Page 111 of Enspelled

And Abigail?

Everyone keeps secrets from me all the time, and I’m sick of it.

Clutching the grimoire tight against my chest, I stalk into the forest, my mind on one thing and one thing only: stopping Aunt Mel.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” a snarl erupts from behind me.

Sniffing, not the least bit surprised it’s Keane, since he seems to live to do nothing more than order me around, I keep going. “To stop Aunt Mel.”

“On your own?” he asks, sounding like he’s a step behind me.

“Yes.”

“With no powers?”

“Yes.”

“Even though she—”

I spin around and glare up at him, suddenly so angry that I’d smack him in the face with the grimoire if it didn’t mean so much to me. “I know what she did, Keane. She made me think I’d killed my parents. For ten years I believed they were dead because of me.” My vision goes blurry. “I thought they hated me.”

My voice breaks at the end, but I refuse to let the tears out.

“Briar…” He takes a step toward me.

I take one back. “Go away, Keane.”

“Or you’ll blow me up?” There’s a hint of a smile in his voice as he reminds me of my ridiculous threat.

A tear slips free. I turn my back on Keane so he won’t see, but no sooner have I done it than his hand is on my arm and he’s whirling me back to him. He yanks the grimoire from me with the other hand as he presses me against his chest.

“Here,” he grunts to someone I can’t see. “Hold this for a second.”

Although I struggle to get free, Keane refuses to let go. But during my attempt, I spot Sera standing a few feet away with the grimoire in her arms, and Bodie, Liam, and Abigail close behind her.

And then all I can see is Keane’s black t-shirt as he holds me against him, his arms wrapped tight around me.

“I can’t breathe,” I mutter against his chest as I try to convince myself that Keane’s hug doesn’t feel exactly right.

“Yes, you can,” he responds, his arms tightening.

“What are you doing?” I ask, my voice emerging muffled.

“Holding onto you long enough for you to realize that you’re not going anywhere. And that we’re doing this together.”

“That’s going to take a long time,” I tell him.

I feel a smile against my hair. “Then it takes a long time.”

“Sera?” I call out. “If you feel like hitting Keane with a spell, I won’t stop you this time.”

“I—Bodie, if you kick me again, I swear to the Goddess I will smack you in the face with this grimoire,” Sera snaps. “And then I will turn you into a mouse.”

Despite all the anger and the tears choking me moments before, a smile comes out of nowhere, surprising me.

“And he’s right,” Sera says. “You’re not doing this alone. We’re in this together.”

“I’m not,” Liam says. “Because, as I said, this has nothing—”

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