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“A brother?” Iris raised her eyebrows.

“Samuel. He was a year older than me.”

Iris swirled a spoon around her teacup, watching the steam evaporate into the cool breeze. “Only one brother? Didn’t people have lots of kids back then?”

Gabriel’s jaw tightened. “Don’t you remember what I told you about my mother? Having lots of kids wouldn’t have been a wise choice, given her profession. From what I understand, she did all she could to avoid children.”

Iris bit her lip. Gabriel’s demeanor was still guarded, his tone a touch annoyed. She regretted her question, however innocently intended. “What was Samuel like?”

Gabriel took his time pouring his first cup of tepid tea into a bush and setting the mug down on the deck with a thunk. “We didn’t speak much. I was raised by my father, my brother by his.”

“Oh.” Iris couldn’t help but feel that this was a rather weak confession, as confessions went. She didn’t understand how Gabriel’s past could be so terrible that he would feel the need to hide it from her; hadn’t she heard the worst already? But then she remembered something Gabriel had said back at the state park—how once he’d moved to Vitford and met Iris, finally obtaining the peace he’d always craved, he hadn’t wanted to look back.

“Clement told me what happened when you and Blair volunteered the other night,” Gabriel said, shifting the topic with the ease of a ship suddenly blowing off course. His tone was resigned, as though he hadn’t really wanted to broach the subject but realized it had to be addressed.

“How does Clement know so much?” Iris scoffed.

“I told you, it’s his job to track local Similars to ensure they aren’t causing problems.”

Iris took a prolonged sip of tea, hoping it would stop her from saying something she couldn’t take back. She found she couldn’t help herself. “Well, I feel very safe, knowing someone like Clement is looking out for us.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

Gabriel’s jaw clenched tighter. “He’s not looking out for us, he’s looking out for the humans.”

“The last time I checked, I was human. And that’s another thing.” Iris sat up straighter, setting her mug beside her so she could cross her arms. It made her feel tougher, even if it wouldn’t change the way she was perceived. “I don’t understand how you aren’t. How does having practiced witchcraft make you a non-human?”

Gabriel shrugged. “It just does.”

“Oh, well, that explains everything.”

The steady drip-drip-drip of melting icicles on the lip of the roof was the only sound for a while. Then Gabriel cleared his throat. “I just want you to be cautious, especially when you and Blair are alone. I wish I could be there to protect you all the time, but I know you two need your space.” He gave her a pointed look, and this time Iris was certain that he knew.

And she realized she should listen to Audrey, that she should insist on having a deep conversation about what a potential relationship between her and Blair would mean for her and Gabriel, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Not yet. Not when she still didn’t know where she and Blair stood themselves.

“He wouldn’t hurt me,” Iris said, conviction filling her voice. No amount of gossip from colleagues or church ladies or even Gabriel’s concern could change her belief in Blair’s harmlessness. Not even Blair’s own insecurities were enough to take away her faith in him.

“You haven’t seen him fully transformed,” Gabriel said quietly, his focus on his empty cup.

Iris gaped at him. “And you have?”

Before he could respond, a thud sounded from inside the house, announcing Blair’s return. He must have cut the rest of the morning short. Guilt bubbled up Iris’ chest; it would be her fault if Blair’s dream of opening his own apothecary was stunted. Not that he didn’t have several lifetimes to make his dream a reality, she supposed.

She waited with anticipation for Blair to join them, but his footsteps disappeared down the hallway, causing her hope to sink down inside her like a punctured balloon slowly drifting into a ravine.

“Tell me you’ll be careful,” Gabriel entreated, his words permeating her thoughts.

Iris sighed. Seeing as she lived with a warlock and a man who most of the world would see as some kind of demon, she wasn’t even sure what being careful meant anymore.

24

The meadow was alive with the sound of drums.

Summer sunlight washed over a stretch of impossibly green grass that tickled Blair’s bare ankles, while orange and red poppies swayed in the breeze. Everything around him was warm and alive, but nothing more so than the girl who danced amongst the flowers like she was their queen, her bare feet twisting in the dirt as she spun and tumbled into the weeds.

Blair hurried to her side and watched as she lay in the grass, an arm draped carelessly over her stomach, her cheeks dimpled in laughter, brown eyes alight with joy. He held out his hand and Iris reached up to grasp it. Blair stared in shock—the moment her skin touched his, the scars that crisscrossed the back of his hand like spiderwebs began to disappear as if someone had taken an eraser to them.

Her face was radiant as she rose to face him. The drumbeat grew louder as she tugged on his hand, as she pulled him closer, as they began to dance…

He tried to hold onto the feel of her in his arms, his gaze locked on her smiling eyes, even as his world disintegrated into darkness.