Chapter 139
Heather
A beautiful ring sounded. "This is real crystal."
"Yes. It’s old and lovely. Make it strong."
I gingerly placed it on the table and wiped my hands on my jeans. "All right. Here goes nothing." I reached closer and began tracing the knot.
"Stop."
I looked up at her. "Did I do something wrong?"
"That—" Rosa motioned a finger in a knot-like way. "Is just the trappings of the coven. It can mean something if you need help, but the magic comes from what’s inside. You do what you need to do to make it feel real. It could be a knot. It could be words that rhyme. The most powerful brujas I ever met didn’t need anything at all."
Right. Because that wasn’t intimidating at all. "Okay." I stared down at the fragile goblet. I closed my eyes, and instead of picturing crystal, I pictured steel. It was hard. Unbreakable.
Strong. Strong like steel. Strong like diamonds. I listed everything hard I could think of as I pictured the goblet in my mind. I willed it to be unbreakable with everything I had.
"Okay," I said. "I tried my best."
"Do. Or do not. There is no try." Daniel laughed at his own joke.
"Shut up," Claudia said.
"Oh, man. This could go south so fast," Raphael said. He’d finally left his post by the door, and came closer to see what would happen.
"Be quiet. She did fine. I know she did it," Claudia said as she stepped beside her brother.
I swallowed. That was a whole lot of pressure for one old lady to put on me. My hand shook as I handed Rosa the glass.
She moved to slam it against the coffee table, and I grabbed her arm. "Wait. Just wait. What if it breaks? I really did try, but I’ve fucked this up a lot and this seems to be a big deal to you and I’d really hate to—"
Rosa yanked away and slammed the goblet against the wood without breaking eye contact with me. Instead of a crash, the lovely ring of crystal sounded.
"Holy shit." It felt like it took my heart a second for it to start beating again. "I totally thought it was going to break."
"You need to have more faith in yourself. Even with everything you’ve accomplished in so little time, you doubt yourself. It will be your undoing. Try to manage that."
I nodded more absently than out of agreement. "I’ll see what I can do."
You okay? Brent said through the bond.
Yeah. Some days things happen that are so weird, you know? And all you can think is, did that really just happen? Fuck. My heart was still beating like crazy. It would’ve really sucked if I’d broken my great-great-grandmother’s glass.
Whenever I feel like I have a handle on something, it goes sideways and I lose my grip. How do you get used to it?
You’re asking the guy who just spent the week in the feral cages because he couldn’t keep it together?
I laughed, not caring if everyone in the room thought I was crazy. We’re the picture of the most put together couple ever.
Cherie. There was a little bit of pleading in his tone.
I sighed. I just wish I knew what I was supposed to do. Everything’s a mess. I’m not where I want to be—even physically.
You’ll be okay. And if you aren’t, I’ll be right there with you. We’re a team, remember? For good and bad.
I blinked my eyes, trying to keep any tears away.
If I was supposed to be the touchstone for everyone else, then Brent was for sure my touchstone. And now... "Okay. So, I trust my gut. That’s about all I can do."
"Exactly."
"Right." That was so not reassuring. It was just a catchphrase people used when they had nothing useful or constructive to say. Except that Rosa was trying to be useful.
But it couldn’t be that easy. Life didn’t always work out as planned. No matter how badly I wanted it.
I spent the rest of the afternoon at Rosa’s as she tried to hammer in the lesson she wanted me to learn. We all ate tamales, and no one got sick, so that was worth it, but it’d be a while before I trusted her cooking again. The lady was a little nuts.
Then sun was just about to set we got back to the compound.
Driving through the gates. I warned Brent.
Okay. Be safe.
I will. No more hiding as a wolf in the cages. And find out what the Hoels are up to. There’s too much bad shit going on around them.
I’m already on it.
Good. I love you.
Je t’aime, cherie.
With the clunk of the tires over the cattle guard, the bond shut down. It took my breath away, and I ached to turn the car around. I found a spot to park in front of the house, and noticed a figure sitting on the top step.
Luciana.
I didn’t have the desire to talk to her, not even a little bit. Especially when I was still smarting from the absence of the mate bond. But I couldn’t ignore her.
"How was Rosa?" She said the name with more than a little venom as I got out of the car.
"Enlightening as always." I shut car door with a slam. The guys and Claudia got out and came to stand beside me.
Luciana looked from her son to me and back again. I wasn’t sure what was going through her mind, but I didn’t want to know.
"I’m sure it was." Luciana paused long enough that it became a little awkward, but I couldn’t look away from her gaze before she broke away. The werewolf in me wouldn’t allow it.
It took longer than I would’ve thought before her focus shifted to Daniel. I didn’t look at him, but I could almost feel him stiffen beside me.
Whenever I left here, I made a promise to myself to take Daniel with me. He might be her son, but he wasn’t anything like her. I didn’t know what went on at home, but whatever it was, I didn’t think it was good.
"Is there something you wanted, Luciana?" Claudia asked.
She grinned then. "I searched your room, Heather. I’m sure the mongrel in you will know as soon as you enter, so I thought I’d give you a little warning."
I clenched my hands, trying to maintain control. The idea of her pawing through my things was more invasive than I could stand. "What gives you the right to go through my things?"