was serious. “Hope and Jackson are in London until the 14th so only a few more days there.”
Lily tied her long black hair back. “But we’ve still got Paulina, right? You’re not leaving us, are you?”
Willow’s eyebrows scrunched together. “Why would she leave us?”
“Card or not, she’s with us.” Chutney popped a grape in her mouth. “She’s not going.”
“Wait, was her leaving up for discussion? Was that a possibility?” Easton’s face paled as he looked back and forth between her and me. “Hold up, Tim too? They can’t leave. Right?”
My heart soared. My Coven-mates never let me down. “There may come a time when Paulina and Uncle Tim want to leave us, to do something different with their lives now that they have the freedom to do so. But that will happen when they want it to. Until then, they’re with us.”
Uncle Timothy smiled so hard I heard his jaw pop. “I’d like to see you try and make me leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I want to help Saffie adjust to her new role…it is…unnerving at times.” Paulina smiled and her dark eyes sparkled. “Plus, Albert is here now.”
“That’s just logic right there.” Braison grinned down at his black mastiff puppy that was almost as long as the couch. “But we also have Lennox and Warner, too. Right?”
“Yep,” Henley answered for me. “They’re out getting the school ready now but Tenn told them they can stay.”
Easton perked back up. “Oh right. When does school start back up here?”
“Monday,” Uncle Timothy said in that rough voice I knew so well. “Campus opens tomorrow for students to begin returning.”
Hunter nodded and rubbed his hands together. “Devon and I are ready to assist with their return.”
“More importantly, Eden is safe thanks to Hope finding our mother’s spell. So the students will be secure. We shouldn’t have any concerns here at home. Which is why I feel confident in sending you all out to some of our current demon hot spots. So eat. Sleep. Tomorrow you’re hunting. Got it?” I waited until they all nodded. “All right. Dismissed.”
A timer in the kitchen blared through the room.
Emersyn gasped and jumped to her feet. “Perfect timing! The lasagna is done. Come on, y’all. Dinner time.”
No one hesitated a second. They all leapt to their feet and rushed to the kitchen. I watched them all go…except for Tegan. Who still hadn’t moved. My Coven-mates weren’t the only ones worried about her. I was too…but I wasn’t sure I was the one who could get through to her right now. We were too much of the same person sometimes. I needed someone who had practice getting into her head, and getting her out of her head. Without sounding like a hypocrite.
I needed Hope.
But my sister was still in London with Lancaster.
I slipped out the front door to the balcony and then moved to stand just on the other side of the window from Tegan. Yet even with me in her line of sight she was a statue. She was spiraling. I cursed and paced the porch. I told myself, I promised myself, I would not call my sister back from her vacation with Jackson. I told myself we could handle anything that came our way for two weeks without them. The demon problem wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
But I hadn’t accounted for a Tegan I couldn’t help.
I knew what I meant to my soulmate, and how important I was to her…but I also knew that I wasn’t the help she needed. I knew she needed her best friend. The two of them were the best problem solvers I’d ever met. If Tegan was going to figure out a way to get Saffie back, then she was going to need Hope there to help her.
I cursed again as I pulled out my phone and dialed Hope’s number.
It rang six times before she answered. “Haven?”
“Hope, hi – shit, were you asleep?”
She cleared her throat. “Yeah, it’s like one in the morning here—”
“Shit. Shit. I’m sorry. Sorry. I can call—”
“Now, Haven. You called me now. What’s going on?” Her voice grew clearer with every word. “Talk to me. You sound terrible.”
I groaned and cursed. “I’m sorry—”
“Don’t be. Just start talking.”
“I need you home, Hope.”
There was a beat of silence, then she whispered, “Tegan?”
“Yeah.”
“I knew it. Damn it. How many fingernails does she have left?”
My breath left me in a rush. I’d made the right call. “She’s working on her last now.”
Hope cursed violently. “Okay. All right. Tomorrow is Jackson’s grandmother’s birthday.