Chapter 353

Olivia

I was up later than usual that morning after a mostly sleepless night. After I heard the sound of Edward’s door creaking open, my mind buzzed with a million different thoughts; what was he doing? Where was he going? Were my twins safe?

But eventually, after listening for several minutes and hearing nothing, I managed to relax just enough to fall into a light sleep.

By the time I awoke, I could hear the sound of Nathan moving around the room. I yawned and sat up, rubbing my eyes. He was already dressed for work.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” he said softly, his eyes meeting mine in the mirror as he fastened his tie. “Twins are already taken care of. I’m taking Edward with me to the Council building, just like you wanted.”

A soft smile came across my lips as relief flooded through me. “Thank you,” I murmured.

“No problem.” Nathan finished tying his tie and came over to me, planting a kiss on my forehead. “I’ll see you later. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

The morning went on as usual, but something else was on my mind: the witch. Edward seemed confident last night when he told us about his plan, but then again, he seemed like he was always rather confident.

That was what had me worried. How sure was he about using these sigils?

I needed answers, so I pulled up my laptop at the dining room table, pushing aside a bowl of yesterday’s fruit to make space.

My fingers danced across the keys, typing various combinations of “witches,” “sigils,” and “power trapping” into the search bar.

After falling down a rabbit hole of lore, myths, and one particularly disturbing amateur witchcraft blog, I finally stumbled upon an obscure forum dedicated to breaking witch spells.

“Finally, some useful information,” I muttered under my breath.

Scrolling through the posts, my eyes widened as I found exactly what Edward had talked about. There were even pictures of the sigils needed to trap a witch and strip her of her powers.

With a feeling of both relief and urgency, I grabbed a notebook and began sketching out the complex designs. My hand shook slightly; was it nerves or just the intensity of focus?

Just as I finished copying down the last intricate detail, I spotted another comment in the forum thread that made my blood run cold.

“Hey, make sure you don’t confuse this sigil with that one,” the user had written, posting a picture of another sigil that looked almost identical to the one used for trapping witches. “If you use this by mistake, you’ll actually enhance a witch’s power instead of taking it away. Be careful, the differences are subtle.”

My heart pounded. A sigil that looked like the trapping sigil but made the witch even more powerful?

It was like something straight out of a nightmare—or a cunning witch’s wet dream. I quickly sketched out this other, more dangerous sigil next to the ones I had just drawn, double and triple checking to make sure I got every detail correct.

“Subtle differences, huh?” I mumbled, glaring at the two sigils side by side on the paper. My hand hovered with the pen, nervously dotting little points of emphasis where the two sigils differed.

I needed to be extra vigilant. In this world, there was no room for mistakes.

…

Juggling the infants before bedtime was like a circus act, and Nathan was late coming home from work.

Elliot had recently developed the lung capacity of what seemed like an opera singer, and Aurora had a newfound knack for flinging her pacifier out of the crib at the most inconvenient of times.

So there I was, warming up bottles with one hand and on pacifier-retrieval duty with the other, when the front door finally opened.

“Hey babe, we’re home!” Nathan’s voice echoed through the hallway. Something was different, something I couldn't quite put my finger on.

Edward shuffled in behind him, and their laughter and disjointed steps made it all too clear. They were drunk. My eyes narrowed as they bumbled into the living room.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re drunk?” I shot Nathan a glare as I finally managed to settle Elliot down with his bottle. “I thought you had to work late.”

“Uh, we had a drink or two to celebrate. Didn’t think we’d get this messy,” Nathan slurred, trying to smooth down his disheveled hair with his hand.

“Celebrate what?” My eyes darted back and forth between them. I was about two seconds away from losing it.

Nathan grinned. “I offered Edward a position as my advisor today. It’s all pretty exciting!”

My jaw dropped. “Advisor? That’s what you’re celebrating? You made this decision while you’re like this?”

He seemed taken aback. “No, no, I offered it to him this morning. We just decided to have drinks after work to celebrate. He’s got a lot of good ideas, Liv.”

Edward, looking slightly less drunk but equally uncomfortable, chimed in, “I assure you, the job offer came long before any alcohol was involved.”

I felt incredulous as I looked at the two men, unsure of what to say.

It was all happening too fast. I wanted to be happy for Nathan, to trust his judgment like I always had. But something about this didn’t sit well with me. It wasn’t like him to make snap decisions, especially ones that involved his job as the Alpha.

Feeling the tension in the room, Edward cleared his throat. “I should get to bed. Thank you both for a...memorable evening.”

After a quick goodbye, he headed upstairs, leaving Nathan and me standing in awkward silence. Finally, Nathan spoke.

“You don’t think this is a good idea, do you?” he asked, his voice low.

I sighed, glancing over at Aurora who was miraculously still sucking on her pacifier. “It’s not that, Nathan. It’s just—you’re not usually so impulsive. This whole thing feels rushed.”

“I know it seems rushed, but I’ve been considering this for a couple of days now,” Nathan said quietly.

I looked at him, trying to gauge how much of that was true and how much was the alcohol talking. “Days? That still feels awfully quick, doesn’t it?”

Nathan nodded, his face earnest. “Look, Liv, Edward’s a sharp guy. He knows what he’s doing, and I think he’ll bring a lot to the table. Don’t forget that he was supposed to be Alpha before he had to fake his death.”

Before I could answer, Aurora chose that moment to spit out her pacifier, letting out a loud wail. I walked over to her, picked her up, and held her close, trying to soothe her.

“I have to feed Aurora,” I finally said, avoiding Nathan’s gaze. “Can you handle Elliot?”

Nathan walked over to the playpen, his eyes lingering on our son for a moment before he looked back at me. “Of course. And Liv...I know it’s a big change, but I really think it’s a good one.”

“Okay,” I said quietly. “I trust your judgment.”

But as I sat down to feed Aurora, my mind was swirling with thoughts and questions.

Advisor? Edward? When did all of this happen? Why was Nathan making snap decisions like this when he was always so calculated and reserved? And getting drunk on a weeknight after work when he knew that I needed help with the twins? It just wasn’t adding up.

I wanted to believe Nathan; I really did. But as I looked down at Aurora, her tiny fingers wrapped around mine, I couldn’t help but wonder what other surprises were just around the corner.