Page 43 of This Coven Won't Break
“Why do you choosenowto make sense?” I pull out my phone and scroll through my contacts until I get to the number Keating gave me. The phone rings three times, then cuts to voicemail, the robotic recording asking me to leave my name and number. “Should I leave a message?”
“Yeah, just remember—”
“Not to mention anything that would lead back to the Clans. I know, Cal. This isn’t my first phone call with another—Hi!” I say when the voicemail beeps. “This is, uh, Hannah. Hannah Walsh? You probably don’t know me, but I’m that girl from Salem, the one from the, uh, incident this summer.”
I look to Cal, but he gestures for me to continue. “Anyway, I heard about your research from a... mutual acquaintance and thought I might be able to help. I’m going to be in Ithaca tonight to see a friend, but I thought we could meet up. Call me. Or text me. Texting is actually probably better.” I repeat my number and hang up.
If I never have to leave another voicemail, it’ll be too soon.
“Wow. That was—”
“I know. I told you I suck on the phone.” I focus on the road, watching the trees zip by. The hints of orange in the leaves make me miss home. The coven is probably at Lady Ariana’s house right now to celebrate the equinox. For generations, Elementals have ushered in the changing of the leaves. Lady Ariana leads the ceremony, and by the time we’re finished, all the trees in the woods behind her house have leaves like sunset. An ache settles in my chest. That ceremony is another thing Dad will never do again.
Tears prickle at my eyes, and I reach desperately for a new subject. “How are classes going?”
“Actually, I turned in paperwork last week for a leave of absence.” Cal rubs the back of his neck. “I couldn’t justify spending the money on this semester. I’ve missed half my evening classes, and I’m behind in all the others.”
“Shit. I’m sorry, Cal. Did you at least get your money back?”
“Not all of it, but yeah. Some.” He sighs, and it’s like a mask shifts and I can finally see how exhausted he is. Between school,his shifts at the Cauldron, and all the stuff for the Council, no wonder something had to give. He rubs a thumb into his left temple. “So much for my three-year plan.”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s not like you’re taking a semester off because you were partying too hard and failed all your classes.”
Cal laughs. “Very true.”
The rest of the way to Ithaca we chat about life and love and a Hunter-less future. Cal and his boyfriend are trying to make things work, but all the secrets Cal has to keep are causing tension. I want to warn him about what happened to Elder Keating’s brother, but I don’t think that’s my story to tell. Maybe Cal’s boyfriend will forgive the secrets. Or maybe Cal will tell him like I told Gemma. Maybe that’s more common than I thought, especially since the Council doesn’t outright forbid dating non-witches. It’s certainly not encouraged, but it isn’t against our laws.
“I wonder how Veronica’s pulling it off,” I muse after we’ve refueled the car and merged back onto the thruway. “Her girlfriend, Savannah, isn’t a witch, and they see each other all the time at college now.” A prickle of jealousy dances along my arms, but not because I want V back. I just wish I had the freedom to hang out with Morgan whenever I wanted.
I wish I could so easily forget the threats against us.
“What about you?” he asks. “And Veronica, I mean. I remember things were pretty tense between you when we first met.”
“Things are... better.” Out my window, the sky grows grayer as we creep closer to the central part of New York. A place Veronica says is all cows and cornfields. “We’re finding our way back to being friends. I don’t think it’ll ever be exactly like it was, but it’s mostly good now. She doesn’t want any part ofwhat’s going on with the Council, though, which makes it hard to talk to her.”
“So, what do you talk about?”
“Our new girlfriends?”
Cal laughs so hard he nearly misses our exit, and I pretend to be annoyed at his amusement, staring out the window as we travel the rest of the way to Ithaca.
When we finally make it to the college, Veronica is waiting for us in the parking lot nearest her dorm. Despite the warm weather, she’s wearing full-length sleeves. I wonder if she’s actually cold or if she’s hiding the scar from where Benton shot her. Morgan’s parents had offered to heal the wound, but she turned them down.
I never found out if she wanted the scar as a reminder or if she was too creeped out to let the Blood Witches help.
We pull to a stop, and I slip out of the car, standing awkwardly beside the door until Veronica rolls her eyes and hugs me tight. Her embrace doesn’t spark any lingering romantic feelings, and I settle a little more comfortably into her touch.
“You two must be starving!” Veronica says when she slips into the back seat with me. “What are you in the mood for?”
Cal pulls out of the parking lot and drives around the edge of campus. “Something we can take back to the hotel?”
“You did not drive all this way to sit in a hotel room.” Veronica taps at her phone. “I know this great Thai place. We’ll eat there.”
“But—”
“It’s perfectly safe,” she says, cutting Cal off. “I’ve been here for weeks. I don’t want to hear any ‘it’s too dangerous’ nonsense.”
Cal meets my gaze in the rearview. I roll my eyes, hoping he can read the meaning there. Same old Veronica, alwayspushing until she gets her way. He must take my meaning, because he glances over his shoulder at her and asks, “Directions?”
