This Coven Won't Break - Isabel Sterling Page 0,44
thing, but surgery recovery should be doable.” I remember the way Morgan tried to help Dad when she found the blood clot in his brain, her eyes shimmering with magic as she worked. She’s the only reason he regained consciousness one more time before we lost him.
I swallow down the rising emotion, pushing it firmly away. “You’d need a Blood Witch familiar with the surgery to do something that intricate, but I bet there’s someone out there who could do it.”
“Umm . . . yeah. I’ll think about it,” Cal says, but it’s clear that he’s uncomfortable with the idea of giving a Blood Witch access to his body. Part of me understands his hesitation—my first interaction with that kind of magic was the epitome of Not Great—but now that I’ve seen what Morgan can do? Now that I’ve felt the calm and peace her type of magic can provide, it’s hard not to feel defensive of her Clan.
“Speaking of Morgan,” he says, steering the conversation away from Blood Magic. “How is she holding up?”
“She’s scared.” I can still see the frantic runes she traced along her door, and I shudder, thinking of the trail of blood that went all the way down her forearm. “We’re all scared, but it’s so much more personal for her.”
“I heard one of the Hunters is her ex. I can’t even imagine.” Cal pulls out the chair at the head of the table, careful not to knock into any of his actively simmering potions.
“What’s all that?” I gesture to the multicolored liquids as I sit in the chair he pulled out for me.
“Just a few ideas I’m working on for after we destroy the drug.”
When he doesn’t elaborate, I press for more information. “They still haven’t decided how to stop the Hunters?”
Cal fidgets with the ties on his hoodie. “They have . . .”
“But?”
He sighs and sits beside me. “I don’t know. The plan doesn’t feel right.” Cal runs his hands through his hair, hesitating again.
I’m not sure if he’s stalling because he’s not supposed to tell me or if the plan makes him that uncomfortable. “Come on, Cal. What is it?” I stare at him until he finally relents.
“The plan relies on you recruiting David,” Cal says, referring to the Caster Witch I’m supposed to meet next Saturday. “The Council is using the Hunters in Archer’s basement to identify the rest of the Order. Dr. O’Connell can create a targeted potion that will poison Hunters but leave everyone else unharmed.”
“What will the potion do?”
Cal doesn’t look at me when he says, “Kill them.”
His words ricochet inside me, battering my ribs. Too many emotions rise up inside, and I can’t piece together what it is I’m feeling. Relief that we finally have a plan. Vindication that Dad’s murderers will be punished for what they did. But there’s also this sense of unease.
Does murdering the people who want us dead make us villains, too?
“From your expression, I’m guessing we had the same reaction,” Cal says softly. “I’m working on some other ideas, and I’m sure I’m not the only one, but until we figure out a better option, that’s the plan.” He adjusts the intensity of the flame in front of him, dropping the liquid to a more gentle simmer. “Anyway, your text said you needed help with something. What’s up?”
I hesitate. Part of me wants to know more about what kind of potions Cal is creating, but I came here for a purpose. I need to get my magic back under my control. “If I tell you, will you promise not to tell Archer or Elder Keating?”
Cal raises a brow at me. “Should I be worried?”
“No?” My response is more question than statement, so I try again. “Just please promise.” Cal reluctantly agrees, and I force myself to admit what only Morgan and Alice know. “There’s something . . . off . . . about my magic.”
Without hesitation, Cal reaches for the leather-bound journal sitting on the table beside him. “Off how?” He flips through the book, the pages full of geometric symbols I don’t recognize. “Can you reach the elements at all?”
I explain everything. How it feels like there’s this invisible door locking me away from my magic, and when I manage to shove that door open, it hurts too much to actually manipulate the elements. “It’s better when Morgan’s around, especially if she’s using her magic. She makes it feel the same as it did before he drugged me.”