“And I am never wrong.”
“You said you weren’t friends with Ash,” I pointed out.
“I’m not,” Skye said. “Ash spills her guts to everyone.”
Well, that’s not true, I thought, but said nothing.
“You’re allowed to want to fix it,” said Skye. “You don’t have to accept that this is what it is. Like, I don’t know.” She gave me a sharp look, very different from the reserved contemplation I frequently got from Leland. “The shit with your mom? Her whole campaign against you being here, the Anti-Human Initiative which she didn’t do with Ash? Don’t you want to know why?”
Her organized piles looked so much better than mine, better than they looked in the store.
“No,” I said.
“Well, Ash did. She was trying to find you answers before she left, and you should probably think about finishing it for her. Maybe, in the process, you’ll learn why it hurts and what will help you heal that.”
My gaze flicked to a tattoo on Skye’s ribcage of Nova and amermaid extinguishing a wildfire. My heart was ready for this conversation to end. I scooped up a pile of folded clothes, carried them to Helen’s bedroom, and stuffed them in the tall dresser Created by Leland. For the rest of the night, I expected Skye to burst in with more jabs of wisdom, but she left me alone.
I stared at the ceiling, trying to reconcile the way Ash’s letters had stopped with the fact that she’d been searching for answers, if Skye were to be believed. And I did believe her. That was my sister, quietly invested.
There were a few things I knew. Helen wanted me hated. Why else start the Anti-Human Initiative days after my arrival? Plus, she never wanted me in Everden to begin with. But Jaxan, based on the Dark Deal he’d made with Leland,didwant me in Everden. At least until Selection.
I rolled over, twisting in sheets.
If Ash was looking into it, she must’ve been at least a little worried about Helen getting her way. Maybe that explained why Jaxan said Ash worked with him like Leland did. Maybe Skye was right. Maybe I did need to understand the reason for Helen’s rejection. If not for me but for Ash and Leland.
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
EMBER
To ward against dark magic, I advise a glass cloche covering, which — upon detection of a Dark Witch — rapidly descends to trap the Dark Witch within. But Shadowforms are a slippery sort, and even this method is not always effective.
— Charley Starvos, Echelon to the
School of Creation Magic
On the plus side, I hadn’t woken up with the phantom flu. On the down side, neither had I slept. It was still dark when I changed into a pair of leggings and a sports bra, covering up with a light-yellow sweatshirt because Hartik’s Hollow was cold in the morning. I crept around on tiptoes, quietly locating my running shoes and gently picking them up.
At the sight of a pair of green eyes glowing in the dark living room, I drew in a sharp breath. It was only Nova, but before I rationalized this, a shoe slipped from my grasp, and I quietly swore as it tumbled to the floor. Right outside Ash’s room, where Skye was asleep.
Except she wasn’t.
She emerged, fully awake and dressed in gray sweatpants andanother one of her muscle shirts. “You look like death,” she said pleasantly.
“Thanks.” I pretended not to notice her running shoes were on. “I’m going running.”
“With me?” She handed me the shoe I’d dropped, fast-blinking her lashes, waiting for me to say yes.
I sat on the floor to put my shoes on, crossing my leg over my lap and sighing. I didn’t know the best way to tell her she was better off not coming.
“I usually run alone,” I said.
“And that’s been going well for you?” she asked.
“No,” I admitted, and stretched my neck, remembering my encounter with Farrah and the story that came out afterward: “Half Witch Openly Worships at Allwitch Temple.”
Skye stretched her triceps, warming up. “Then I will be coming.”
