“You think they will ask for more of your money, now that they have her?” Peter questioned.
“For sure,” I stated, knowing the truth of those words. “Astrea and I were never in any coven. Our Gran had been, but we never had the interest. This coven is the only one near us, except for the one our Gran was in. I figure they aren’t used to being rejected. When Astrea said no to marrying this stranger, they took it personally. And since we have no coven to help us out, I was alone with it. I had Claire—still do—but she can’t do more than she alreadydoes for me.”
Severin held my hand as I told them everything, and every once in a while, his grip would tighten, as if my words pained him, too.
“They must know Severin is your fated,” Dina said. “Severin is known for his wealth and age. That is the only explanation. If they only knew you worked for him, they wouldn’t dare jeopardize their easy payments from you. So, either someone found out around here, a cleaner or a gardener, or they have a seer.”
The front door rang, alerting us to Claire’s arrival.
I sighed, knowing I would have to fill her in on everything, while desperately wanting to keep her safe from all of this.
I quickly sprinted down the stairs—not fast enough to stumble and die—and opened the door. Claire looked horrible, but I would keep that to myself, poor Claire had dealt with way too much shit on her own.
“Claire,” I greeted, my voice filled with emotion. She ran into me, hugging me tight. I felt her tremble in my arms; a sure sign she was barely holding it together. I knew Astrea meant the world to her, and it might seem selfish of me to like that, but I did. It meant I wasn’t alone in this. That Claire would do anything to get her back, just as I would.
“Why did they take her?” she sobbed. “She hasn’t done anything!” I patted her back, enjoying the familiar scent of her vanilla and coconut shampoo. She smelled like home. It had been years since we’d hugged for this long and I hadn’t realized how badly I’d missed it until now.
“Come in and meet the others. I need to catch you up on everything and then you can tell us what you know.” She nodded and followed me inside. I had a suspicion that Severin and Peter had overheard us, so they would know we were coming up.
Severin met us on top of the stairs. It might be because he couldn’t deal with us being apart for any longer, or because he wanted to introduce himself to Claire first. Whatever the reason, I liked it. It made me feel important to him, for him to want to meet Claire. It only made me slightly jealous as they shook hands, her eyes appreciating his form. But I tamped it down. I still believed she was in love with my sister, and I knew she would never flirt with Severin, with him being mine and all.
“Nice to meet you,” Claire said kindly after Severin had introduced himself.
“We moved the meeting into one of the sitting rooms,” Severin informed us, gesturing for us to follow him. “I figured a morecomfortable setting was fitting for this. Joel is bringing drinks and light snacks, too.” I suppressed a snicker. Severin had clearly forgotten how it was to be human and how often we needed to eat. I could already see snacks would be in my forever future with him. And I loved it.
The room we entered was one I hadn’t been in before. Pastel lilac paneled walls, so light they almost looked white. The curtains were a light grey and mounted at the ceiling, giving the room the illusion it had higher ceilings than it did. The couches were light blue with white and very pale pink throw pillows on them. The flooring was dark wood with three rugs around the room in the corners where you could sit. One big white fluffy rug was in the middle of the couch area, then one dusty blue one in the corner where two armchairs were situated, one bookcase next to them with a standing lamp, making it the optimal reading corner. The last rug was underneath a piano; one I desperately wanted to know if Severin could play. Yet another question I needed to ask him.
Dina sat with Peter on the couches and we joined them, me introducing Claire as we sat. Then Joel came in with a rolling cart filled with tiny sandwiches and what looked to be lemonade and water.
Joel seemed unsure if he should join us or not, but Severin saved him from questioning it, gesturing to the empty spot next to Dina. “Please, Joel, sit. I want you and Dina to know everything. Keeping you in the dark about the rest would be cruel. And I prefer you knowing so you can decide if you want to stay here or not. I will not force anyone to remain working here if we are under threat.”
Joel sat, seemingly glad to be included. Dina shot him a warm smile and I couldn’t help but feel slightly more at ease with these people around me.
With half the sandwiches eaten, and the lemonade gone, it was now Claire’s turn to tell us everything she knew. She’d been silent while I told her about the newest development between me and Severin, that I now believed him to be right about our bond, but that we still had to wait for the potion to be out of my system. Then Severin told her about his theory that they might come for me next to force Severin into paying them money for both me and Astrea, a theory he hadn’t told me about until now. Likely something he and Peter discussed as I went to let Claire in.
“There’s not much to tell, honestly,” she began. “The hospital worker, Hannah, who is the one assigned to Astrea, had made a comment about a visitor. A young man who lookedweakened. They allowed him to visit her but with one of them present for safety reasons.” The next part had my skin break out in goosebumps. “They said he never spoke, just sat next to her and looked like he was seconds away from a mental breakdown. He looked tired and sad. Then one day, Hannah heard him whisper that he was sorry before walking out. It was said so softly Hannah was unsure if he’d said it at every visit.”
“How often has he visited her?” I asked, ignoring my unease.
“Five times before she was taken. Always on Tuesdays.”
“The one day you never visit,” I replied, piecing everything together.
Claire nodded. “This man has likely been watching me or some other disgusting thing to know that. I’ve never, not once been there on a Tuesday.”
I knew this. Tuesdays were her busiest day at the shop, with all the new things I’d made on Monday that she needed to take pictures of and put online, plus fill the shelves and send out orders that were placed. I helped with the online part most of the time, but taking pictures was still her job.
“I do not like this,” Peter said. “Is this truly just because of a rejected proposal? Or could Astrea have been keeping secrets from you?” He said it kindly enough that I didn’t take offense from whathe was implying. He didn’t know Astrea, or how loyal and truthful she was to me.
“I know for certain that is the whole reason. We don’t have secrets between us,” I assured them.
“Then maybe this man was the one she rejected? He could visit her to keep an eye on her, before taking her,” Severin guessed.
“Or, and hear me on this, he could’ve tried to help her,” Claire suggested. “Hannah said he seemed to be miserable, and then saying he was sorry when he left.”
“That only makes him seem more guilty,” I objected. “No one who wanted to save her would apologize. Hell, maybe he said it because he knew what was going to happen next.”
Claire seemed to deflate. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
