Tess bustled out of the kitchen, holding the plates of food Lily had requested. “All to your exact specifications.” She stopped. “Oops. Sorry. Bad time?”
“No.” Sylvia led Lily over to a table. “Let’s get some food in you before the coven meeting. You’re going to see a whole community of witches come together. It’ll be a wonderful thing to witness before you go to Oak Grove.”
Tess set the plates down on the table. Sylvia sat, gesturing for Lily to come sit next to her. Another false choice. She could turn and walk out the door instead, but she’d still be hungry. The key to her survival was in this room. She sat.
Sylvia picked up a fry and popped it into her mouth. “Good choice.” She picked up the cupcake. “Red wine reduction, huh? You ever tried that before?”
Lily shook her head. Sylvia split the cupcake in two, then held out half toward Lily.
“Cheers,” Sylvia said, nudging her half of the cupcake against Lily’s. Lily bit into the cupcake, then let out a small cough.
“I don’t think I like alcohol.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
“He did not try to use store-bought arnica.”
“He did. That’s why his nose looks like that.”
“You’re trying to tell me that Owen Wilson’s nose is the result of a messed-up spell.”
“Yup.”
“Why would he be trying to do old magic when he could just use a rune? It doesn’t make sense.”
Katherine leaned against the wall, trying to pay attention to Fiona and Tess’ conversation, but even celebrity gossip couldn’t keep her attention right now. No, she was too focused on pointedly not looking for Lily in the crowded dining room, which was full of witches mingling ahead of the coven meeting.She’s just going to get a soda, she reminded herself. The refreshments table was only a few feet away. How much trouble could she get into?
Katherine turned.
And there was Lily, getting into trouble.
Katherine’s fist clenched. Byron Chambers was talking to Lily.
Katherine stormed over, stepping in between the two of them. “Byron. What are you doing here?”
He turned to her, his blue eyes crinkling in amusement. “At a meeting for the coven that I’m a member of? Who could say?”
Lily’s face twisted in confusion. “We were just talking. You said everyone here was safe.”
The girl inched away from Byron, and Katherine’s heart twinged in guilt. She didn’t trust Byron, but she also needed Lily to feel at home here.
“They are,” she said. “But why don’t you go hang out with Fiona for a sec?”
Lily nodded, her expression shuttered. She walked off.
Byron slipped his hands into the pockets of his tan pants. He was wearing one of the top asshole-approved Halloween costumes, Leonardo DiCaprio inThe Wolf of Wall Street, a look partially sold by the white polo and sunglasses but mostly sold by Katherine’s overwhelming desire to punch him in the face. He smiled in a way that she was sure most people told him was charming, flicking a strand of ice-blond hair out of his eyes. Katherine wondered if it was those same people assuring him that he hadn’t gone overboard on the cheek filler.
“I was just being friendly,” he said. “Aren’t you and Sylvia always talking about how we should welcome the unsettled witches in our ranks?”
Katherine’s fist tightened as he parroted back the words she said so genuinely with such derision in his voice. She didn’t want Byron near unsettled witches at all. He had bullied her relentlessly before and after she settled, reminding her constantly that she was different.Other. As she and Sylvia started to bring in more unsettled witches, Byron was always waiting with a snide comment, a reminder that they would never fit in with the rest of the coven. The abuse hadn’t stopped until Katherine had finally promised to beat him to hell if he didn’t shut up. It wasn’t her proudest moment, but it had been enough to alert Sylvia to what Byron was saying behind her back. She threatened him with sanctions if he didn’t change his behavior, and he agreed, but on the condition that Katherine also apologize tohim.
That had been years ago, and he had actually stopped after the reprimand, but Katherine knew that those nasty prejudices were still there, lurking beneath the surface. She knew how easily judgmental looks could cut an already fragile teen. But with her suspicions about him selling altum, it was even more important that he keep his distance.
That was the real danger with the drug. If anyone with unsettled magic in their blood—even if it was such a small amount that they normally never would have even known they were a witch—took it,they’d instantly snap. Unknowing ordinaries, just searching for a good time, finding their lives and the lives of so many others forever changed.
There was no way in hell Katherine was letting altum get in the hands of anyone else.
“Stay away from her,” she snarled.
