Chapter 4

Elara'S POV

Garrick’s smirk sharpened. “I needed something more reliable than a promise. A discreet tracking enchantment ensures you don’t vanish on me, sweetheart.”

A chill crept across my skin. A tracking spell. Fabulous. Removing one wouldn’t be impossible, but it would definitely cost a small fortune I didn’t currently possess. And if my stalker ever caught wind of this thing attached to me… well, that was a problem for later. I wasn’t a fighter, not really my whole life proved that. Garrick was taller, stronger, trained, and wielded two wands. The only way out of this moment was through.

I inhaled shakily and slid the ring onto my finger. “My wand,” I said, extending my hand, palm open.

“Good girl.” He pushed my wand across the table.

I snatched it instantly and shoved it deep into my purse. The moment it was secure, I tugged at the ring, desperate to slip it back off.

It didn’t move. Not even a fraction.

Panic clamped hard around my ribs.

Garrick chuckled. “Clever little thing you are. But I’m always a few steps ahead.” He rose smoothly and shrugged on his coat. “Come on. I’ll drive you home.”

The last thing I wanted was more time beside him. Unfortunately, teleporting out of here was impossible with this many humans dining around us. So I grabbed my purse and coat, pushed out of the booth, and made a beeline for the exit.

He caught me before I made it three steps past him, his fingers digging into my arm. “Behave,” he murmured darkly, tugging me closer, “or I’ll have to teach you how.”

A shiver rattled down my spine. His grip hurt tight enough I knew it would bruise. I nodded stiffly, letting him herd me through the tables and out the front doors.

Cold December air rushed over me the instant we stepped outside. Traffic murmured from the main road, and a few lingering flakes of freezing rain fell from the sky. I wrapped the black faux-fur coat tighter around myself. It had been sitting in the bookstore’s lost-and-found bin for weeks before I claimed it. Tonight, I was grateful for its warmth.

Stupid. I cursed myself silently. I had been stupid. I’d let the fancy dinners, the sex, and his relentless compliments cloud my better judgment. I should’ve known anything that felt this good would come with a cost. I mentally added a new rule to my already long list: absolutely no dating.

The valet pulled up in Garrick’s yellow sports car. He opened the passenger door for me with a falsely courteous gesture that made my stomach twist. I slipped inside without a word.

He took the driver’s seat, the engine purring as he shifted into gear and merged into traffic. The car hummed smoothly along the winding streets, headlights cutting through pockets of fog. He didn’t speak, and I didn’t want him to.

Eventually he turned onto the narrow, forest-edged lane leading to my rental, a massive, decaying farmhouse that most people avoided on sight.

I’d thought it was a typo when I saw the rental price. But the agent confirmed it: cheap because it needed repairs and had a reputation for being haunted. Fully furnished, though, and available immediately. I didn’t hesitate.

The car rolled to a stop in front of the house. Garrick leaned in suddenly for a kiss, and I jerked away. His hand clamped over my jaw, twisting my face toward his until pain stabbed deep into the joints.

“Don’t pull away,” he warned.

His mouth crashed onto mine. I tried to turn, but he forced the kiss harder. By the time he released me, my jaw throbbed.

I reached for the door handle. He hit the lock button.

“Not yet, my love.” His smile was oily, wrong. “We should celebrate our engagement. And you know how much I love breaking in my cars with you. We haven’t done it in this one yet. Climb over here.”

“No.”

His arm shot around my waist. Instinct took over. I slapped him hard. The sound cracked sharply in the small space. His head snapped to the side, and when he straightened, he wiped a smear of blood from his lip, eyes burning with fury.

“I’ll let that slide once,” he said quietly. “But it won’t happen again. You’ll give me what I want, when I want it. If you don’t…” His smile widened. “There will be consequences.”

The lock clicked open.

I shoved the door, stumbled out, and slammed it behind me. “Fucking psycho,” I muttered under my breath.

His window slid down. “See you tomorrow, Elara,” he called, voice singing, before backing out of the driveway.

My stomach churned violently. I needed out of this town, out of his reach, out of every problem I’d somehow stumbled into. He’d taken my wand hostage, threatened me, trapped a tracking spell on my finger, and was now apparently planning a future where I played an obedient politician’s wife.

No. Absolutely not.

