I squinted to see what she was talking about, and when I saw it, my breath caught in my throat. A dark, pulsing mark had appeared on Isabel's wrist, its tendrils snaking up her arm like a malignant vine. It shifted and writhed, as if alive.
It was creepy, even though I didn’t know what it meant other than that we’d found our person. Still, everyone was staring in shock, so it must mean more than that. But what?
Carol's mouth hung open for a moment. "Were you using Katie as fuel for the curse on Deva?"
"What?" I stuttered, barely able to comprehend what Carol had just said.
"Katie's energy," Carol said, her glare never leaving Isabel's face. "You were feeding off of it to make the curse stronger, weren't you?"
Isabel looked away, her cheeks flushing with guilt, or was it anger? I couldn't tell. The silence was all the confirmation we needed.
"How could you?" Deva said. "The curse was bad enough, but to steal the energy of someone who was supposed to be on your side. Why?"
"Because I'm tired," Isabel finally spat. "I'm tired of being second best. Of being invisible. If that means I have to use someone else to get ahead, then so be it."
"Isabel…" Beth trailed off, her grip on Isabel's hand loosening.
"Save your pity," Isabel snarled. "I don't want it. It worked, didn't it? The curse on Deva grew stronger the more I fed off of Katie's misery and suffering. Soon, I would have been unstoppable."
"Unstoppable?" Beth scoffed, her arms crossed over her chest. "More like delusional."
“Delusional?” She laughed. “Eventually, Deva will be completely ruined, and Harry won’t want her, so I’ll have won. Then, who will be delusional?”
"Isabel," I said softly, trying to appeal to whatever shred of humanity might still be left within her. "It doesn't have to be like this. Deva isn’t your enemy. Harry is just making you feel like she is."
"Save your breath," she spat. "My fate is sealed. So is yours."
22
EMMA
The scentof lavender and rosemary hung heavy in the air as we settled into the mismatched chairs around the small round table in the back of Isabel's shop. I watched a bead of sweat form on Deva's forehead, her eyes locked onto Isabel like a hawk stalking its prey. The tension in the room was thicker than the incense smoke that curled lazily toward the ceiling.
Isabel," Deva said, her voice deceptively calm. "We're all ears. Explain to us why you thought it was a good idea to curse me via Katie."
“I don’t have to tell you a damn thing!”
Beth’s words held a chill. “Maybe you’d prefer to answer to the witches.”
Her eyes widened. “N-no.”
“Then get talking,” Beth said. “If we can’t figure out things between us, we’ll involve the other witches, and you know how they feel about curses and involving humans.”
Isabel wrung her hands nervously, her gaze darting between each of us as if searching for an escape route. At last, she sucked in a long breath and spoke. "I started dating Harry not long after your divorce. I really do love him, but he's always seemed, well, obsessed with you, Deva."
"Obsessed?" Deva scoffed, her nostrils flaring. "That's rich, coming from you."
I squeezed Deva's hand. "Let her speak. We're not going to get anywhere if we don't hear her side of the story."
"Fine, you're right." Deva crossed her arms over her chest. "Go on."
"As I was saying, Harry couldn't let you go. I hoped he just needed time to heal, to move on. Then, months turned into years, and he still couldn't stop talking about you."
"Wait," I said, unable to hold back my curiosity. "You mean Harry spent all that time pining away for Deva even though you two were together? That's terrible." It didn't excuse what she'd done, but it sucked.
Isabel nodded. "I didn't know what to do. I tried everything I could think of to make him see that we could be happy if he would just let you go. Nothing worked."
Deva's anger deflated a bit, replaced by an uncomfortable mixture of pity and disgust. "So you opted to curse me in hopes that it would make me look bad in Harry's eyes?" she asked.
