This Coven Won't Break by Isabel Sterling

Author:Isabel Sterling [Sterling, Isabel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2020-05-19T00:00:00+00:00

15

MORNING DAWNS IN ITHACA gray and drizzling.

I shower and dress quickly, wearing the same black slacks I wore to Dad’s funeral. I’ve paired them with a soft gray cardigan over a light blue button-down. Even though it might not make any difference, I want to give Dr. O’Connell every reason to take me seriously when I ask him to help the Council.

Outside Cal’s door, I pause before knocking. Part of me wants to leave without him. He’ll be safer here, and I don’t want to risk him being drugged like Sarah was. But this time will be different. The Hunters don’t know we’re in Ithaca. I haven’t posted anything online, and I’ve changed all my accounts to private. According to Wes and Paige, they were the only Hunters tracking my phone, and only because of Riley’s obsession with Morgan.

An obsession the rest of their Order doesn’t share.

Before I can sneak away, the door swings wide. Cal, who looks like my twin today in dark jeans, a navy dress shirt, and a soft cream sweater, startles when he sees me. “Oh. You’re already up.” He adjusts the messenger bag slung over one shoulder. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah.” I fidget with my phone since there aren’t any pockets in these pants. David said there’s only street parking by his house—which is on one of the town’s ridiculous hills—so last night we decided to walk the near mile from the hotel.

My legs are screaming by the time we make it to David’s, and the place looks like it’s ready to fall down. Half the shutters are missing, the paint has faded to gray where it isn’t peeling off completely, and the back steps are dangerously uneven.

I climb the stairs, the wood creaking under my weight, and find the door unlatched. “Hello?” I expect the Caster Witch to be waiting for me inside with a blood-collection kit like the one Cal used a few days ago, but he’s not in the small foyer. “David? Dr. O’Connell?”

“Did we get the address wrong?” Cal steps back and checks the number on the house. “One sixteen, apartment B?”

“Hang on.” I double-check the address David texted me. “Yeah, this is it.” I push open the door and step inside. Even without my magic, there’s this feeling of wrongness to the air. I pause in the living room, unsure if I should venture any farther into the small space.

The apartment shows signs of rushed, late-night cleaning, but it’s still hopelessly cluttered. There are stacks of papers on nearly every surface. A spilled pile of what looks like half-graded chemistry assignments sits beside a short stack of thick leather notebooks.

Cautiously, I crack open the top journal. I’m greeted by page after page of tight swirls and methodical loops. “Do you think this is his research?” I ask Cal, keeping my voice low.

Cal peers around me at the pages of coded notes. He lets out a low whistle. “Looks like it. Are all three journals full?”

I quickly flip through the two other

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.