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“I’m still of the opinion he needs to die,” Kai said severely as Mackenzie sat with him, curled together on the couch.
She leaned her back against his side, nursing a cup of hot cocoa on her lap. Hours had passed since Teo had come knocking, looking for Mackenzie, furiously on the front door and calling her phone. She’d stuck her phone on silent and shielded both her and Kai’s minds from his magic as they hid away in her bedroom. When he’d finally left, they’d gone downstairs to the living area, shut the curtains, and attempted to brainstorm ideas for how to deal with the Arcana. So far nothing productive had formed.
“We’re not going to kill him!” Mackenzie said again, breathlessly amazed that Kai continued to come back to it.
“After what he did, he deserves it.”
“But we’re not killers,” she retorted, sitting forward of his touch and turning around to check his face. “Can you stop being the jealous boyfriend for like five minutes and think critically?”
“Did you just call me your boyfriend?” he asked with a grin, snapping out of his testosterone-fueled aggression.
Her mouth flopped open as she studied his complete demeanor change. “Really? That’s what you got out of that?” she asked incredulously.
Before he had time to answer, the lock in the front door clicked.
Kai jumped up quickly, his muscles readied for an attacker as he turned to the source of the noise.
Mackenzie rotated further around on the couch, sitting backward on it, still nursing her hot cocoa as she followed Kai’s gaze with a growing smile.
Lucy’s blonde curls bounced into view, lugging a bag as she moved inside. She shut the door behind her and caught sight of the two figures watching her. Her eyes widened, eyebrows raised as she slouched the bag off her shoulder with a heavy thump and stood tall, rolling her shoulders back at the sight of Kai. “I thought I said you couldn’t have a crisis while I was gone.” She met Mackenzie’s eyes, flicking them quickly back and forth to Kai.
He stood still, only slightly more relaxed than before as his eyes tried not to narrow at her presence. “What are you doing here?” he asked, drawing her full attention, and earning a deep scowl in response.
“I could ask the same of you, devil boy. I think you should leave before I show your beastie ass why you don’t lie to my KZ,” she said ferociously, standing her ground in a way Mackenzie had never seen her friend do for her. It warmed her heart for a moment as she welcomed the support and protection of her best friend, before she caught the way Kai bristled at her words. With the anger he already possessed for Teo, being yelled at by a near stranger - even his girlfriend’s best friend - was setting the animal loose inside him.
Mackenzie moved quickly, rising from the couch, leaving her cocoa mug on the table behind her. Heading straight for Kai, she placed a hand softly on the center of his chest, feeling his muscles soften under her touch. His eyes never left Lucy’s, neither breaking their stare nor backing down until Mackenzie addressed them both.
“Luce, there have been some big developments and what you need to know is Kai is on our side and I’m certain of that fact now. Kai, Lucy has been my support for all of the chaos Salem has given me. Besides the last two days, she’s been here the whole time. She’s my rock,” Mackenzie explained, trying to make eye contact with each as she lectured.
It took both parties a moment to collectively call a ceasefire as Mackenzie waited on them both to find sense.
“You’re going to need to fill me in,” Lucy said slowly as she stepped cautiously into the living area towards the two of them. “What happened to Teo and... training with the Arcana?”
“That’s not an option anymore,” Mackenzie replied quickly as Kai’s torso stiffened under her fingers. Surprisingly, he stayed silent, letting Mackenzie explain as his skin heated. “The Arcana were the ones who ordered my parents killed.”
She watched the uncontained shock impact her friend’s features.
“What about him and his family?” Lucy pushed questioningly, her eyes flicking to Kai.
It was then he chose to speak before Mackenzie could, calm as he addressed the newcomer. “We were there in Oregon, trying to warn and protect. I should have told Kenzie about that when we met and I’ve apologized for that. We had nothing to do with the death of Kenzie’s parents except as fellow targets,” he replied, earning a wide-eyed nod of respect from Lucy as no anger touched his voice at the accusation she had put on his family.
“Fellow targets?” Lucy pushed, picking up on his word choice.
