Chapter 33

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

FRANKIE

Tennessee's mismatched gaze shot right to her, and instantly his eyes went from cold-blooded assassin to lovesick puppy dog. His lips curved up on one side to a dazzling sideways grin. He straightened his stance and tapped on the golden bands on his left forearm—his sword vanished. The angel wings and golden armor disappeared.

The girl giggled. "That feel good, babe?"

Babe? OH. This must be his soulmate, Tegan Bishop, the High Priestess.

"That felt so good." He rolled his shoulders and stretched his arms out. "I needed that."

"Hey, Tegan?" Mona shouted from over to the left. She pointed to the sky and made a circular motion. "We clear?"

"Oh yeah, we're good." She snapped her fingers and a white box appeared in the sky over by the pier. "I mean, they're gone for now."

People walked through the white box like they'd been standing there waiting for it to open. There had to be two dozen of them. Each and every one of them had a Roman numeral inked in black on their left forearms.

My eyes widened. I leaned closer to Esther. "Is that?—"

" The Coven, " she whispered and crouched down. " They're here. "

Everyone else in the park slowly began to move toward us, their eyes all wide and excited. I eyed this Coven I'd heard so much about, but there were so many it was hard to see details on any of them. Or perhaps I was a little overstimulated. But I did see Royce and Thiago near the front of the group.

A gorgeous girl with long Rapunzel-like platinum blonde hair was at the front of the group. Her gold eyes looked like pure sunshine. She threw her arms out wide, and I didn't know where to look first: the swirling black lines covering her right arm or the III Mark on her left forearm. " Suuuure , when Tenn tortures and suffocates to kill, it's hot . . . but when Emersyn does it, it's a fucking concern."

A boy that looked exactly like Royce but with blond hair and purple eyes gave her a crooked grin. "Butterberry, when you sprout white angel wings, you can suffocate any monster you want."

Tennessee shrugged and nodded. "That feels fair." He held his left hand out and flexed his fingers. The air pulsed, and just like before, a long black sword flew toward him.

But a tall girl with a split-dye hairstyle jumped out from the crowd and lifted her hand up— and Tenn's sword slammed into her palm. She grinned over at him. "Thanks."

Tenn arched one black eyebrow at her. "Excuse me. That's mine."

"Look, some little sisters steal sweatshirts." She strolled toward him and I realized how identical they were with their mismatching green and blue eyes. Half of her head was platinum blonde, but the other side was as black as Tenn's. " Your little sister steals your sword. That's just who we are."

Tenn chuckled and shook his head. "I missed you too, Hope."

She didn't drop his sword or hand it over, but she did hug him. "Thanks for not dying, bro."

Tegan giggled and leapt forward—and evaporated into rainbow bubbles. I cursed and jumped to the side just as she re-formed right in front of Tennessee. When he stepped back from his sister, his smirk turned into a full grin. Pink light flashed from the center of his chest where a pink crystal poked out the top of his V-neck shirt. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off her feet. They held each other for just a second before they broke apart.

They were talking to each other, yet I couldn't hear what they were saying. I frowned. "Did someone hit the mute button?"

Esther snickered. "Knowing Tegan, I think that's exactly what she did."

" They're talking about the Unseelie ," Seamus whispered. " They don't know how they got in, and they don't want us to know that. "

Ava shuddered. "Seamus, we've been over this. Stop reading The Coven's lips when they're going to lengths to prevent us from hearing them. There's a reason for it, love."

The others grumbled and nodded.

"Hey, Frankie?—"

I spun back and cursed, throwing my arms out in self-defense. Tegan was right in front of me. But my magic hadn't realized it was her, and it moved faster than I knew it could. Blue flames shot out of my hands and flew right at her face. "No!"

She held her hand up and my flames coiled around her fingers like they were long lost friends. "Sorry, I did that on purpose." She giggled.

I exhaled and fell back onto my ass, then pushed my hair back. "What? Why? Why do you know my name?"

She sank to her knees in front of me, close enough that I saw every speckle of color in her pale-green eyes. This close, I realized her hair was entirely purple but like in an ombre where the top was super dark and then faded to a lighter purple at the tips. The combo with her green eyes was insanely cool. You're staring, Frankie.

I closed my eyes and shook myself. "Sorry?—"

"Don't be."

When I opened my eyes, I found her right hand up in front of my face. Those black lines covered every inch of her skin all the way to her fingertips.

" Take a deep breath, Frankie."

My body listened to her order, sucking in a gasp of air—and then rainbow-colored mist slammed into my face. I flinched and scurried backwards. Sharp pain shot through my temples and into my sinuses. Images flashed like a flip-book in my mind. I hissed and pressed my fingers to my temples.

