The Second Covenant

I kept frowning as her last words to me rolled around in my head. ’fearful of others what we hate in ourselves.’ I cleaned up my little ritual while people talked above me, mouthing the words to myself as I tidied. “Can I help you put that stuff back?” Peyton asked me and I nodded absently. “Uh-hu.” I ignored him, not intentionally, but because all kinds of thoughts were looked over in my brain, discarded and moved to another. ‘Fear what we hate in ourselves…’
But that could be confusingly hard to grasp. I was afraid of warty toads, because they were slimy and freaky looking, but did that mean I hated toads because I thought of myself as one? No, they were just ugly. “Did you sleep with him already?”
I tripped over the edge of the carpet a little in my work room and looked over at Peyton. “Excuse me?” He just glared around and looked sulky. “Druex, did you sleep with him?”

I took a deep breath, counted to ten and put my supplies back where they went. “Is that why you came up here with me? To question my sexual behavior?”
“No, but I’m curious. There‘s something about you that‘s off, besides the normal.” I shot him a dirty look and was tired of the pussy footing around. We were about to have a fight. “Peyton, what happened is all on you. I came to see you because I needed to talk to you. Not Tristan, not Riley, not Druex. You. I came up there because you kissed me in my parents kitchen and told me you loved me. But you were sleeping with someone while you were guilt tripping me in to doubting my feelings for you. While I talked to you on the phone and was scared out of my mind. Your fault, not mine. I kissed you, fine, but you could have said hey wait, I’ve got a girlfriend. But you didn’t. So just take your shitty attitude, jealousy whatever and shove it.”

Peyton stood there, with his expression so very hard. “She’s not my girlfriend.” I threw my hands up in exasperation. “Fine, she’s your fuck buddy. I don’t really care.” I sighed and leaned back against the wall, so tired of this already. I was over it, I had Druex. I had…Peyton scowled furiously. “I feel like you’re just with him out of spite.” I lifted my brows slowly. “Oh yeah, that’s exactly what I thought of when Trixi walked up. ’I’m going to run right back to Druex and rub it in Peyton’s face. That’ll teach him, mm-hm.”

I pushed away from the wall and put my hands on my face for a minute before, pushing up through the frustration. “I don’t want mudslinging games Peyton. We’ve been friends our entire lives, you know me better than that.” Peyton looked down, away from my gaze. “I thought I did.”
Well, great.
“I really am sorry I hurt you. What do you want me to say?”
“You’re an asshole, sorry, never do it again.” He rolled his eyes at me and repeated what I said.

We were walking back down the stairs when it hit me. “He was a witch too.” I said, frozen on the stairs. “Who was?” Peyton said and I was off like a shot, running down the stairs. I slid across the marble in my socks and burst into the library. My father kept a book on the Salem Witch Trials, names of the accused, the accusers, the victims, that kind of stuff. I climbed up the ladder to get it, I knew right where it was, and jumped down. I was flipping through the pages by the time everybody else showed up. “Where’s the fire sweetheart?” Uncle Pogue said and I kept flipping. “He was a witch. Probably one of the Puritan jerks who came over from England. Elizabeth told me that we fear what we hate most in ourselves.”

I found a list of the magistrates and scanned down the page. “He knew what Elizabeth was the first time he saw her, most likely part of his power is recognizing other witches.” I knew I was right, but there wasn’t one GD name on the list that started with A, first or last name. No names that could be Addy’s full name. “But then why would he sell out his own kind?” Declan asked the room and we all shrugged. “He’s an old school psychopath with a God complex.” I said, slamming the book shut, I would have tossed it, but Druex slipped it out of my hands. “Might take out the whole wall.” He said and set the book down gently.

I sat down in the leather chair with a huff. And glared at the book. Maybe if I did hard enough it would burst into flames. “God complex?” Paige asked. I nodded. “Liked having the power, knowing they were witches, or not, and having the ability to pardon them, or not.” I pressed my hands on my eyes and groaned. “Cherish, come on honey. You’re tired, we can keep looking. This isn’t just all on you.” My mother said and I nodded. “I know, we‘re all frustrated. I want to go beat something up, but I can‘t go to my Kempo classes, cause I might accidentally snap someone‘s spine in half. And that‘s what I do when I‘m frustrated, I go to class and beat something up.”

I smelled Druex, a moment before his hands came down on my shoulders. “You can spar with Dom or me. Or Dax if it‘ll make you feel better.” Tristan heaved a sigh. “Whew, now she’s got someone else to beat up on. Yes.” Him and Riley did a high five. I sighed and got out of the chair to wrap my arms around Druex’s waist. “I’m fine.”
“Just tired.” He finished and I smiled. “And I have a headache.” He snorted and I ended up going home with him. Again.