18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

C old. That was what she felt right now, that bone-deep chill that comes along with devastating sadness. All the feelings she had for Draven had been replaced with a cold dread. Every happy moment and memory was tainted by the bitterness of a lie. A lie so big, it had the potential to ruin her life if she let it.

She was angry too. At him, at herself. But really, should she have expected anything different? Experience had taught her that romantic love did not last. So, how could this thing between them have gone any other way? Wasn’t this how love had always been for her? A thing that always ended in heartache.

She should have known better, should have trusted her instincts. But instead, she had let herself get distracted by pretty eyes, sweet words, and, apparently, empty promises.

Except it really wasn’t that simple, was it?

Because she had trusted her instincts and her magic had been trying to show her something; she was sure of that even now. She had felt it in the air on the very day Draven showed up. Everyone had—a change. From the first moment she laid eyes on Draven, there was a connection. She chose to trust that feeling, to trust her magic.

But look where it had gotten her. If she could not trust her magic, could not trust herself, what else did she have?

What the hell was the point of it all anyway?

The universe was cruel to offer Draven to her only so she could lose him in this way. If there was a lesson to be learned here, it only reinforced her belief that caring for someone in this way was a waste of her time.

It was all worthless, getting to know him, telling him about her life and sharing her magic with him. He had said it was all real, that he cared about her and cared about Daniel. But how could she trust anything he had said now?

It did not matter anyway, because he left, just like everyone else. She hadn’t been enough to make him stay. She was only good enough to be used as a pawn in his game. She had no idea what to do now.

She should probably be concerned. Draven was so fixated on the idea that no one deserved magic and he was going to do something about that, but what? At the moment, when he said she would know soon and then left, all she could focus on was his retreating figure.

The simple act of him walking away from her had been enough to bring her to her knees.

Would he leave town? Should she force him to? Would he write his article after all? Or did he have something bigger in mind? Should she try and stop him? He had accused her of choosing magic over him. Maybe she should show him what her magic could really do.

But no. That wasn’t her. She would never use her magic to intentionally hurt someone.

She glanced out the window. The rain was coming down steadily now. The wind was howling. It matched the feelings inside her. Sadness and confusion. Hurt and anger. Loneliness. But at least she had Daniel. Draven had no one.

Daniel? How was she supposed to explain this to Daniel? He adored Draven. She could see it anytime the three of them were together. He would be devastated.

That’s what she was most afraid of, how this would affect her son. He was such a kindhearted soul, always willing to see the good in others. She had tried to follow his example with Draven, despite the red flags. She had known better than to let him into their lives and she had let it all happen anyway.

A hoarse and desperate sob escaped her throat. The pain was an aching wound in her heart.

But no. She could not break yet. She walked over to the couch, to the pile of flowers still on the floor.

“ Clineto, ” she muttered and the flowers vanished. That particular spell was one of the oldest from the book and also used very frequently. It was great for cleaning up messes, though they didn’t know where all the vanished stuff wound up. She walked into the kitchen, eyeing the vase of flowers that still sat on the counter—the ones Draven had given her on their first date.

She walked over, snatched them up and promptly tossed them in the trash. The way things were going, she would probably never be able to look at a flower the same way again, which was a real shame. Flowers were kind of her thing.

She walked around aimlessly for a few minutes, the house almost eerily quiet. It was getting close to noon, which meant that Daniel would not be home for at least another four hours.

She had no idea what to do with herself now. How quickly she had gotten used to Draven being a constant presence in her life. She should really update Parker and Jill. If Draven was up to something, they needed to figure out what it was and stop him before someone got hurt. Before anyone else got hurt

The buzz of her phone pulled her from her thoughts. She walked over to pick it up from the table. A video call from Jill. Why would Jill be calling when they had spoken in person not long ago? She hit the answer button.

“Jill? What’s up?”

“Liv, I need to ask you a question. It’s going to seem weird, but just bear with me, okay?”

“Okay …”

“Were you able to get in touch with Draven after I left?”

A video chat did not seem the best way to fill Jill in, but desperate times. “Yeah, I did. I really need to explain what happened. I think Draven’s going to try something. He told me he thinks magic ruined his family and he said he’s going to do something about it.”

Lines deepened on Jill’s face. “Here’s the weird question. Did Draven mention talking to Malcolm last night at the festival?”

“This morning?”

“This morning or at any point last night.”

She shook her head. “No. But he did say he was going to pay Malcolm a visit when we left him last night. Remember, you were there.”

Jill nodded. “I know. But the thing is, Malcolm told me he never came by and after what you just told me …”

“You think he was up to something before I met up with him?”

Jill cringed. “I’m sorry, Liv.”

“No,” she said, holding up her hand. “I think you’re right. But what the hell would he have been doing?”

“Ouch! Shit, this was not where I wanted to end up.” The voice came from somewhere in her house.

“What the hell?” Olivia said, looking around for the source of the sound.

“Liv,” Jill said. “Are you okay? What the hell was that noise?”

“I have no idea,” she whispered. “I’m going to go check it out.” She walked as quietly as possible out of the living room and into the hallway. But there was no one there.

The floorboards creaked over her head, like a scene from a horror movie. Her heart raced, her palms going clammy.

“I think someone is upstairs,” she whispered to Jill. She held her finger to her lips.

She walked over to the bottom of the stairs. “Hello,” she called out, leaning over the railing to peer up the stairs.

A figure appeared at the top and she lifted her hand, ready to use her magic to defend herself.

“Sorry, Liv,” a familiar voice called down. “I was supposed to end up in your living room. Clearly, I messed up somewhere.”

“Parker,” she breathed out in a rush. The fear in her heart melted into a mixture of relief and annoyance.

“Did you say ‘Parker?’” Jill asked from the phone clutched tight in Olivia’s hand.

She sighed. “Yes, yes I did,” she said, holding up the phone so Jill could see their mutual friend coming down the stairs.

“Jesus, Parker,” Jill snapped. “You almost gave me a heart attack!”

Olivia let out a quick laugh. “You! I’m the one whose house she just randomly popped into. Parker, what the hell are you doing here? How the hell did you end up upstairs without me seeing you?”

Parker cringed. “Yeah, sorry about that, Liv. I was trying to poof myself into your living room. But somehow, I ended up in your shower. If it makes you feel any better, I hit my head pretty good.”

“You poofed yourself? What the hell does that mean?” Jill asked, looking as confused as Olivia felt.

“I came up with a spell the other day to transport myself places—good thing to have in case of an emergency. I needed to talk to Olivia right away. So, I figured now was a good time to try it.”

“What’s the emergency?”

“Oh right, shit, I got so distracted. The book is missing.”

“What the hell do you mean the book is missing?” Olivia asked before turning back to Jill, still on her phone. “Get over here right now.”

“On my way.”

Thank God for small towns. Five very tense minutes later, Jill was flying through the front door.

“Now, what is going on, Parker?” Olivia asked.

“It was my abuelita. She called me earlier to say she had a bad feeling. She told me I should go check on the book, so, of course, I did and it was gone.”

Jill swore. “Who would want to take it? And why?”

Olivia already knew. Maybe she had known all along. “Draven.”

Jill grabbed her hand.

She stood numbly and listened while Jill explained everything to Parker.

“What do we do?” Parker asked quietly.

Olivia turned to her friends. “We stop him.”