THE NIGHT WAS charged with eerie newness. It clung to Ryder like a second skin and emerged all around him as he walked down the dirt road that led to Tyler’s house, tucked away on the north end of the woods.
A full moon in Pisces meant aloofness and creativity. It also meant emotions, too many of them. They slipped around him like fish out of water, turning his thoughts back to the night before when he’d played with dark magic in his bed with Liam.
He fiddled with the reaver in his pocket and tilted his head back to look at the sky. Far away from the lights, on the outskirts of Port Lewis, the stars looked brighter next to the orange-stained moon above the treetops. These woods had seen sacrifices and death, Darbonne rituals and Thistle séances. They’d welcomed Lewellyn conclaves and went silent in the presence of cloaked Wolfe alchemists. He wondered if they knew what to do with a half-blood like him. He wondered if the trees could see his bloodline, how convoluted and ancient it was. If they knew where the boundaries blurred inside him. Fire burned in his bone marrow and stampeded through his veins. But darkness festered everywhere else.
The trees whispered around him in a different language, too otherworldly to be understood. He wondered if they knew the answer to all his unspoken questions.
If he died and came back, would his fire go out?
Could he burn away the darkness in him? Did he want to?
Voices sounded from Tyler’s property. He saw sparks from the fire pit outside rise into the air. Shadows gathered around it, other young witches from clans across the Pacific Northwest. Some came to be surrounded by their own, others had moved to Port Lewis after Thalia ascended as the Darbonne clan matriarch. He didn’t know many of them, but he still nodded to them as he walked by.
Tyler’s one-story house was shabby and old, sitting on two acres that disappeared into the forest in every direction. The same tired, rusted car was in the middle of the pasture behind the house, yards away adjacent an abandoned barn they used exclusively for spirit board sessions.
Ryder walked through the open front door. Christy glanced at him from the couch and tilted her head toward the kitchen. Give me a sec, she mouthed. He weaved through groups huddled close to the walls, holding the six-pack of cold beer by his side. The kitchen faced the living room, next to a wide hallway that led to four bedrooms and two bathrooms. Tapestries hung on the walls, portraits of deities and energy grids, amid framed photographs and family trees. Ryder opened a beer for himself and put the rest in the fridge. He watched Christy meditate with a group of pretty girls, until one of them opened her eyes and blurted something in a different language. Christy had been working on her channeling skills for a while, but Ryder had never seen anything come of it until then.
The girls clapped and sighed, patted and cooed. Ryder could taste their energy, the purity of it. He continued to fiddle with the reaver, tucked deep in his pocket.
“Hey,” Christy said. She eyed him with caution, as if he might grow fangs and snap at her. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” Ryder sipped his beer and glanced around, hoping no one else could hear their conversation.
“I’m psychic,” Christy hissed. Her hair was bundled into a colorful braid and a flower tiara sat atop her head like she was royalty. “You and Liam tethered. I felt it yesterday, and you didn’t tell anyone, and I want to know why. What’s going on with you two?”
“Nothing is going on. We tethered, yeah, over a stupid fucking reading that no one needs to worry about, all right? It’s fine. We’re working it out.”
“What cards did you pull?”
“That’s none of your business.”
Christy pinched her small mouth. Her brow furrowed, and her energy prodded his thoughts.
“Stay out of my head,” Ryder bit. His magic pushed back against her, hot and dangerous. Steam filled his throat, but he swallowed it down. “This isn’t a circle problem; it’s an us problem.”
Liam’s voice cut through their conversation. “You’re here.”
Ryder glanced from Christy to Liam, who stood just outside the kitchen, leaning against the wall.
“Liam will tell me,” Christy said.
“We’re dating.” Liam sighed as he spoke. His shirt was pale blue and riddled with moth-eaten holes, and his jeans hung low on his hips like they always did, dark-washed and torn in the knee. “I pulled The Lovers.”
Christy whipped around to look at Liam before she turned toward Ryder again. “And you tethered?”
“Yes,” Liam snapped. “That’s the big secret.”
“Tyler doesn’t think dating within a circle is a good idea.” Christy eyed them both.
Ryder didn’t know what to say. Heat flooded his cheeks and steam manifested behind his teeth. He kept his eyes averted to the floor in case they turned black. He didn’t need a room full of witches pointing their magic at him, especially when he barely had control of his own.
“Don’t tell Tyler then,” Liam sang through a tight, sarcastic grin.
Christy tossed her braid over her shoulder and heaved a sigh. “It’s just the full moon,” she deadpanned, jumping back into her usual charm and positivity. “Everyone is really emotional right now, and I’m being a bitch. Just—” She flapped her hand at them. “—ignore me.”
A couple of other people slid into the kitchen to pour shots. Christy smiled at Ryder, half-apologetic, half-suspicious, and floated back to her group of light-workers, the tail of her white dress fluttering behind her.
Ryder could barely breathe.
Liam closed his fingers around his wrist and pulled. He stumbled down the hallway after him, focus stolen by Liam’s tight grip. His pupils dilated, and he squeezed his eyes shut, willing the charcoal that spread over his irises and fanned across his pupils to subside. It didn’t.
“In here,” Liam said.
Ryder let Liam push him into one of the bathrooms. The door shut. Ryder’s heart raced. His stomach flipped and churned. When he opened his eyes, Liam was looking back at him. He exhaled a deep breath and steam poured from his mouth.
“You’re okay,” Liam whispered. He placed one hand on Ryder’s cheek. The other rested low on his neck, thumb following the line of his jaw. “Breathe. Don’t let it control you.”
Ryder sucked in a deep breath and exhaled again. Steam dampened his lips and chin.
The bathroom lights were off, and Ryder was thankful Liam hadn’t turned them on. The darkness let things be still. It shrouded them, contained them, softened by slivers of light that slipped beneath and around the bathroom door. Ryder could still see Liam’s expression, the movement of his eyes and part of his lips. Laughter erupted from the bedroom next door. The house was filled with chatter and shouts. Loud, grimy electronica with a heavy, slow bassline rattled the air. Liam’s hands on his face were gentle and steady.
Ryder reached past Liam and locked the door. “We’re dating?”
“I had to say something,” Liam growled.
Ryder snorted and rolled his eyes.