I trudged up the overgrown walkway toward the looming farmhouse. The place creaked in the wind, its white paint peeling in long strips. Too big for just the two of us, but cheap enough that I hadn’t questioned it.

Light glowed softly through the downstairs curtains. Orion was home.

A sudden hailstorm rattled the porch roof as I stepped inside. I toed off my heels, tossed my purse and coat into the entryway, and hurried toward the kitchen.

Orion sat at the wooden table, bent over a bowl of cereal like he hadn’t eaten in days.

“You’re home early!” I said, relief flooding me. “Why didn’t you call?”

He stood abruptly, carried his empty bowl to the sink, then slung his backpack over his shoulder. “I was busy. Still am, actually.”

Something in his voice made my spine stiffen. “What’s going on?”

He finally looked at me. “I know you won’t like this, but I’m eighteen now. I can’t have you hovering over me anymore. I’ve got friends now. Good ones. And since you can’t pull me out of the aKaelenmy anymore, I’m keeping them. I’m going camping with them for winter break.”

My breath hitched. “Orion, that’s not ”

“It’s not your decision.” His jaw tightened. “I came home to tell you in person.”

“You’re not spending a break here? With me?”

He sighed. “Elara, I’ve spent almost eight years hiding with you. Running. Changing towns. Changing names. Looking over our shoulders every single day. I’m tired.” He shrugged his backpack higher. “We don’t know who these people are or what they want. We don’t know if they’re after you, or me, or both of us. But I can’t keep living like this.”

Anger flared hot behind my ribs. “And what’s your brilliant plan? What if they track you down?”

“I’ll deal with it. I told my friends everything.”

“Orion!” I slammed my hand on the table. “How many times have I told you not to involve anyone else?”

“Your life isn’t mine, Elara.” His voice cracked with frustration. “I’m stronger with them. They know what’s going on now, and they won’t let anything happen to me. If that stalking psycho or those hunters show up again, we’ll fight. All of us.”

“You say that like it’s simple.” My throat tightened. “If it were simple, I would’ve killed them years ago.”

He stared at me, eyes cold and hurting. “You didn’t have any friends.”

His words hit harder than any spell.

He took a step toward the door. “Anyway, I’ve gotta go. See you later.”

“At least tell me where.”

“Olympic National Forest.” His grin softened into something boyish and proud. “There are hot springs there.”

“Orion ”

“See you later, Em.” He waved lazily without looking back and vanished into a swirl of purple smoke.

Just like that, he was gone. My baby brother, my whole reason for every sacrifice I’d made was gone. And for the first time since my mother’s death, I was completely alone.

I thought independence would feel freeing. Instead, it hollowed something deep inside me.

Orion’s comment about friends tore through me. I once had friends. Real ones. Claire had been my constant soulmate in friendship. We’d grown up together, survived our teens together, and clung to each other after my dad died and my magic disorder appeared.

We studied at the aKaelenmy together. We went to university together. And then Mom died poisoned, though we didn’t know it at first. That same week, the first message appeared.

Elara, I killed your mom. Run, or you’re next. Fast death this time.

I did run. Straight to Claire.

Only to find her hanging in our dorm room, a note pinned to her chest:

Anyone you involve will die.

And that warning proved true. Two more people I trusted died because of me. After that… It was just Orion and me.

I exhaled shakily and turned to the fridge. I poured milk into a mug, dumped it in a packet of hot cocoa, stirred, and stuck it into the microwave.

My stalker, whoever they were, was unhinged. Violent. Obsessed. And somehow always one step ahead of the hunters pursuing us. They warned me every time danger was coming. Why? How did they know? Were they part of the same group? An enemy of the hunters? Someone inside their ranks?

The microwave beeped.

I carried my mug to the table and sat heavily.

Why poison Mom but leave Orion alive? Why chase us for years if they truly wanted me dead? Why warn me instead of finishing the job?

None of it made sense.

Most days, I tried to convince myself this was all a nightmare of mistaken identity. That somewhere, somehow, the hunters had the wrong witch. But they never listened, not when I explained, not when I pleaded, not even when I ran.

I sipped the cocoa, warm and sweet against the bitter storm inside me.

Over the years, I’d been stabbed, burned, hexed, nearly strangled, half frozen, and shot. All because I didn’t always listen to the stalker who had made my life a living hell.

What could I say? Maybe I wasn’t the brightest when running for my life.