This Coven Won't Break - Isabel Sterling Page 0,27
of the coven is still too weird about her being a Blood Witch to joke about anything. And as accepting as they are about us both being girls, Sarah is definitely the only one who’d ever tease me about this kind of stuff.
“We’re still firmly in the clothes on stage, for the record. And that’s not what this weekend is about.” I stare out the window and direct Sarah to Morgan’s house. “Promise you won’t say anything in front of her?”
“You got it, kiddo.”
I groan. “I’m not a kid,” I say, but somehow that only makes Sarah laugh harder. I really hope she doesn’t tell Morgan all my embarrassing childhood stories.
Thankfully, after we pick up Morgan, we spend most of our five-hour journey in silence. I try a few times to work on homework, but the closer we get to the city, the more frantic my worries become. I hated Manhattan the last time I was here, surrounded by too many bodies, with miles of concrete blocking the earth from my senses. Even the air, charged with so many people in such a small space, caused more anxiety than it soothed.
Not to mention the witches I met on those streets.
Something in my heart rate must alert Morgan to my distress, because she reaches for my hand and squeezes, a question in her blue gaze. I nod, and her magic cascades over me, soothing the harshest edges of my stress. Guilt picks at me for still being so scared of the Blood Witch I met here, even as Morgan’s magic makes my life so much better. Even as I find myself falling for Morgan more every day. Sarah glances at us in the rearview and smiles.
When we finally get to the hotel, it’s far more impressive than the place I stayed on my school trip. It’s a large building with geometric patterns of beige-and-gray siding around glittering glass. The lobby is all bright whites, rich blues, and a beige tile floor. It’s also full of hipsters when we check in. Tourists stand beside the sign announcing Alice’s show, and nerves make the little hairs on my arms stand on end. We’re really here. In a few short hours, I’ll begin my first real mission for the Council.
Morgan drags me over to the poster when the other tourists are done and makes me take a selfie with her and the sign. She curls her arm around my waist, and her touch makes all the worry melt away. A thrill climbs up my chest when I remember Sarah’s teasing words. Morgan and I are about to have a room all to ourselves. No parents. No supervision. I press a kiss to her cheek and take another photo. I post the best few to Instagram, and my phone buzzes with at least a dozen likes by the time Sarah comes back from checking us in.
We take the elevator to the sixth floor and follow Sarah down the hall. She stops beside a room and hands me a key. “You girls will stay here. I’m the next room over. The front desk said there’s a door inside that connects the two rooms. I’ll leave my side unlocked in case there are any emergencies. I suggest you do the same.”
“Thanks,” I say, pressing the card against the lock. A light flashes green.
“We’ll head to the roof at seven-thirty for the show.” Sarah grins at me. “You two have fun until then.” Her innuendo is clear, and my cheeks are burning by the time she disappears into the next room.
I push open our door, drop my bag on the polished wood floor, and flop onto the king-size bed. The white comforter cushions my body, and I stare up at the art behind me. It looks like a deconstructed, geometric forest.
“Are you okay?” Morgan perches on the edge of the mattress. “I know you said cities are hard on you, and the last time you were here . . .”
“I’ll be fine,” I say, refusing to let old memories of this city ruin the first truly private time we’ve had since our date in the woods back home.
“If you’re sure.” Morgan kicks off her shoes and stands, stretching out her long limbs. “Do you want to practice your recruitment speech, or do you want to be distracted?”
I raise an eyebrow at her. “What kind of distraction did you have in mind?”
Morgan turns slowly and raises her arms into a perfect ballet curve. “I’m auditioning for a solo in