He held the soda out to me, but I declined.
‘This feels like a dumb question, but is she going to be all right?’
‘She’s a witch,’ I replied, leading him back down to the kitchen where Ashley was searching through the pantry for the perfect herbal tea blend. ‘That’s all I can tell you.’
Looking every inch exhausted and defeated, he placed the glass of soda on the kitchen table and wiped a palm across his tired face.
‘Em, you said—’
‘I know what I said,’ I replied. ‘I was wrong.’
He considered my statement in silence then slowly shook his head as though he could see no point in arguing. There really wasn’t anything else I could say.
‘Don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t feel great about it,’ he replied. ‘So far, this magic stuff hasn’t exactly been kind to us and regular Lydia is already enough to worry about without her suddenly turning into a witch.’
‘Nothing sudden about it.’ Ashley opened a jar of pungent culantro leaves that made him gag. ‘If Lydia is manifesting magic then she was already a witch. Her abilities may have been dormant but they were there.’
‘And there’s no way to stop it?’
‘Maybe you should ask her if she wants it stopped,’ I suggested lightly.
‘And while you’re at it, ask your mom and your grandmother why they never mentioned any of this to y’all before,’ Ashley added over the sound of the tea kettle whistling on the stove. ‘They’re going to have a whole lot of questions to answer tomorrow morning.’
He groaned, rubbing his eyes with both hands.
‘Twelve hours ago I was on vacation,’ he said, sliding off the stool and stretching tall. ‘Now I’m covered in my friend’s blood, running away from werewolves and my sister’s a witch.’
‘Just an average Thursday night in Savannah,’ Ashley commented. ‘Go to bed. You can have the couch in my room, Lydia can have the bed. I’ll bunk up with Em.’
‘Lydia’s already out for the count in the parlour,’ I replied. ‘But you’re stuck with me anyway. It’s too late to make up the guestrooms, Wyn and Jackson will have to fight over who gets your bed and who gets the couch.’
Ashley and Jackson exchanged a look.
‘What?’ I darted a glance between the two. ‘Did I miss something?’
As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I realized what was wrong with this scene. A very vital piece of our puzzle was missing and I couldn’t feel him anywhere in the house.
‘Where’s Wyn?’ I said, scrunching up my hands inside the cuffs of his shirt.
‘He didn’t tell you?’ Jackson asked innocently.
‘Tell me what?’
‘Wyn went back to Hilton Head to hunt the wolf,’ he replied. ‘He’s gone.’
Chapter Twenty-Seven
‘So,’ Ashley stared straight ahead as we drove onto the Talmadge Bridge, ‘Lydia is a witch.’
‘Lydia is a witch,’ I confirmed. ‘Her mom is going to kill me.’
‘It’s not like you got her drunk on wine coolers and then went joyriding together. Unless …’ She glanced across at me. ‘You didn’t do it on purpose, did you?’
‘No!’ I tugged against the seatbelt that held me in the passenger seat of Ashley’s Mini Cooper, too tight, too restrictive, but knowing Ashley’s driving, not optional. ‘If there was a choice, I would never have put her at risk.’
Ashley stared dead ahead, driving along the empty road into the darkness.
‘She’s going to be insufferable.’
