52. Chapter Fifty One

Chapter Fifty One

Skyla

I wake to the feeling of a body curling around me. Clearly, one of the guys decided I didn’t need to be alone tonight. Sorry to inform you, you’re wrong.

“Please leave me alone,” I murmur as I turn away from him.

He holds me closer, running his fingers through my hair.

“You know I could never leave you alone, siren.”

My eyes fly open at that nickname, and I scramble for the light, my eyes landing on Vincent. I can’t tell if I’m dreaming, if this is all some weird fantasy realism dream or if he’s actually here. I don’t care what it is, I throw myself into him, wrapping my arms around him and swearing that I’ll never let him go.

“Is it you?” I sob. “Are you really here?”

“I’m here, siren. I’ll always be here.”

I cry out, screaming for the guys.

“ASHER! RONAN! LIAM! WES! GET IN HERE!”

Feet begin thundering through the house as they burst into the room one by one. Each of them blanch with shock, their eyes round as Liam speaks.

“What the fuck? Vinny?”

Liam practically jumps onto the bed, hugging Vincent tight. He allows it for a second or two before shoving Liam to the ground. He lands with a hard thunk but pops up to his feet like nothing ever happened.

“What the fuck is going on?” Ronan asks.

I nod, wanting to know myself, as Vincent looks down at me before up to them.

“I made a deal with the devil.”

We all frown at that, but I bury myself into Vincent. I don’t care what he had to do. I can’t believe he’s here, in the flesh, with me. Nuzzling my head into his chest, his arms tighten around me as he speaks.

“I was sent on a job in New York.”

“We know,” Wesley says.

“And when I got there, I was met with another mercenary. One of the best in the world,” Vincent says with a shake of his head.

“Him and his brother are legends. My parents would run into him from time to time, he’s lethal, and apparently, his target was me.”

My heart seizes at that as he lifts up his sleeves, showing two angry red scars that look like they are trying to heal, but have a long road of recovery. Then he lifts his shirt, showing two stab wounds on his stomach that look to be about the same in the healing process.

“I was bleeding out, fading in and out between life and death and he changed his mind.”

“What do you mean he changed his mind?” Asher asks with a disbelieving face.

Vincent’s eyes bore into mine as he speaks.

“I begged. I told him I had a girl I needed to be with, needed to protect. When I was fading, I told him I’d do anything. He took me up on it. Now, I officially owe him one.”

“One what?” Ronan asks.

“One anything,” Vincent says ominously, though to be honest, I don’t care. I’m just relieved he’s here with me.

“He called a mob doc he knew, had him patch me up, and I laid low in New York for a few days until I was healed enough to leave.”

“What about the body that was found?” Ronan asks.

Vincent flicks his gaze to him and shrugs.

“Zayden apparently grabbed a security guard and set him on fire, charred the shit out of the body so they wouldn’t know it wasn’t me, and left it at that. Everyone knows he’s unhinged for the fun of it, no one bothered to question it.”

“Who ordered this hit on you?” Wesley asks.

A thunderous look passes over Vincent’s face.

“Christopher Putnam.”

I fucking knew it.

Angered looks pass in the room before Vincent speaks again.

“I don’t give a flying fuck what it takes, I’m killing him. I’m killing all of them. They almost took me away from my siren. They all have to burn.”

The room is tense with silence for several seconds before Ronan speaks.

“Agreed.”

The drive to New Hampshire feels faster this time. Maybe because I’m just eager to see my mom, anxious of what Ronan has planned, or so fucking grateful that I’m currently in Vincent’s arms. He presses a kiss to the side of my head, and I plaster myself against him.

I’ve hardly let him out of my sight. He’s lucky if I allow him to go to the bathroom alone. I’m terrified that if I leave him alone for too long, he’ll disappear again. There was a debate about if we should leave him at the house while we go. I mean, everyone except for us believes him to be dead. With all the cameras in and around the house disabled, loading up in the garage, and the tinted out windows on the car, we decided it was safe enough. Oh, and I refused to leave without him.

