“Heavens to Betsy!” A woman with abob ofdark brownhair grabs her purse and clutches it to her chest. “I only have twenty dollars in cash!”shepleads.
I’mmomentarily caught off guard, but Theo is frozen in place. His face has turned pallid, and his grip on my hand is unrelenting.
He’s afraid.
The womanreleases her bag and adjusts her glasses. Her mouth falls open as she draws her head back in shock. “Theodore Vanderbilt?”
The bathroom suddenly feels incredibly small, as if the walls are pressing in on all sides. I can feel hispanic, and I need to take charge of the situation.
“Hi there,” I greet her awkwardly. “We were just…umm—we’ll get out of your way.”
But she steps in my path as I make for the door. “I didn’t believe Simone when she told me you were in the movie theater the other day.” Her tone is full of wonder as she takes us in. Onlyshe’snot really looking at me. Her focus is entirely on Theo. “Butit’sreally you. My, youhaven’taged a day.”
This woman clearly knows Theo, and by the sheer panic onhisface,it’sobvious that he knows her.Slowlythe puzzle pieces start to fit themselves together. She mentioned Simone, so is this another witch from the coven? Is sheperhaps thegirl who used to live in Vanderbilt House?
“Moira?” I ask.
A slow smile builds on her face. “That was my mother.”
That’sright. I forgot that Moira passed away. But if this is her daughter, that must mean shepassed onstories about the time she spent living in the house.
“My name is Birdie,” she introduces herself. “Can we talk? We canmaybe finda table out there.I’drather not have this conversation in the bathroom.” Her nose scrunches as shewinces.
Birdie.This is Raegan’s mother.
I’mabout toanswer onTheo’s behalf, buthe’ssomehow managed to pull himself out of his stupor. Hearing his voicesoundso steady takes my breath away.
“I would like that.”
Hands stillclasped,we let Birdie lead usinto the dining area. The cafeisn’tas busy as it was yesterday, but sinceit’sSunday, a lot of people might be at church. We take the first booth right outside the bathroom, and Birdie looks as if she might protest, but she thinks better of it.
Sitting across from us, she gingerly places her purse down beside her on the bench. She keeps her hands tucked in her lap under the table.
“I never thought I’d be able to do this,” she says earnestly.
Theo’s profile appears weary beside me. “Neither did I.”
I sit quietly and wait for one of them to say something else, but silence stretches across the table.
Eventually, Birdie speaks up. “My mother told me everything.”
Theo’s shoulders tense, and I drop my hand to his knee.
“I know why you’ve hidden yourself away for all these years, but I want you to know it isn’t necessary.”
While half of me is concerned for Theo, the other half is listening intently, eager to finally understand what happened so long ago.
Birdie eyes me skeptically. She must realize Idon’tknow whatthey’retalking about, so she glances backtoTheo, asking for permission to divulge his secret. Theo places both hands on the table and laces his fingers together, then nods solemnly.
It feels wrong having someone else tell Theo’s story for him, but at this point, Idon’tbelievehe’scapable of speaking ithimself.
Birdie opens her mouth to speak, butshe’sinterrupted by Kiki coming over to the table. “Bridgette, I thought you were leaving.”
Birdie presses her lips into a polite smile. “I’ll take anothericedtea, if you don’t mind, dear.”
Sensing the tension at the table, Kiki dips her head and goes to grab a cup of ice and fillsit to the brimwith a pitcher ofsweet, icedtea. She places it with care in front of Birdiethen leaves ustoour business.
Birdie takes a long drag of her drink, then clears her throat. “My great-grandmother, Agnes—Genevra’s mother—was the founder of the modern coven here in Shadow Hills.”She’sspeaking directly to me, so I sit up straight and listen. “It was a time whenparanormalswere inhiding. Especially witches. It was a grave sin to be caught using magic. Men dedicated their lives to hunting and killing anyone who was different, and if you were a woman?” She scoffs. “Well, you already had it coming.”
