She takes another sip. “There were men with magic too, but they struck a deal with the witch hunters. By giving up a woman with magic, they kept their life. So, as you can imagine, many men took that offer.”
Theo hangs his head in shame, and my heart stops.
Birdie lookstohim with reverence. “What your father made you do was heinous,” shestatesmatter-of-factly. “Anyone in your shoes would have done the same.” Then she pulls one hand out from under the table and places it on top of his. “Idon’tblame you. And neither did Moira.”
He meets her steady stare. “But Genevra?—”
“She had more reason to hate those men than anyone else,” Birdie admits. “Idon’tthink there was any room in herheart forforgiveness at that point.That'swhy she took Moira away.”
Theo shutters beside me, and I catch a glimpse of a single tear streaming down the side of his face. “I hated myself…for so long.”
Birdie’s features soften into empathy. “I really hoped I’d get the opportunity to tell you that before I passed, and I’m so glad I did.” She eyes me playfully. “There’s no way I’m sticking around this watering hole in the afterlife.”
I laugh obnoxiously without meaning to, but it breaks the tension.
Theo wipes his face. “Thank you, Birdie. Ican’ttell you how much that means to me.”
She pats the tableoncethen slides out from her side of the booth. “I certainlydidn’texpect to run into you in the women’s bathroom.Luckilyit was empty. You could have scared the kids.”
Her passive comment sobers me. I was beginning to think that Simone was right, and Raegan’s motherwasn’tas bad as she made her out to be. But that little comment puts things into perspective.
Abandoning her unfinished glass on the table, she heaves her purse over her shoulder and exits the cafe without so much as a goodbye.Orpayingfor the tea.
Theo chuckles. “She’s got Genevra’s prickly spirit.”
Even without knowing the woman, I couldn’t agree more.
Theo looks as if he’s shed an enormous weight from his shoulders.
“Is that what you had planned when you brought me here?” Iteasehim.
His laugh bellows across the cafe. “No. I wanted to get you pancakes.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
THEO
Receiving Birdie’s forgiveness has left me feeling near weightless. I never expected to hear her side of the story, much less,to hear that Moira never blamed me for her grandmother’s death.
And now Kennedy deserves to hear the entire story from me.
“There’ssomething you should know," I tell her, turning to face her fully.
She peers up at my face, patiently waiting for the words to come as she places her hand in mine.
“Since the early 1800s,” I start,“every man from my family trained as a paranormal hunter—specifically, witch hunters. Back then, witcheswere considered to beof the devil himself, and the community relied onmyfamily to keep them safe.But everything changed with my father.”
I take a deep breath. “What peopledon’trealize is that magicisn’tpassed through families like paranormalgenes. Magic chooses people, and it chose my father. He was the first Vanderbilt to ever be born with magic, making him the exact thing our family hunted.My grandfather was furious. He hid my father’s magic to the best of his abilities, keeping him away fromothers for most of his childhood. But what hedidn’trealize was that decision would be the damnation of our family.”
Thinking about those memories nearlydepletes my energy andpulls me into the spirit realm,butI focus on the woman in front of me.
“By the time I turned twenty-five, my life was consumed by the pressure of my father’s legacy. Most of the burden of holding up that mantel fell on my brothers’ shoulders, but being the youngest meant, if anything happened to them, I would be the last man standing.” I hold her focus, silently begging her to see the man behind all of this.“I never killed anyone,” I say with a shaky breath, “but I stood by and watched as my family burned innocent women.”
A tear slips down my cheek, and Kennedy wipes it away.
“The movie theater,” she whispers. “That’s where it happened.” She states it instead of asking, because she already knows the answer.
I nod and close my eyes, terrible images flashing behind them.