When we turn off the highway and drive down the dirt road to the witches’ houses, nerves begin churning inside me. Ronan hasn’t shared all the details of the plan with me, and maybe it’s for a good reason. I’m not sure knowing would put me at ease. At the end of the day, we can’t go on like this. Because of this world, because of this society, I almost lost Liam, I almost lost Vincent. Who am I going to lose next? What if it isn’t an almost next time? What if it’s forever?

As soon as we park, my mom and dad begin making their way towards us, smiles on their faces. Because we don’t have each other’s phone numbers, it’s not like I could tell them I absolutely was not planning on coming today like originally discussed. I was grieving, dying on the inside and had no plans to leave my depressive hole for an undetermined amount of time. Things change, this time for the better.

“There she is.” My mom smiles warmly, wrapping her arms around me as she holds me tight.

That familiar scent of vanilla and coconut fill my senses, and I smile against her hold when she releases me, placing a loving kiss to my cheek while my dad stands there.

“We’ve missed you, Sky,” he says, almost nervously.

I wonder if he feels uncomfortable because, although he was there for the first three years of my life, I was never told about him. My memories don’t really start coming in until four, almost five, so the only thing I really know about this man is what they have told me. Same could be said about my mom, though, just from Steph.

Regardless, that isn’t the way it feels. From the moment I saw him I knew in my gut that there was something tethering us together. So, I close the distance and wrap my arms around him. He holds me, rocking us from side to side as he smiles.

“I’ve missed you guys too.”

When we pull apart, I see my mom hugging each of the guys. Even prickly Vincent gives her a hug that melts my heart.

“Thank you all for making the drive, I really appreciate it.” She smiles.

“Of course, Mrs…” Ronan trails off like he’s unsure. Should he use Parris, Thompson or Proctor?

She smiles warmly, no offense taken as she nods. “Just call me Giselle, or G.”

Ronan nods and Liam shoots her a dorky finger gun.

“You got it, G!”

Asher scoffs, shaking his head as Liam giggles and I can’t help but laugh along. He is so ridiculous.

“Come on, we just made lunch,” my dad says as he ushers us into the house.

We all file in, everyone taking a seat around the room. I make sure to practically plaster myself to Vincent and it doesn’t escape the notice of my mom. She turns to us, smiling as she speaks.

“So, what’s new?”

We’re all silent for several seconds before Ronan begins.

“Giselle, do you remember what you and I discussed last time we were here?”

Her smile slips, a seriousness taking over her face as she nods.

“It’s time,” Ronan says with a stiff nod.

A conflicted look plays across her face as she glances up to my dad. Their hands intertwine as they both nod.

“We’re in,” my dad says.

Within thirty minutes, my parents’ house is practically bursting at the seams. Every single witch part of their Coven is inside, all circling around me. I catch Astrid’s eye as she smiles at me, Sariah giving me an encouraging nod. My gaze swings around, attempting to find my guys as they begin.

“Wait—” I say.

My mom looks at me in concern as I speak.

“Them too. I want them protected. Please. I can’t risk losing them.”

Rachel gets a conflicted look before she speaks for everyone.

“We can make that work.”

I hear some grumblings of disapproval as my guys slowly slip inside the formed circle.

“You know this is all a load of shit, right?” Asher whispers into my ear.

“Hey!” Rachel says as she takes a cup, pouring it over his head.

“What the fuck!” Asher snaps while the room erupts into laughter. “What the fuck was that for?”

“To cleanse you and that nasty energy.”

Rachel grabs another cup and dips her fingers inside it, running it along each of the guy’s foreheads before my own. She draws patterns against our chests with the water, or maybe I should say liquid since I’m not exactly sure what’s in it, before she sets the cup down and nods.

Someone hands her a bundle of what I’ve come to know as sage before she lights it and begins running it over us and the rest of the room. I see Jillie line up over thirty white pillar candles, encasing us in the circle as she begins lighting each one.

She steps back into her position, and one by one, every person surrounding us lifts their palms to the sky by their sides before turning their right down. One by one, they all stack their hands together, flat palms pressed against the person beside them as they close their eyes and speak as one.

