Without looking, he threw his other hand out and lightly tapped on Gigi’s penguin back.
Silver magic burst under his hand.
Gigi squawked and flapped her wings and then changed back. “Shit.”
I shook my head. “Girl, you need to get control of that. You’re gonna get hurt one of these days if you don’t.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s not that easy, Savannah.”
“Neither is controlling my magic from exploding out of me every time I get startled, but I went to school and learned how to do it,” I hissed.
“All right, all right,” Hunter shouted with a chuckle. “Give the man some room to breathe. Back up, y’all.”
“WOOOO,” Easton cheered and clapped his hands as he leapt back. “The legend has returnedddd!”
Willow stepped back from the huddle with her hands shoved in her hair and tears in her eyes. “I can’t believe this!”
Chutney bounced over to her. “I’ve never heard of this happening!”
The rest of the herd moved away and I cringed. There was a shit ton of emotions going down here and I did not know what to do with myself. It wasn’t that I was cold hearted to what just happened…I got it. Timothy had lost his Mark and now had been given a new one. That was amazing. Incredible. I didn’t think it’d ever happened before. I was happy for him.
I just didn’t really know any of these people so I did not know what to do.
That was what made me uncomfortable. I felt like I did not belong here.
Well, actually, that wasn’t quite true. I knew Cooper.
I’d been doing a pretty damn good job of not looking at him since I embarrassed myself so I wasn’t sure where exactly he —
“Savannah.”
I choked on a gasp at the sound of his voice right behind me.
“Gigi.” Cooper nodded his head toward her.
“Cooper…”
He gave me a smirk. “You look uncomfortable.”
YOU HAVE NO IDEA. “I’m just…I can’t believe this just happened. Has this ever happened?”
He glanced down at me and gave me a grin that was too much for people watching. “Not that I’ve heard of.”
I nodded. “Shouldn’t you be over there?”
“I was, but then I saw you over here and well…” His one blond eyebrow arched. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. Yeah. Mmhmmm. Totally.”
“Savannah?”
I sighed. “I’m not about to do any black magic.”
He chuckled. “Good girl.”
Don’t say it. Don’t say it. “You can go be with them, I’ll be here still.”
He grinned and bumped his shoulder into me and my stomach tightened. He winked then hopped over toward Tennessee.
More of The Coven moved away from Timothy and I honestly felt a little bad for the dude. He seemed to be about to lose it and that was probably not the norm for this big burly man. His whole face was red and his eyes glistened. He just kept staring at his arm and shaking his head.
Constance smiled through the tears raining down her face. Hunter had one arm wrapped around his shoulders but I noticed his knuckles were white like he was holding on tight. Devon fanned her face and I related to that hardcore. I glanced around to the others.
Bettina was sobbing about a foot away. Jackson pulled her into his chest as he blinked away the tears in his eyes.
Tennessee was definitely being held up by Tegan. He was so pale he was almost the same shade as Tegan – who was pointedly looking away from Timothy like she was daring her eyes to cry. The two of them stumbled back a few steps.
Kessler glanced over his shoulder – then did a double take as his gaze landed on Tenn and Bettina. He cursed and walked over and put a hand on both Tennessee and Jackson.
Saffie hurried away from him.
“Saraphina?”
“I just want to check on Kenneth!” She jumped and her wings popped out. She pressed her lips to Riah’s cheek. “Hold the fort.”
“Aww, Taco. Come here.”
I looked up at the sound of Emersyn’s voice. She held her arms out toward Deacon.
He shook his head and turned away from Timothy and Em, waving his hands in the air. “Let a taco fall apart in peace, woman.”
Gigi sighed and shivered. “Too much feels.”
“Dis tew much, ma’am.” I cleared my throat and turned to Gigi. “Hella awkward, let’s give them some space?”
She nodded so we turned and hurried away from everyone.
I glanced over my shoulder but only Riah was watching us, and he only nodded. I almost laughed. I actually liked the dude now. Well, I had liked him before but then I thought he’d betrayed Saffie. So I liked him again. And the way he carried Olli around like a baby just told me everything I needed to know. Animals knew.
“Hey, Savannah?”
I looked up and realized we’d made it halfway back down the little cobblestone path. “Yeah?”
Gigi pursed her lips and twirled her hair as we walked. “When do you think we get to go home? And do you think they’ll portal us back, or what?”
“What? Go home?”
“Yes. Go home. To Salem, where we live.”
“I don’t wanna go home. I wanna stay.”
“Stay? Stay where?” She huffed and pushed her glasses up her nose. “With The Coven? Savannah, you’re not in The Coven. You have to be Marked by the Goddess with a Card number—"
“Are you mansplaining my own species to me right now?” I arched both eyebrows at her.
“No, I —" she sighed and shook her head. “I wasn’t meaning to, it’s just…I just…why do you want to stay when you’re not one of them?”
“Paulina isn’t one of them—"
“But she used to be!”
“Okay.” I nodded. “Bad example. But Lennox and Warner aren’t either and never have been.”
“Savannah.” She rolled her eyes.
“Would you quit saying my name like I’m an idiot.”
“Well you’re acting like an idiot.” She threw her hands up as we rounded the corner back into the courtyard. “Were you even listening to Lennox when she told us the story? She was roommates with Bettina. Warner is Jackson’s best friend since like a decade ago. Both of them were instrumental in the war with that Joseph guy. That’s why they get to stay. Friends with The Coven and helpful.”
I narrowed my eyes at her and tried to swallow down the anger raging inside of me. “Lennox and I were friends when I went to school here, so don’t come at me like I don’t understand what’s going on. Plus Saffie is our friend and she’s in The Coven. Also, I helped bring her and Riah back.”
“And what? You think they’re going to keep asking for your help?”
“Maybe!” I groaned. “What is your problem? What’s so hard to believe? More importantly, what’s so great about going back home?”
“Our lives? I’d like to get back to my life.”
I scoffed. “Doing what?”
“I don’t know…life.”
“I’m a witch, Gigi. I want to go back to magic school. Being with The Coven has made me realize just how badly I miss it.” I sighed and waved to a couple Crones passing by as we crossed the courtyard. “I want to enroll in Edenburg again, or at the very least the new school in New York.”