Page 85 of These Witches Don't Burn
“Then let me help you.” She slips off her ring and reaches for the small pin. “Can I?” There’s a pulse of fear at her suggestion, but I trust her. When I nod, she pricks my finger and gently wipes the blood away.
A numbing sensation washes through me, and I manage my first deep breath since the fire, tears slipping down my face.
“We don’t have to do this,” she whispers, her power humming through my veins. “We don’t have to talk about him.”
I don’t know whichhimshe’s referring to, but my heart rate slows. A shuddering breath fills my lungs. The house stops shaking.
Somehow, I find my voice. “I need this. We have to stop him.”I have to stop him.I let Morgan bring me back to the couch, and the cushions swallow me up. Once my friends help me find the Hunter, I’ll take him down myself. I won’t put anyone else in his crosshairs.
“How do we identify the Hunter?” Gemma asks.
“That’s the tricky part. It’s basically impossible to tell.” Morgan rubs the back of her neck with one hand. “Hannah already knows this, but I accidentally dated one.”
“What?” Gemma asks, her voice pitched high with shock.
Morgan nods. “Hunters are hard to find but not impossible. The biggest giveaway is how they insinuate themselves into the witch’s life. They have to make sure their target is a witch before they... do what they do.”
Before they kill.That’s what she won’t say. I hate this. Hate the Hunters. Hate the questions that fill my brain to bursting.How close did Morgan come to dying? How did she manage to escape when my dad couldn’t? Why him and not her?
“Wait, so your ex tried to kill you?” Gemma asks.
“Yeah. I had a rough junior year.” She clasps her hands together and won’t look at either of us. “Riley was the sweetest guy at first. When his parents went out of town one weekend, we decided to cook dinner together instead of going out. I slipped and sliced my finger.”
She holds up her thumb, but it looks perfect. Unblemished. “I tried to play it off, but he noticed the cut. And then noticed how quickly it disappeared. If he were a normal Reg, it might have been fine. But Hunters spend their entire lives training to spot witches. He knew what I was the second he saw my healed thumb. It was... not good.”
“Damn, that really sucks,” Gemma says. “Do you think Riley followed you to Salem?”
“That’s what I thought, but Detective Archer called my parents last night. Riley isn’t here.” Morgan pulls her knees to her chest. “My family has the worst luck, picking two towns with Hunters in them.”
A bitterness coats my tongue. Her dad isn’t the one lying in a morgue. Mine is. But before I can say anything, before I can utter something I’ll regret, a different voice worms its way inside my head.
Help!
Veronica.
Hannah, please. Hurry!
Panic destroys whatever was left of the calm Morgan magicked over me. This time, the advanced air magic shouts loud in my head, Veronica’s message coming in crystal clear.He’s here!
I’m off the couch a second later, searching my pockets for my phone. I spot it by Gemma and lunge for it, dialing her number by memory. It rings and rings and then picks up. Static greets me on the other end. Followed by a crash and something shattering.
“Veronica! What’s happening? Where are you?” Worry slithers up my throat.Not again. Not again.
A door slams. “He’s back, Han. The Hunter. He’s back.”
“Where are you?” My power surges. The ground rumbles. “Veronica!”
Veronica shouts. In the distance, there’s another scream, high and terrified. “I’m home. He’s got a—”
Gunfire rings out.
And the line goes dead.
25
“I HAVE TO GO.”
“What happened?” Gemma asks at the same time Morgan says, “I’m going with you.”
