“It has to be. It’s a large coven. Not all of them live here, but enough of them do.”
And not one of them had helped me.
I screamed my rage, fighting against the invisible bonds lifting me away from my sister. Evie’s hands clutched at me, her nails sharp, scratching as they slipped from my back and caught on my shirt.
“No, no no! Let me go!” Evie howled.
The coven surrounded us, expressions sad. Mom was crying, tears running silently down her face as she lifted her hands and Evie and I broke apart. Gemma held Evie in place with a single wave of her hand, and my shoes skidded on the pavement as the power dragged me away.
“I don’t want to go!” I roared. “Let me stay here!”
“It’s for the best,” Mom insisted, and I reached blindly for Evie, but she was too far. We’d had no warning. This morning when we woke up, I was told I would be leaving. Evie would be staying.
“I’ll come back for you,” I screamed. “I promise!”
Evie sobbed, her face red, her nose running, she closed her eyes, using her own magic, and Gemma’s face turned pale as her spell slipped for a single moment.
Evie sprinted toward me and I bared my teeth at my mother, but it was too late. Her spell took complete control of me, leaving nothing but my vocal cords free. My body was her puppet, and within moments I was in the car, my hand pressed against the window as Evie stood and stared, once again unable to move.
Noelle wrapped her arm around Evie’s shoulder, but she shrugged her off.
The last time I’d seen my sister before I returned, she was standing alone and silent, surrounded by the coven.
“Danica?” Vas touched my shoulder, jolting me back to the present.
I swallowed down my nausea, strode up the porch steps, and pounded on the door.
19
Danica
My sister opened the door.
We both froze. Evie recovered first, glancing from me to Vas. The demon was silent, but I’d heard his indrawn breath. My sister was a knockout.
Unlike me, Evie got my mom’s eyes. The blue-green of them was stunning against her perfect skin, the peaches-and-cream interrupted only by the tiniest scattering of freckles across her pert nose.
She had a wealth of curly blonde hair, which was currently shoved up in a messy bun. Did it still drive her crazy? Did she still fight to get a brush through it like she had when we were kids?
“Danica. Why are you here?”
I straightened my shoulders. The sooner I got this over with, the sooner I could go to the bar.
“We need to talk to Gemma,” I managed to get out. Evie studied me then shrugged nonchalantly.
“Fine.”
She was gone before I could say anything else. Bitterness flooded my mouth. I could’ve handled that so much better.
“What are you doing here?” Gemma’s voice echoed through the house before she appeared. Within seconds, she was limping toward the door, brandishing her cane like a weapon.
Gemma had never liked me. The other witches had spoiled us when we lived here, babysitting us while mom worked. But Gemma had always disapproved of me, and by the time we’d left, I’d given up attempting to win her approval and was actively going out of my way to annoy her.
Unfortunately, we needed Gemma’s cooperation. And from the way she was glaring at me, she had no plans to help us. Vas shifted slightly and her eyes darted to him, her gaze scanning him from head to toe. Wariness slid across her face and I was small enough to enjoy it.
“Well?” she barked and I took a steadying breath.
“You’ve likely heard of the recent demon murders,” I said, and she shrugged.
