The Ravens (The Ravens #1) - Kass Morgan Page 0,103
blood around her. Someone had done that to her. Somebody cursed her.
Which meant Gwen likely wasn’t the kidnapper. Which left the Ravens back at square one.
Who is doing this?
Scarlett racked her brain for the answer. It was someone with power. Another witch. Maybe one of the girls they’d turned down for Kappa had somehow gotten her memories back. Maybe it was a witch who never even pledged. But why would anyone target the Ravens? Gwen had been the only person alive with a motive to hurt them, and now she was dead. Scarlett and Tiffany had joked about girls dying to get into Kappa, but she’d never imagined anyone killing for it. It just didn’t make any sense.
Scarlett needed the full force of the Ravens to help her. Together, maybe they could try another scrying spell, like they’d done the morning after Tiffany went missing. Something, anything.
She looked at the sky. Searched for the moon that, just like Tiffany, she knew was there but couldn’t see. She missed Tiffany so much, it physically hurt. She’d always felt so connected to her friend; sometimes they barely even needed words to communicate. But their connection had gone silent, as if severed by a magical wall. If only she could talk to her. If only Tiffany could tell her where she was.
She jolted straight up in her seat, an idea taking form in her mind. Maybe she could ask Tiffany . . .
“Are you sure you’ll be safe there?” Jackson asked, interrupting her thoughts. “I mean . . . if whoever did this is targeting witches . . .”
She cut him a sharp glare. She felt a flash of impatience even though she knew he meant well. Jackson had an irritating way of always pointing out the truth. “So I’m just supposed to slink off to safety and let them hurt another of my sisters instead of me—is that your suggestion?”
“I didn’t say that. Maybe you should all leave that house. Go somewhere safe, like your parents’ or—”
“Not until I find Tiffany.” Scarlett clenched her fists so hard her nails dug into her palms, although she didn’t notice until Jackson reached over to touch the back of her knuckles. She forced herself to relax.
One look at his face told her he wanted to argue. But after a few beats of silence, he nodded and started the car.
“Trust me, Jackson. I can handle myself. Whoever is doing this messed with the wrong witch.”
* * *
When they reached Kappa, the house had gone dark for the night. She felt a pang of guilt for leaving Jackson alone with the new knowledge of how big and strange the world was—not to mention what kinds of monsters it contained. But she had to be with her sisters right now.
And honestly? Jackson would be safer far away from her.
Scarlett unlocked the front door and held her breath as she crossed the threshold. It sounded quiet. Too quiet for a house of girls in full-blown crisis mode. Her heart started to hammer in her chest, and in her mind’s eye, she kept seeing Gwen again.
What if the killer had come here next?
Quietly, Scarlett eased the door shut behind her and started up the hallway, holding her breath. The creaky old floorboards sounded creakier than ever. Every step she took felt like she was announcing her presence, shouting, Come and get me.
She reached the main sitting room, which stood dark and silent, and squinted at the staircase. A single light burned at the top of the stairs.
“Scarlett?”
She nearly jumped out of her skin. She whipped around to find Mei behind her, frowning, arms crossed. “Where is everyone?” Scarlett asked, her voice overloud in the silence.
Mei’s frown deepened, as if Scarlett were the one acting weird. “Sleeping. Or trying to, anyway. Though I think Sonali and a couple other sisters are still up on the top floor digging through the old files.”
“What about Dahlia? I need to talk to her.”
“She’s preparing a new spell and had to run out to grab a final ingredient.”
Scarlett fought the urge to curse. Dahlia truly believed that if they gathered enough magical objects and held hands and chanted, they would survive this. Then she thought about her phone and the missed call from Vivi. “What about Vivi?”
“She took off earlier. Something about her mother.” Mei hesitated and then reached out to touch Scarlett’s forearm lightly. “Hey, for what it’s worth, I think Vivi was way out of line with Mason.”