“The day Kenzie’s mother disappeared, my parents sent me back to Salem to live with a family friend and now they’re gone too. On the run or dead, I’m not sure.”
Mackenzie turned back to him at the emotion leaking into his voice. She wasn’t sure, but it looked to her as though his eyes glistened more than usual, with tears he refused to let well. Her heart squeezed knowing they were the same, their pain was understood. The way he’d appreciated her pain and perseverance the first time they’d met officially made sense. She found herself smiling at him as he met Lucy’s gaze.
As though he could feel her eyes, he turned back to her and giving her the soft smile she was sure was only reserved for her.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Kai. Given what I know about what you withheld from her... I’m going to assume that you aren’t the villain here. However, as the best friend, I’m going to warn you, if you hurt her - beast or not - I will make you suffer in every way possible. Understood?” Her voice crept from sympathy to a darkness Mackenzie hadn’t known Lucy capable of.
But Kai met her eyes confidently, serious and sure. “Understood.” He nodded.
The sharp edges fell easily from Lucy’s face as she smiled widely and bounced over to her best friend eagerly. They met each other with a tight hug.
“Hey, KZ...” she whispered in Mackenzie’s ear as they embraced.
“Hey, Luce,” Mackenzie whispered back with a smile unable to stay off her lips, warmed already by her presence.
“You’re absolutely sure we can trust him?” Lucy asked quickly, holding her best friend still.
“I can hear you,” Kai chimed in loudly as he watched the two girls.
“A hundred percent,” Mackenzie replied all the same, not bothering to be quiet. “I judged too quickly before and I didn’t have all the answers. The Arcana are the real villains here, we were right about them from the start.”
Lucy pulled back, ready for the explanation. She moved over to the couch Mackenzie and Kai had been sitting on before, taking a seat and watching the two of them expectantly.
Mackenzie joined her and Kai took the armchair across from them.
“So what are we going to do about the Arcana?” Lucy asked.
“That’s what Kai and I were trying to figure out just before you got here,” Mackenzie said with a half-smile, half-grimace as she thought about how to explain to Lucy what had happened. She opened her mouth to speak, shutting it quickly as she tried to find the words, picking at her cuticles.
“And?” Lucy pushed, looking to Kai quickly as though he’d offer a solution because she was getting impatient with Mackenzie’s silence.
“And I’m going to kill Teo,” Kai said, leaning back in his chair, his face a calm seriousness that was sure of himself.
“No you’re not!” Mackenzie snapped, turning to him quickly and watching his face scrunch up at her comments.
“What do you propose then, Mackenzie? He can’t go on unpunished and I don’t see a jail cell around here we could keep him in,” Kai responded, a heavy, rough edge leaking into his voice as he sat forward and forgot all about Lucy’s presence, his eyes focused on Mackenzie.
“I don’t know! But we can’t go around killing people or we’re no better than the Arcana, are we?” she said, watching the words dawn on his face as they hit him. She was right. They had no intention of repeating the atrocities committed against them to someone else.
Lucy observed them, her eyes narrowing, assessing the situation before she responded. “What did Teo do?” She looked at Kai instead of Mackenzie, who turned to her as though remembering she was there. Lucy stared Kai down until he responded.
“He used his powers while they were having sex and controlled her,” he said, meeting Lucy’s eyes, the fire of his anger burning in his.
She caught it, not a single ounce of surprise crossing her features as her face gained an intense, hardened quality. She looked pissed. When she met Mackenzie’s gaze though, there was a softness, though Mackenzie could almost hear her “I told you he was bad news” in her best friend’s gaze.
“I agree with Kai,” Lucy said. “He needs to be punished. Maybe not killed, but he can’t just keep walking around, able to do it to others.”
Mackenzie nodded. They just had to figure out how to get the best of both worlds. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably at the memory, causing her stomach to cramp and her mouth to go dry. She kept nodding as her eyes dropped and thoughts swarmed her.
I have no ideas outside of murder.
Is there even any justice for the Arcana – surely the police don’t believe in magic? Even if I went to the police, would they have any connections to thwart my plan?
