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Or, it had… I thought of Nora, the girl from the hospital. I thought about how I’d felt so hopeful after meeting her, how death didn’t have to be a sad thing. We could live full lives no matter how long we had, and reaching an end only made every moment that came before more precious.
My heart warred with itself, one piece knowing this truth deep to my core, and the other terrified to accept it because staying within my comfort zone was easier than accepting a better alternative.
If this was truly the end, I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t delay the inevitable because I didn’t want to face it. Death would claim me, whether I was ready or not.
But that’s all belief was… a choice.
I could choose to believe something differently. Maybe dying next to the woman I loved wasn’t so bad.
I heard something, like the shuffling of footsteps. My thoughts stabilized, and the world slowly came back into focus. When I came to, darkness had enveloped the town square. I must’ve been knocked out for hours. I sat slumped against the lamp post like a ragdoll. Chilly night air swept across my skin, making me shiver. I ached as I shifted, but I could barely lift my head. My skull felt like it weighed a thousand pounds, and it fell back against the post.
A shadow approached. The person leaned down toward me, and I thought for certain we were being attacked again.
“No, please,” I rasped. I hadn’t drank anything all day, and I was parched.
“I’m here to help,” a woman said.
She reached for my cuffs, and I heard a click as she freed me. I sat up and looked toward Nadine. She sagged against the lamp post, tangled against Everly. Her lips were dry and cracked, and bruises marred her skin. The woman moved to help Nadine out of her cuffs.
I finally got a look at her face in the light of the streetlamp. “Headmistress Verla?”
“Shh…” she whispered. “We don’t know who might be watching.”
I looked around, but I saw no silhouettes through the darkness. “Where is everyone?”
She frowned. “They left you for dead.”
“Why weren’t we slaughtered?” I wondered.
Verla hastily worked on Nadine’s cuffs. “They certainly intended to. When I got to the square, the mob was already beating you. By the time I realized what was happening, you’d already lost consciousness. I cast a shield around the three of you to protect you—close to your bodies, so they wouldn’t notice. Shortly after, the priestesses ordered the crowd to stand down, but many of them stayed like it was something to celebrate. I’ve been here all day, waiting for the last of them to leave.”
“The priestesses wouldn’t have left us unattended,” I pointed out. “They’d have let us rot here until they confirmed we were dead. Where are the police? The Executors?”
Verla shot a glance around the square. “I knocked them out with a powerful spell. I broke through their alarm that would alert the priestesses, then cast a ward of my own. I don’t know how long it will be until the police wake, so we must hurry.”
Nadine groaned as the cuffs came off, and I caught her in my arms before she could slump onto the sidewalk. I quickly pulled the noose from her head and tossed it aside.
“Lucas?” Nadine slurred.
“It’s all right, baby,” I told her gently, wrapping her tight in my arms. “I’m here.”
Nadine cleared her throat. She placed her hand to her neck, like it pained her to speak. “Why would the priestesses tell them to stand down?”
Verla quickly worked on Everly’s cuffs. “The longer you’re alive, the more the coven will tolerate in the name of defeating you, until everyone complies with the priestesses. They don’t want to eliminate you until they’ve turned everyone against you.”
Everly came to and winced as Verla undid her cuffs.
“We must get you someplace safe where you can recover,” Verla said.
“What about our friends?” Nadine asked. “They were chased off.”
“Quentin left town with Lydia. He wants to get her far away from here. The others are safe,” Verla assured us. “We must get moving. Everly, can you walk?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
My tender muscles ached as I moved. For the first time, I saw that Everly’s pants were covered in blood.
Verla gently pulled back Everly’s pant leg, and my stomach dropped. Bone had pierced the skin, and the wound was swollen and purple.
