I gasp for breath, crawling toward the passenger door. We just need to get to somewhere safe.
The door flies open on its own.
“Get in,” Natalie says, spinning to face our attackers.
There’s a thump. A roar.
I reach the car and climb inside, wheezing, my hands and knees throbbing.
A bouquet of flowers sits on the dash—a gorgeous, colorful array of dahlias, zinnias, cosmos, roses, a pink lily… My eyes sting with tears. This should have been our reunion. I could have run to her, thrown my arms around her neck, and kissed her for a long, uninterrupted minute. Instead, I’m running for my life, once again the liability she has to protect rather than the partner who stands beside her.
Concrete dust rises, and Natalie whips open the driver’s side door and dives in, coughing. “Welcome home, beautiful,” she wheezes, thrusting the flowers at me. The purple in her irises fades back to brown as she holds my gaze, her eyes saying everything her voice can’t.
“Thanks.” At this point, I’ll take whatever romance I can get. “Now go!”
She starts the car and shifts into drive—and before we’ve moved two feet, we lurch to a stop. Neil stands in front of us with his palms out, his face reddening as he strains to keep us from moving.
With a bang like a gunshot, the windshield cracks, a deep line snaking from bottom to top. My window shatters, and I scream as glass rains down on me. As the engine whines and dies, Neil races over and reaches in to grab my arms.
“Sorry about this,” he mutters, hauling me out through the hole. I shriek as the sweater rips and tiny shards stab my skin.
“Neil, you’re hurting her!” Natalie barks, her voice filling the car.
His grip falters, but it’s too late to change the fact that I’m halfway out with glass crumbling beneath me. “Then stop fighting the coven’s laws!” he growls.
I grit my teeth, hating that once again, I’m the damsel in distress while Natalie fights for me. How long before she resents having to constantly defend me?
Through the windshield, an SUV screeches to a halt, Hayley in the driver’s seat. Fiona hops out and holds the back door open.
It’s not the first time someone’s tried to force me into a car since I met Natalie—Oaklyn tried last winter in a UBC parking lot, and Freddie Madsen succeeded in Fort Langley a short time later. Now, here I am up against a witch SWAT team. But unlike before, when the Shadows were on my side, Natalie is the only person fighting with me.
Sky’s words from that day in Gastown rush back: “There’s a place for you here, Katie. Even if Fiona and the others don’t see it yet.” I believed her then. I still want to believe her, but it’s getting harder.
My eyes burn. I need to fix this. I need the coven to trust me again. Because if I’m going to help Natalie find her dad and the Madsens, we all have to be on the same team.
“Stop, Natalie,” I rasp, the fight draining from me like the blood oozing from my sides.
I grit my teeth as Neil hauls me all the way out. Hazel’s hoodie and pants are torn, but owing her a new outfit is the least of my worries. God, I hope she’s still back at the luggage carousels, far away from any witches and any chance of being sucked into this.
Natalie whips open the driver’s side door and jumps out. “Katie—”
“It’s not worth it.” I wrench out of Neil’s grasp and stand on my own, breathing hard. Fleeing will just confirm what they already think of me:that I’m an outsider and a threat to their secrecy. But if I surrender, I can make my case at my trial. “I won’t keep running. I swore an oath, and I’m going to prove to you that I meant it.”
And prove I deserve to be part of the coven, I think, hoping desperately that Natalie understands. I want a future where she doesn’t have to keep choosing between me and her coven. Where I’m not just her girlfriend but a respected member of her community. I’m ready to fight to earn their respect, no matter what it takes.
Natalie’s expression twists in anger. “You don’t have to do this, Fiona.”
“Frankly, we do.” Fiona’s voice is icy, her nostrils flaring. “You’ll be detained until your trial, Katie.”
“Fiona!” Natalie barks.
“It’s fine,” I say with as much courage as I can muster. “I’ll face the consequences.”
“There should be no consequences!”
“We’ll hope the jury feels the same,” I say. I have to believe it—it’s my only way out. If the witches are going to chase me until they catch me, then I have to stop running and face them.
Natalie’s chest heaves as she stands with her fists clenched, looking ready to keep blasting the others with magic.
