sound and then pulled me into his arms, breathing me in. “I’m fine.”
I caught sight of Conah’s face over Grayson’s shoulder, and I knew that look. It was a we-just-escaped-a-fucking-dire-situation look.
I’d tried to slit my throat… I felt the tightness on my neck for the first time. “How bad was it?”
Grayson kissed the spot by my ear and then pulled back. The tears in his eyes were a slug to my chest because Grayson didn’t cry. I mean, I’d never seen him lose his shit. This must have been a close call. Right in front of him. If Conah hadn’t turned up…
I reached up to touch the dressing that was pressed to my skin.
“It’s healing,” Petra said. “It was deep. You were lucky you didn’t nick your artery.”
“Lucky? I’m sorry.” I wasn’t sure what else to say. Sorry felt right.
“It’s not your fault,” Grayson said. “Fuck, Fee, none of this is your fault.”
“No, it isn’t.” Petra handed me something…My journal. “We found this open on the floor. You should read it.”
“My journal? But I haven’t written in it yet.”
“Please,” she said.
A shiver rushed up my spine to settle at the nape of my neck as I took the open journal from her. All eyes were on me as I looked down at the marred pages. The writing was a scrawl, overly large and rushed, but there was no mistake…this was my handwriting. I scanned the short sentences, repeated over and over.
Can’t let him out.
Can’t set him free.
Must not let him out.
Must not let him wake.
And amidst it all, one word was scribbled across the page almost angrily.
Purgatory
There was that scratching at the back of my mind again, that feeling there was something vital I was forgetting. I focused on the sensation, trying to tease it to the forefront of my mind. A sharp pain lanced through my head. I cried out involuntarily and released the hidden thought. My temples throbbed as the pain eased.
“Fee, what is it?” Conah asked. “What happened in Purgatory?”
Yes…Something happened. Something…behind the wooden door…I went… Pain hit me again, claws unfurling in my brain, shredding and tearing.
“No!” I grabbed my head to stop it from exploding, and like before, the pain melted. “I can’t…Every time I think about it, there’s pain.”
“A hidden memory,” Conah said. “Probably a block placed by whoever put this curse on you.”
Was this the key to what was happening to me? To this curse placed on me? “Can you remove it? Can you get to the memory?”
“I can try.”
He stepped forward, and Grayson released me and climbed off the bed so Conah could take his place.
Conah sat facing me, his hip by my thighs. “Close your eyes and relax.”
I snorted. “Closing my eyes and relaxing is a huge problem right now.”
But I did as he asked.
His fingers were cool and firm on my temple. “Relax,” he repeated. “This won’t hurt.”
Long seconds ticked by, and then pressure bloomed at the back of my skull. A strange vibration filled my head, and then there was a crack like thunder, and the pressure of Conah’s fingers was gone.
Petra cried out in alarm, and my eyes snapped open to find the space where Conah had been a moment ago empty. My Dominus friend was crumpled on the floor against the far wall of the room.
He pulled himself up with a wince and shook out his arms. “Well, that was interesting.”
“What the hell just happened?” Grayson asked.
“I was expelled,” Conah said, rolling his shoulders. He ran his hand through his golden hair and fixed his serious sapphire gaze on me. “Whoever did this to you put a powerful block on those memories.”
“Cora spoke to Elijah, who believes it’s a group of outliers who want to kill witches born under a certain zodiac sign. He thinks this group is controlling the tulpas that are the hooded figures.”
“You’re not a witch,” Conah reminded me. “Cora has your power.”
“Yeah, but they didn’t get that memo.” I filled him in on the Grimswood witches and the potentials.
“But wouldn’t that make Cora a potential?” he asked.
I froze. Fuck. I hadn’t thought of that, and she hadn’t elaborated. I’d been too caught up in my curse problem. But if Cora was connected to Grimswood, what did that mean for us?
“Fee,” Conah said. “I get the wanting to kill witches, but this seems a little extreme.”
“They failed to do it any other way,” Grayson said.
“But Purgatory?” Conah shakes his head. “How did they get into Purgatory. It makes no sense. Only a celestial or