My stomach dipped at the sorrow that flashed over his face. “I found her on the couch, with her teddy bear. A hybrid snuck in and cut her throat. There was blood everywhere. I felt something just snap in me. Brandon found me a mile away, losing my shit. I told him how I just wanted out, how I wasn’t set up for this line of work. That this little girl… this beautiful little child was just murdered because she saw what happened. She could hardly speak, let alone give us the details of what happened. And she was killed anyway.”
I watched as he clenched his jaw. I leaned forward. “Did Brandon convince you to stay?”
He nodded. “He told me that I was part of the solution. And that if I didn’t feel what I was feeling, I didn’t actually care. We all have something that haunts us, something that defines us for that change. Abby was mine.”
“I’m sorry. That’s horrible.”
He nodded. “And just part of what we’ve all seen. All of the people we’ve helped have helped carve who we are today.”
I felt like I was staring at a different side of Westley. I’d seen him as a strong put-together person, someone who was always smiling, sweet, and caring. But he hadn’t always been that way. He had a darker side, a sad past.
“I never would have guessed that.”
“And you? Did you grow up with a happy family?”
I shrugged. “In a way. My sister and I have always been close. We were close with my mother and lived a decent life.”
He frowned. “Before… you said that your mother had your magic stripped.”
“Ahh, that…” I looked down at my hands. I should have known that would come up. “She did that to protect us. We were moving, and she wanted us to fit in. We did. No one even knew about us being witches until we came here.”
He slowly nodded. “Are you angry at her for doing that? I imagine that would take time to get over. Having something taken from you like that.”
I shook my head. “No, I wasn’t. I didn’t have access to my magic yet, so I never felt a difference. Hazel had a harder time because she was using her magic. But she eventually moved past it.”
“And yet you still have magic,” he chuckled. “Interesting how that happened.”
I nodded. “Somehow. It’s impossible. Hazel asked the witches. No one knows how.”
“Well, maybe it’s because you didn’t have access to it yet. Maybe she never got all of it out.”
“Maybe,” I said.
I looked around the space, taking in the silence. It was peaceful.
“Alright,” he said, pulling himself back up. “Now that we rested for a moment, back to it.”
He offered me a hand up, and I took it. I took a deep breath, letting the cold air fill my lungs. I looked at Westley, taking in just how amazing he truly was. He continued to surprise me.
Chapter 16 - Westley
I tossed my bag onto the ground and turned around toward Gabriella. She stood a few feet away from me, bending over as she stretched. She was wearing long, stretchy pants and a thin jacket today. She wore a hat that kept her hair back and out of her face. I stared at her legs, taking them in. It felt like it stirred something deep down, and I shook the thought off.
Focus, Westley. She needs your help with training, not watching her, thinking about how to get into her pants again.
“Are you warm enough?” I asked, rolling my own shoulders. I bounced on the heels of my feet, trying to stay moving.
“It could be warmer out,” she grumbled as she curled and uncurled her fingers, shaking her shoulders. “It’s fucking freezing out here.”
I smirked. “Well, once we get moving, you’ll warm up. You’ll be grateful for the cold.”
Gabriella and I had been practicing each morning before either of us did anything else. We’d been doing this for a couple of weeks, and we were seeing some good progress from her. She was able to hold her hands steadier and pull her magic out a little quicker. She still struggled at moments, but better than before.
She worked with Jade or Nora in the afternoons when they had time. She was working hard, and I could tell just how much she was enjoying it.
“Alright, today we are going to work on resistance.”
She raised an eyebrow at me. “What? Why would we do that?”
