“It’s fine, Poppy.” His voice gentles as he reads the panic on my face. “Everyone in this room knows about magic and the supernatural. The Oakleys and the Carmichaels are both founding families. It’s one of the reasons I was voted in as mayor.”
Relief floods through me, followed immediately by a fresh wave of fury as I watch Wylder probe his split lip with one finger. Light flickers around the wound, knitting the torn flesh back together like it never happened.
Show off.It doesn’t seem fair that he can erase the pain so easily when I wasn’t given the same opportunity.
Declan looks to me. “Start at the beginning, and tell me what happened.”
So, I do. I tell him about being left alone at sixteen with no memory of who I was or where I came from. Of being brought here by a witch named Sebastian. Of being grabbed by vines, waking up restrained, the needles and the testing and Laurel’s cold questions. I tell him about the binding breaking and the warehouse exploding with undead, and of Sebastian rescuing me from my own out-of-control power.
By the time I finish, Declan’s jaw could cut glass.
He rounds on Wylder. “What were you people thinking? Given how powerful the Hallowinds are and everything their family has done to protect this town, do you not understand how badly this could still go?”
Wylder touches his now-healed lip, green eyes defiant. “Well, if we didn’t before, after the other night we sure do. That’s why I’m here. I need to take Poppy to the Arcana Academy until she can control herself.”
The words hit me like a physical blow. “Excuse me?”
“You need training. Real training, not whatever undead, demon-tainted tricks Sebastian’s been feeding you.”
Sebastian said virtually the same thing, but with much less destain and derision. “I’m not going anywhere with you.” The temperature in the room drops several degrees. “I wouldn’t have lost control if you and your sadistic cauldron club hadn’t tortured me.”
Wylder’s face hardens. “That wasn’t torture. That was testing. It only felt like torture because your powers are so out of control.”
“Out of control?” My voice climbs an octave. “You tied me up and stuck me with needles like some kind of lab rat!”
“We needed to understand what we were dealing with!”
“Bullshit! If you wanted to understand me, you could have asked!”
“And what would you have said?”
“We’ll never know, will we, because you skipped straight to kidnapping and torture!”
Wylder takes a step closer, and Asher immediately moves to block him. “Look, princess, I get that you’re upset?—”
“Princess?”The word comes out like venom. “You think I’m being a princess?”
“If the Emberwood Elite shoe fits…”
“But I have no tie to that part of my life because you fucking people wiped my memories and stole my life!”
“Look. Your hurt feelings don’t change the facts. You’re dangerous. Untrained. And that summoning of the dead the other night? It took three of us working for hours to contain the magical fallout. What would’ve happened if that spread beyond the warehouse?”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t have tortured me!”
“Enough.” Declan’s voice cuts through our bickering like a blade. “As deplorable as the treatment of you has been—and I will be busting Laurel’s door down the moment I leave here to rip her to shreds about it—unfortunately, Wylder’s right. If your powers are breaking free and you have no training, you have to go. We have no choice.”
The betrayal hits me like a slap. “What?”
“I’m sorry, but look at this objectively. Your power is growing. It’s unstable. And frankly, after what the coven has done to you, I don’t trust them to train you.” His gaze shifts to Wylder. “Your coven has royally fucked this situation up.”
He shrugs, looking as pissy as ever.
Declan returns his attention to me. “The Arcana Academy specializes in exactly this kind of situation. Powerful supernaturals who need intensive training in a magically charged atmosphere that can buffer the danger.”
“I won’t go.” My hands clench into fists. “I just got here. I want to learn about my family and find my sisters.”
“You don’t have a choice,” Wylder says with a smirk that makes me want to throat-punch him. “Legally, we can have you removed and sent. The Supernatural Accords give local covens the authority to remove dangerous practitioners from populated areas.”
