“No,” I said, my tremulous voice betraying me. “Just a normal girl with too much curiosity.”
Wyatt huffed behind me and flopped down, his furry butt pressed against the bars separating us. I reached over and scratched him, which made his tail wag.
“That was no ordinary fight I walked in on,” I said, treading carefully.
Sophia’s grip tightened over the wheel, the leather groaning. The radio went staticy again, and she glared at the controls. The sound sputtered and died.
She and Oaklyn met each other’s eyes in the mirror, a silent conversation passing between them. Sophia dipped her chin in the tiniest of nods.
“What you saw was magic,” Oaklyn said at last.
A flare of excitement lit up inside me. She was going to spill everything.
“That dagger is magic?” I asked, pointing to it in her fist.
She nodded. “This is my power, but Mom’s a full witch. So were those other girls. Well, two of them, anyway. They’re part of a coven that’s trying to hoard magic for themselves.”
I stopped petting Wyatt and squinted at her. “Hoarding magic?”
Both Oaklyn and Sophia raised their eyebrows at me, a heavy pause in the air.
“I mean—wow, witches?” I scrambled to look surprised about this big reveal, but it was too late. “I—I guess I already suspected magic was involved when all these creatures kept showing up. And then with that griffin flying around…” I shrugged like it was all obvious.
“Yeah.” Oaklyn scowled, her grip tightening over the dagger. “The coven decides who’s worthy and who isn’t. They trap magic and lock it away, carefully controlling who uses it and when.”
Wait, what? This wasn’t what Katie told me about the coven. Are Sophia and Oaklyn wrong, or is there just a lot I don’t know?
“Why would they want to restrict magic like that?” I asked.
“Power,” Sophia said. “Control. They refuse to give anyone else the chance to be extraordinary.”
“So you’re trying to take some for yourselves?” I asked.
Sophia slammed her palms against the wheel, her crimson nails like spots of blood. Her eyes flashed dangerously in the rearview mirror. “We are not greedy tyrants like those witches!”
“Mom,” Oaklyn said softly, glancing sideways at me.
But Sophia ignored her, continuing in an impassioned tone. “We’re working to stop their monopoly over magic. We want to free it so anyone can use it. That includes you, darling.”
My heart skipped. I could use magic?
I couldn’t help it—I pictured myself with power radiating from my palms, my hair lifting as the charge gathered strength, raising enormous chunks of earth and stones…
Me. A witch.
Sophia’s lips curled upward, a satisfied look on her face when she met my eyes again in the mirror.
As silence fell between us, I let out a breath. I guess I wasn’t about to be murdered and dumped in a ditch—at least not today.
Oaklyn covertly reached over to take my hand in the back seat, her touch warm and gentle. My heart thudded as a confusing mix of sensations rippled through me. Despite the truth, my body still responded to her the same as before, and my fingers curled closed over hers.
“Oaklyn, darling, I’m almost out of those artisanal chocolates,” Sophia said, her tone shifting to something falsely sweet. “Go get some more for me this week, will you? And get me a load of groceries while you’re out.”
“Yes, Mom,” Oaklyn said, her voice flat.
“Good. I have a little gift for you when you come.”
Oaklyn looked out the window, hiding her face from me. I couldn’t help the little pang of resentment toward Sophia.
