Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 98961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
“No. She’s dead, and I will get you another letter opener,” I tell Kristy.
“Don’t worry about it,” Kristy replies, waving her hands in the air. “How’s Easton?”
Oh shit. I forgot to text him this morning, though it was early. “Same,” I say. “Melinda will update me if there are changes, but he should be going home today.”
“A fucking djinn.” Naomi shakes her head. “Only you would get caught up with one. How did that happen?”
“It kind of attached to Easton when we went into the Order’s warehouse to steal this.” I hold up the black bag, feeling a little thrill go through me at the thought breaking and entering Order property. “The oracle.” My friends all exchange looks that I ignore. “What are you all doing here?”
“Uh, Ruby asked if we could come in and help oversee a project,” Kristy says as she looks down at Olive. Her familiar isn’t a fighter like mine. Olive helps plants grow and is good at mixing herbs and making potions. Kristy is attached like all witches are to their familiars, but she doesn’t usually bring Olive around like this…unless she’s worried something is going to go after her.
“You’re helping with schoolwork?”
Nicole and Kristy look at each other for half a second, and it’s half a second too long because I catch it.
“You know how the older students try to detect dark magic for extra credit? Well, they’ve gotten a few odd readings so we’re going to run the same tests and if it turns out to be anything big, well, no one needs to be alarmed.”
“Oh, wow. Kinda surprised she didn’t ask me,” I confess.
“She said she texted you and sent a letter, but I guess you were already here.”
My head bobs up and down. “Yeah. I did get here early. I’ll get Juliet and can help.”
“I feel bad asking you to stay when you have Juliet here,” Kristy says.
“It’s fine. She just likes to be held all day anyway. And I want to grab a few more books from the library. The oracle worked.” A smile takes over my face, feeling like I’m finally one step closer to saving Lucas.
My friends don’t share my excitement.
“I talked to Osiris,” I add, getting their attention. “He told me that Lucas is okay, but all the Horsemen are in a suspended state.”
“Most people don’t sound so casual when they mention they talked to a freaking god,” Nicole quips. “What was he like?”
“He seemed almost normal,” I say and realize she’s right. I didn’t feel fazed by meeting him, though I never did after meeting my paternal side of the family either. Or maybe it didn’t faze me because I fit in better with beings such as Osiris and the archangels better than I do with humans. “Julian trusted him, and I think we can too. He wants to find a way to kill the Horsemen. Technically, he has three hundred years to do so, according to the deal.”
“Wow.” Kristy picks up Olive. “That’s a lot to take in, but it’s great to know Lucas is okay right now. You can…” She trails off, shaking her head. Naomi gives her a pointed look and Nicole elbows her twin, giving her a look that says not now.
“If you have something to say, just say it.” I tighten my grip on the little bag, eager to go find Juliet.
“No, it’s…it’s nothing,” Kristy says.
“You’ve always been a terrible liar,” I remind her.
“People are scared,” she admits. “The entire coven knows something is going on, and they’re scared. I’m scared. Paimon is going to try to break out of Hell again, and since his plan to use you to sit on the throne didn’t work, who knows what he’ll do.”
“My money is on complete and total destruction,” Naomi says. “His plan the first time was to bring Hell to earth so he could rule both Hell and earth, but since he can’t sit on Hell’s throne…”
“…We’re worried he’s going to try to make himself a throne here,” Nicole finishes.
“That actually makes a scary amount of sense,” I agree and the sense of dizziness starts to take over. It’s just too much. Can’t I deal with one major crisis at a time?
“Yeah.” Kristy lets out a breath and shakes her head, causing her blonde ponytail to swing back and forth. “And my tarot readings haven’t been favorable the last few days.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” I ask.
They all look at each other again. “Well, you’ve been a little…distracted,” Kristy says with a wince.
“Distracted?” I echo. “With Juliet?”
“Well, of course, but that’s excusable for sure.” Kristy winces as the words leave her lips.
“What’s not excusable?” I ask, hating that I know where this conversation is going.
“You’re obsessed with getting Lucas back,” Naomi spits out.
“Yeah. He’s my husband. The father of my child.”
“But you just said it: he’s okay.”