The Witches (Book #1)

ℜ𝔬𝔭𝔢𝔰 ℌ𝔬𝔱𝔢𝔩

I unfold a small piece of white paper shoved into the edge of my locker. It reads: Meet us at Ropes Hotel garden on Eom-sae at 3:15 ~Seulgi. I look at my phone. It's 3:05. I speed-walk through the crowded hall and out the door.

I text Sehun not to wait for me, and search Ropes Hotel on my phone. It's not far. Either they plan on jumping me in a garden or they think Joohyuk's notes have credibility.

A few blocks from the school, I pass a funeral home with a young woman outside it struggling to keep her composure as she greets people. Who did she lose, I wonder? A friend, her husband, her father? I shake my head to clear the thought, but look right at the placard that says the name of the deceased . . . Pang. Another lineage death. I bite my lip and pick up my pace.

It only takes a me few minutes to get to Eom-sae. It's an old street lined with brambly trees and cobblestone sidewalks.

I approach the tall tower of a Gothic church and check my phone again. The map says it's right here, but I don't see a garden or Seulgi.

I follow the spiked iron fence around the church. FIRST CHURCH IN MANYEO, FOUNDED IN 1629, a sign reads. The fence ends, and there's a big wooden trellis covered in vines. Should I go through? I look around, and step onto the path that leads toward the archway.

Passing under the thick vines, the small dirt walkway opens into a labyrinth of trails, all lined with blooming flowers. In the center of the buzzing garden is a sundial, and around it, Seulgi, Hyeri, and Wendy.

I can tell they're arguing by their hushed voices and hard expressions.

"Sooji," Seulgi says, and they all turn. With their black clothes and the gothic tower in the background, they look more intense than usual.

"You're late," says Wendy.

I look at me phone. "By two minutes."

"Exactly," Wendy says to Seulgi as though it proves a point.

What were they talking about before I arrived? "Did you read the papers I gave you?"

"Yes," say Seulgi, handing them back to me.

Wendy fixes me with her gaze. "Who gave them to you?"

"There's no way that's your handwriting," adds Hyeri, and Wendy pinches her in the arm.

"Ow." Hyeri pulls her arm away. "That hurt, you know."

"Don't worry about where I got them. What did you think?"

"Are you incapable of answering a simple question?" Wendy squints at me like I'm an idiot.

"We were surprised that you knew so much about the local families," says Seulgi.

"You knew about these deaths, didn't you?" I ask, reading into the diplomacy of Seulgi's answer. Was that why she wanted to talk to me about Kai's great-grandfather and why she told me to be careful in the graveyard? What are these girls up to?

Hyeri sulks. "It's news to me."

Seulgi looks at Wendy before continuing. "Those papers contain decades of records. How'd you track them all down?"

I guess that's what they were fighting about when I came. Wendy and Seulgi know something they didn't tell Hyeri. Hmm. Hyeri pulls at her layered hair and frowns. She's not as closed off as Wendy or as poised as Seulgi. If there's one of them that's likely to speak freely, it's her. That's why Wendy always tell her to shut up. "Hyeri, what do you think?"

"I think you're right. I think we're cursed. And I, for one, wanna figure it out. I have zero interest in dying or watching my family die. Soojung's brother—"

"Hyeri." Wendy cuts her off. "Enough."

So they knew I'm right about these deaths being more than a coincidence. Thank you, Hyeri. "Okay, Wendy, if you don't think there's anything weird about this, then I'll just go."

"That handwriting is old, and that information would take you months to compile. You're clearly up to something. And I want to know what."

"And you three are in a hidden garden without Soojung and Kai. Plus, Hyeri didn't even know any of this until today. You're up to something yourself."

"I'm not playing games with you."

"You could just ask me nicely, and I might consider telling you," I say.

Wendy gives me the finger.

I walk away. Wendy either accepts me as an equal and we work together on this or I'll figure it out with Joohyuk. I'm not going to put up with her crap every day. I'm done.

"Don't go, Sooji," says Seulgi. For some reason, I can't bring myself to hate her. "Please tell us what you know."

I stop.

"Let her go," says Wendy.

"You don't like your family, Wendy, but I'm really close with mine. What if these numbers are right?" Seulgi presses.

"Yehah, really, Wendy," adds Hyeri. "I'm not cool with gambling on this."

"Fine. But this is between us. Soojung and Kai are out of it for now." Wendy looks at me. "Well?"

Not that I ever want to talk to Soojung or Kai again, but I don't get why Wendy is excluding them. Makes me wonder what else she's hiding. I rejoin them at the sundial. There is an inscription on it that reads HOURS FLY. FLOWERS BLOOMS AND DIE. OLD DAYS OLD WAYS PASS BY. LOVE STAYS. And so does a curse.

"Let's go to your house, Hyeri. It's only a block away from here," Seulgi suggests.

"Not gonna happen," Wendy says before Hyeri can answer.

I can't help but notice that together we look like a frigging coven. I clear my throat. "Okay, here's what I know. These deaths aren't random. They occur in a pattern. And they're triggered when at least one member of each of the major Witch Trials' families is in Manyeo. Unfortunately, there's a complete list of major families here right now."

The shock is obvious in Wendy's expression. She quickly glances over her shoulder. "We need to discuss this somewhere more private."