?"

"Not a priority tonight. Marci is. The woods might be a shortcut to whatever SIW is? But we need to be quick. I'm not a shifter and can't follow their scent well." She tugs at me again. "I can hear people from a distance but not too distant. Hurry."

"I'll send Grayson a message to tell him what we're doing," I say and pull out my phone. "He might change his mind about joining us if we're leaving campus."

"If you wish, but I've no time to wait for him."

Violet sets off across campus at a speed I can't match, and I have to pause in order for her to notice. She slows, and we stick to the shadows on our familiar secluded route from campus to the edge of the woods.

I pause by the tree I met Violet beneath the day after we discovered our bond. "If we see or hear anything unsettling, we leave the woods straightaway," I warn her, darting a look around the quiet campus grounds.

Violet runs her tongue along her top teeth. "Then what is the point in entering? We're looking for something unsettling. I don't mind going alone if you're worried."

I run a hand across my head. "How many times, Violet? I can't let you go alone. Bonded witches. Danger."

Violet doesn't respond, instead pushing me further into the dark and against the tree. My eyes widen in surprise. That's not enough of an argument for Violet to start kissing me.

She doesn't, instead placing an index finger to her lips. "I hear humans breaking curfew and headed this way." Violet's eyes sparkle, delight shining through. "Girls. They must be meeting up with Marci. I bet one is Isabella. This is most excellent."

I groan. "We're following humans into the woods. Perfect."

"I wouldn't go as far as ‘perfect'. Something untoward could occur."

I'd argue that's why we should keep away, but there's zero point in trying, as a buoyed Violet pulls me from the tree, half-dragging me into the woods.

Not exactly the evening together I'd planned.

"Taking my potion is becoming inconvenient," she comments as we tramp further into the gloom across the dirt.

I stop dead. "You did take the potion today, right?"

"Yes, Rowan. I'm merely speculating that the girls' scent would be stronger if I wasn't desensitized. Humans would be easier to stalk if their blood attracted me."

"Violet." She looks over her shoulder. "Please never, ever say that in public."

Without responding, Violet switches to treading carefully through the woodland. She's able to follow the girls' trail—not from the faint scent she can pick up, but because Violet's hearing picks up hushed voices.

"Is there anywhere popular this group would go?" she asks. "Strange buildings in the woods? Mysterious caves?"

"Not especially. Apart from the clearing with the pit for fire night, there's a place farther into the woods, closer to academy than town. Students call the place Witches Rocks."

"Is this meeting place used for witchcraft? The moniker ‘Witches Rocks' rather suggests so."

"No. Usually for kids to hang out and drink. There's no magic energy converging in the area, despite the name."

"Hidden?"

"Yeah, because the rocks are farther from the path that leads through to the edge of town." I point to the worn patch of ground that creates a makeshift route, covered in footprints and bicycle tire tracks.

"Very well. In this vicinity?"

"We're headed that way. If the girls are too, I'd guess yes."

The humans continue to hurry, now silent, until a different voice calls out to them. We slow and creep closer towards Witches Rocks and pause once they're in view from our vantage point behind a thick trunk.

Violet breaks into a smile—Marci, Nita, and Zoe greet the human girls. Whatever they're doing, the girls aren't hiding themselves well by choosing this as the meeting place, although all are dressed in dark clothes. Only when the humans pull back their hoods do we see they're Helen and Isabella.

A single flashlight rests on the ground creating a circular lit area around a meter wide in the center of the stones. Nita is kneeling, her back to us, then turns around a minute later with a small tin in her hands. The five girls huddle together and pour over what's inside, their bodies keeping the box's contents out of view.

Violet's brow pinches in concentration as she listens. I poke her. "What are they discussing?"

"Nobody mentioned the brooches. Money." She slants her head.

"Who's paying who?"

"They're sharing money."

"What for?" I ask.

"All I heard was ‘have you got more?' from—I think—Isabella. Do you believe Marci is dealing in illicit substances? That's often a reason for clandestine meetings and money exchanging hands."

"Drug dealing?" I whisper. "That doesn't seem like Marci's style."

"Witches with the correct skills can make potions and tinctures. Maybe that's why they shared spell books in the library? Most concoctions wouldn't assist humans, though," says Violet to herself.

Helen unfastens the small bag she carried on one shoulder then pulls out small square packets before adding them to the space obscured to us.

"Or the other way around?" I ask. "Did you see what's in the packets that Helen took from her bag?"

"No." Violet's teeth clench. "I must talk to them."

I grab the edge of Violet's jacket before she can move. "You'll reveal that you know something. Wait?"

"And what if this clandestine situation links to Holly's disappearance? That she had information about illegal activities these girls don't want her to share?"

"Seems extreme." But the money. Mysterious bags. "If the girls hide the box that Nita found here, they might put it back. We'll wait until they leave and investigate the area." I suggest.

" If they leave the box."

"It's hidden for a reason. The girls obviously can't risk an academy teacher finding its contents."

Violet chews her lip and sits on the dry ground beneath the tree. "And you're sure this place isn't used by covens for spells?"

"No. There's no magic source here. Only an elemental witch could cast spells since they have a passive connection to the natural surroundings."

"Then why is Marci drawing a runic circle with a stick? She isn't elemental."

"Runic?" I peek out again, straining to see what Violet clearly can. "Ritualistic spells wouldn't work without local magic energy."

"Mine do. Blood runes?"

I chuckle. "As you often remind me, you're a Blackwood . You carry a lot of magical power internally. More than most witches our age."

"Like you?" she asks and looks at me.

"I still need to tune into a power source unless I'm commanding the elements."

She gives me a long look. "That power source being me? Or the shadows?"

"Violet. Can we pay attention to the witches?" I reply. "Discuss this later." Her wary look doesn't leave. "Can you read any of the runes from where we are?"

"Protection. Strength. Focus. Average things. But their bodies are blocking some of the circle. I can't figure out the spell."

The one that won't work.

Violet's teeth audibly grind. "I must know. Now."

Before I can respond, Violet reveals herself and marches over to the girls.

Oh, well. Violet controlled herself for longer than usual.