Page 65 of Calling Quarters

“You mean to tell me you stole the Book of Shadows and didn't bother finding the most critical piece of information?” she asked incredulously, huffing out a sigh of frustration when no one had any defense.

“You knew we took it?” I asked her, daring to take a step closer with my stomach twisted into knots. We were wasting precious time. I could feel Storie's fear growing in my chest.

Tabitha's eyes briefly closed as she took a few deep calming breaths. “Of course, I knew. Why do you think I allowed her into that room in the first place?”

“What were you doing with the Quarters’ Book of Shadows?” Lux's eyes narrowed. He crossed his arms over his puffed-out chest.

Blaire took a defensive step toward Tabitha, but the old woman still appeared unfazed. In fact, she rolled her head from side to side and stared at the ceiling as if she couldn't believe she had to deal with any of this.

“There's not enough time for this.” She let out another frustrated growl and balled her fists, scanning the room for the aforementioned book. “I should have known better than to rely on a group of children,” she grumbled, walking right past Enzo on the armrest of the couch to lift the cushions.

Lux rolled his eyes. “The book is useless. None of it makes sense.”

“It's written in Quarter code. Didn't your fathers teach it to you?”

Standing from her assault on the couch, she moved to rifle through the bookshelf that Lux filled with books he thought might help us.

“Where is it?!” she shouted, amplifying the panic that was growing in my chest. I wasn't sure if it was Storie's or my own, but we needed to stop wasting time on nonsense and get to her.

I climbed the ladder to the loft and swiped the book from the floor where Lux had left it, ignoring their betrayed scowls as I walked across the cabin and shoved it into her hands unapologetically.

“Here. I can feel her anxiety growing stronger. I think we can use it to find her. We need to get to her soon.”

“You can feel her?” Blaire ran up before me, her eyes widened in alarm.

I nodded, fear gripping my throat. It was growing stronger by the second.

Tabitha sat down at the table and began flipping through the Book of Shadows. Enzo and Rhyse were having a quiet argument off to the side when Lux gave in and pulled up a chair beside her and attempted to decipher the coded text on the pages.

It happened in a blink. The terror was all-consuming, locking me into one spot with no choice but to stand there and allow myself to feel it. If I was so overcome with these feelings, she must have been going out of her mind. I figured that as long as I was feelingsomething, I could assume she was alive.

Then, everything stopped.

Panic surged through my veins. Somehow, the lack of emotions was worse than anything else and as soon as I opened my mouth to warn the others, her translucent form appeared before me.

Blaire gasped from somewhere behind me, then Lux and Tabitha finally looked up from their impossible task, and Enzo and Rhyse’s arguing ceased.

“They’re going to burn me,” Storie breathlessly rushed out. Her violet eyes remained on me, ignoring the rest of the room.

“Who? Where are you?”

“Rayner took me somewhere in the woods with a huge clearing for their bonfire. Silas is here. Remy, practically the whole town is here and they’re going to kill me to weaken you and prove a point.” Her voice quivered as she rattled on, her eyes slowly moving around the room as if she were just now noticing everyone else.

I looked to Tabitha for advice, my throat clogging with raw fear like I’ve never known before. They were going to kill her because of me.

“How are they planning to kill you?” Tabitha calmly asked.

It seemed like such an odd question. Who gave a fuck how they were doing it? The point was we needed to get there and stop them.

“They’ve got me tied to a cross and surrounded by firewood. They keep pouring gasoline on me while Rayner talks about sacrifice. I don’t know, I can’t listen to him. I need your help!”

Her words were igniting a storm inside of me that shook my entire being. My physical body was here, but my spirit was off somewhere, searching for its other half before it disappeared forever.

“We’re not going to make it to you in time. Storie, you need to listen to me. You have to save yourself,” Tabitha was explaining while Storie shook her head in denial. Tears were falling down her cheeks as she begged for us to come find her.

“What do you mean? We can make it there; we just need to go now. Enzo can shift the streets to get us there faster,” I yelled out, though no one was listening.

Everyone had their attention focused on Storie, who was slowly fading in and out as she was being pulled back to her physical body. Each time she disappeared from sight, the anguish she was feeling sliced through my chest like a knife.

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