Chapter 25 #2
“What?” My entire face scrunches up with a frown. “But how could you have—”
“Heather!” Mum snarls at my niece. “Stop sulking and get off your phone. This is a coven meeting, not time to talk to your friends. You need to step up, child. We have only just risen from the shame of having the worst witch in Europe.”
“Mum, don’t speak to Heather like that. She is nothing like Tuesday,” Ava says, blocking her daughter from our mum’s sight. Ava’s wide eyes meet mine when she realises what she just said out loud. “Oh, Tuesday. I didn’t mean… I’m sorry.”
My magic pings with her lie.
I rub my chest and drum up my best fake smile. “No, it’s fine,” I rasp. I duck my head, but I am not quick enough as Ava sees the hurt in my eyes. She moves towards me. I am quick to hold up a hand to keep her at bay. “Honestly, it’s fine.” My bottom lip wobbles.
Talk about putting me on a pedestal and then kicking it away. Yeah, wow. It’s always a guarantee my coven will keep me humble.
“We heard about the elves,” Ava says quietly.
“And the dryads,” Jodie says.
“The entire UK is talking about you,” Diane adds.
“What?” Horror fills me. “No. No. It’s supposed to be a secret.”
I am not ready.
“It was Mum,” Jodie mumbles.
“I informed everyone I could,” Mum says as she clicks back across the room towards us. She snatches the phone out of Heather’s hand and drops it into the bag that is nestled in the crook of her elbow. Heather whimpers.
My sisters unconsciously move out of her way and Ava grumbles under her breath. Heather looks a little lost as she stares at her empty hand.
“You told people?” How could she have in such a short timeframe? “You told others what I am? Mum, how could you? You don’t understand. There are these hunters—”
“Of course, I did. I made a magical announcement.”
I sag in defeat. A magical announcement is a huge expensive spell, mostly used in wartime to send out a message to every witch in the United Kingdom.
Yay…
“Your power should be celebrated. Your magic will make the history books…” she continues, crowing on about how elevated the coven has become. I rub my forehead as I silently freak out.
How could she do that without speaking to me? I knew keeping my identity secret would be impossible, but I thought I had a little bit of time. Time to perfect my magic, time to learn to protect myself, protect the coven, and now I’ve got no bloody time at all.
Oh, bloody hell.
I can’t think, what with the metaphysical knife that is sticking out of my back, biting against my shoulder blades. I swallow down what feels like a lump of lead in my throat and for a few seconds, my vision goes hazy and my head spins.
I feel the warmth of the hellhound, a trickle of awareness as he moves closer behind me like a rock turning the tide of an ocean.
“Breathe,” Owen murmurs, the spearmint of his breath caressing my cheek.
His soft lips brush the shell of my ear.
His hot hand slides down my body to rest on my hip, and he gives me a small reassuring squeeze.
Lightning rushes up the back of my legs and, all at once, my knees are weak.
My arm slides against his hand and his thumb traces the soft skin on the inside of my wrist. Ha, goosebumps are traitors.
I take a shuddering breath, and I lift my chin. For the first time in my life, I know what it is like for someone to have my back against my mum.
“You shouldn’t have told anyone, Mum, it’s way too dangerous.” My voice is firm. I become the woman who competently scaled the career ladder at work. The woman who dealt with a massive group of warrior elves. “Do you realise you’ve put the entire coven in danger?”
“Danger?” my mum scoffs. “I’ve put the coven on the map more like it.
Oh, my darling girl, you do not understand our world as you’ve been squirrelled away for years with the humans in your shame.
You don’t have to do that anymore.” When I continue to stare at her, she tuts.
“Honestly, Tuesday, you are so dramatic.”
She turns her head to bring Dad into the conversation. He is eyeing Owen’s hand, which is still resting on my hip. “Matthew, you agree, don’t you? We needed to get ahead of the situation. What with the fae in Ireland going on and on about the great dryad rescue.”
The great dryad rescue? What on earth?
“We had to make sure everyone knew the return of a legendary host was, in fact, a witch. A Larson.” She nods her head at Dad, and he noncommittally shrugs back. “Wonderful. Oh, Matthew, you should have seen Patricia Cordell’s face. I’ve waited years to put her in her place.”
“Dad, are you listening to her? You have got to understand—”
“Don’t you try to manipulate your father,” my mum spits. Her hand whips out and she points a jabby finger at me. My heart jumps and I can’t help the minuscule flinch.
There you are.
Her oh darling girl charade didn’t last very long. Her mask just keeps on slipping. A boom with a flaming sound effect chimes in my head. Burn.
In response, Owen’s hand on my waist gets a little heavier. His chest rumbles behind me with a barely repressed growl.
“I’m your mother and I know what is best for you.
If you had listened to me in the first place, we would have figured out this whole host magic thing years ago.
What did I do to get such a disrespectful and stubborn daughter?
” Mum’s tone implies me being stubborn is the worst possible trait one can possess.
Mum, I learned it from you. It’s a coven trait.
She throws her hands up in the air and turns her attention to my sisters.
“I brought you girls all up the same, so I don’t understand why Tuesday is so…
Anyway, let’s get back on track. As soon as I found out the news, I announced it to the community.
I have already had two marriage offers.” Mum claps her hands with glee. “Two!”
What?
I’ve never seen her look so excited. It’s freaking me out. More so when she beams a smile at me.