We were safe. We were together.
Mom pulled back, wiping her face with trembling hands, looking from Ember to me. “Your father. I…I’m not supposed to be here.”
“Yes, you are, Mom,” I said. “The coven needs you.”
“Not when it has you.” Myriad emotions played on her expression—sadness, despair, pride, hope. “You succeeded where I failed. You freed all three demons and returned the amulet to the Underworld.”
“I didn’t do it alone.” A tear rolled down my cheek, and I looked at Ember. “We worked together, as a family. The way it should’ve been from the beginning.”
Mom nodded. “And together, you can end the curse.”
“About that…” Shade leaned against the counter, drumming his fingers on the surface, and my mind finally caught up with everything that was happening.
I glanced at Discord in his full-demon form, my eyes widening in alarm. “Why are they here? Does the whole coven know about…?” I waved a hand, gesturing to my demon. “Where’s Ash?”
“Ash is sleeping.” Ember swiped her boot through the salt ring, breaking the circle, and jerked her head toward the door. “Mayhem, take your brother upstairs and get him some clothes. I need a minute with Mom and Cinder.”
We followed her into the library, and Discord pinned me with a concerned look, hesitating to leave my side.
But we were in my realm now. My territory. My home.
“Go ahead.” I patted his arm. “I’ll be fine.”
He went upstairs with Mayhem, and Mom sank into the chair at Ash’s desk. “Where is she?” she asked, her voice thin.
“In the closet,” Ember said. “This is Chaos, her demon, and to answer your question, Cin, only Shade, Miles, and Patrice know who these guys really are.”
She paced in front of the door. “Well, Adrian knows too, thanks to Mayhem going full demon on him when he kidnapped me, but that’s a tomorrow problem.”
I rubbed my forehead, willing the gears in my brain to turn faster and catch up with everything that was happening. A million questions bounced around like pinballs in my mind, and the shock of being here, of being alive…of everything…made my head spin.
“Why is Ash sleeping in the closet?” I sat on the corner of the desk and pressed my fingers to my temples. “And Chrys? Is she tending to the ritual bonfire? What happened while I was gone?”
Ember cleared her throat, cutting her gaze to Chaos before focusing on me. “Chrys…didn’t make it.”
I blinked three times, my brows knitting over my eyes. “What do you mean she didn’t make it?”
Ember opened her mouth, but whatever words she’d planned to say stuck in her throat. She pressed her lips together and muttered something about working on her tone, and Mom’s expression pinched, sympathy softening her eyes.
I clenched my teeth. “What do you mean, Ember?”
Chaos crossed his arms. “She means your friend is dead.”
His words felt like a slap across my face, and I froze, unable to breathe for a beat or two. Finally, my lungs expanded, and I raked in a shaky breath. “What…?” I shook my head. “She…? How…? I don’t understand.”
“Chrys formed a coup,” Chaos said as if it were nothing more than a matter of fact. “She murdered Ginger, attempted to take over the Boston coven, and nearly killed all of us. Then, she summoned Mayhem into her body and did not survive the exorcism.”
“Nice delivery, doofus.” Ember rolled her eyes. “You couldn’t soften it a bit? Chrys was Cinder’s best friend.”
“She’s dead? And she murdered Ginger?” My head shook rapidly of its own volition, my stomach souring and twisting. Ember wouldn’t lie about something like this, but… “That doesn’t make sense. Chrys would never.”
“Yet she did.” Shade lifted his arms and dropped them at his sides.
“It’s true.” Miles shoved his hands into his pockets and cast his gaze to the floor, his shoulders inching toward his ears. “It was…awful.”
I couldn’t stop my head from shaking as I wrung my hands in my lap. None of this tracked. Chrys was the nicest, kindest witch in the coven. I knew her better than anyone, and there was absolutely no chance… She couldn’t. She wouldn’t.
I slapped my hands on my thighs. “There’s just no way.”
