His brown eyes narrowed as it dawned on him. “That’s right. You’re Henly Rose’s kid. Wish I could say that made things better for you, but . . .” He scratched his jaw. “I was there the night of the accident. Terrible what happened to him. How he survived . . .” He shook his head like something else should have happened.
I folded my arms over my chest, squinting in the face of the bright beam of sunlight hitting our street. “Do you have a searchwarrant?” I wasn’t sure if it was right to ask. Ash would’ve known. Ash knew everything.
His mouth cocked in a half grin. “Smart kid.”
I didn’t take it as a compliment.
“No warrant. Just have a few questions for you.”
Questions.
I pinched my lips together, because questions weren’t better. Questions were going to be a problem. I scuffed my big toe on the brick pavers, stalling before I looked back up at him.
“Can I have a lawyer?”
He snorted a laugh.
So, no.
I’d made a vow to myself after Dad’s accident. No more lies. No more using my gift. No more letting people believe false information, taking away their power to make the right decision. Because there wouldn’t have been an accident if I hadn’t lied about going to Gray’s.
I hadn’t told a lie since, and I atoned for what I’d done by answeringeverysingle question asked of me. After what happened — whatcould’vehappened — even the act of evasiveness felt cheap.
If Agent Mertins asked the right question, I’d answer it. Honestly.
I squeezed my eyes tight, steeling myself for what I knew was about to come. Humans once burned witches, but that was a long time ago. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad when they caught me. Maybe now they had a quicker way.
“It’s only a few questions,” he said. “No big deal. Not here to arrest you or nothing.”
I nodded toward his SUV. “Should I wait for you to get a notebook?”
In response, he tapped his temple and said, “Steel trap.”
More likely, he was wired. I scoured his uniform — black fromhead to toe — for any sign of one when he hit me with the first question.
“You ever hear the rumors about you? They reach you back here?”
“Rumors?” I actually hadn’t. I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
He shrugged, then took a step closer, leaning in to block my escape. He couldn’t have expected me to run. I had no shoes on. “Doesn’t matter.” He moved on. “I want to know if you’ve seen anything unusual around here lately.”
“Unusual?” I narrowed my eyes, genuinely thinking. There were those strange movements around the oak tree this morning, but I’d been sick, half dreaming. “Can you provide an example? I may have, but I don’t know if — I’m not sure what it was.”
Agent Mertins smiled like he’d found the smoking gun and held his smile through a long pause. I knew it was a tactic. Say nothing, stare, wait for me to spill. Ash had been great at it. I drew my arm across my forehead to shield my eyes from the sun and stared back at him.
“What’s unusual?” he repeated at last. “How about weird people in your yard or trees shapeshifting? You seen anything like that? Anything likewitches?” As an afterthought, he added, “You’re not one of them, are you? You’re not a witch?”
Now it was over. This was it.
“Yes,” I said. “I’m a half witch.”
I raised my arm to point out the old oak, which I suspected was the source of the “shapeshifting.” It was an ordinary tree, insofar as it wasn’t magical, but it was big and shady, which made it as good a place as any to hide activities one might describe as unusual.
Agent Mertins only waved his hand dismissively, shaking his head as he grinned. “Ah, never mind. I didn’t think you were. I guess we’re done.” He gave a lazy wave as he began to turn away.“Sorry for bothering you.”
It was beyond the vow I made — I never vowed to repeat the truth. But I didn’t understand what was happening. If he was coming back with more agents, I wanted to know. Needed to know if I had to prepare Dad.
As Agent Mertins shuffled down the porch steps, I blurted, “That’s it? But I just told you what I was.”
