I’m not really your sister, Kate. We aren’t even related. Dad swapped me with another baby from another magical family for reasons I have yet to understand fully, and oh, by the way… your boyfriend? He’s actually my biological brother. But don’t tell anyone, okay?
I drop my shoulders and let go. I won’t tell her. I can’t; I don’t have it in me to inflict that kind of damage to her. I’m one of them now, right? Despite the huge fight that has yet to be resolved between Eliza and me—I notice Kate doesn’t mention that.
“Who will make your cardamom cake?” she asks, the twinge of sadness coming through in her words. Wow, she really wants me to be there.
“I’m going to stay here,” I say.
“You can’t stay at school over break. Nobody’s there. You shouldn’t be alone over the holiday. You should be home with your family.”
Home. Family. Of all the things in the world, I never questioned…
“I can’t,” I say, feeling my voice begin to shake. Damn it. I am not going to get upset by this. Not now. My true family is here.
Kate doesn’t let up. It’s like she can sense my weakness. She goes in for the kill. “Don’t be silly. Of course, you can. Whatever is going on with you and mom, we can figure it out together. Just come home. We can work through this. It isn’t the same without you here.”
I shake my head, knowing she can’t see me. “You don’t understand. I—”
“Of course, I don’t understand. You won’t tell me anything!” She takes a breath and blows it out audibly. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you. I’m just… it’s a stressful time. I can’t talk to you. Mom and Dad are fighting. Sebastian’s dad is finally out of the hospital and…”
Mention of her boyfriend’s father sends a shot of ice down my spine.
So, he’s alive after all.
“What happened to Mr. Allbright?” I ask, trying hard to keep my voice even and my curiosity detached, even though I know perfectly well what happened. Because I was there. He tried to kill me, and he would have succeeded had I not cracked his skull with a freaking rock. I thought I had killed him. But Kate doesn’t know anything about that. Nobody does. It’s just one more thing that I can’t tell anyone.
“They’re saying he was attacked. By a wolf!” Kate whispers that last part like it’s a dirty secret.
“I’m sorry, what?” My entire body stiffens as I take that information in. I replay that night in my mind, and there is no way Porter Allbright saw a wolf; Marco came to me in his human form. He was even wearing clothes.
Kate continues, “I don’t have all the details yet. Sebastian says they are still investigating. But they found tracks in the woods leading up to where Mr. Allbright was attacked. Big tracks. Shifter tracks. They even found some fur in the snow.” As Kate drops the information, my head reels.
Porter Allbright wasn’t attacked by a wolf. He wasn’t attacked by anyone. Porter Allbright attacked me, and I acted in self-defense. Marco didn’t arrive until after it was done. My wolf came to help me because he felt my fear. He knew that I was in danger. And because of that, he might be exposed. All of them could be in danger. Oh no.
“I didn’t think we had any shifters at Blakeborne,” I say, trying to fill the silence.
“Yeah, can you believe it?” Kate says. “That’s another reason why you should come home. I don’t like the thought of you alone there. It isn’t safe if there’s a wolf prowling around.”
If she only knew.
“I have to go.” I hang up before she can start up again with her arguments because there’s nothing she can say to convince me. I am not going home. It’s not possible. I don’t have a choice about that, and if there is one thing I am not in danger from, it’s wolves. I need to think.
Why would Allbright pretend he was attacked by a wolf? I mean, it would change the focus of his bogus attack entirely, which makes sense for him, I guess. But shit. This is bad news.
My phone pings as I slip it in my pocket. I pull it out and see a text from Kate.
Please don’t do this.
I wish I could tell her. I really do. But I don’t want to hurt her, and I don’t want to wreck her relationship with Sebastian. They are really good together, and he’s such a nice guy. It kills me that my silence protects two men who don’t deserve a shield. Porter Allbright and the man I thought was my father? They deserve to be exposed for what they did. But exposure would be like throwing a grenade into two families who have no idea anything is wrong.
Sebastian Allbright is a classmate of mine. He isn’t anything like his father. He’s a good guy, and he also happens to be dating my sister, Kate. From what I can tell, my other sister, Eliza, is also in the dark. She’s super angry about my being here, and unable to hide her jealousy about me being inducted into the Society of Ancient Magic, but no matter how much she tries to fight with me, I try not to hold it against her. Though right now, I’m finding it especially difficult.
My mother may not have known anything at the start of all of this, but based on our conversation when I saw her a couple of weeks ago, she has definitely been brought up to speed. Her words echo through my memory.
I’m not your mother.
She’d looked at me with utter disgust.
I don’t know who you are, Joely. But you don’t belong to me.
I ball my hands into fists, fighting back tears.
My phone pings again. I don’t pull it out of my pocket. I know my sister means well, but holy hell,
