Page 38 of This Coven Won't Break
The detective sighs. “Fine. Alice will sneak the two of us inside. Cal will remain in a van just off-property to keep an eye on the surveillance footage. Once we find the lab, I’ll plug Cal into their computer system while you destroy the drug.”
“And how exactly am I supposed to do that?”
“We’re still working on that part,” Archer says cryptically. “I’ll have potions with me in the event we’re discovered, but that’s where your Elemental magic will shine. You’ll have a lot more offensive flexibility than me.”
I shoot a worried look at Cal. “It... uh... it might be a good idea to have a second Elemental, if that’s your plan. I’m not eighteen, so there’s still a lot I can’t do.” Which is true, technically, but my power is so much more limited than Archer knows.Ihaveto figure out how to access my magic before then.
“I’ll see who’s available.” Archer pulls a little notebook from the back pocket of his jeans, and the familiarity of it makes me smile. “Now we need to focus on Ithaca. Let’s go over everything again.”
We spend the next hour fine-tuning the plan to recruit Dr. David O’Connell.
Step one: call David and offer to be a test subject for his research.
Step two: plead my case like I did with Alice and guilt-trip the Caster if necessary.
Step three: should step two fail, distract David so Cal can look through his research for the passages relevant to making a vaccine.
And likely the poison, too, I think, but Archer never brings it up. The real gamble is which magical code David uses. He moved around a lot as a kid, so the Council isn’t sure if Cal will be able to read it.
As we’re getting ready to wrap up, a door opens and slams shut somewhere in the house.
“Is someone here?”
Images of escaped Hunters fill my mind, but Elder Keating steps into the kitchen before Archer can explain. I relax. A little. The Elder looks more disheveled than I’ve ever seen her, a few flyaway hairs sticking to her face and neck. She opens the fridge and grabs a bottle of water, downing half before she turns to face us.
There’s a vulnerability to the moment that makes her seem more real. Like she actually has a past and a life like everyone else and didn’t burst into existence as an Elder.
“I’m sorry,” she says at last. “I’ve had my fill of adolescentWitch Hunters. Ryan, would you mind bringing down their food? They’re bound to start yelling about it any minute, and I don’t particularly want to listen to them carry on.”
“Did they give you anything?” Archer stands and motions for Cal to help him. They grab some premade sandwiches from the fridge and more of the water.
“They’re basically children. They don’t know nearly as much as I’d like.” She watches her agents leave, then sits in Archer’s vacant chair. “The young woman, Paige, reminds me of my brother’s wife. Well, ex-wife. She’s exhausting.”
“You have a brother?” I ask, before I think better of it. She may be an Elder, but she must have had a childhood like everyone else.
“I did,” she says wistfully. “He was actually the one who encouraged me to join the Council. Even among witches, the seventies weren’t an easy time for a woman to be in a position of power, especially a woman in her early twenties. I was one of the first female agents on the Council, but my brother never had any doubt about my ability to succeed. He always believed I’d become an Elder one day.”
“He sounds great.” I fuss with the printout of David O’Connell’s bio. “What happened to him?”
“Eli fell in love.”
I wait for Keating to elaborate, but she doesn’t. “I don’t understand.”
“Against my advice, my brother married a Reg woman. Like I’d warned him, she eventually came to believe he was hiding something from her and decided Eli was being unfaithful.” Keating grimaces. “She wasn’t wrong to suspect. He was hiding his magic from her, which is why we discourage witches from datingoutside the Clans, but he was stubborn and thought their love was big enough to take the risk.”
“Did he tell her the truth?” I think of Gemma, who loves me like a sister and holds the secret of my magic. Of Archer, who I caught blushing as he texted Lauren before my trip to Brooklyn.
Keating nods. “He did. His wife tried to have him committed until he showed her what his potions could do. She accused him of using magic to control her and ran off. The Council had to get involved.Ihad to get involved.”
The Elder sighs, and the age she normally hides so well shows through in her exhaustion at the distant memory, heightened by a girl who reminds her of this past. “Eli didn’t want me to erase her memories, and he fought back. I was only a junior agent then, and ultimately the Elders decided his fate.”
“What did they do?” I’m afraid to know the answer, but I feel compelled to ask.
“They did what they had to. The Elders wiped the woman’s memories and stripped Eli of his magic. My brother was stubborn to a fault, and he fought their power. He fought until it killed him.” Keating shakes her head. “We had just beaten the last of the Hunters. It was supposed to be a safer time.”
“I’m sorry.” The words feel wholly inadequate. So many witches have lost so much. Elder Keating lost her brother. I lost Dad. Even Tori, the blue-haired Caster Witch who wanted to bind Alice’s powers, lost her parents to the feud with Alice’s family. When will it be enough? When will it end?
“It was a long time ago.” The Elder offers a smile. Her phone rings, and she checks the caller ID. “Excuse me.”
