“That is odd,” Romy said, mouth drawing in a thin line as she contemplated what I’d said. “You know, every time I think about witches, and what we’ve endured since being under the thumb of Bahmet, I can’t help but see that the Hunters have had a point all this time.”
“Elaborate.”
“Well, we were the bad guys. Maybe not in the sense of what makes evil and good what it is. But we’ve been a puppet for a demon for generations now. Light in the clutches of darkness still fades. We lost our way, witch-kind that is.”
A harsh gust of wind tore up the ground, whipping the kiss of salt from the ocean that stretched out for leagues to our right.
“Exactly why it’s important we fix this,” I reminded, taking her hand in mine and squeezing. “We got this, Romy. Together. The four of us are going to go down in history for being the big-old-saviours of witch-kind, and we’ll be praised for it forever more.”
“Wow,” Romy chirped. “Ever thought of writing poetry? No, actually your rhyming is shit. I think, once this is all said and done, you should travel around businesses in London, and give out motivational speeches!”
“Don’t take the piss.”
Romy winked. “Oh, but why not? Taking the piss out of you is actually quite fun.”
“What happened to the sunshine girl I met all those months ago? Did I lose her?”
“No. She found herself, Hector. She shed the mask she was forced to wear, the expectations placed upon her by family. She…”
“Blossomed.”
I warmed up instantly as Romy cracked a shoulder into mine. “Yes, something like that I guess.”
I didn’t want to ruin the moment between us, but there was something that weighed heavy on my mind. Not matter what we talked about, there was one question lingering not too far out of reach.
I’d not had the chance to spend time with Romy alone, and Hekate knew this wasn’t a conversation to be had around other people. So, I took the chance, even if I felt my balls disappear in my stomach from nerves.
“Can I ask you something about your mum, Romy?”
She came to a stop, body fixed straight, chest rising and falling a little faster than it had before. “Do you have to?”
“No,” I added. “Nor do you really need to answer me. But I have always wondered, what happened to her?”
“She died,” Romy replied, very quickly. “Plain and simple.”
I swallowed the sudden burning of bile at the back of my throat. “Can I ask how?”
If I thought Romy had gone still before, the statue of dark emotion she became proved otherwise. Her hand loosened within my fingers, so much so that I had to hold on tighter before a small gust of wind blew her away.
“Forget I asked, it was rude of me to.”
“Jonathan told me that my mother left me when I was only a few days old. She went after a band of Hunters she’d been stalking for a while, and never came home.”
There was so much I wanted to tell her, so much that lingered on the tip of my tongue. I’d either let it out and turn her world upside down, or suffocate myself. For my friend, I opted for the latter.
“She was stalking them?”
“They’d not long killed my dad. My blood-father. You know, I always hated calling Jonathan my dad, but he engrained it into me at such an early age. Jonathan was…”
“A monster.”
“Yes, but I know he cared about me. Deep down, beneath his thirst for control and power. That doesn’t excuse him from what he did to me, to you and your family. But it’s simply a fact I can’t ignore. However, myrealdad… he was murdered by Hunters not long after my mother discovered she was pregnant with me. Her entire pregnancy was spent seeking revenge for the past, instead of putting that aside and looking forwards to a future with me.”
“You don’t know that—” I began, but was cut off by the tears that started rolling down my friend’s face. All I wanted to do was take her in my arms, and never let the world hurt her again.
I realised, in that moment, that love wasn’t just a concept for Arwyn. It meant other things to other people. And I loved Romy so much, I would’ve put my neck on the line just to ensure she never shed a single tear again.
“I’m sorry,” I said, truly meaning it. “I didn’t mean to make you cry. It’s the last thing I wanted.”
