“Because she’s dangerous. Or pathetic. I mean, her powers didn’t even surface until now? What kind of witch can’t access her powers?”
“I heard her mother tried to raise an undead army and her own minions killed her.”
“More importantly, she killed other coven members.”
“I give her a week before she breaks down or hurts someone.”
My chest tightens. I pull the covers over my head, feeling hot tears prickle behind my eyelids.
“Ignore them, Pops.”I can practically hear Asher’s voice in my head. If he were here, he’d say,“If your people think you’re too much for them, they aren’t your people.”
I pull my blanket over my head and force my lungs to fill. “I miss you. I should’ve tried to shrink you down to bring you with me. I sure could use a hedgehog bestie right now.”
My fingers fumble in the fabric in front of me and find the crystal pendulum my mother chose for me in my welcome to Wicca box. Curling my fingers around the warm stone cone, I let its resonant energy settle my nerves.
Zoe Hallowind was a great and devoted witch. Orion, Tanner, and Declan all said the same thing. No one really knows what happened that night.
Everyone is making judgments, and assumptions based on half the story, and a deadly outcome.
I don’t know any more than that.
And despite feeling lost and hated, Asher’s right. If they hate me without knowing what my mother may or may not have done, they are definitely not my people.
And I do have people.
Asher. Shaz. Tanner. Marty. Declan. Eliza. Orion…
Maybe nobody wants me here, but I didn’t come to Arcana to make friends. I came to gain control of my powers, which—through no fault of my own—were blocked and mishandled by the very people who should’ve been my advocates.
Eliza said Headmistress Briar is an upstanding and trustworthy woman who will make every effort to help me, despite my mother’s history.
That’s all I need.
The people here don’t have to like me. They just need to teach me how not to detonate and take out half the state.
I can take it from there.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Asharp knock startles me from a fitful sleep hours later.
“Poppy?” Wylder’s voice comes through the door. “If you want a shower, get in there now before time runs out.”
I leap off the bed, grabbing my toiletry bag from my duffel. “Coming!”
When I open my door, three witches in matching training uniforms are huddled around the large wooden worktable. They fall silent immediately, staring at me with expressions ranging from curiosity to thinly veiled hostility.
Wylder stands by the kitchenette, nursing a steaming mug. His eyes meet mine, and something has shifted. He’s still got his jaw clenched and a ‘don’t fuck with me’ look burning in those emerald green peepers, but there’s something else in his glare. Concern maybe?
As unlikely as that seems, I don’t dwell on it.
Orion has a wad of bacon in his hand and is heading for the door. “I’m off to kick ass and take names. Good luck today, Poppy. May the odds be ever in your favor.”
I chuckle at Orion’s pep talk and give him a wave. “Go be your double-threat self.”
“You know it.”
When he’s out the door, I meet Wylder’s gaze and tilt my head toward the bathroom. “I’ll be quick.”