"Yeah, I had a feeling." Tegan chuckled, but I didn't know why my pain was funny.

I squeezed my eyes shut, but the images grew brighter and clearer. People's faces flew by one after another, but I couldn't place names. It was going too fast. The world spun and I swayed. It felt like I was having a stroke or seizure or something.

"Hey there, Frankie," another woman's voice broke through the chaos that was raging through my mind.

I opened my eyes with a cringe—and gasped. I knew her face. Images with her in them slid into my mind. I saw her standing beside my bed with colored IV bags. " Katherine . . . you're Katherine?"

"I sure am. Good to see you again." She held out a vial in front of me. "Drink this for me."

It was probably a horribly bad sign for my sanity, but I didn't hesitate to trust her. I grabbed the vial and chugged the liquid that tasted like apple juice. It slid down my throat, easing my pulse with every second. The pain vanished. I blinked and rubbed my eyes.

"Yeah, that should help." Katherine smiled and shook her head. She nodded her head in Tegan's direction. "That's my chill pill potion. Tegan's magic packs a punch, especially this kind. This will help your mind settle while the magic leaves your system. Think of it like you're downloading a file. Give it a second and you won't feel so crazy."

"Thank you," I breathed.

"You're welcome." She stood up but held her hands out. "Stay seated for a minute."

I nodded.

Tegan crouched in front of me again. "Tell me, Frankie, what's your best friend's name?"

"It's Elizabeth—" I gasped. All at once the images made sense. I knew what was happening. My memories were coming back. My memories from before. It wasn't all there yet, it was still chaotic, but at least I knew what was happening. "It's Mei-Ling. She goes by Mei-Ling now."

Tegan's grin was every bit the Cheshire Cat. "What day was it when you woke up from your coma?"

Emotions I wasn't prepared to feel hit me like a brick wall. "Valentine's Day."

"Very good. Chill for a hot sec." She winked, then stood up and walked over to stand beside Tennessee. "Good to go, Babe."

My friends stared at me with a million questions in their eyes, but I couldn't answer them. Not yet.

Tennessee cleared his throat, bringing all of our attention back to him. "All right, everyone move in close. I wanna make sure you can all hear me."

The Coven moved to stand behind him and Tegan. Their faces were masks of intensity. They weren't relaxed at all. They were all business. I glanced around but no one seemed concerned about their expressions. Actually, they all seemed overwhelmingly relieved they were there. Everyone hurried to huddle in as close to them as possible, then sat down on the ground or leaned against trees.

Tennessee smiled. "Hey, guys, before we talk . . . is anyone hurt? Like a real injury that needs attention right now?"

A guy in the back raised his hand. There was blood on it. "I think I need stitches on my head."

A few other hands raised in the air, but I couldn't see who they belonged to.

Tenn nodded. "Right. If you need medical attention, please walk to everyone's favorite oak tree and have a sit. Katherine will be right there. Ma, can you help?"

Mona's cheeks flushed but she nodded. "You betcha."

As Katherine and Mona walked toward a huge oak tree behind me, I noticed quite a few people headed in their direction. Everyone else kept their gazes locked on Tennessee, hanging on his every breath.

"Right." Tenn put his hands on his hips and sighed. "As I'm sure you've deduced at this point, for the last two weeks or so I was here disguised as a guy named Archie. I'm sorry for deceiving you. I assure you I did not do so to spy on you or anything. The truth is I was here undercover so that I could protect you, so that I would be here the very moment shit went down."

Atley held his hand up in the air. "If you were Archie, then who did I call on the phone that night? We all heard your voice."

All of the teenagers nodded and pointed to him like he'd asked the question they were thinking. And it was a good question. Archie had been standing right there when Atley spoke to Tennessee on the phone.

Tegan grinned and pressed her finger to her throat. "Yeah, that was me," she said in Tennessee's voice. When everyone gasped, she just shrugged. "I'm a master schemer, what can I say?"

"Yeah, I almost blew my own cover when I answered that call." Tenn chuckled but then he sobered and turned back to the group. "Okay, here's the deal . . . You all know me. This town was home for most of us for a long time and you were good to us. Some of you are our literal family. For that, I'm going to be honest with you. The truth is the war with Lilith has already started. Each time we thwart one of her schemes, she delivers a new one, a significantly worse one. First, she almost single-handedly prevented the twins from closing the Gap in Salem. Next, she attacked us with enemies made from our own kind, warped and poisoned by her magic. We've fought the Seelie King and his knights. We've fought fallen angels. We managed to kill Leviathan, but Asmodeus and Azazel are very much at large, and they were here last night?—"

Everyone gasped and looked around.

