A skip of excitement in my chest betrays me. As much as I want to protect Hazel and avoid pressuring her to do this, it’s thrilling to think my best friend might be the key to helping the coven catch Sophia Madsen.
“But you don’t want to do this, do you?” I ask.
“Not really. But if Oaklyn is who you say she is, I have to learn more.”
“If? Hazel, she isexactlywho I say she is.” I hunch down, dropping my voice. “She tried to abduct me. And then tried to kill me.”
“Yeah, I know.” She sounds unconvinced. Jesus, Oaklyn must be good in bed to make Hazel doubt what I’ve told her.
I rub my face. “The Shadows will need both Sophia and Oaklyn’s addresses so they can organize an ambush.”
“And kill them?” Hazel asks with a hardness in her voice.
The word sends a jolt through my chest. But based on what I know about the coven’s laws, killing wouldn’t be their first move. “Detain, ideally. But if they resist or get violent…”
Hazel snorts. “Yeah, as if they’ll go nicely.”
“I know. I know this is asking so much of you.” My heart cracks for her knowing how impossible this decision must be. If she doesn’t help us, people might die. But helping us means betraying the woman she cares about—and putting herself at risk of being discovered as a spy.
I really don’t want to ask her to do this. But how can I ignore the opportunity to catch the most dangerous people known to witches? So I stay quiet, letting her make the decision, ready to support her either way.
Leaves rustle on the willow tree, witches bend their heads together in murmured conversations, and white clouds drift overhead. The world keeps turning despite the magical war brewing.
“I’ll send you Sophia’s location as soon as I know it,” Hazel finally says, sounding resigned. “But give me some time. I…I need to understand all this and what I’m doing. It’s a lot to take in.”
My heart jumps. “Yeah. I get it. Just promise me that if Oaklyn seems suspicious, or you feel unsafe, or even if your gut just tells you something’s off…get the hell out of there.”
A pause. “I will.”
I don’t know what went through her mind in that hesitation, but I can only hope she’s not considering any alternative.
“Anyway, I should go,” she says. “Work meeting.”
“Wait. I wanted to…” I try to find the words to ask what’s burning in my chest. Cupping my hand over my mouth, I drop my voice lower. “Hazel, in your considerably rational opinion, do you think it’s worth investigatingwhyI can hear the chimeras inside my head?”
Rustling in the background tells me she’s getting ready for her meeting. “I mean, yeah, but… Where would you start?”
My cheeks burn before I ask the question. “Do you think it’s possible I’m descended from witches?”
“Yes,” she says at once. “That would explain a lot.”
She didn’t hesitate. It’s everything I needed to hear.
I blow out a breath, as grateful as ever to have her in my life. “Maybe I can find records in one of the libraries. I’ll do some digging.”
A pile of leather-bound books flashes through my memory—the ones Natalie lobbed at me when we practiced throwing the golden net in the Alchemy room. She got them from the library, where hundreds of bookshold information about the history of witches, magic, and the coven. There must be something in there about chimeras…
“What would it mean if you are?” Hazel asks, her voice bouncing as she walks. “Does it give you the right to become a you-know-what?”
“I doubt it, but…” I chew my lip. Better not tell her too much, given how close she is to Oaklyn. “I just want to know whether people before me could talk to chimeras, too.”
And if they could…then maybe Lucy wasn’t just manipulating me. Maybe my bone-deep calling really is to protect them.
In which case it’s me against the world. Against the coven, against Natalie, against everything I’m supposed to be doing.
And I’m so screwed.
As we hang up, my laptop screen dims, and I tap the trackpad. I should order those textbooks and pretend to be a normal student for a little while longer.
