Page 37 of The Cursed Fae

She frowned. “No. I came to make sure you were okay. Must you be such an asshole?”

I blew out a long breath. “You're right. I'm sorry. Thank you. Thank you for checking on me.”

Missy averted her gaze. “You're welcome. I kind of wanted to tell you something else.” She twisted her hands in her lap. “There was another vampire attack last night.”

My eyes went wide.

“Not in Arcane Landing,” Missy added quickly. “Arcane Falls. One of the Virgo wolves. The alpha's oldest son. He's dead.”

The tail end of the conversation from earlier came back to me. Nana said the Virgo Alpha had called a bunch. And now I understood why.

“I figured you should know.” Missy met my disbelieving stare. “Elder Essie and your mom aren't planning to tell you.”

Why was I not surprised?

“Do you know the details?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I only heard Essie's side of the conversation.” My spirit friend hesitated. “She thinks the attacks are related. Your mom is going to Arcane Falls tonight to meet with the Virgo Alpha.”

The delicious smells coming from the kitchen finally lured me from the attic bedroom. I had so many questions for my mom and Nana, but I also didn't want to speak with either of them. They'd lied to my face. They were keeping secrets.

“Whatever else she may be, Winter is a Sable.”

Those words stuck to my brain like a web of chewing gum. What was I?

Why was Nana sending my mother to meet with the wolves? Two separate vampire attacks on the same night, not far apart from one another—that wasn't a coincidence. Except, the vamps on the beach came for me specifically. Had they sought the Virgo wolf, too?

If so, why? Who was he? And why the hell wasn't anyone telling me anything?

“Oh, there you are, dear,” Nana said when I trudged into the kitchen. “You must be hungry.”

My stomach growled. “Where's Mom?”

I knew the answer, but I wanted to gauge my great-grandmother's readiness to lie.

Nana pulled a potpie from the oven and cut two large pieces. “She'll be back soon.”

It wasn't an answer but told me Nana Essie intended to be her usual cagey self.

My great-grandmother took our plates to the kitchen table and set them across from one another on hand-stitched placemats. I didn't even realize how hungry I was until I started eating. The food was excellent, though it wouldn't have mattered if it tasted like hot garbage. I was that hungry.

“Winter, we need to talk about last night,” Nana said once I'd polished off my third helping.

While I whole-heartedly agreed, it surprised me when she brought it up. My mother refused to talk about what happened our last night in California. No matter how many times I brought up the topic, it was a non-starter.

I set down my fork. “How did the vampires breach the wards?”

“We are looking into that,” Nana assured me. “It won't happen again. You are safe here.”

I swallowed the anger those words invoked. Babble poured from my mouth before my brain processed what I was saying.

“You can't know that, can't know that it won't happen again. You said the same thing when I arrived in Arcane Landing. That I was safe.” Tears pricked my eyes. “I'm not safe. Neither is anyone else. Last night was my fault. Laz got hurt because of me. Astrid was hurt because of me. Everyone who was there, that is my fault.”

Until that moment, I hadn't let myself relive the attack. The guilt was too heavy a burden. Vampires came to Arcane Landing for me. Laz had taken a magical bullet for me.

Oh, Gaia. Laz.

I needed to make sure he was okay.

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