Page 74 of Jinx

“We need a background created,” he said, right to business. “Airtight. One that says she grew up in a loving family, had a normal childhood until her parents died in an accident when she was fourteen. She went to live with an aunt after that until she was ready to attend college. We need medical records, school records, all of it. I suspect her birth certificate and Social Security number have already been altered to omit the surname she was born with.”

Tia’s dark eyes widened, and she leaned her elbows on the tabletop. “And who exactly am I creating this background for?”

My chest tightened in warning as Alaric and I exchanged a look.

“Come on, guys,” she sighed. “I swore the oath. I couldn’t betray you now even if I wanted to.”

It was true. The oath would literally prevent her from speaking, writing, or otherwise sharing any details of this conversation.

“She is our Heart,” I finally relented.

The witch went still, her expression shifting to something more serious. “Your drift found its Heart?” Her gaze darted between us. “When?”

“She actually found us without knowing it,” Alaric explained. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a thin chain. Cordelia’s shattered moonstone. “She was hidden behind powerful magic. It suppressed her true nature.”

Tia took the necklace from him with long fingers. “This is moon-blessed.” Her words were tinged with awe.

“It’s broken.” I leaned forward, growing impatient. “We need a new one.”

Her eyes jerked to mine. “You want to keep her hidden?”

Again, Ric willed me to settle with a hand on my shoulder. “Our Heart is…unique in ways that will put her at risk. When the acolytes come to greet her, we need them to find an unbound Heart just like any other new designee, except for the fact that the ill-timed trauma of losing her parents somehow suppressed her emergence.”

My jaw clenched, teeth grinding. The strange power inside Cordelia wasn’t the only thing we were worried about attracting notice. It shouldn’t be possible for Hearts to form bonds on their own. Even the heartstrings required a sacred rite performed by the Oracle. We couldn’t let anyone sense that Cordelia had started the process on her own. I handed over a jewelry box, and the witch opened it to reveal the new necklace to charm. Black tourmaline glinted in the laptop’s light.

She sighed, chewing on her next words. “If you’re saying what I think you are, it won’t be that simple. I can weave a spell to conceal the bonds in her heart, but it won’t be pleasant.”

This time Ric surprised me with a growl. “What do you mean?”

“Think of the bonds like fingers,” she said, holding up a hand. “Now imagine them shut in a door. Technically, they’re still attached to the hand, but…” She quirked an eyebrow and her meaning dropped like a stone in my gut.

“Ric, ei.” He couldn’t go through with this, not if it would hurt Cordelia so. We’d find another way.

His eyes swam with torment. “We have to. They could kill her if they found out. We can’t risk it.” We stared at each other for a long minute, and I wanted to burn for what we were going to do. He turned back to the witch. “Do it.”

She nodded and collected both the jewelry and the envelope of cash. “The spell will be most powerful if done under a new moon, which is Monday. I’ll have the detailed write-up on the background and the necklace delivered to you as soon as it’s done.”

As we stood and headed for the door, she called after us. “Whoever your Heart is, I hope she’s tough.”

Ric paused, looking back over his shoulder. “She is.”

When we left the breakroom, he checked his phone to find a text from Bellamy. “Time to go,” he said to me.

The rest of our group waited by the door. Cordelia was making a valiant effort at looking awake, but it was clear that Bellamy and Lucian wore her out. At least they gave her a better reason to be tired than the stress that was exhausting her. When we reached them, I scooped her into my arms, and she didn’t fight me, burrowing her face into my neck with a sleepy, contented sound.

I wouldn’t get to see her dress crumpled on my floor as I’d hoped tonight, but she was at peace for now. That was enough when we couldn’t predict tomorrow.

48

CORDELIA

“We need to discuss something.” Alaric set his fork down and steepled his fingers. We all stopped eating to look at him.

We’d fallen into an easy routine over the last few days. One of the guys—usually Bel or Luce—would keep me company at the library while I worked, then we’d go back to the house, and I’d make dinner with Bel. Later, one of them would take me home and stay the night. I let Orion stay at the house, though. He was happier there with so much room to wander and much better scenery outside the windows.

I rarely saw Quinn. He avoided me when he could and ignored me when he couldn’t. He definitely didn’t bring up his moment of voyeurism at the gallery. I was losing hope that we’d ever even have some sort of friendship, but they said he needed time, so I was giving it to him. Time and as much space as I could to get his mind right.

“The acolytes won’t announce their arrival,” Ric said when he had our attention. “But I expect they’ll show up any day. We need to be prepared when they do.”