Page 3 of Stalked By Monsters

I purse my lips, swallowing down the regret that boils up at the half-hearted smile he gives me. I have my own issues with Glenda, but they’re nothing compared to Carter. The coven leader position passes down through the matrilineal line, so even though Carter is a year older than me, he was passed over. Glenda has a use for me, which is the only reason why she agreed to raise me after her daughter abandoned us just a few months after my dad died.

We made it clear at a young age that we wouldn’t be separated, which was one of the only reasons she didn’t ship him off to live with another distant family member. I felt selfish at the time, but I know Carter and there’s no way he would’ve left me here alone with her. At least this way, she was forced to recognize him and his position as he’ll be my right hand when I ascend to leader. It’s always been Carter and me against the world and not even our differences in magic levels got between us. He’s still powerful and can rival even Glenda, but he never showed even the slightest hint of jealousy, unlike her.

“Let’s get the hell out of here then,” I murmur and nod towards the door, eager to get away without another run-in with Glenda.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Carter says. He turns on his heel, wasting no time striding to the front door.

“Carter,” I hiss, glancing around for my suitcases. I want to get out of here just as much as he does, but clothes are kind of a necessity.

“I already got them. Now move your ass,” he says over his shoulder, a genuine grin spreading as he reaches the frosted glass wrought-iron door and pulls it open.

Taking one last glance around the foyer, I can’t help but feel like I’m being watched again. Especially when I swear I catch the eyes on the oil painting of great-great aunt Janice moving out of the corner of my eye. Tingles crawl up my spine, and I suppress the urge to shudder and shake off the eerie sensation. I focus back on the doorway, on the sun beaming just beyond it. The warm comforting light beckons me, coaxing me from the creepy, gothic castle and into the next chapter of my life.

I just hope it’s a good one.

“So it sounds like I missed an epic welcome home party,” Carter snickers. He glances at me out of the corner of his eye before focusing back on the road, a shit-eating grin already spreading across his lips in answer to the glare I narrow on him.

“What the hell did you hear?” I demand, turning to face him completely. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. There’s no way that anyone found out, right?

“Oh, just the usual—that Glenda and Agatha were at each other’s throat and you were following right in grandmother dearest’s footsteps by ripping into Denver.” He chuckles, clearly amused, despite leaving me alone to handle both Glenda and the Prince coven. I try to summon the anger I know I should feel, the one that bubbled up in me every time I used to hear that vile name spoken—but I can’t. Irritation, sure, but unbridled rage ... nope.

“I’m glad you find that so funny,” I huff out indignantly, hoping I can hide the flush that creeps over my cheeks and sweat gathering in my palms. I slump back against the cream leather seats in an attempt to escape his eagle-eye.

“I don’t understand why you let that asshole get under your skin so much.” Carter shakes his head, giving me a disparaging look that I know is complete and utter bullshit. He absolutely loves the drama, especially when it’s me causing it and he can just watch it unfold. “He’s a pompous prick, and he doesn’t even deserve a second of your attention.”

He sure as hell got more than a second that night ...

“Yeah well you know him, always running his mouth about something. Someone has to put him in his place every once in a while,” I grumble, crossing my arms over my chest while I try to block out the memories of two weeks ago.

“If anyone is going to put him in his place it would be you,” Carter says on a breath of amusement. “I’m sure you shut him up real quick.”

Do not think about how you shut him up, Aria,I scold myself. Scrunching my eyes closed, I chase away the images that flash through my mind, before focusing back out the windshield.

“You know you’ll have to attend those functions if Glenda’s going to accept you as my second,” I say, watching the residential streets pass by.

“I know, Aria,” he groans, apparently not liking the attention being put back onto him. “I just can’t yet, not when she’s still the coven leader.”

“I get it Carter, I really do.” I tear my gaze away from the window. He grips the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles white from the effort. “I know it’s different for you with Glenda but you can’t let her win, you can’t let her get exactly what she wants and give up a position you were born to hold.”

“Anyway, let’s stop talking about her. I wouldn’t be surprised if she pops up because we said her name one too many times,” he says abruptly, shaking out the stiffness in his shoulders. “Are you still with the TA, Brad or whatever his name was?”

“It was Bryan, and no, I broke it off just before graduation.” My eyes narrow into a glare as a smirk splits across Carter’s lips.

“I’m sure Glenda took that well,” Carter snickers, delighting in the fact that it’s me in the hot seat again. I swear he only wants to see me suffer.

“I don’t give a shit what she thinks,” I huff out on a breath of irritation and scowl back at him. Of course he doesn’t mind talking about the evil witch when it has something to do with me. “I literally could barely keep my eyes open when I was with him. The only reason I even entertained the idea was because of the size of his—”

“TMI, Aria,” Carter blurts, cutting off the rest of my sentence. I can’t help the giggle that slips from my lips as he scrubs a hand over his face.

“You’re such a liar,” I protest. “You’ve told me so much worse about your hookups.”

My mind drifts back to the night of the party, and my stomach churns with guilt at the omission I’m keeping from my brother. We’ve always told each other about the guys in our lives, but this—no, this I can’t tell a single soul. I trust him with my life, but if this gets out, I don’t even want to think about what the consequences might be.

“Yeah hookups, not boyfriends, and no one that you might have to see after the fact,” Carter complains while turning onto a familiar street. “Bryan is a powerful warlock pretty high up in Glenda’s society elites, so I’ll definitely have to see him again at one of these stuffy parties you’re going to force me to attend.”

My lips part and I’m about to tell him just how many times I had to run into his hookups in my last year of university after he’d graduated, but a familiar street sign steals the words from the tip of my tongue.

“Where are we going?” I ask hesitantly, chewing the inside of my cheek as I glance back out at the suburban houses.

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