But I saw it with my own eyes. I know she was protecting me, but she had so much power, and she didn’t hesitate to use her full strength on those guys.
“You were out late,” Jean says, coming out from the kitchen. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I mutter, shaking my head. “Actually, no, but you’ll hear about it, I’m sure.”
“Okay.” Jean raises her eyebrows. “I’ll leave you two alone for a while. I was hoping you just had a wild night out.”
“It was wild,” I agree, showing her out. “Just not the kind of wild you’re thinking of, unfortunately.”
“That’s a shame.” Jean waves as she heads to her car. “I’ll see you later.”
If you still want anything to do with us after you hear the rumor mill.
Sighing, I go back inside and go to the living room, playing with Cassie for a while as the three of us have breakfast and watch cartoons. Cassie settles down in a little pillow fort and dozes off, and Sadie goes to the kitchen. I follow her, ready to unleash all my questions.
“Sadie,” I say, coming into the kitchen behind her. “We need to talk.”
“I don’t know what to say,” she says, her back to me.
I stride across the room and grab her arm. “Well, you'd better think of something!” I growl, trying to keep my voice down. “Because I just went up against my entire pack, the council, and my friends, and I have no fucking clue what’s going on with you!”
“Well, neither do I!” she cries, wiping a tear off her cheek. “This is freaking me out, okay? I have no fucking clue what’s happening to me.”
“Okay,” I say, taking a step back and letting go of her. “Explain it to me, then. Have you always been a witch?”
“No—well, maybe,” she answers. “I don’t know about that for sure. But I didn’t have powers until I was here, with you.”
I stare at her, trying to understand. “How long?” I ask.
“Rhys—”
“How long?” I ask, even more firmly.
“A couple of weeks,” she says. “I’m sorry, Rhys. I didn’t know how to tell you.”
I step back again, holding up one hand and shaking my head. “When were you planning on telling me?”
“I don’t know.”
I look into her incredibly dark, soft brown eyes, and I want to believe the best of her. Even though the evidence is telling me I shouldn’t trust her, I just can’t find it in my heart to hate her.
“Does that mean never?”
“No,” she says, reaching out to take my hands. “I would have, I promise. I was just so scared. For myself, but mostly for Cassie.”
I’m about to tell her Cassie would have been safe, no matter what, but the strange incidents that have played out between me and my daughter suddenly flood my memory.
If the council knew, they would investigate her, too.
“Is it true?” Sadie asks. “About your pack? Are people getting better?”
“No,” I say, my voice heavy. “That was a flat-out lie just to buy us some time.”
“Oh,” she murmurs, wiping tears from her cheek. “I really hoped that was true.”
“It’s not. And we need to come up with something fast,” I say. “Because that lie won’t hold for long. I can think of something to cover it, but in the meantime, you have to work on earning back their trust.”
“How do I do that?” Sadie asks.
