Spellbound

Chapter Fourteen

Kennedy lay sprawled on the gray pavement, her hair covering a part of her face. A hushed wind brought crushed leafage and frosty snow surrounding the girl.

"K," Martin said, brushing off a strand of Kennedy's blond hair from her face.

A barely audible groan left her lips as she opened her eyes. For a split second, her eyes appeared bright blue but soon came back to their normal green color. Martin seemingly failed to notice the change, as he was more focused on looking at Kennedy's head.

"What happened?" she asked in a raspy voice, lifting herself from the concrete pavement. Her hands felt cold and seemed disobedient to her wishes.

"I'm not sure," Martin said, grabbing her elbow and trying to help her stand.

She hadn't joined the rest of the mourners in a while, therefore Martin went to look for her and found her on the ground. He examined her as she stood shakily, her blond hair seemed disheveled, the skin had a grayish undertone, and Martin assumed grief and exhaustion caused her to faint.

"How long I was out?" she asked, evening the bottom of her black dress.

"We split around fifteen minutes ago," he explained. "We need to go." He hugged her slender waist, helping her walk.

"Oh," Kennedy said, her eyes widened.

"What?"

"Nothing," she replied in a shaky voice.

It took a few minutes for Kennedy to grasp what happened, her head spun and her vision seemed blurry. She was unconscious just for fifteen minutes at most, so how was she awake so fast? She couldn't think straight as the view of Dylan dying rose in her memory.

She started to regret her choice since now she was all alone, and she couldn't tell Martin anything, it would be unfair to him. She glanced at him as they walked toward the church; he deserved a happy and not complicated life. Right then and there she knew she would have to save both Dylan and Hayden alone. The big question remained: how will she do it?

It was not the time nor the place to conduct any plans as a grand sound of the organ chimed in the vast church space. Kennedy observed the place and knew Dylan would hate all of this ceremony since he was not a church type of guy, and yet in a state of forgetfulness, she and Martin thought all of this was a good idea.

People sat on the wooden benches, and they all shifted to watch as Kennedy and Martin walked into the church, as the huge door closed behind them with a harsh thud. But the cold stare from Stacie forced Kennedy to shift from Martin and stand fully on her own.

"I'm okay now, " she said, indicating he should let go of her waist. He furrowed his eyebrows in concern, scanning her, missing the look his wife possessed.

Stacie sat in the front row and, upon reaching the place, Kennedy let Martin go past her and settled in the second row behind them. Usually, the family sat at the front row during the ceremony, but since Dylan had no family apart from a few close friends, it seemed appropriate for Martin and Stacy to settle there.

Kennedy tuned out the priest's speech and looked around the place. Dylan's friend and business associate Kai sat in the second line, his head hung low, and it seemed he just stared at his hands. Kennedy's breathing increased as she noticed the attendees sitting in front of Kai.

It was difficult to keep herself in check for Kennedy as she watched Helena caress Lydia's hair. They didn't even know Dylan and acted as if they were mourning him, not to mention Helena was the reason why he was gone in the first place. But Kennedy felt weak and she couldn't do anything at that moment, the fact that Helena dared to even show up, made Kennedy nauseous.

Soon after the ceremony, Kennedy and Martin stood near the casket, accepting condolences from attendees, the mood remained slumber. Kennedy noticed a few of Dylan's ex-girlfriends lingering at the back of the church.

How did Helena not think about this? Some people knew Dylan back from high school, and even though he had not kept contact with any of them, they still showed up. But Helena seemed calm, she laughed and smiled while talking with Stacy and Lydia, though she seemingly avoided looking at Kennedy.

The desire to rip off Helena's head felt too overwhelming for Kennedy, and she tried to find some sort of comfort or form an action plan. It seemed she was blessed as her solution walked into the church, she never really thought about it. Not that she could remember taking any other approach, but just to get Resurrectionis arca and resurrect Hayden.

John Herondale walked into the church as the last mourners said their goodbyes. He didn't change much in all those years and looked so much like Hayden. His black hair was set up and coated with gel, they shined as he walked closer to the altar.

Kennedy felt uncanny seeing him but she realized he might be the only one who could help. Surely he would like a chance to resurrect his son, though Kennedy wasn't sure what John knew. But from Helena's facial expression, it seemed easy to guess she didn't share anything with her father.

Kennedy tried not to stare as Helena rushed toward her father, she talked with him in a hushed tone. Martin seemed busy talking with a priest, so Kennedy stood alone.

"Prolixius," Kennedy whispered, glancing at John and his daughter. With the help of this spell, she could hear the conversation between Helena and John.

"You can't be here," Helena said, gripping her father's elbow. "It looks bad you budged and came to them."

"I just came to say my condolence," John said. His voice forced Kennedy to breathe faster, it felt like hearing Hayden's voice for the first time in ten years.

"They left the coven Dad," Helena guided John toward the door. "They don't care, why should you?"

"You are here," he said.

"I'm here for Lydia and Stacie and not for them." Her voice held a deep hatred, which surprised Kennedy.

"We are low on numbers, so it would be worth talking to them as well," John explained, forcing Helena to nod. "We need more members, and they could help."

"I will talk to them, as a head of the coven." They stopped at the door. "This is not the place nor time to discuss the coven matters." It seemed clear Helena established she held the lead in the coven, even her father agreed with her words. He slightly nodded and walked out of the church.

It seemed that the coven might be in some sort of trouble, but Kennedy's focus remained on what Helena said, she mentioned that the trio left the coven. So John thought that they left and he most likely didn't know what happened to Hayden.

Kennedy vaguely remembered one conversation with John, it was the day her exams were over, he came by her parent's house and asked where his son was. At that time, Kennedy was spellbound and explained to John she knew nothing about Hayden. He didn't question her much, as she seemed confused at that time as to why this middle-aged man talked to her in such familiarity.

She recalled Alex saying that a few families from the coven went rogue, and it seemed that in the span of ten years, the coven was weaker if John was willing to ask for her and Martin to come back. Should she even be concerned about the coven? One thing felt clear: Kennedy had leverage against Helena, and all she needed to do was to talk with John Herondale.