Mira interrupts our silent exchange.
“Can I have a moment alone with Farrah?” she asks the room.
“Of course,” Evangeline says, grabbing Locheran by the arm to drag him out of the apartment. Xander quietly follows.
“Won’t they be able to hear us?” I ask. “Supernatural hearing and all?”
Mira smiles. It’s forced. Concerned. But she shakes her head and lifts a hand to twirl her finger. Static energy fills the room, causing the hairs on my arms to stand, but it’s gone within seconds.
“What was that?”
“You felt that?” Mira asks, raising a brow. She sits down next to me on the couch. “I implemented a shield so we can speak freely.”
I inhale sharply, then slowly let out the breath.
Mira turns to me, and I do the same, allowing her to take my hands into hers. The creases around her eyes grow the longer she peers into my soul—at least, that’s what it feels like.
I shift in my seat.
What can she see?
When her concern morphs into compassion, she releases my hands.
“You’re a hunter,” she says.
Panic whirls within me, nearly making it difficult to breathe.
“I’m not, I swear. Not like them…”
“I know dear.”
Tears begin trickling down my cheeks.
“Buthowdid you know?”
She wraps her arm around my shoulders, her nearness immediately comforting me.
Like Evangeline. She must have the same calming gift.
“You felt me casting the spell for the privacy shield. Humans can’t do that. I also tried to get a read on you when we first met. Human minds are easier to read. Not yours. The blocks protecting your thoughts and memories are ones I haven’t encountered in decades. I knew of only one like it: a hunter. Mally O’Hern.”
My bottom lip shakes. “My father.”
Mira nods. “I met him the day your family moved to town. He’d been out in the woods where I often found solace. I hid from him because he gave off an aura of malice. I needed to know why he was near my home, so I followed him. A quarter of a mile later, I watched him walk into the home next door where your family was moving in boxes and furniture.
“I observed for hours, thankfully no one spotted me—my cloaking abilities are incredibly strong. I watched as weapons were hauled in. Specialized weapons. Onesused to kill monsters. That’s when I realized a hunter family was moving in.”
She pauses with a frown, remembering that time in her life.
“This isn’t something I’ve shared with Evangeline, but I will after tonight. Your father is one of the reasons I was ripped from her life. When I realized monster hunters were moving into town, I tried to warn the local coven. But the witches didn’t care. Witches are notoriously cocky when it comes to their magic. Many consider themselves invincible. Still, I didn’t want to stay if monster hunters were moving in. I went to Evangeline’s father and tried to explain that we were in danger, and he needed to move us away. He was already fed up with me trying to convince him evil was targeting our daughter. He refused to do anything, calling me insane and paranoid.
“Still, I never gave up hope to convince Evangeline’s father to leave. Word eventually got around to the coven that I was ‘blabbing my mouth.’ I was given a spell suppressant and the witches who claimed to be my friends helped Evangeline’s father send me to the psychiatric hospital. Thankfully, I had already placed protection spells on Evangeline, so the hunters next door wouldn’t be able to discover what she was, even if her powers were dormant. Ididn’t take the chance, especially after learning they were O’Hern hunters, incredibly strong and dangerous.”
My heart hurts for the woman. She was forced to give up her life, her daughter, all because she tried to protect her.
Mira clears her throat and takes a drink from the water bottle she brought with her.
“I’d heard Mally had sons. I didn’t know about a daughter. At least, I never saw you around the O’Hern property before I was sent away. Evangeline had said she invited you to our home when you were kids, but my memory isn’t what it used to be. I don’t remember much from that time and that includes you.
