Awareness returns in slow, miserable waves. My heart is the first thing I hear, pounding so hard inside my skull it drowns out everything else. My thoughts are sluggish, making everything around me feel distant and muffled.
I try to lift my hand to brush my hair out of my face, but my arms won’t move. Smooth cuffs hold me in place. Thick and tightly cinched to the arms of what feels like a wooden chair. My ankles are tied too.
I’m trapped.
Voices drift around me, clinical and detached. What? Is kidnapping people an everyday thing for them? A sharp pain bites into the flesh of my shoulder, and I scream inside my mind.What the fuck? That hurt.
“Wylder, are you sure she didn’t attempt to defend herself in any way?” a woman asks, close to me. “Her powers are active, and she obviously knows who she is.”
“I didn’t give her the chance,” Plant Man says. Wylder. “But no, she didn’t try anything.”
“Maybe she wanted to be brought in,” another woman says. “Maybe she has plans of her own. To take us down and finish what her mother started.”
I’m still mostly out of it with no idea where I am or how much time has passed since I left the bank. Do they know I’m awake? Do they care? I assume these are members of the Emberwood coven.
My peeps, right?
My mom’s sisters and brothers.
Yeah, if this is how they treat people, it’s no wonder my mom broke trust with them to do what she felt was right. They certainly aren’t engendering my undying loyalty.
“Her magical signature is off the charts, Laurel,” a third woman adds, “but her energy is horrifyingly unstable.”
Yeah, well, that’s what happens when you dam up someone’s magic for five years, dickwad.
“She’s dangerous for more reasons than that,” Wylder grumbles. “She’s Zoe Hallowind’s daughter, she has a spirit affinity, and I’d bet my left nut Sebastian is behind her coming back with her powers unlocked.”
Well done, asshole. Your left nut wins that bet.
My eyelids feel gritty and dry, but I fight to pry them open. I don’t get far. Shapes shimmer through the fog in my skull. Five nondescript figures slowly take form, circling me, poking at me.
“The more immediate danger is her magic fighting to get out. Jane, I’d like you to test her response to elemental provocation.”
Another jab of pain burns into the meat of my arm, and I wish I could hiss or swear or throat-punch whoever keeps sticking me.
Lucky for them, I can’t.
Five people stand around me in a semicircle. Laurel is a middle-aged woman with silver hair pulled back into a stylish twist. Her light gray eyes study me as if I’m a specimen under a microscope.
Wylder hovers at her right shoulder, arms crossed, his familiar scowl etched into his features as if he’s a living example of the adage, ‘Stop making that face or it will stay that way.’
I’m not sure about the other three. A twenty-something girl with sandy hair holds a tablet, tapping in notes.
A middle-aged woman with auburn curls organizes vials of what I really hope isn’t my blood.
And a thin brunette woman with tortoiseshell glasses adjusts some kind of monitoring device. “Her magical output is spiking again. Even unconscious, she’s radiating power.”
“Fascinating.” Laurel picks up a small blade from the metal table. “Let’s see what happens when we?—”
“Let me stop you there, bitch,” I interrupt, my voice hoarse but steady. “I’m awake, and having you slice me up any more than you already have gets a big no from me. No consent given. In fact, this whole welcome to the coven is getting a terrible Yelp review. Zero stars. Worst kidnapping experience ever.”
They all freeze. Wylder’s scowl deepens, if that’s even possible.
Laurel recovers first, setting down the blade and stepping closer. “Poppy. You’re awake. Good. We have questions.”
“And I have a lawyer.” I test my restraints again. “I’ve already spoken to him about my powers being blocked, my mind wiped, and me being dumped alone in a strange city at sixteen. He seemed to think the bigwigs on the witches and wizards’ council would find that equally appalling.”
Laurel’s expression drops as all the color drains from her face. “You didn’t.”
