“I buried her in pieces.” Sean cleared his throat. “Across multiple states.”
Sean had chopped her up into pieces? My gag reflex made a sudden appearance, and I nearly choked as I tried to swallow against the urge. I rubbed my hands up and down my arms in an effort to get rid of the sudden chill that had settled into my bones. Nausea rolled through me.
“Well, that explains why the locator spell isn’t working.” Isach laughed. “Smart thinking.”
He laughed! There was nothing remotely funny about this. How could they talk about another life like it meant so little? Sure, she could have learned the truth about me and told Rector, who would then kill me, but still. Felicity was a person, and she deserved better.
“Is that your big news?” Jax asked, his tone bored.
“No.” Isach’s gaze darted around the room as if he were too afraid to look directly at any of us. “My father doesn’t trust me, which is why he had Felicity following me in the first place. At first, it was because I was never home, which raised suspicions about what I was doing. Then, he found out about Abby, and I assumed I could just tell him it was nothing, that it was over, and he’d leave me alone.”
“But he’s not,” Trent said. He moved to my side and took my hand. The comfort of his touch eased some of the chill clinging to me.
“No, he’s not.” Isach frowned. “He wants me to prove my loyalty to the coven.”
My blood turned to ice, and my stomach dropped. “How?”
“He wants me to bring Abby home to meet him.”
“No,” I said immediately, my jaw clenched painfully tight. “No way. She is not going anywhere near your psychopath father.”
Trent gave my hand a squeeze, but rage continued to boil inside of me. Putting Abby in the same room with Rector was asking for trouble, or worse, her death. She was already caught in the middle of this because of me. I wouldn’t let her get any closer to the danger.
“Is that all?” Trent asked. “Abby just needs to meet your parents?”
“This is so stupid,” I snapped. “How is letting her meet your father going to prove your loyalty?” I released Trent’s hand and flexed my fingers. The urge to punch something consumed me.
“She’ll have to submit to a truth test,” Isach said, giving Abby a sad smile.
“What’s a truth test?” Abby asked, her voice small and uncertain.
“A spell that will force you to tell the truth, even if you don’t want to. It’s like a witchy lie detector test,” Isach explained.
All the fear and nervous energy buzzing around me suddenly stopped. I blinked, trying to process what Isach said. If Abby would be forced to tell the truth, then that meant…
I jerked my head toward Trent. Rector was going to find out everything. About me. How I planned to break the curse. Our blood oath with Ivy. Isach’s plan to betray his coven. I sank down onto the couch. There was no way Abby could agree to this, but if she didn’t, what would happen to Isach?
“What’re we supposed to do?” I asked.
Trent sat beside me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me against his side. “You know we can’t let this happen,” he said.
“If we don’t, my father will know I’m hiding something, and then everything we’ve been planning will be ruined.” Isach’s tone was a mix of fear, pleading, and regret.
“Isn’t there a spell or potion you can use to make it so I can lie?” Abby asked.
“No,” Isach said.
“What about Ivy? She might be able to do it,” I said, a flicker of hope igniting in my chest.
“All magic leaves a trace, and my father will be able to detect it.” Isach dragged his hand through his hair again, his movements agitated. “But I do have an idea.” His gaze landed hard on Trent. “You can help her.”
“How can Trent… Oh!” My mouth formed an O in surprise, and I risked a glance at Trent, who’d gone still as a statue.
“Please?” Isach begged. “It’s the only option I can think of.”
“What option?” Abby asked.
I stood and tugged on Trent’s hand. Then I motioned for Isach to come with us. “Stay here,” I said to Abby, then glanced at Whitney, who nodded, and I was confident Whitney wouldn’t let Abby follow us.
But Jax did, and I was grateful for that. He’d help work this out, even if he said things no one wanted to hear. And then Colt followed, too, and I stifled a groan. He was only going to make things worse.
Once in Trent’s room and out of earshot of Abby, I crossed my arms. “You want Trent to erase Abby’s memories?”
Isach nodded. “Yes.”
“No.” Trent shook his head.
“What do you mean no?” Jax said. “If you don’t, everything falls apart.” Belief and indignation rose with each word. “They’ll find out about Chloe, and they will kill her, Trent.” Jax’s eyes turned to inky puddles of black.
I held my breath, praying they didn’t start fighting about this.
Trent snarled. “Half the time, I have no idea what I’m doing when I erase myself from someone’s mind. And I sure as hell can’t pick and choose what memories to get rid of and which ones to keep. What if I erase everything she knows?”
“You’ve done it before,” Isach said. “But let’s say you do erase everything she knows. We’ll just tell her everything again when this is over.”
I chewed nervously on the inside of my cheek, my thoughts racing with everything that had happened when Trent wiped my memories.
“When he did it to me, I didn’t remember anything about him, but I also didn’t remember anyone associated with him. Like you.” I glanced at Isach. Ideas and questions and worst-case scenarios tumbled over one another in my brain. “So, if he wipes himself from Abby’s mind, he could erase her memories of you, too.”
Isach’s face fell, and he muttered a curse.
“Exactly.” Trent blew out
