HYPOTHESIS
Magic was more dangerous when the witches had it locked underground than when it’s free and dispersed.
I could treat this like the corporate emissions project I did last year, except instead of mapping emissions, I’m mapping chimeras. I can make a database to track every weird animal sighting in Greater Vancouver, then analyze patterns in the magic. With enough data, I could build a case to prove Katie did the right thing!
Watch out, witches—you might have magic, but I have spreadsheets and an obsessive attention to detail. Time to face the fury of a computer nerd with a mission.
And if I happen to uncover more secrets in the process… Well, that’s just a bonus. After all, Katie isn’t the only one who’s allowed to be curious about the secret world of witches.
Chapter 3
Not Dancing in a Dungeon
SoI’mtoomuchof an outsider to be given earth magic and made a witch, but not enough of an outsider to be free from the coven’s justice system. How is that fair?
The SUV rumbles through downtown Vancouver, the familiar buildings and tree-lined streets whipping past the tinted windows. My skin stings as I pick glass from my sides, and I don’t bother trying to stop my blood from dripping onto the leather seats. Let them deal with the mess.
This is, again,notthe way I wanted to return. I pictured less blood and more making out. Less “You’re under arrest” and more “Now that you’re back, we need your help saving the world!”
How humiliating. I made the coven sound so cool when I told Hazel about it, like it was this secret club I’d been inducted into. Now look at me.
I pick out another glass shard and grit my teeth against the pain, trying not to imagine how panicked Hazel must be.
The guilt hurts worse than anything. I didn’t want to drag her into another magical debacle. Once again, I’m failing at keeping both halves of my life separate.
Hayley’s eyes keep flicking to me in the rearview mirror, her demeanor softening. “We didn’t want it to go down like this.”
“Why did it have to go down at all?” I grumble. “I’m the reason you still have a coven to protect.”
“You think you saved us?” Fiona turns around in the passenger seat to face me. “Do you haveany ideawhat a mess you’ve caused?”
“I’ve been reading the news.” Reports of strange animal sightings and phenomena have been hard to miss.
Fiona scoffs. “You don’t know half of it. A sinkhole spawning fish in an intersection. A beetle infestation decimating a botanical garden. A camel wandering down Robson Street. These are anomalies like we’ve never seen.”
My skin prickles as if detecting the magic she’s talking about. Or maybe that’s the glass shards.
Neil snorts beside me. “Makes cursed toaster ovens look like the good old days…”
Fiona shoots him a glare, and he shuts up.
“Not since the coven’s inception have we been so close to being exposed,” Fiona continues. “We’re one goddamn unicorn sighting away from having the existence of magic blown wide open.”
I’m uncomfortably aware that this is my fault. But don’t they understand that letting the Madsens have free rein of all that caged magic would have been worse? This magic can control people ‘right down to the neurons in someone’s brain,’ as Freddie explained. “We would have much bigger things to worry about if I hadn’t done it,” I say. “And I’ll have no problem defending my actions at my trial.”
“Admirable,” Fiona says flatly. “But whatever reasons you had, you still broke your oath.”
I scowl. I know I did the right thing, and I refuse to let them make me think otherwise.Alexanders don’t give up,as Dad always says. “I promised to protect magic, and sometimes keeping a promise means breaking the rules. I don’t regret what I did.”
Fiona huffs. “A chimera injured a child last week, Miss Alexander. I suggest you dig deep and find some semblance of regret.”
My gut twists. While I could argue that the Madsens would do a whole lot more harm…this doesn’t make me feel good, and it certainly doesn’t help my case.
We park in an alley that is nowhere near the Gastown steam clock, and my stomach lurches. Where are they taking me? This isn’t the entrance I’m familiar with.
Neil and Fiona flank me like prison guards when I climb out, each grabbing an elbow as if expecting me to bolt. I look back, hoping to see Natalie’s car on our tail, but only strangers walk past the alley without a glance our way. Not a single person notices three people in cloaks escorting a bloody young woman into a dark lane. Ah, the bustle of city life.
While Hayley drives off to park, the three of us march down the alley, stepping over litter and a splatter of something that looks a lot like vomit.