"They're not here right now." Tenn held his hands up. "I saw them at Hidden Kingdom last night. That's why I knew something was going to happen tonight and had my Coven-mates lurking in the shadows, ready for a fight."

Esther raised her hand. "Tenn . . . why? Why did they attack us? Who was that?"

The crowd grumbled and nodded in agreement.

Tenn sighed. "On Samhain we lost a family member. Larissa. And while her loss was devastating, her Mark was passed on to the next person worthy of the Card. That's how Coven life works. That person Marked as our new Tower suffered a horrible accident the night she was Marked and Katherine was forced to put her in a magically induced coma to help her heal, a coma she only woke from in February."

"Who?" someone yelled from the other side.

I stood up and everyone's eyes shot to me. The memories were still loading, but I knew the truth enough to know he meant me. I raised my left arm out and there it was, the Mark of The Tower. XVI. Everyone gasped, but the gasps from my friends made me the most nervous. "Me. It's me."

Tenn smiled. "Frankie is our Tower. When she first woke last month, she wound up kidnapped by vampires and taken to the kingdom of Avolire, along with two of her friends, one of whom was turned into a vampire against his will."

The aura in the park grew thick and terrified. Their faces were pale with worry.

"I know. We did not know the vampires were so boldly breaking Coven Law. We didn't know that Queen Sweyn had given her unwavering loyalty to Lilith. Fortunately, Sweyn underestimated our own Queen of Darkness and Tegan was able to rescue Frankie and her friend. But in doing so, it made us an active target."

"Queen Sweyn wants us dead. She wants to kill us on behalf of Lilith." Tegan glanced around the group. "But after outsmarting her the way I did, she wants revenge. She wants payback for what I did, so we set her up for failure. We set her up to show her hand."

"We needed proof that she wanted to hurt us. We needed undeniable proof that she broke laws so that we could provide her with the proper, aggressive consequences. We got that tonight." He looked to the ground and shook his head. "We didn't expect it to go quite like that."

"Sweyn had plans for me," I heard myself say. I looked to Tegan. "That's why you asked if I wanted to be bait, because you knew she was butthurt and would come after me. "

"Yes. And we had a feeling she would retaliate against this community because she knows most of The Coven lived here. We have family here . . . People that mean a lot to us." Tegan looked around the park at all the faces watching her. "I took Frankie's memories of everything that happened since she woke up so she wouldn't remember a single detail . . . so that she was the perfect bait. I sent her here because I knew y'all would welcome her in, but also . . . two birds one stone. We could focus our energy here."

"Those men in white." Esther pointed to the spot where the blood still stained the grass. "They had fangs. Those were vampires."

"Yes. They were here for Frankie. The Unseelie were here to snatch and grab. The demons were a distraction."

"One of them got away." Esther wrapped her arms around my shoulders. "He left?—"

"I know. I let him go."

I smiled because I knew why. Tegan wanted to send a message. She was one ballsy motherfucker.

" Why? " Esther whispered.

"Because dead men tell no tales," Tenn's sister said with a grin.

" MA'AM, speak for your damn self, " a girl with a thick southern accent yelled from the far side of the Coven's huddle. She had blue hair with white pieces framing her face. Her makeup was professional-level good and dramatic. Madge and Jo nodded in approval beside me. The girl pointed to the XIII Mark on her forearm that was perfectly blended in with all of her other tattoos. "I assure you these som' bitches have shit to say."

The entire Coven chuckled.

Tegan shook her head. "Yes, but Sweyn can't talk to them like you can, Savannah."

Savannah grumbled and crossed her arms over her chest. I couldn't hear her, but her Coven-mates giggled and patted her on the back.

"Look, I wanted Queen Sweyn to know I beat her. Again. Fuck around and find out." Tegan shrugged. "She needs to know what bear she's poking."

Everyone in the park shook their heads. There wasn't surprise in their response, which was a good indication Tegan had been pulling shit since day one.

"Thanks, babe. They'll all sleep better tonight now." Tenn rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. He licked his lips and sobered again. "You're not going to like this, so brace yourselves . . . but I'm evacuating Tampa. Effective immediately, and it is mandatory."

Everyone gasped and sat up straight. People glanced around to each other like they wanted to make sure they'd heard him right. Whispers echoed between the trees as panic began to rise.

"All right. Everyone, stay with me." Tenn raised both hands in the air. "Hunter, you here?"

