as though there’s nowhere for his words to settle in my swirling mind.
“Stop?” I ask, confused by the vehemence in his order.
Marx steps in front of Rogan. “You’re killing them, Leni, and I promise you that’s not a road you want to go down,” Marx tells me, his comforting voice warm and cozy. I swallow his words down like I just took a bite from a chocolate chip cookie fresh out of the oven. They feel gooey and delicious, and all I suddenly want is another bite.
I look over at Prek, whose arms are now limp by his sides. Small twitches work their way through his failing body, and all I can suddenly feel is a cold and hollow anger. My eyes find Marx’s again, and I feel a tear fall down my cheek.
“They were going to kill us,” I tell him in defense, my mind now feeling clouded with wrath and Marx’s tempting magic. There’s something else there too, something terrifyingly strong and overwhelming, but Marx’s warm cookie voice pulls my attention away.
“Let me take care of them, Leni,” Marx purrs, imbuing his words with even more power.
I close my eyes and float in it for a moment.
“Lennox,” Rogan starts, but Marx cuts him off.
“I think you’ll set her off again, Ro, just let me,” Marx tells him, and my brow furrows in question.
Does Rogan set me off?
“Leni, please,” Marx pleads, and I open my eyes and take him in, the appeal breaking through whatever is going on with me and resonating to the core of who I am.
“Okay,” I concede, my voice breaking a little. I release my hold on the Order’s Circummancers all around me, suddenly feeling spent and exhausted.
Coughs and labored gasps fill the night all around me, and in two steps, Rogan has me wrapped up in his strong hold as though he knows I’m completely depleted.
“Is the Order allowing unsanctioned attacks on innocent witches now?” Rogan growls, but all I want to do is curl up and go to sleep. I don’t have enough energy to feel angry anymore. Maybe in the morning.
“It wasn’t unsanctioned, Rogan,” Marx clips back as he bends to check on a yellow-robed witch who’s not moving. Relief fills his face when he finds a pulse and moves on to check on the next.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Rogan snarls.
“You need to go,” Marx interjects, cutting Rogan off when he opens his mouth to argue. “I’ll come by and explain after I get this shit show cleaned up, but you two need to get out of here now! Take my car,” he instructs, tossing Rogan a set of keys, his tone brooking no argument.
Rogan smoothly plucks the keys from the air and, surprisingly without another word, turns and moves us away from the downed Order witches and his friend, who frantically flits from witch to witch and pulls out his phone to make a call. I get lost in the steady sure movement of Rogan as he holds me to him, silently and effortlessly climbing up the steep embankment to the road where a sleek sports car is parked.
I say nothing as he buckles me into the seat, a weird sense of déjà vu running through me. Fear sends my heart galloping, and I suddenly come to the conclusion that I’m not ready to be in a car again. Not after what just happened in the last one.
“It’s okay, Lennox. I won’t let anything like that happen again. I need to get us home as quickly as possible; we’ll be safe there. I wish we had a ley line closer, but this will do,” he tells me, motioning to the car, with reassurance bleeding out of his gaze.
Emotions flood me, and it’s as though everything I should have been feeling during the near-death encounter comes surging in at me. My breaths get shorter and more panicked, and Rogan’s face moves closer until it’s a hair’s breadth away.
“You’re safe now. I’ve got you. You’re drained, and this is your body reacting to that vulnerability. This is normal. You just need to rest,” he reassures me, brushing matted curls back from my face.
I absorb his words, comparing them to the trepidation that I feel as though I just might drown in, and recognize that he’s right. I feel empty, like I can’t protect myself, and it’s feeding the anxiety that I can feel crashing through me right now.
“Do you want me to help you rest?” Rogan asks after a beat.
I