The Coven (Coven of Bones, #1)(60)

This was far too close to home.

“What kind of prophecy?” I asked.

I barely knew anything about it, barely understood a single piece of what I was supposedly destined to do. All my father had said was that I needed the bones, that they needed to be returned to our bloodline.

What happened after I found them was a mystery. One I hoped would become clear once I connected with the other half of my magic.

“I hardly think that’s relevant today. The Covenant has done everything in its power to prevent it from coming to pass,” Gray said, scoffing as my blood chilled.

“I should think you’ve played some part in that,” Susannah snapped, finally turning her attention away from me.

I sighed, a tiny bit of my relief slipping loose, allowing Gray to take the focus off me.

“Of course. I have hunted down every male witch who tried to escape making the Choice on your behalf, Covenant.” He fiddled with his nails as if the topic of murdering male witches meant little to him.

I swallowed.

Not every one.

Running my hands over my face, I tried to steer clear of this conversation. But there was one thing I couldn’t ignore.

The opportunity to find out the information I’d been denied all my life. “What kind of prophecy?” I asked.

“Charlotte foretold of a witch born between two bloodlines who would restore what had been lost to time,” Susannah said, clasping her hands in front of her.

“What does that even mean?” I asked, glancing at Gray.

He shrugged. “All manner of things have been lost to time. It could have been anything. Charlotte was… troubled toward the end of her life. The way of things often left her deeply unsettled,” he answered, taking my arm despite the watchful eye of the Covenant. She didn’t seem surprised by the intimate touch as he led me away, heading back toward the school.

We entered through one of the six doors, my feet somehow functioning when I felt like the world had been tilted on its axis.

“Willow, wait!” Della called, following behind us. She caught up with us, walking beside us as Gray led me to my room. She swallowed as she cut in front of us, glancing at Gray and seeming to consider before she continued. “Did you hear it?”

“Hear what?” I asked, my hands clenching.

I didn’t miss the way Gray’s stare dropped to where my arm was looped through his, studying the tension in my body. He was too observant for his own good, and if I hadn’t needed him to find the bones, I’d have been far better off if he simply ceased to be.

Even if the thought of it made my heart hurt in a way I refused to acknowledge. He was my enemy, and when I found the bones, I would send his soul back to Hell where it belonged.

That was how it had to be.

“I heard something calling your name,” she said, swallowing as she looked at Gray. “I think it wanted you to be next.”

I dug my nails into Gray’s skin, forcing a smile. “I thought I was hearing things,” I said, admitting it when left with no other choice. To deny it would just seem odd, would only raise his suspicions, given that I hadn’t been the only one to hear the call. “It felt like compulsion.”

Gray tensed, a low growl rumbling in his chest.

Della nodded, clutching her own amulet as she looked at Gray. “It did. I followed it. I worried…” She swallowed, hanging her head forward. “I found him, but whoever killed him was gone by the time I got there.”

“Who else heard this voice?” Gray asked, glancing back at the small group that stared at me intently. I swallowed, dreading what was coming.

“I don’t know,” Della admitted, but there was no doubt in my mind that others had heard it call my name. The way they looked at me… They knew it should have been my body lying in the dirt.

“At least they won’t think I’m the killer now,” I said, trying to grasp at the silver lining.

“Don’t tell anyone about this, just in case, Miss Tethys,” Gray said, holding her gaze intently. “Until we know who we can trust, we need to keep this to ourselves.”

“You suspect someone?” she asked.

He nodded. “None of the Vessels do anything without my knowledge. I can attest to the whereabouts of each of them tonight.”

“So it wasn’t one of them. But who else could use compulsion?” she asked.

“The prophecy referred to a daughter of two. If one of those lines happened to be the Hecate line… that witch could compel if she managed the impossible and found Charlotte’s bones,” he said, but my brow furrowed.

That wasn’t possible. Because it certainly hadn’t been me who lured the witch from his bed.

I didn’t speak a word.





29





WILLOW





I walked through the halls, unable to find any sort of rest despite the midnight hour. I knew without a doubt that the odds were great it wasn’t safe for me to be walking through the abandoned halls, but as I dragged my hand over the stone walls of the school, I couldn’t seem to force myself to care.

There was something so peaceful about the halls being empty, something soothing and calming about thinking of my aunt following that same path all those years ago.

Had my dream of her been real? Had it been the exact moment of her death that I’d somehow dream-walked into?