Page 30 of This Coven Won't Break
The smoky mixture curls into the air beneath Riley’s nose, and then Morgan’s ex jolts awake. His eyes are wild as he searches the room and pulls against his bindings. Morgan reaches for me, her fingers digging into my arm hard enough to bruise, but I don’t pull away. If she needs an anchor to weather this storm, I can do that for her.
Archer stoppers his potion and leans against the work table. “Let’s start with an easy question, shall we? What’s your full name?”
Riley spits in Archer’s general direction.
Elder Keating scans the shelves. “We don’t have time for this nonsense.” She selects a shimmering white potion and grabs one of those large droppers parents use on their kids to give them medicine.
“What are you doing?” Riley asks, a mixture of fear and disgust in his tone.
“Cutting to the truth,” Keating says, opening the vial and filling the dropper. She passes the rest of the vial to Archer and grabs hold of Riley’s face. He struggles against her grip, but she tilts his face up and shoves the liquid into his mouth.
Riley coughs and sputters, but it’s too late. The potion is already down his throat.
“Let’s try this again,” the Elder says. “What is your name?”
The young Hunter thrashes harder against the ropes that bind him, but he spits out the words. “Riley Martin.” Sweat beads along his forehead, and he glances nervously at the assembly of witches. “What did you do to me?”
“I’ll be asking the questions, Mr. Martin. And now, you have no choice but to respond truthfully.” Keating pulls a chair from behind the table and positions it in front of Riley. She crosses her ankles and watches him with a level of nonchalance that I know she can’t really feel. “Do you know who Ms. Ansley is?”
Though he tries not to, Riley’s eyes flit over to Alice. He looks her up and down, appraising. “I’ve seen her picture somewhere,” Riley admits, brow furrowing.
“Where?” Archer presses, stepping forward until he’s beside Elder Keating, slipping easily into his detective persona.
Riley presses his lips into a thin line, but he only manages to delay a few seconds before the words come spilling out. “InHannah’s photo. She and Morgan were standing beside a poster of her.”
Morgan flinches at the sound of her name, but Archer and Keating share a look. “Good,” Archer says, and then continues with the interrogation, asking Riley how he followed me to New York.
I try, but I can’t follow the line of questioning. My gaze is caught on Sarah, caught on all the tiny cracks in her veneer. She’s fighting so hard to act fine when I know she must be falling apart inside, adrift and disoriented without her magic. Rachel is going tokillme when she finds out what I let happen. With all that swirling around, I can’t understand why Sarah looks so relieved that Riley doesn’t know who Alice—
And then it hits me. If Riley didn’t know Alice was a witch before now, the rest of the Hunters probably don’t know about her, either. He was there because ofme, not Alice, which means the Hunters won’t recognize Alice as an enemy when she tries to schedule the performance. The raid still has a chance of success.
If I can actually convince Alice to help us...
“I want to talk about the Washington coven.” It’s Keating speaking now, and her words capture my attention. “We have reason to believe you dosed the water supply with your drug. How?”
Riley has stopped struggling against his bonds, but he stares at Archer like he wants to tear out his heart. “I don’t know. It’s above my clearance level.”
“But the Hunters did tamper with the water.” Archer poses the question as a statement, and Riley keeps his lips sealed tight. “Mr. Martin, must we really force each of these answers from you?”
“Yes.”
“Fine. Did the Hunters drug the water?”
“Yes.”
“Do you intend to drug all the country’s water supply?”
Riley bares his teeth, a look so violent it twists his face until he’s almost unrecognizable. “No.”
“Then what?” Archer’s voice is pitched with desperation. “How do you intend to administer your drug?”
“We’re going to make it airborne,” Riley says, raising his voice and looking at Morgan while he speaks. “Soon, there will be no escaping salvation.”
His laughter fills the room, and even Archer steps away from him, horror etched across his face. Morgan turns and sprints up the stairs, but whether she’s fleeing Riley or the future he promises, I can’t tell. But it doesn’t matter. If what he says is true, the Witch Clans aren’t going to survive much longer.
Magic will cease to exist.
I turn to run after Morgan, but Alice grips my wrist, holding me back.
