This Coven Won't Break - Isabel Sterling Page 0,87
stop looking at the bruising on his face. Was his entire life like that? Or did his time in jail change how his parents see him?
“What will happen when your parents find out Riley put you in here?”
The last bit of color drains from Benton’s face. “We need to get out before they do.”
“Okay then.” I force myself to breathe deep, and the air sings through my lungs. I don’t dare reach for the elements, but they’re calling to me for the first time since Benton took them away. With the air playing along my skin, I manage to find focus. “How do we get out of here?”
Benton pats at his pockets and pulls out a phone. He stares at the screen, and a flash of the date and time is visible. October 1. 7:57 P.M. It’s hard to believe the raid was only yesterday morning.
“Is there anyone you trust?” Archer asks, walking over to the wall to lean against the rough stone for support. “Anyone who would let you out?”
“After this?” Benton raises his shoulders in a noncommittal shrug. “I honestly don’t know.”
Trust is a funny thing. Benton doesn’t trust the Hunters who raised him. He doesn’t trust us. I don’t trust him or the Hunters, and if a witch has betrayed us . . .
I leave Benton to wallow in his identity crisis and approach Archer, keeping my voice low. “Even if we get out, I don’t know if we’ll be safe. The Hunters shouldn’t have been able to get past Keating’s barrier. Not unless someone helped them.”
Archer looks up from his injured hands and fixes me with a suspicious stare. “Who exactly are you accusing?”
Even with everything at stake, a thread of nervousness stitches through me. Accusing a witch of treason isn’t something to do lightly. It carries a weight I’m not sure I want to bear, but I tell him my suspects anyway. I tell him everything.
Lexie and Coral working with Tori to bind Alice’s magic this spring. How they could have worked with the Hunters to develop the drug, how the Hunters never used their cure until after that fateful encounter. And being Caster Witches themselves, they could have let the Hunters past the barrier.
And then there’s Alice, who’s attacked me more than once and was furious when I backed out of the raid. How she got away and made it to Cal’s van before the rest of us even got to the main floor. I tell him what Morgan told me about Blood Witches being masters of barrier spells.
He listens through it all, alarm widening his eyes every time I mention another violation of Council laws. When I’m done, he tips his head back against the wall and stares at the ceiling. “Fuck, Hannah.” His profanity startles me, and it’s like his entire persona as a detective, as an agent for the Council, crumbles away. He looks at me like I’m a kid sister he wants desperately to protect. “Why didn’t you say something?”
The emotion in his voice tightens my throat. “I was scared.”
“Of what?”
“The Council,” I admit, trembling too much to keep my voice low. “Lady Ariana always warned us that if we stepped out of line, if we broke the laws, the Council would come and take away our magic.”
“I have an idea,” Benton says, interrupting before Archer can respond. But not before I notice the deepening sadness in his eyes. “I know someone who might let me out.”
“Good for you,” I snap. “That doesn’t exactly keep us alive.”
But Benton shakes his head. “I’ll take you with me.”
The absurdity of his promise makes me roll my eyes. “In what world do you expect me to believe that? You hate us.” Even if he did stand up for us twice . . .
“I swore an oath to protect humans from harm, and I paid for that when Gemma got hurt.” With his free hand, Benton gingerly touches his abdomen where Riley hit him. “I don’t know what happened to the Order while I was away, but former witch or not, the detective is human now. I won’t let anyone hurt him.” He leans heavily against the door, the phone clutched in his hand. “Not even my parents.”
Despite what Benton thinks, Archer is still a Caster. He’ll always be a Caster, but I don’t bother arguing the point. “What about me? I’m still an Elemental.” I gently reach for the air, but my intentional magic is weak and out of practice.