The trip home was filled with silence.

It wasn’t the comfortable kind that faded into the background and made your eyelids grow heavy as the purr of the car’s engine droned on and on.

This one was full of tension and unspoken words that were so loud they needn’t be spoken at all.

Zeke, Clara, and Mason hitched a ride with Asher and I since Tessa was currently tied up and unconscious in the back of the work van Breyona drove. Giovanni and Tristan had no choice but to sit back there as well considering they were the only windows blacked out from the rising sun.

It would’ve been safer to wait until dark to move, but we didn’t have the time to waste.

There was no telling if Ember would come back for her twin with more witches, and now that the location of the safe haven was compromised, we needed every spare warrior available to protect the territory.

It did help that Deacon, Dina, and Spence stayed behind, but there was still the risk of the witches attacking during the day.

Since my ner