Chapter 296

Tessa’s POV

We spent most of the evening helping the coven pack. We decided to deal with the house later, but as of right now, none of them felt comfortable staying in this home when they couldn’t remember what had happened in it for the last decade. I couldn’t blame them; I wouldn’t want to stay here either.

Joseph and I agreed to let them stay with us until we can find a more permanent arrangement for them. We are hoping to find an even better house for the coven close to our residence. As far as a Coven leader goes, we aren’t quite sure who’s going to take over that role just yet. But so far, most of them are looking to me for answers, even Patty who is just as distraught as the rest of them.

Joseph called an overnight moving company that should be at the house soon and they will take all of the bigger items to a storage unit Joseph purchased in the city. Everyone was instructed to pack their smaller items in suitcases and boxes, which would go to our house for the time being.

“We have a bus that we use for group travel,” Cole informed me. “I’m usually the one to drive it so I can transport everyone to the city.”

“Thanks,” Joseph said, patting him on the back.

Cole nodded and went to inform the others of our plan.

“So, we are really going to New York City?” Hannah asked, leaning against the doorframe of her bedroom.

“Yes,” I answered. “Is that okay?”

“Are there trees in the city?”

“Not much,” I answered. “Less than there are here. Even at our place, there aren’t many foresty areas.”

She nodded.

“Good,” she said, disappearing into her room.

I smiled and walked down the stairs to see Derek sitting on top of a small suitcase. He looked worn out and stared down at his hands when I approached.

“Is that all you’re packing?” I asked.

“I don’t like being in there,” he murmured, his face reddening. “It doesn’t feel like my room. None of that stuff is something I’m interested in. I just want to go.”

I sat beside him, putting my hand on his shoulder.

“What happened during this time, wasn’t your fault, Derek. None of it was you. It was all Lucias.”

“I know… it’s just a lot to take in. Those weapons were used, Tessa. Like actually used. Some of them still had blood on them and it looked pretty fresh. I mean… I shot Joseph. I almost killed him.”

“But you didn’t,” I reminded him. “We are starting fresh. This is a clean slate going forward.”

He nodded and even offered me a small smile.

Joseph walked down the stairs and when he noticed Derek sitting and moping, he sighed and walked over to us.

“Honestly, Derek. You don’t need to beat yourself up over it. I’m not holding anything against you. It’s all in the past.”

“I wouldn’t blame you for hating me. Or even killing me,” Derek murmured. “I deserve it.”

“No, you don’t,” both Joseph and I said at the same time.

“The only one who deserved to die was Lucias and he got his fate,” Joseph added.

This made a smile twitch at the corners of Derek’s lips and then he nodded.

“Are we almost done?” Patty asked as she lugged down the rest of her belongings, Amy following closely after her.

“I think so,” I said, looking around the fairly empty room. The movers had arrived a short time ago and most of everything was already in the moving truck thanks to Cole, Austin, and Bennet. “We just have to load everyone on the bus and then we are ready to go.”

“I’ll go with them on the bus,” Esme said as she walked down the stairs, Hannah and Laura following after her. “That way I can explain everything to them in more detail. I’m sure they have a ton of questions, and I might have some answers for them.”

“Good idea,” I agreed.

Once everyone was loaded onto the bus, I got into Joseph’s car and we drove back to the city. Most of the ride was quiet while I processed all that had happened. But at one point, I couldn’t take the silence any longer and I looked over at Joseph.

“Everything is going to be okay, right?” I asked, biting my lower lip.

“Of course it is,” he answered without missing a beat. “Why wouldn’t it?”

I shrugged.

“I don’t know,” I muttered. “It’s just… we didn’t sign on to take in an entire coven. It wasn’t what we were expecting.”

“Things change all the time though,” Joseph said simply. “Some things are out of our control. Honestly, I think everything is going to be better than fine. You might actually have a coven now. People who can help you train your magic and learn everything needed to learn. A coven is supposed to be like a family.”

“You’re my family,” I told him firmly.

“Yes, and I’ll always be your family. But I’m not a witch so I can’t pretend to know what you are going through,” he told me honestly. “I think things are going to work out better than you think.”

I took a deep breath, but I nodded. I knew that he was right. Somewhere deep in my gut, I knew that this was the best thing we could do. This was the right move. He reached over and took a hold of my hand, I couldn’t help but smile up at him as he continued to drive through the quiet night.

“Are you still calling work tomorrow?” He asked.

I looked at the time and saw that it was 4 am.

Smirking at him I said, “It is tomorrow. So, probably.”

“You are going to tell me what your first assignment is? Or is it supposed to be a surprise?”

That knot returned to my stomach and I found myself grinding my teeth. I guess I couldn’t get out of this conversation now.

“It’s you,” I blurted.

His brows raised to his hairline.

“What?”

I sighed and leaned my head against the door.

“My first assignment is the mysterious Joseph Evergreen who was rumored to have moved into the city,” I admitted. “They want to do a feature story on you. Even though you are a very well-known writer and teacher, you are still a mystery to those who haven’t actually met you and they want to do a story exposing the real Joseph Evergreen.”

To my surprise, Joseph started to laugh.

“And what did they say when you told them you were engaged to the mysterious Joseph Evergreen?”

My cheeks flushed and I wasn’t sure how to answer that. My silence was enough to pique his interest.

“You did tell them, right?”

I bit my lower lip again, chewing on it until I could taste the metalic of my blood.

“Tess?” He urged.

“No, I didn’t tell them,” I blurted out. “I couldn’t…”

“Why couldn’t you tell them?” He sounded a little hurt and that was not my intention.

“Because this is my first big assignment, Joseph. They trusted me with a feature article. I can’t blow it… If they knew that you were my fiance, not only would that put me on the spot, but they’d also pull me from this story. I couldn’t have that happen.”

“I see,” he said, allowing that to sit on his mind.

“I ran into an issue yesterday though,” I continued.

“And what issue would that be?”

“One of my coworkers found out where you were living and wanted to go with me to interview you. She wanted it to be a surprise interview, so we didn’t bother calling first and I wasn’t sure what to say to her to persuade her not to come with me. The only reason why I went along with it was because I knew you weren’t home… but at that time I didn’t know you sent Esme to find me and of course the first place she looked was…”

“Our house,” he finished the sentence for me.

I nodded sheepishly, feeling embarrassed by my own actions.

“Did your coworker find out about us?” He then asked.

I shook my head and stared down at my lap.

“I kind of blew Esme off and I felt awful about it. But she texted me and I explained everything to her. She told me that I was in danger and that Lucias was coming for me. When we got back to the office building, he was there waiting.”

Joseph nodded thoughtfully.

“You should have just told me about your assignment. I have no problem being in the spotlight,” Joseph surprised me by saying.

“Yeah, but you’ve always been such a private person,” I told him.

“And that gets people even more curious about me,” he told me. “Which makes them try to track me down that much more. I can put on a pretty good show, Tessa. It would get them off my back too.”

“Wait, really? You want to be featured in Fable Magazine?”

“Would it help your career?”

I nodded, eagerly.

“Yes, it would,” I admitted.

“Then set up a time and I’ll go to your office for an interview, I’ll pretend we are just meeting,” he assured me. “If they want a show… then they got one.”