Your ancestors knew better,one of the chimeras said as I approached.
“Natalie, we can’t just trap them without understanding—”
“You have a choice.” Natalie’s sharp words cut through my weak argument. “Do you want your freedom, or do you want to waste time trying to change the entire coven’s mind about bio magic? You think Fiona will listen when you tell her you want to be buddies with the chimeras instead of trapping them?”
Heat rises in my face as she speaks the blunt truth. The stubborn part of me wants to argue back. I want to demand that she considers that I might be right. I know she’s protecting me, but she’s not listening.
But she’s fighting so hard for me—she’s defied her coven, risked her position, and fought against friends she’s had her whole life. And I’m here entertaining the idea that everything she believes is wrong.
Away from the chimeras, the certainty I felt fades fast, like I dreamed all that nonsense about being descended from witches.
Am I so desperate to be a witch that I’ll believe anything? There is zero proof that there are witches in my lineage. I’m no more descended from ancient chimera guardians than I am from Cleopatra.
“You think the magic wormed into my mind and manipulated me into not wanting to catch it?” I ask, barely a whisper.
Natalie softens. “I do.”
I swallow hard, unsure what to believe. But looking into Natalie’s eyes—this woman I love with every cell in my body—I know whose side I’m on.
“When do you want to go?” I ask, the wordsburning my throat.
The relief on Natalie’s face sends a pang of guilt through me. She pulls me into her arms, holding me tight against her chest. I can feel her heart racing.
“I’ll talk to Sky first thing,” she says into my hair. “She’ll assemble the Shadows for this. I think even Fiona will be on board, given the magnitude of what you’ve found. We’ll plan an ambush late tomorrow night when the park is empty.”
I nod against her shoulder, a strange numbness spreading through my limbs. The thought of returning to Lighthouse Park with nets and witches makes me nauseous. Lucy trusted me and brought me to the place where she and the other chimeras have gathered…and I’m about to lead hunters to them.
But what choice do I have? The coven won’t change their minds about bio magic after centuries spent containing it. And the Madsens have proven why that protection is necessary.
This is my life we’re talking about, and I’m the only one who can save it. I can’t get distracted from dreams of being special—of being a witch.
As we break apart, I curl my hands into fists, my nails biting into my palms. I’m angry at the coven for putting me in this impossible position, and at the Madsens for proving why bio magic is dangerous, and at myself for ending up in this predicament. Even if I secure my freedom, will I spend the rest of my life haunted by what I’ve done?
Natalie’s hand finds mine, and I exhale slowly, letting my fist loosen so our fingers can entwine.
As angry as I am, and as much as it scares me, I know what I need to do. Even if I have to ignore the voice in my head—not Lucy’s, but my own—whispering that I’m about to make a mistake.
From the Journal of Hazel Okada
I fucked up.
We were tangled in Oaklyn’s sheets this morning, my head resting on her shoulder, her arm securely around me. After all the time spent playing with her dagger, I felt bold enough to ask about it.
“Where’d you get it?” I asked, tracing my fingers up and down her body, relishing the feel of her smooth skin.
“Gift from my mom. She took it from some witches long ago… Gave it to me on my sixteenth birthday.”
“Quite the sweet sixteen present.” I paused and grinned up at her. “Bet she didn’t know you’d use it as a toy while railing your girlfriend a few years later.”
She snorted and dissolved into laughter, her whole body shaking. “You’re bad.”
I nestled deeper into her warmth, tracing my fingers over a thorny rose tattoo on her abs. “Maybe I can have an enchanted weapon of my own one day. You’ve got that one, Freddie had Wyatt, Katie’s got that gauntlet…”
The air in the bedroom seemed to crystallize. Oaklyn tensed beneath me. She shifted her head back to look down at my face, her eyes piercing me.
“Katie?” she repeated, unnervingly calm.
My heart stopped beating. The name had slipped out so naturally, as if my best friend had been part of our conversations all along. But she hadn’t been, of course.
