Page 23 of Incoronate
“All of it.” Her eyes landed on me, assessing me despite the exhaustion visible in the lines around them. “The voices coming back…Famine showing up here in the middle of the night.” She paused for dramatic effect, stabbing at her eggs with unnecessary force. “The fact that you nearly killed Trace.”
“Seriously, Tessa?” My appetite vanished on the spot. I leaned back in my chair instead, crossing my arms as I glared at her from across the table. “I didn’t ‘nearly kill Trace’,” I objected through clenched teeth.
What happened last night was bad enough without her revising history.
“Fine. Nearlygothim killed,” she clarified, rolling her eyes as though there was no difference. She reached for her orange juice, the glass already leaving a ring of condensation on the table. “So, is this spell thing affecting all of us, or just you?”
I scoffed. “Judging by yourgluttonousappetite, I’d say all of us.”
Somebody snorted as Tessa’s eyes all but bulged out of her face at me.
“Excuse me?” Her voice went up an octave. She set her juice down so hard liquid sloshed over the rim.
Dominic’s mouth twitched as Gabriel looked down at the table like he wanted to disappear into it.
“Look, I mean no offense, Tess, but—” I gestured at her plate with my hand. “You’ve eaten more in the last ten minutes than I saw you eatallof last summer, and gluttonyisone of the seven deadly sins.”
Her mouth opened, then closed. She looked down at her plate as though seeing it for the first time, at the half-eaten pile of food that would have easily fed three people. Her throat worked as she swallowed, a hint of realization passing through her expression and making her cheeks turn red.
“Not that there’s anything wrong with it,” I clarified, feeling bad for even bringing it up much less harping on her about it. “I mean, I’ve killed more than my fair share of meals before, but it’s…not like you,” I finished honestly, because it wasn’t. Tessa had always been an energy drink and trail mix kind of girl.
She fixed me with a glare that could have peeled paint off the walls, which, in all fairness, I had coming.
“It’s not just you,” offered Gabriel, his voice cutting through the tension as he leaned forward and propped his elbows on the table. “The spell has clearly been affecting everyone in the house. It’s subtle but it’s there, stripping away restraint and pushing us toward our baser impulses.”
“How is that possible when the entire house is warded?” she shot back, the bite in her voice hard enough to draw blood. Her knuckles had gone white around her fork.
“There has to be something here,” lamented Trace, his hand finding my knee under the table. “Some kind of talisman or charm keeping the spell active.”
“So that means they found a way to get past the wards,” she said slowly, sinking back in her chair as she tried to wrap her mind around how any of this was possible. She pushed her plate away, finally, as though the sight of it now repulsed her. “But how can that be? Caleb put the wards up himself.” She paused. “Unless—”
“Unless he didn’t,” finished Dominic. His voice was low, but there was no mistaking the accusation in it.
The implication quickly registered, hardening my sister’s expression and casting shadows beneath her cheekbones. “I swear on everything, if that fucker—”
“We don’t know anything yet,” I cut in, my protest sounding thin and weak, even to my own ears. Because everything we knew about this pointed straight at Caleb, and I hated admitting it, no matter how much it made my chest feel tight and uncomfortable. “Let’s just wait until we actually talk to him before jumping to conclusions.”
“Great. Then let’s fucking do that.” She threw her hands up in frustration, sending a piece of toast skidding across her plate. “Has anyone spoken to him yet?”
“Romeo made contact this morning,” answered Dominic as Tessa turned to Trace.
“I texted him and told him we needed him to pass by and check on the wards today.” Trace glanced at the clock on the stove. “He should be here within the hour.”
“That’s if he even bothers to show up at all,” muttered Tessa. “I wouldn’t put it past him to bail, especially if he’s got something to hide.”
“He’ll come,” I said, the words leaving my mouth more like a prayer than a statement of fact.
Thunder rolled outside as the first drops of rain began to fall, light at first and then faster, tapping against the windows in uneven bursts. The sky darkened another shade, the overcast thickening until the grounds beyond the glass blurred at the edges.
The temperature in the kitchen seemed to drop with it, as though the storm was pulling all the warmth right out of the room. I had the distinct feeling that once Caleb arrived, it was only going to get worse, and judging by the tension around the table, I wasn’t the only one who felt it.
Tessa blew out a breath as she tucked her short hair behind her ears and then folded her arms on the table. “Okay. So say it is him. How exactly are you planning on getting answers out of him?” She looked between Dominic and Trace. “It’s not like he’s going to stroll in here and confess to sabotaging the wards.”
“We have our ways.” Dominic’s smile was positively dangerous, the kind that promised pain wrapped in civility.
“That’s very reassuring. Care to elaborate?” she asked as she reached for a piece of bacon on her plate and then seemingly changed her mind.
“We’re just going to ask him a few questions and see how he reacts,” explained Trace, his hand squeezing my knee as he spoke. I could feel the tension in his grip; the effort it was taking him to appear calm about this. “Caleb always gives himself away when he’s lying.”
