Page 2 of This Coven Won't Break
“Oh. Do you know where she is?”
Lexie shook her head as she reached her building, even though she knew the Elemental couldn’t see her. Once she was safe behind the closed door, she started the climb. At least Tori wouldn’t have to face this new horror.
“Lexie?”
Anger twisted up from Lexie’s gut, but she forced her voice to remain neutral. “Don’t call this number again.”
She hung up before the other witch could protest.
On the fifth floor, Lexie walked down the hall and unlocked the deadbolt on her door. Inside her small, shared apartment, she let out a shaky breath and dropped her bag. The heavy textbooks thunked against the wood floor. Coral was in their kitchen-turned-Caster-workshop. She bent over a notebook, filling the page with symbols as a potion bubbled before her.
“Hey, Lex,” she said, brushing a thick curl behind her ear. Coral glanced up, and something in Lexie’s expression must have alarmed her, because she abandoned her notes. “What’s wrong?”
Lexie picked up a bundle of dried rosemary and twirled the plant between her fingers. The herb’s power hummed against her skin. It wanted to be shaped and combined and made into pure magic. There wasn’t time for that.
She focused her gaze on her roommate. “We have a problem.”
1
HIGH SCHOOL. THEY SAYit’s the best time of our lives. A time of exploration and endless possibilities. We can try out for any sport, dabble in any form of artistic expression. And by the time we walk across the graduation stage, we’re supposed to know exactly who we want to be.
Theysay a lot of things, but as I sit in my dead father’s car, parked at the back of the student lot for the first day of senior year, I can’t help but call bullshit.
Salem High isn’t a place to discover who you are. It’s a place to survive and move on. A place where the swing from celebrity to outcast is only one misstep away. Especially for a girl like me.
I cut the engine and check my hair in the visor mirror, brushing the bangs out of my eyes. Even though the local news never mentioned my name, it didn’t take long before everyone figured out that their top story—Recent Salem High graduate Benton Hall arrested on charges of attempted murder—was about me. The entire school probably saw the gruesome re-creations of Benton’s makeshift pyre, where he tied my ex-girlfriend Veronica and me to a stake and tried to burn us alive.
If any of my classmates managed to miss the news, and the social media fallout it created—whichdidmention my name—I’m sure they’ll find out the second they step onto school grounds.
Not that any of them will be able to guesswhyBenton did what he did.
The only people at school who know that Veronica and I are Elemental Witches—the only ones who know about the Witch Hunters trying to kill us—are the handful of covenmates who go here, my Blood Witch girlfriend, and my best friend.
A sharp knock raps against my window. I flinch, nearly stabbing myself in the eye as my hands jolt away from the mirror.
“Sorry, Hannah!” The muffled voice of said best friend penetrates the closed window, and its familiarity calms my pounding heart. “Are you coming in?”
“Just a sec, Gemma.” I grab my backpack from the passenger’s seat and force out a slow breath, counting to ten as I exhale.I can do this. I’m okay. When my ragged heartbeat has calmed to a more normal rhythm, I leave the safety of Dad’s car and lock the door behind me.
Gemma follows me toward the school, using her fluorescent pink cane to reduce some of the pressure on her leg. Veronica and I weren’t the only ones the Witch Hunters hurt this summer. Gemma was with me when Benton forced my car over a bridge. He didn’t know Gem was in the car, but the door crushed her leg anyway. My magic was the only thing that saved us from drowning, and there was nothing I could do to hide it from her. Gemma saweverything, leaving me no choice but to explain.
If the Council finds out what Gemma knows though... that could be the end of my magic. It could end Gemma’s life, too.
Despite the danger of her knowledge, being my whole self around her has brought us closer. I wouldn’t change that, even though I wish I could take away the lasting damage done to herleg. I wish I could repair her ruined dreams of a professional dance career.
It could be worse, a voice inside reminds me.At least Gemma’s still alive. I squeeze my eyes shut and try to fight the rising panic. Fight the constant reminder whispering at the back of my head.
Dad didn’t survive.
“Hannah?” Gemma’s voice pulls me from the edge of drowning grief, and I focus on the aggressive pink of her cane. She doesn’t use it all the time, only on her bad days. Which are usually after she pushes herself too hard in physical therapy. When I glance up, she’s watching me, the space between her brows pinched with concern. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
I flash a smile, far brighter than what I feel inside, and head toward the horde of students mingling outside the school. “I’m good, Gem. I swear.” I slow to match her pace and lower my voice so no one overhears. “Besides, Mom already vetoed my plan to drop out of school and fight the Witch Hunters.”
“Your mom is such a buzzkill.” Gemma goes quiet as we pass through the crowd of students. Dozens of conversations dry up and turn to dust when they spot us.
When they spotme.
I try to smile when I see familiar faces, but there’s so much pity in the rise of their brows that I have to look away. I can’t stomach the obvious hunger for gossip that has infected the entire high school. Can’t bear to see the glimmer of morbid curiosity shining in their eyes and the reminder ofwhythey watch me like an impending car crash.
