This Coven Won't Break - Isabel Sterling Page 0,85

it against the cell bars again. “I’m sorry, did I wake you?” He sneers at me, and I notice the bruising around his eye. His jaw. He carries himself gingerly, like there are injuries I can’t see.

The coven didn’t do that to him. Did the Hunters?

“How are you here?” I rise to my feet, legs stiff to the point of pain. “You were locked up. You were behind the barrier.”

Riley shrugs and glances over his shoulder. The other boy he was with—Wes, I think—steps into view. He’s sporting a split lip, a large keyring gripped in his hand. Riley puts his free arm around the other boy’s shoulders. “It’s a beautiful sight, isn’t it?” he asks, his voice almost dreamy.

Wes nods. “Monsters in cages. There’s definitely something right about it.”

“How did you get out?” I demand again, ignoring their taunts. “How are you even here right now?”

“Do you want to tell her?” Riley asks, looking to Wes. “Or shall I?”

“After you.”

Riley taps the crowbar against the cell. “Your directions were very helpful. The Order brought us home this morning.” He turns to Wes. “How many witches do you think we killed on our way out? Four? Five?”

“At least.”

The boys laugh, but the world trembles around me. This can’t be happening. The Hunters shouldn’t have been able to get through the barrier. The town was supposed to be safe. How—

No. Not how. How doesn’t matter. Who was it? Who did the Hunters take from us? Cal? Ellen?

Mom?

My lungs constrict and won’t let anything else back in. I can’t breathe. I can’t—

“Hannah.” Archer’s voice barely carries over the Hunters’ laughter, but even his presence can’t stop the panic that’s tearing me apart inside. I’m a spool of ribbon that’s been sliced down the center, every seam fraying and coming undone. Archer drags himself to his feet, and he closes the space between us. “Hannah, you have to breathe.”

But I can’t. I can’t, I can’t, I can’t—

The air around us turns cold.

It’s freezing.

My magic is a wild and untamed thing inside me, and it spills past the careful boundaries I spent the last day trying to pull apart. The temperature continues to plummet until I’m shaking with cold. The laughter dies away.

“They said your magic was gone.” An edge of fear creeps into Riley’s voice.

“Is it back?” Archer whispers as his body trembles.

I reach for the air as frost crackles along my lashes. I shake my head. “I can’t stop it. I can’t control it.”

Riley curses and drops the crowbar before the metal sticks to his skin.

“What the hell is going on?” Benton turns the corner, tugging his arms tightly around himself. “Riley? Wes? What are you doing here? I thought Dad—”

“Shut up, Hall,” Riley snaps. He wraps his sleeve around his hand and bends to retrieve the crowbar. “Unlock the door.”

Wes hurries forward to do what he was asked, his hands trembling with cold. I try to pull my magic in, try to contain it beneath my skin, but all I can see is my mom covered in blood and she’s dead and Dad’s dead and I’m all alone.

The air gets even colder.

“What are you doing?” Benton demands, more authority in his voice now.

“Knocking the witches out before they kill us.” Riley adjusts his covered grip on the cold metal and waits for the door to swing open. I share a worried look with Archer. He pulls me into an embrace I know must hurt him more than it could possibly soothe me.

“No. You’re not.” Benton tries to grab the crowbar from Riley, but he flinches away when the cold bites into his bare skin. “The detective is human now. We can’t hurt him.”

“The fuck we can’t.” Riley motions for Wes to hurry with the lock, but the other boy looks from Riley to Benton and back again, unsure. “Open the door, Wes.”

Benton grabs Riley’s wrist and twists. The crowbar clatters against the floor. “I said no, Riley. Our directives are clear. We don’t hurt them once they’re human. My parents need samples anyway.”

“Screw that.” Riley adjusts his sleeve over his palm and grabs the crowbar from the floor. But this time, when he swings, the metal connects with Benton’s side.

Benton doubles over, and Riley kicks him until he’s sprawled on his back. “Fucking witch sympathizer.” Riley drops the bar and nods for Wes to open the door.

This time, the other Hunter obeys.

I know I should try to run, but Archer is still holding tight, our combined warmth keeping us standing. Riley