A big guy with blond hair and golden eyes like Emersyn stepped forward with a smile as he lifted his hands and pushed golden mist through the crowd. I watched as the moment it touched people they instantly calmed and settled back in place. "We know how you're feeling, but let Tenn finish, and I'm sure you'll feel a little better."

"The evacuation is mandatory because our town here is no longer safe, so we're moving all of you to Eden. Tonight. I cannot and will not knowingly put my own people at risk. If you don't want to go to Eden, you can go somewhere else, but you won't be allowed to stay here. And if you've been paying attention to arcana life outside of Tampa, then you know how much danger the rest of our fellow witches have been in. If you decide to evacuate to a different city, that is up to you, but while I've been here, my Coven-mates have been prepping for your arrival in Eden."

Monica stood. "How long is the evacuation for?"

"I'm not sure. I want to be honest with you. So long as Queen Sweyn and the vampire kingdom breathes, this town remains in danger." Tenn grimaced. "I don't want to sound cruel, but I've seen your demon-fighting abilities without us around. Vampires are lethal and smart. You. Are. Not. Safe. Here. Nod if you understand this."

He waited as the whole crowd nodded.

"All children will be enrolled in Edenburg starting tomorrow. I'm going to hold an assembly at the school in the morning so we can discuss more in detail. For now you just need to know that it is happening."

"Shit , " Madge mumbled.

Jo nodded. " Merde. "

" Mierda , " Tomás echoed.

Birdie exhaled in a rush. "Fucking hell."

Tenn ran his hand through his messy long black hair. "I cannot promise Sweyn won't return and destroy everything here in spite. So, if it is important to you, you'll need to bring it with you. Sebastien English will be here with the English family moving company—I think we're all familiar with them."

Everyone chuckled, including Royce and the pretty blond boy that looked a lot like him. I looked around until I spotted my aunt and uncle who'd gotten stuck standing on the other side of the park. They met my stare and nodded, so I smiled back. They'd told me about the English family's moving company when we got here. It was nice to know something ahead of time and not feel lost by everything they were saying. My memories may have been returning but I still didn't know anything about Edenburg or Eden that wasn't surface level info.

Ava cleared her throat. "What about our pets?"

"I swear to the Goddess if a single one of you abandons your pet in this evacuation, I will personally have your magic stripped. Permanently." A short girl with brown ringlets glared her pretty blue eyes at everyone, her cheeks flushed. Yellow smoke swirled around her hands. "Did I stutter?"

Everyone shook their heads.

Ava grinned. "That settles that then."

Tegan chuckled. "Thank you, Chutney. And she has the support of her Coven Leaders on that threat. Bring your pets?—"

"What about our plants?"

Tegan's eyebrows rose. "You mean like your gardens?"

"The ones inside."

"Yeah, I have my friends in pots inside."

"They have to be taken care of too."

"I love witches. Y'all treat your plants like your children." Tegan shook her head. "Yes, bring them. You're not going to jail. We have accommodations for all of you. Y'all, this is not a hurricane evacuation where you only grab what you can carry. We have portals and magic. We got you. We will help you get moved. I promise."

"So, take a moment, take a deep breath, and let's do it. I may suck at a wand—" Tenn paused as everyone laughed again. "But I have people who are good at them coming to help make this process quick."

Tegan held her hand up and a white box appeared off to the side. People dressed in black gear and strapped with weapons poured in looking every bit like an army. Then at the end of the squadron were about a dozen people wearing purple blazers. I frowned. The purple color meant they were Wands.

"See these lovely Pages wearing purple blazers? I've brought them in to help y'all get packed up. They'll be going around assisting the movers and anyone who needs it." Tegan turned to that blond boy who looked like Royce. "Deacon, can you call your father and see if they're ready for me?"

"On it." He pulled a cellphone out of his pocket, then jumped through the white portal box.

"These guys in black are the Knights of New York. They're here to watch your backs and kill anything that tries to hurt you." Tenn's eyes sharpened on something to his right. "Except for Aaron Burke and Jacob Jordan, who despite their intention to in fact hurt people, I've instructed the Knights not to harm."

Everyone gasped and looked to them.

Aaron and Jacob stared at Tenn with eyes and skin that looked a little green. Two sets of adults standing behind the bullies closed their eyes and cringed. They were visibly terrified of Tenn and wildly disappointed in their sons. Both of those things I understood.

Tenn glared at the bullies, and watching him torment them like this, in such a professional I'm just better than you way was so therapeutic. "You two and your parents will report to Coven Headquarters in Eden the moment you arrive there. You will see me first before your accommodations or I assure you your punishments will be worse than I'm currently planning. Understood?"

