pinched my side to silence me. “Go on,” he said, his face cold. He gave the appearance of being relaxed, yet I could tell he was poised to strike should Paris make a move he didn’t like.
“I’ve always been interested in magic,” Paris said. “You know that. My mother believes in the principles of Wicca and I’ve embraced them, too. I wanted to go beyond that, though. I wanted to learn as much about pagan culture as possible.”
I didn’t like where this was heading.
“I met a few people through some online forums,” Paris continued. “Most of the people in those groups are wannabes. They’re not true practitioners. In most cases, even if they wanted to be true practitioners they don’t have the power to do it.”
“You joined a coven, didn’t you?” The words were out of my mouth before I realized I was saying them.
Aric stiffened beneath me and shifted my body so my back rested against his chest.
“I did,” Paris conceded, lowering her eyes in shame. “I know I shouldn’t have, but … I was lost. I felt abandoned. Whether it was purposeful or not, you walked out on our friendship.”
“I was trying to do the right thing for everyone,” I countered. “You were safer away from me. You know that. Even after we took down the hierarchy at Covenant College, the remnants of that organization were never going to stop looking for me. It wasn’t fair to put you in danger.”
“You let Aric hang around,” Paris pointed out.
I glanced at him, love washing over me. “I can’t seem to shake him.”
“And you never will,” Aric grunted, rubbing small circles on my back as he kept his gaze fixed on Paris. “Where is this coven located?”
“We held most of our meetings at various houses in northern Kent County,” Paris replied. “That’s where I moved after … well, after everything. I opened my own magic shop. Before you fly off the handle, it was mostly kitschy herbs and incense. There was nothing dangerous.
“Things shifted once I formed the coven, though,” Paris said.
“How could you even think of doing something like that after Laura?” I asked, wrinkling my nose at the name of my former roommate. Laura had been seduced by dark power and joined a coven masquerading as a sorority during our sophomore year at Covenant College. That coven was intent on stealing my powers until I ended Laura’s murder attempt in spectacular fashion on the lawn of a sorority house – one that bore a strange resemblance to a vagina. No, I’m not making it up, and I have no idea why it popped into my head now. “You were the one that pointed out the dark path Laura was going down. Why would you follow her?”
“I wasn’t following her,” Paris argued. “When I first envisioned the coven, I thought it was going to be basic spells and sisterhood. I only wanted some people to hang around with who understood about magic and weren’t afraid of it.”
“That’s not what you got, though, is it?” Aric asked.
“Things got out of hand before I realized what was happening,” Paris admitted. “We kept trying more and more complex spells. Most of them were still harmless but … .” She broke off, biting her lip. “Things got out of control.”
“Why did you come here?” Aric asked.
“One day one of the women in the group brought me a book she found at an estate sale of all places,” Paris said. “She thought it was cool. It was bound in leather – or so she thought – and it contained old spells. They were in Latin, so she couldn’t read them. She still wanted to try them.”
“What was the book,” Aric asked, leaning forward slightly and resting his chin on my shoulder.
“It was The Archimage.” Paris made the pronouncement in dramatic fashion. Unfortunately, I had no idea what that meant.
“Huh?”
“I forgot how ignorant you are when it comes to history,” Paris grumbled.
“Hey!”
“You’re the smartest person in the world, Trouble,” Aric said, not missing a
“I’ve always been interested in magic,” Paris said. “You know that. My mother believes in the principles of Wicca and I’ve embraced them, too. I wanted to go beyond that, though. I wanted to learn as much about pagan culture as possible.”
I didn’t like where this was heading.
“I met a few people through some online forums,” Paris continued. “Most of the people in those groups are wannabes. They’re not true practitioners. In most cases, even if they wanted to be true practitioners they don’t have the power to do it.”
“You joined a coven, didn’t you?” The words were out of my mouth before I realized I was saying them.
Aric stiffened beneath me and shifted my body so my back rested against his chest.
“I did,” Paris conceded, lowering her eyes in shame. “I know I shouldn’t have, but … I was lost. I felt abandoned. Whether it was purposeful or not, you walked out on our friendship.”
“I was trying to do the right thing for everyone,” I countered. “You were safer away from me. You know that. Even after we took down the hierarchy at Covenant College, the remnants of that organization were never going to stop looking for me. It wasn’t fair to put you in danger.”
“You let Aric hang around,” Paris pointed out.
I glanced at him, love washing over me. “I can’t seem to shake him.”
“And you never will,” Aric grunted, rubbing small circles on my back as he kept his gaze fixed on Paris. “Where is this coven located?”
“We held most of our meetings at various houses in northern Kent County,” Paris replied. “That’s where I moved after … well, after everything. I opened my own magic shop. Before you fly off the handle, it was mostly kitschy herbs and incense. There was nothing dangerous.
“Things shifted once I formed the coven, though,” Paris said.
“How could you even think of doing something like that after Laura?” I asked, wrinkling my nose at the name of my former roommate. Laura had been seduced by dark power and joined a coven masquerading as a sorority during our sophomore year at Covenant College. That coven was intent on stealing my powers until I ended Laura’s murder attempt in spectacular fashion on the lawn of a sorority house – one that bore a strange resemblance to a vagina. No, I’m not making it up, and I have no idea why it popped into my head now. “You were the one that pointed out the dark path Laura was going down. Why would you follow her?”
“I wasn’t following her,” Paris argued. “When I first envisioned the coven, I thought it was going to be basic spells and sisterhood. I only wanted some people to hang around with who understood about magic and weren’t afraid of it.”
“That’s not what you got, though, is it?” Aric asked.
“Things got out of hand before I realized what was happening,” Paris admitted. “We kept trying more and more complex spells. Most of them were still harmless but … .” She broke off, biting her lip. “Things got out of control.”
“Why did you come here?” Aric asked.
“One day one of the women in the group brought me a book she found at an estate sale of all places,” Paris said. “She thought it was cool. It was bound in leather – or so she thought – and it contained old spells. They were in Latin, so she couldn’t read them. She still wanted to try them.”
“What was the book,” Aric asked, leaning forward slightly and resting his chin on my shoulder.
“It was The Archimage.” Paris made the pronouncement in dramatic fashion. Unfortunately, I had no idea what that meant.
“Huh?”
“I forgot how ignorant you are when it comes to history,” Paris grumbled.
“Hey!”
“You’re the smartest person in the world, Trouble,” Aric said, not missing a
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