This Coven Won't Break - Isabel Sterling Page 0,73
All of them. Which means it’s only a matter of time before they’re looking for me.
A door slams on Archer’s side of the line and his car rumbles to life. “You don’t do anything, Hannah. I want you home. I’m sending Ellen and Cal to watch over your place.”
“You don’t have to do that. The barrier is still—”
“I’m not taking any chances, Hannah. Go home. I need to know you’re safe.”
“The raid,” I say before he can hang up. “I’m going with you.” Alice’s threat is meaningless now. No one could keep me away from the Hunters, not with Benton loose. My heart beats with the raging fire of a thousand suns. If the Hunters think they can take Benton back without consequences, they’re sorely mistaken.
“Hannah . . .”
“Elder Keating said I can still go with you. I’m coming.”
Archer sighs. “Is Morgan there? Give her the phone.”
I do as I’m asked, passing my cell to Morgan. The initial surge of adrenaline is already fading, and I slide down the wall, tucking my knees to my chest. My body trembles, but my mind is made up. Benton being free changes everything. If anyone is going to bring him down, it’s going to be me.
He will regret ever crossing us.
“Yes, sir.” Morgan glances down at me. “Of course, sir.” She nods once more and hangs up the phone. “Come on, Hannah.” She pulls me up from the floor and wipes tears from my face. I didn’t even realize I was crying. “Let’s get you out of here.”
Morgan calls her parents and comes home with me. She explains everything to my mom so I don’t have to, sending me to wash the makeup from my face and change into fuzzy pajamas. They take my silence for shock, and I let them assume. Instead, my mind is whirring with all the things I remember about the raid despite the meeting I missed.
Alice got Eisha to agree to the show. That’s our way in.
Cal will loop the security footage to keep us off their screens and serve as our digital lookout.
But then . . . what? I don’t know how we’re supposed to neutralize the drug without David’s research. I know Lexie’s good, but I doubt she had enough time to translate his work in just a few short days.
When I can’t stall in the bathroom any longer, I emerge to find Morgan’s parents in the dining room with my mom.
She crushes me in another hug. “It’s going to be okay,” Mom whispers into my hair. “Morgan’s parents agreed to stay with us tonight to keep an eye on you.”
Mr. Hughes offers me a smile. “We’ll spell the doors to keep the Hunters out.”
“What about the Elders’ border? Won’t that keep them out?” I ask.
“It doesn’t hurt to take extra precaution,” Mrs. Hughes says. She spins a ring on her right middle finger, a simple band that matches the one Morgan wears.
“Thank you,” Mom says, “I can’t tell you how much we appreciate your help.”
We watch Morgan’s parents draw bloody runes around every door and window. Out front, Cal and Ellen keep watch in Ellen’s car. It feels like overkill to have five witches watching over Morgan and me, but it’s also a special kind of magic to have all three Clans here like this.
It takes some negotiating with our parents, but Morgan ends up sleeping in my room with me. She holds me close, and I tuck my head under her chin, let my arms drape across her stomach. Her fingers smooth tiny circles on my back, and as the calming influence of her magic settles over me, I fall into the deepest, most restful sleep I’ve had since the bonfire last June that put this entire horror show into motion.
On Saturday, I’m itching to get back to planning the raid, but Archer is tied up with the search for Benton and has to cancel the morning meeting Alice mentioned. Morgan and her parents leave after breakfast, and Mom and I spend the next several hours fighting. She wants to lock me in our basement until the raid is over. I threaten to tell Elder Keating she’s trying to stop me.
Around three that afternoon, the police chief decides I need a protection detail since I was one of Benton’s victims. Archer gets himself assigned to the case—whether through magical or mundane means, I’m not sure—which gives us the time we need to prepare for Monday.
Everyone else is already at his house when Archer brings