“Then you must want me out of the way,” she screeches, “so you can have Vane!”
My breath sputters as I search for the right words.
“That’s absurd,” Vane says.
“Is it?”
“Vane hates me. You told me yourself,” I say.
“You pathetic girl, when are you going to wake up? You aren’t wanted,” Vyvyan declares, backing me into a corner with her words. “I want you gone—dead and buried!”
“Please, don’t. My family will wonder what happened to me. They’ll?—”
“I thought we were your family?” Vyvyan sneers.
“Vyvyan, you’re being unreasonable,” Vane cuts in, his voice tight with tension. “What happened here has nothing to do with Desiree. She’s trying to help you by solving the case.”
I gasp, not needing him to defend me. “I know how we can find your attacker. We can summon the Balam and ask who controlled it that night. We?—”
“You want to put more of us in jeopardy by raising the daemon powerful enough to almost kill me?” Vyvyan screeches. “You’d put the rest of the coven in jeopardy, all for what? My approval?”
I resist the urge to shrink beneath the mountain of clothes strewn across the floor.
“It’s dangerous, but if —”
“You selfish girl,” Vyvyan snarls. “You only think about yourself.”
I step back. No matter what I say, Vyvyan wants me gone. My only option is to accept her decision and hope I can someday regain her favor. Even if it means packing up everything I own and leaving the only place I call home.
Vane raises his hands placatingly. “Vyvyan, let’s stop pretending this is about Desiree —”
“I’ll go,” I say. They both look at me. “I’ll leave tonight. I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused, but I promise I’ll do everything possible to make it up to you.”
I turn on my heel to go, my vision blurring with unshed tears. Vyvyan’s door slams behind me like a final judgment.
A moment later, a hand grasps my arm. The coolness of the grip sends a shiver through me.
“Desiree,” Vane says, his voice tight. “Where will you go?”
I shrug, trying to appear nonchalant despite the turmoil inside. “My brother’s loft. He’s out of town, so it’ll be empty.”
Vane nods, his eyes searching mine. “And the Balam? You aren’t thinking of summoning it, are you?”
If it means finding out who wants to kill Vyvyan so I can regain her favor, then yes. But I lie. “No.”
Vane’s shoulders relax. “Good.”
Before he can say another word, I turn and leave him and the Nest behind.
I thrash against my attacker,contorting my body in a desperate attempt to break free from their unrelenting hold. As I struggle, I try to catch a glimpse of their face, searching for any identifying features I can use against them later.
My mind catalogs every detail I can gather. The strength of their grip, the size of their hands, the scent of their skin—anything that might give me a clue of who they are.
A car parked in the employee lot behind the stables comes into view. Its trunk gapes open like a dark, hungry maw. Panic surges through me, and I buck with renewed desperation. If they shove me into that trunk, I’m done for.
Then my attacker hoists me up as if I weigh nothing. I resist, pressing my high heels into the bumper to lean back from the trunk. Their reflection flashes briefly in the shiny paint job of the car: clad in a black mask, eyes hidden behind dark lenses. Who could be behind this brazen attack in such a public setting?
The image of Janus’s face springs to the forefront of my mind. She disappeared with Beatrix right when I arrived. Could this be her doing?