Did the Arcana even know that Teo had been manipulating me?
“I need some water,” Mackenzie said, rising from the couch quickly, every nerve under her skin buzzing. Both Lucy and Kai glanced at her but didn’t seem to notice the war of anxiety kicking off in her body. “You guys brainstorm how to stop Teo without killing him and I’ll be back in a second.”
Mackenzie walked out of the living room, trying to hold her composure until she made it to the kitchen. Her heart started thundering and the further she got from her friends, the less oxygen her body would let her have.
Don’t let them see. You’ll just worry them and there’s nothing they can do.
Her bare feet touched the smooth cool tiles of the kitchen and the last of the strength gave way. It didn’t matter how the ceramic tried to calm her, everything in her heated uncomfortably and shook.
Her knees gave way, and she crumpled to the floor, trying her hardest not to make noise and alarm her companions.
Sliding over so that her back pressed against the wall of the archway, she hugged her knees into her chest. Everything in her was too tight and too far from her center simultaneously.
The sick, rancid acid feeling in her stomach made her squirm in her huddled position. Her mind replayed the night with Teo, the feeling only worsening the more her mind focused on it.
Mackenzie’s heart constricted, and she clutched at her breastbone uselessly, as though she could make it loosen.
This is the moment I die, right? My body is trying to kill me and no one will know.
Snippets of sentences drifted to her between the thunderous sound of her blood pumping in her ears.
Too quick. Why is everything moving so quick...
As the memory of Teo pumping inside her moved through her mind, a phantom feeling relived itself.
Her mouth opened to scream.
Surely this is the moment I die of a heart attack.
No sound escaped her throat.
Her mind spiraled further.
The buzz of her cell in the back pocket of her jeans was the only thing that jolted her from her panic.
Curiosity and confusion temporarily dulled all the sensations.
Who would be texting me?
Reaching back, she slid it out from between her butt and the floor, dizziness hitting her when she saw Teo as the sender.
Hey gorgeous,
Hope you’re okay? We were supposed to meet today but I haven’t heard from you.
I have news. The Arcana gave me information about your mother I think you need to hear in person.
Let me know that you’re safe.
Teo
She stared at the text, simultaneously urged to call Teo and run as far and fast as she could. It could be a trap? Maybe he already knows I’ve changed my mind?
Meet you at the park, she texted back before she could stop herself. The answers she’d craved for so long might finally be here.
Lucy and Kai talked in soft voices in the other room, deep in conversation.
Her head tilted towards the noise as her heart raced for a whole new reason. Answers.
Her anxiety-ridden body buzzed with new purpose.
She couldn’t alert her best friend and boyfriend to her new choice, they would definitely try to stop her.
She pushed to her feet – ignoring how weak her ankles felt – and bolted up the staircase, only slowing enough to stay quiet.
The most dangerous magical artefact I own is on the bathroom floor? Clearly I’m not mature enough to be trusted with this. Mackenzie chuckled to herself quietly as she found the gold cuffs where she’d discarded them the night before. She wasn’t yet sure if she would hand them over – probably not – but she might need them as leverage for her own life if it turned out to be a trap.
She stared at them for a moment, knowing she couldn’t just pack them in a bag. Shutting her eyes, holding one onto each wrist with the opposite hand, she reversed her magic, willing them to shut. With a click they responded: the cold metal circled her wrists fully and a jolt of power zapped through her system as the power in the bracelets connected with hers.
No one but me can take these off now... Perfect.
Crossing to the bed and smiling at her own genius, she took a long-sleeved shirt from her closet and swapped it out with the one she had been wearing.
Mackenzie rushed, knowing the longer she took, the more chance she had of her companions stopping her from leaving.
Hurrying to the window, she unlocked and slid it open carefully, cautious to avoid any squeaks or grinding noises as it lifted. Pushing the screen out quickly, she heard the clunk when it hit the roof and knew she couldn’t hesitate. Slipping out the window and creeping across the roof quickly, she really hoped she wasn’t about to regret this.