Page 9 of Unbound

“I’m not going to try talking you out of it,” Leo says.

I turn around to look at him in surprise.

“I can’t compare my struggles to yours,” he says, “but I know what it’s like to be different and unaccepted.” He laughs. “Being one of the few openly gay hunters in the Order has gotten me plenty of shit, you know.”

“I know,” I say. “And I’ve cursed a few people for how they treated you.”

“Seriously?”

I smile. “Let’s just say that potluck back in Omaha three years ago wasn’t food poisoning.”

“I always wondered why we were fine.”

He tips his head as he thinks back, and his eyes widen. “Larissa had horrible diarrhea for three days.”

Smirking, I shrug. “Call me petty.”

I pull a Lululemon sweatshirt from the closet and tie it around my waist.

Leo follows me into the bathroom while I apply the smallest amount of makeup—just enough to look put together. After towel-drying my hair again, I pull it back into a French braid.

“I’m not gonna tell you this is a good idea or that things are gonna be okay,” Leo says, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small silver knife. He hands it to me. “But be smart, Wren.”

“I’ll be as smart as I can be,” I say, trying to keep the mood light.

“I’d say make sure your phone is charged, but I honestly don’t know if you’ll even have service at this place.”

“Ha. Right?” I swallow and push my shoulders back. I’m not sure if the prickling sensation going down my spine is excitement, anxiety, or a mix of both.

I’ve been very intuitive my whole life, though it would be remiss of me not to admit that sometimes it’s hard to discern what’s intuition and what’s anxiety.

Sometimes the things I know but haven’t accepted yet cause my nervous system to go insane. Other times, my nervous system is already insane, and I successfully convince myself something terrible is going to happen.

Sometimes it does. Sometimes it doesn’t. Hence my dilemma.

I go back downstairs and grab a pair of black running shoes. I get my phone, add it to my purse, and sling the bag across my body.

“I’ll be back,” I tell Mabel, who looks like she’s about to send me off to war. “Before sunrise.”

“Promise?” she asks.

“To the best of my ability, yes.” I feel like we all know better than to make promises we intend to keep but might not be able to. “I’ll talk to Xavier,” I say, looking from Mabel to my brothers. “I’ll let him know what’s going on. Don’t do it for me.”

“You mean don’t give him a chance to stop you from doing something dumb?” Antonio says.

“Yeah.” I see no point in arguing with him. That’s exactly what I’m doing.

“Are you ready, dear?” Marie asks. She’s already heading toward the door.

My heart skips a beat in my chest, but I take a deep breath and find my resolve. “Yes.”

Chapter

Four

Iget into the front passenger seat of Marie’s car. The excitement fades as the finality of everything hits me. Not because I think she’s going to kidnap me to some Covenstead or whatever it’s called and I’ll never return, but because after this, there’s no going back. There’s no more wondering what it’s like to be around other witches. What I’ve dreamed up, and the stories I’ve written in my head won’t be just stories anymore.

It could be worse. It could be better.