Ethan ignores my disgusted expression. “Yes, I’m responsible for your parents’ deaths. And not a moment too soon,” he says. “They were going to rise up against us. To lead an insurrection and put us down once and for all. Their words, not mine. Like we’re a bunch of curs, instead of the world’s most powerful magic users.” He spits on the grass at my feet.
“I don’t understand. How…how could they…”
“Your father was a firewitch, Rune, and an animator. But your mother, may her spirit never rest, was something rare. A persuasio.” He scoffs, coming to a stop in front of me. “Years ago, they killed persuasios on sight. But your mother was allowed to live. To thrive. To exercise her filthy powers. She could convince anyone of anything, if she so chose. And one of our seers foretold that she would bring us down.”
He gestures at an elderly woman seated among the crowd. “Mina, come forward, won’t you?”
The woman stands, making her slow, halting way toward us. Her back is crooked, her gait uneven, her cheeks wrinkled. As she reaches us, I can see that her rheumy eyes are filled with tears.
“Meet Mina,” Ethan says cheerfully. “She’s the reason your parents died. Also, the reason you’re alive. Think of her as your fairy godmother.”
“Are you completely insane?” I strain at my bonds, but it’s no use.
“What a silly question.” He pats me on the head, as if I’m an errant puppy. His touch sends a frisson of horror through me, like I’ve been stroked by a snake’s tongue. I shrink from it, and Ethan laughs. “Rune, Mina. Mina, Rune. How rare it is for two powerful seers to meet. Am I right, Cooper?”
I crane my head back, trying to meet Cooper’s eyes, but he won’t look at me. “It is an unusual gift,” he says in his deep voice. “Not that Rune’s been able to make the most of hers.”
“True,” Ethan says, dipping his head in concession. “Mina, why don’t you tell Rune all you’ve done for her?”
Mutely, Mina shakes her head. Tears slip down her cheeks, staining her shirt.
“No? Ah, well.” Ethan sighs. “As I said, Mina here foretold that your parents would be the ones to destroy us, Rune. We would have killed you, too—so much more convenient!—but her vision had an unfortunate caveat. Our powers have been waning, you see. Embarrassing, but true. Mina saw that you and Donovan were destined for each other. Through your blood union, your gifts would be united. He would die, of course. And then we would gain the power we needed to overthrow the International Coven. Then, our powers would be strengthened beyond our wildest dreams. And we would rule, the way we’ve always been meant to do.”
“You’resick,” I spit at him.
“Oh, no. Just enterprising.” He gestures at Mina. “She had to curse you, of course. To invert your gift. It was very creative of her, really. Otherwise, who knows what you would have done?”
My breath catches as I look at Mina, who’s wringing her hands, her tears flowing more freely now. “What do you mean, ‘invert my gift’? You mean, make it so no one would believe me?”
“All in good time,” Ethan says, tsking at me like I’m a naughty child.
The desire to tear him limb from limb trembles through me anew. “So you killed my parents, stole me from them, and had me cursed.” I curl my lip at him. “And then you threw me out like the trash. After all that effort, I wasn’t good enough to keep?”
Ethan chuckles, a condescending sound that makes me want to rip his head off. “Don’t be ridiculous, Rune. We couldn’t have you connected with us, or have anyone know you’d lived. In the wrong hands, you’d be far too powerful. So we hid you in plain sight, where the Coven would never find you.”
Fury makes my voice shake. “What did you do with me?”
He smiles, looking happier than ever. “I took you to the fire station. Put you in that box they have for abandoned infants. Pinned a note to your shirt.Please take care of my Rune,” he says in a high-pitched voice, batting his lashes. “She’s the most precious thing in the world to me.”
At his words, my heart breaks a little more. I can feel it splinter, right along the fracture line that losing my parents etched deep inside me. “You impersonated my dead mother?” My feet aren’t bound, and I scrabble for purchase in the grass, fighting to get to him. “What kind of sick bastard does that?”
Georgia and Rosa’s hands come down on my shoulders, restraining me, as Ethan rolls his eyes. “You should be grateful to me, Rune. I saved you, after all.”
“For your own purposes! Do you have any idea what kind of people wound up taking me in? What kind oflifeI’ve had?” Tears burn my eyes, and beside me, Donovan gives a growl of frustration. I can hear him struggling for breath behind the gag, and panic spikes in my chest. What if he suffocates before these murderous lunatics have the chance to do him in?
“I admit, it’s been regrettable at times,” Ethan says, rubbing a thoughtful hand over his beard again. “Especially with thatpathetic prick you lit on fire. Too bad you didn’t kill him. But don’t worry—we finished the job.” He winks at me.
Oh my God. He’s talking about the monster. “You…you had him murdered?”
“Of course.” Ethan folds his arms across his chest. “If he got out, he was going to kill you. I couldn’t have that. I needed you.”
My head swims. “But—but how?—”
He turns his gaze skyward, as if he can’t believe my naivete. “We have people everywhere. It was simple enough to get a guard to do what had to be done, and make it look like he’d taken his own life. Really, you should be thanking me, Rune. That’s two you owe me.”
Jesus Christ. Ethan has been watching me all this time. He knew everything that went on behind the doors of that ramshackle house. At any point, he could’ve saved me. But he let me suffer. He let that monster live, until it wasn’t…what word did he use?Convenient.
Rage bubbles up my throat, eating away like acid. “You stole the life that should’ve been mine,” I spit at him. “You murdered my family. I’m going to get loose. And when I do, you’re the one who’s going to pay.”
