down the street. It was warm and carried that salty ocean breeze I loved so much, but it did nothing to ease the tension in my body.
Something’s not right.
Henley knows it.
Tennessee and Tegan know it.
RIAH KNOWS IT.
The fact that the entire Coven was right behind me not making a sound or a single joke told me two things: one, they knew something was wrong, and two, they were used to that.
About a dozen houses down, Henley turned left and then an immediate right on the next street over. I had absolutely no idea where Henley was taking us, and truthfully, I wasn’t paying much attention to my surroundings. I was too busy scanning every dark shadow.
Four houses later, we turned left at a slightly wider road. We sprinted to the second stop sign then turned right. Henley didn’t glance back at us a single time, she was locked in on her target. I was thankful for it but furious that she recognized the damn thing. The wind kicked up a few notches, whipping my hair back. I wished I knew what we were looking for, but I was clueless. I didn’t even know how close we were.
Tennessee cursed under his breath.
Tegan gnawed on her bottom lip. “This is definitely familiar, babe.”
“I know…dammit, I know.”
Just when I thought we might be getting closer, the houses ended and Henley led us into a park. I slowed my pace, wanting to stay near Riah. His hand landed on the base of my neck and squeezed. I sighed and let the warmth of his skin chase the lingering fear from my body. We walked under countless overgrown oak trees with dangling moss. Under the cloak of trees, it was almost pitch black.
“Dammit, dammit, dammit,” Tegan mumbled under her breath.
I glanced over to Tennessee and found him holding his blue pendulum named George in the air. Whatever question he asked it…George was saying yes. Tennessee growled a curse so vile I had to look to see if the adults were upset about it. But none of them showed any signs of hearing him.
Whatever this is…it’s bad.
We walked all the way to where land turned to water. It was some kind of lake, the surface was flat and shimmering. It was hard to tell just how big it was in the dark like this.
“Over here,” Henley growled and turned to the right.
Tegan stomped after her, her rainbow magic swirling around her body with every step. Tennessee flashed up by her side, carrying Michael’s glowing sword like it weighed nothing.
Riah growled. Light flashed out of the corner of my eye. When I looked down I found Riah had pulled two swords out of thin air – or wherever he stashed them. He saw me watching him and shook his head once. “Be ready.”
Henley led us down the lakeshore until we reached a pier…and then she stopped short.
“Son of a bitch,” Tennessee hissed.
I frowned and looked around for whatever threat they saw...and that was when I saw it. A pentagram was drawn in black in the dirt, almost like it was burned into place. But then I blinked and it was gone, like it was never there in the first place.
“Babe…this is where—"
“I know.”
Something about the air under the pier was thick and dense. It clung to my skin like humidity’s evil twin.
“Guys, what’s going on?”
Riah’s eyebrows dropped low over his golden eyes. “Someone did a spell here.”
Tennessee tightened his grip on Michael’s sword and turned in a slow circle. The muscles in his arm flexed, ready to destroy anything that jumped out at us. He held his right hand up. The air pulsed and then his long black sword slammed into his palm. Now he had two weapons…and my pulse kicked into overdrive.
I gripped the citrine bracelet Riah had given me and felt the sweet relief of that golden armor sliding up and over my arms. When the sword formed in my palm, I gripped the hilt so tight my knuckles were white.
“Yes…” Tegan narrowed her eyes on the water and held her hands up, rainbow magic coiling like snakes around her fingers. “George led us here a few months ago…before the shadow monster revealed itself to us. Someone had done a demonic ritual—"
“But I came by after we were here and cleaned this all up.” Tennessee shook his head. “Did a spell to purify and everything.”
Riah cocked his head to the side and knelt down to press his fingers to the dirt. “If the demon was