They nodded.

"Good." He turned his gaze to the rest of the crowd and his eyes softened. "Now, I'm going to let you have your ritual you've all been planning since we were so rudely interrupted. I know we did our tribute for Libby already, but I think we owe her a little of our gratitude. In case you didn't realize it, she sent us that arrow warning us, and everyone over near the pier is alive right now because of it. And that's pretty damn special, so we're going to thank her properly. Any of my Coven-mates who'd like to join us for that, please see stick around."

He winked at Aspen and tears filled her eyes. Her bottom lip trembled.

Tenn cleared his throat. "The rest of my Coven-mates, please get back to Eden. And someone, for the love of God, get Thorne and Sage there before I return. And call Cassandra and her brothers and?—"

"Already on top of that, babe." Tegan tapped her temple, then kissed his cheek. "Stay, honor Libby, then call me and I'll come back for you. We'll be ready to get to work."

That girl Savannah with the cool blue hair and tattoos and the XIII on her arm stepped up. "Tenn, may I stay?"

"Yes. Thank you." He waved for her to follow him over to Aspen, then he smiled down at the young girl. "This is Savannah Grace, our new Death Card."

"Aspen Tarbell. I know," Savannah said with a smile when Tenn opened his mouth to introduce her. Savannah crouched down in front of her. "Hey, kiddo. Gimme your hand. I have something for you, little ma'am."

Aspen frowned. "What do you have?" But she held her hand out like Savannah asked.

Savannah didn't answer. She just reached out and slid a red silk scrunchie onto Aspen's wrist. Aspen choked on a sob, tears instantly pouring down her face. She tackled Savannah who immediately wrapped her in her arms and held on tight. She whispered in her ear.

Esther leaned in close and whispered in my ear, " That was Libby's scrunchie she ALWAYS wore. "

I blinked and felt a tear on my eyelashes. Fucking hell. I wiped my eyes. There were sniffles and cleared throats all around us.

Tenn turned back to his Coven-mates with glistening eyes and nodded his head. "Go ahead, go to your families."

They charged into the crowd like they'd been dying for him to release them. One girl with long black hair only made it about fifteen feet before a couple tackled her in a hug that was a little violent. There was definitely a story. Especially given they were all crying. Two toddlers hugged the girl's legs, so she dropped down and pulled them into her arms. A pretty blond boy with a wild smile walked up behind them with glistening eyes.

One of the little girls my friends had introduced me to, the pretty little blonde one, sprinted for him with her arms out wide. "EASTON!"

He lunged forward and scooped her into the air, and she squealed.

Between us and them, I saw that Chutney girl hug a little boy and two adults in a big group hug. Another girl with strawberry blonde hair hugged her parents and little brother. And then both girls turned and tackled the couple next to them. A massive blond dude the same height as Tennessee went over to Libby's family, but he kept glancing over to where Mona was treating injuries with Katherine. Royce was talking to his parents. There was no doubting that genetic pool. They were practically triplets. Yet not a single one of them were smiling. Their sapphire eyes were all tense and sad.

The rest of The Coven slipped through Tegan's white box and out of sight, except for Tegan who was standing beside it but watching the lake.

Tenn sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Tegan, please take Frankie to Headquarters now. And her aunt and uncle."

I flinched. "Wait, what? I can't stay?"

He shook his head and moved closer to me so that no one else besides my friends could hear us when he whispered, " She came here for you. I'm sorry, but no. If she knows you're still here ? —"

"No, you're right." My heart sank. "I can't endanger anyone else any more than I already have."

"Thanks, Franks. I'll be right behind you." Then he turned away and headed for Libby's family without another word.

I looked to Esther. "Call me when you get to Eden?"

She nodded and gave me a small smile. "Will do. We'll see you soon."

The others waved, and I waved back with a rock in my stomach. I couldn't tell why I was feeling this dread, but I was. Or perhaps it was nerves. The sooner I got through that portal and could ask all the questions I needed to ask, the better.

When I got over to Tegan, I shook my head. " You ."

Tegan grinned. "How's my little baitfish feeling?"

I laughed. "Overwhelmed. I have questions."

She hugged me. "I have some answers. But not here. C'mon."

"I figured." I started after her, then glanced back at Esther. "She's important. You know that, right?"

Tegan smiled mischievously. "I've known that since October, yes."

I jumped. "Really?"

Tegan shrugged. "She was waiting for you to set her free. Now that she is, I'll bring her into our group. Tenn has been talking to me about her while he was here. He wants to keep her close for many reasons. The Coven collects pets, especially founding family lines."