“Powers of the night, powers of the day, I summon thee. To cast your protection upon thee. By the light that surrounds me, be safe, be free. For powers of north, south, east and west, may they be ever blessed.”

Suddenly, the flames of the candles flicker for a moment before burning brighter. It startles me, and Vincent tightens his hold on me instinctually. I look to Asher on my other side, as they both furrow their brows, and look around curiously as the witches continue.

“In shadows that linger, stand strong and bright. Protected and guided, I embrace the light. Negative forces, you cannot draw near. With this shield of protection, we cast out all fear.”

With their final word, the candles dim, the flame back to their original height and brightness.

“What the fuck?” Liam whispers as Rachel steps forward with a handful of necklaces with protection jars on the bottom.

Each guy bows his head to her, a form of respect and acceptance as she places the protection necklace around each of them before coming to me. Mine looks a little different than theirs, with a large chunk of what I’m assuming is obsidian.

“Why is mine different?” I ask as she places my necklace around me.

“Because you’re my niece and I love you more,” she smiles.

“Like you love any of us,” Asher scoffs.

Rachel casts him a look.

“I was warming up to you, Putnam, but then you go and do something stupid like speak.”

Chuckles echo through the room as Asher rolls his eyes. My mom steps forward, holding my hands in hers. I don’t have to be an expert on reading people like the witches are to know that she’s scared.

“Are you sure this is the right thing to do? The right move?” she asks me before her eyes come to Ronan.

He nods and so do I. “We can’t live like this anymore, we just…can’t,” I say.

My mom hesitantly nods before looking around the room. Several people begin leaving but not everyone. As I look around the room, I count the remaining people without counting my parents or Rachel. Eight.

As one, including Rachel, they all pick up something wrapped in cloth as they come to stand in front of us.

Everyone gets two cloths except for Liam, who gets one, and me who gets none. I frown as Asher unwraps one of his before Rachel’s hand comes out, stopping him.

“Don’t touch them yet. Wait until that night.”

He holds it by the cloth and peeks inside.

“It’s a dagger,” he says as all the guys look down at their hands.

“We have anointed them with moon water. With tomorrow being a full moon, it will help,” Rachel says.

“Help?” Wesley clarifies.

Rachel glances at the rest of the witches, all nodding in agreement.

“A wrong demands to be righted,” Astrid says, her eyes on me. “A debt must be repaid. The evil that consumed those families must be cleansed from this world. Then and only then, do I see peace.”

I nod stiffly, understanding what they are saying.

One by one, each witch in the room steps forward, resting her hand on their dagger that they gave the guys. They close their eyes, muttering something to themselves before opening their eyes and speaking.

“Bishop,” one woman says as she touches the dagger in Ronan’s left hand as Astrid touches the right.

“Good.”

One by one, they all make it down the line in order.

“Corey.”

“Nurse.”

“Howe.”

“Martin.”

“Wildes.”

Finally, Rachel is the last to speak, her eyes on Asher’s, something heavy in her eyes as she speaks.

“Proctor.”

I physically feel a shift in the room, though I don’t know how to explain it other than just that. Pulling away from the guys, the witches nod their heads, almost in respect before leaving the house. Even Rachel leaves until it’s just us and my parents.

“Do you think this will work? You will be able to convince the others?” my dad asks.

They all nod.

“We will make them see reason,” Asher says stiffly.

My mother makes a concerned look as she addresses Asher.

“Don’t underestimate them, especially him. You…you have no idea what he’s capable of.”

“With all due respect, Giselle, I’ve been under the man’s thumb since birth. I know exactly what he’s capable of.”

She gives him a sympathetic frown and nods, cupping his cheek softly.

“Keep my girl safe.”

“On my life,” Asher swears.

“And mine,” Liam adds on.

“And mine,” Vincent says.

“Mine,” Wesley agrees.

Ronan is the last to speak, all eyes on him as he gives a strong nod.

“Mine.”