“I don’t like people very much.” I gave her a truth she didn’t ask for. “What were you curious about?”
She sighed as if I were exhausting her. Her gaze flickered between my eyes, nervousness taking over the depths of her honey-colored eyes.
“I was trying to find something to use against you. I wanted to blackmail you.”
My fingers curled into her soft skin.
“For fuck’s sake, Elowyn. Blackmail me forwhat,exactly?”
She looked away.
“I wanted a favor or two, I guess. But I didn’t think you’d help me unless I forced you.”
I didn’t respond. She thought I was an asshole, and I supposed I was, but she didn’t understand that she was causing too many issues for me. She needed to stay away because she was not my mate, and I should not feel this way for her. But eventhis conversation was only making it harder for me to find the strength to stay away.
“Will you tell me the fate of my coven?” she blurted.
I tilted my head slightly, studying her. She fidgeted with worry, but I knew she wouldn’t say why because again, she was the most stubborn woman I’d ever met.
“Are you in trouble?” I asked.
“I’m always in trouble,” she said with a smirk, trying to throw me off.
She was worried about something, and I didn’t ask myself how I knew that. My gaze followed her for a moment before I closed my eyes and focused, trying to see the coven’s fate—but after a moment, nothing came.
“I can’t see anything.” I sighed, opening my eyes again.
“You actually looked for me?” she asked as if I were heartless.
I didn’t like that she thought I was mean just to be mean, but knew it was necessary.
“Who are you in trouble with?” I pressed. “There has to be a reason you wanted to know and a reason I see nothing.”
I’ve never been able to see her fate. I wondered if the heavens knew I’d use it to track down the man she ended up with and end them.Gods, Della and I are too similar.
“My coven is being punished for something my mother did.” Her cheeks flushed. “I wanted to know if I fixed it… but if you can’t see the coven, then probably not. Or maybe I need to choose a different path.”
This was the first time she had ever admitted anything to me. I didn’t know her mother well. In fact, I only started caring about this coven when I ran into Elowyn in town one day. I followed her home, and then her coven started fucking with fate and became a problem I decided to handle personally.
“What did your mother do?”
Her eyes closed tightly. She muttered something to herself before opening them again. She looked embarrassed.
“She pissed off the wrong coven. Do you know Jade from the Bloodkissed Coven?”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Well… she’s the queen. And my mother stole the man Jade loved—because of a stupid disagreement. My mother used a fate spell on him. Made him believe they were fated mates. They weren’t. When Jade found out, she hexed our coven to rot away.”
“She cursed your entire coven.” I exhaled. “Sounds like you and your mother need to learn to stay out of people’s business.”
Elowyn shoved me, and I stumbled back a step. My hands fell from her, and I instantly missed the warmth of her skin.
“I amnothinglike my mother,” she seethed. “Don’t you ever lump me with that woman again.”
Okay, definitely hit a nerve.
