“Aster is going to ascend Violet within the next decade,” she says, and I know the confused look on my face feels permanent. “Violet missed out on a lot of basics being away for so long. No matter how she may think of herself, she is actually extraordinarily gifted as a witch. I don’t think anyone else with only fourteen years of training would be where she is now. The High Priestess is hard on her, because she wants her to be the best, to continue the Delvaux dynasty.”
“What are you getting at?” I ask.
Her bright amber eyes glance up at me. “If you had to wait a decade for there to be a change in hierarchy within the coven, would you?”
She’s being serious, and so my answer is just as real.
“I’ve waited fourteen. What’s another ten?”
She nods, tucking her wand away. “I’ll get to work on getting rid of this legal problem of ours. You work on not making a mess of things, and we’ll get our house in order,” the witch says, and I wonder why she isn’t in charge of things.
Iris smirks, as if she knows what I’m thinking.
“Witches who have the gift of foresight can never lead a coven. Understanding the future is both a blessing and a curse,” she says with one final glance as she goes to the backyard to speak with her two friends.
I scrub a hand down my face and fill a glass of water for myself and wait for Violet to return.
The cat jumps on the table and sits in front of me, staring at me with his freakishly yellow eyes.
We just sit there in the stalemate, until he sticks his paw into my glass of water and then licks the droplets off his nails.
I realize that I somewhat have her friends on my side, now it’s time to tame the small magical beast.
Chapter 28
Ember takes the vow of secrecy, and we all make plans to solve my problems.
Even if Iris looks at me like I’m still keeping secrets.
Which I am, but I just can’t bring myself to admit this piece yet. They accept my whoopsie of a marriage, and my wanting to go behind my grandmother’s back to find out my history.
But admitting to them that I’m part shifter, or that I have the ability to shift with a necklace, is just too much. There’s only so much acceptance I can ask for and I worry this may be too far. Or maybe it’s all just because I haven’t accepted it yet.
I hug them both as I head back into the house. Silas is sitting in a dining room chair as he and Walter have a staring contest.
He grabs a piece of a muffin that I made last night and puts it down for Walter. My familiar seems confused at first, and eyes Silas suspiciously before bending his head, never taking his eyes off Silas and eating the pastry.
It’s the first nail in the‘I’m falling for Silas Walker’coffin.
That’s probably a lie. These pesky feelings have been riding my ass longer than I’d like to admit. But this is all post enlightenment, post me knowing most of the truth.
“What did Iris say?” I ask, and both Silas and Walter glance over at me.
“Typical witch threats,” he says, and he gives Walter some more muffin.
He’s buttering up the cat and me. I’m fucked.
“You took the necklace off,” he says in an even tone.
“Yes, well. I don’t know if it’s the necklace itself that allows me to… change. Or if the necklace was just a key unlocking a very dormant lock.”
He nods and takes a sip of coffee. The coffee I made for myself. Mentally I use a crowbar and unhinge that aforementioned nail in the said‘I’m falling for Silas Walker’coffin.
“I’ll see if Jonas or I can find anything in the pack’s archives.”
“Isn’t he busy with his new mate?” I question.
Something in me feels uneasy about the very little knowledge I have of shifters and mates. I shifted, yet as I stand here in my kitchen, I don’t feel any different.
