Luminary {Book 2 ✔️}

Chapter 19

"But...there's peace now."

She scoffed a little, not believing my words.

"The alpha who assumed power after Orion was defeated, Tucker Heigl, began a shaky alliance with the witches. Together they contained the Vampires and the Faeries. Agreements were made to protect mortals from supernatural creatures. Other packs and other covens of witches around the world followed suit. But it was too late, he was already dead. Roman never saw any of his life's work come to pass."

"Tucker Heigl?" I murmured, my voice stuck on the two names.

Sophia nodded. "The Joy's grandfather, yes."

My shoulders sank with this new knowledge of the history in West Acres. I wondered if Tucker or any of the Joy's actually knew any of it. I suspected not, Ben or someone would've told me. Sophia's face had hardened and I still was curious where her deeply-rooted hate stemmed from.

"But...Orion was defeated, surely you do not hate all werewolves for the actions of one alpha?"

Sophia's eyes narrowed. "One alpha?" She laughed, but her voice held no humor in it. "Has my Matilda not told you of the restrictions put on witches by the wolves?"

"I-no," I responded, surprised.

The older woman made a disgruntled noise and shook her head angrily.

"I suppose not. She's never thought much of the restrictions. She's never known the freedom of practicing magic without them. The wolves are much stronger than us, you know. We practice natural magic, they require none of our same restraint. Their abilities do not require the same balance."

"Wh-what kind of restrictions?" I asked, almost afraid of the answer. Sophia's eyes narrowed angrily and for a moment I saw the young girl who fought for the rights of her people behind her cloudy eyes.

"Permission for spells, registering magic users, subservience to alphas of the packs," she spat, "to name just a few."

I cringed at the word 'subservience.' Tilly hadn't mentioned the restrictions on witches, I expect because she ignored them. I doubted heavily that she ever asked permission to put a spell on my house or the club. But the subservience to an alpha? The spells around the Denver campsite and on the warehouse were not simply witches and wolves working together, it was a requirement.

"And if you ignore these restrictions?"

Sophia smiled a sick, cruel smile and my stomach dropped. I put the teacup down with a clatter, almost forgetting that I was still holding it. The small amount of tea and leaves left in the cup were cold by now, but I ignored them.

"It depends. They can be beaten, if they're lucky, or they meet the same end as Roman," she murmured sharply, "Owein was keen on punishing rogue witches to the fullest extent of their law. Denvers, as well. Your boy, whatever his name is, I expect will be the same one day."

My jaw clenched angrily. I thought of Tilly and I thought of Tucker. I wondered if he even knew what kind of restrictions there were. He was new to his position and I wondered if he would ever carry out those types of punishments, even if it was expected of him.

Over. My. Dead. Body.

Sophia waved her hand in the air, dismissing the topic of conversation and my slowly rising anger.

"Enough of that, we shall topple the wolves and the man another day," she grabbed my teacup greedily and peered into it with her strange eyes, "let me read your tea leaves."

***

It was on my way to the warehouse when I realized that the same red sedan had been following me since I'd left the Angelos' house. Instead of leading the suspicious car back to where Tucker and his pack had established a secret base, I drove to the high school instead. The entire parking lot was dead on a Sunday, so when I pulled into a parking spot the red sedan was able to pull in right across from me.

I wasn't surprised when Johnathan stepped out of the car.

My arms crossed as I sat on top of the bike, I glared at him. "You're tailing me now?"

He shrugged as if this was normal behavior. "I wasn't sure if you'd answer my calls."

"I probably wouldn't have," I told him honestly.

He took my snarky response in stride to his credit. The response didn't seem to bother him as much as it made him curious.

"I'd hoped that hearing the truth about the wolves you love would make you trust me more. It seems I was mistaken."

I scoffed, thinking of Owein and Alice. "Yes. You were. How am I supposed to believe you're not helping a killer? You've already done it before."

"So have you," he responded calmly.

I wanted to defend Tucker. It was almost a gut response to what he was implying. The truth was, I didn't know what made Alice and Tucker so different. He killed people to protect his family, and I'm sure Alice would say that she was protecting people too.

Johnathan noticed my silence and took the opportunity to walk closer to me. I was stuck where I was. My head ached from the information I'd received today and the lack of sleep from the last few weeks. It seemed that it was finally catching up to me.

"Eloise," his voice seemed far away, "is the apport working?"

"No," I snapped.

He seemed taken aback and took another step toward me, but I didn't want him anywhere near me. His eyes scanned my face, and I'm sure I was white as a sheet. Dark energy was swirling around under my skin, it seemed to have awoken due to my distress. The overwhelming nature of my questions, of my sleeplessness, of my guilt, fueled it.

"E-Eloise I need you to calm down," my father murmured softly, holding his hands up in surrender.

At first, I was confused. Then I realized he must have been able to see it surrounding me. He must have been able to see the shadows that cloaked my shoulders. I wondered if it scared him as it scared me. The look in his eyes didn't seem to be fear- it was reverence.

"It's amazing," his voice was soft, "I can see the power all around you."

I was not pleased with his words. "I don't want it."

"I can help you," he pleaded, "they don't understand you. They can't and they never will. Your tether doesn't even understand."

My eyes shot up to his face at his words. The mention of Tucker made the energy around me sizzle painfully. It was a reminder of how it felt when he touched me, but a sick perverse reminder.

"Don't push me away when I'm the only one who can help you."

My skin crackled, feeling overwhelmed by the power that surged through me. My vision blurred, my head ached, and the blood all rushed to my fingertips. When I spoke, my voice barely sounded like mine.

"How?"

"I have the answers you want."

At the end of the day, whether I trusted him or not- whether he was working with Alice or not- I needed the answers. They were the only things that kept me rooted to the spot.

_______

Any thoughts about the history of West Acres?

Is Tilly in trouble for her unregistered spells?

Does Tucker know about these rules?

What's Lou's dad up to?

WHEN ARE THEY GONNA MAKEOUT AGAIN?

(lmao) that last one isn't really that important haha...unless?

Thanks for reading!!!

Stay safe. Be kind.