Page 87 of The Cursed Fae

“Um, a name,” I admitted. Maybe it was better to drag it all out in the open. I wasn’t the right person to figure out whether Missy and the others had been targeted.

Nana’s gaze turned to steel. “What name?”

I looked away. “Another kid who suffered from depletion.”

The air in the kitchen went completely still and silent. I swore I heard my heart beat in my chest.

“Why would you want that, Winter?” Nana asked, more confused than anything.

I met her eyes. “Missy thinks they targeted her and Ray because they’re weak. Well, people see them that way… I’m not explaining it right.”

“I know what you mean,” Nana said evenly. “What did Melissa tell you exactly? Why does she think there’s a connection?”

I blew out a breath and told her the entire story, including my trips to the cove.

“That’s hardly conclusive proof,” my great-grandmother pointed out.

“That is sort of what Missy wants me to do. Find evidence, I f it exists. I get that the council already looked into this—”

“Yes, we have,” Nana interjected.

“I know,” I repeated. “But I am telling you, she’s convinced someone drained her magic. She had an infusion the night she died,” I added, feeling a lot like a tattletale.

Nana’s eyes narrowed. “Are you positive?”

“I’m sure that’s what Missy told me.” It was both super weird and exciting to be talking about all this openly. Surely in her long life, Nana had experienced these sorts of issues playing go-between for the living and the dead.

“Morgan gave her the infusion.” She frowned. “And then lied about it.”

“Did she?” I pointed out. “I mean, has anyone asked her?”

“By not coming forward, she might as well have,” Nana replied, which was a totally unfair assessment of the situation. “If we’d known about it, the council would have treated Missy’s death differently. You should have told me, Winter.”

“I’m sorry, Nana,” I answered contritely.

“Let me take it from here.” She levelled me with a hard stare.

“Yes, ma’am.”

She smiled and patted my hand. “Good, girl. Now, what would you like for dinner?”

Chapter thirty

I Dare You

Nana wasn’t the only one to confront me over the weekend’s events. First thing Monday morning, Tina tore into me about my reckless behavior.

“You need to make some choices, Winter. Do you want to be the type of girl who throws away opportunities for a guy who is just passing time?” Tina demanded.

Ouch. That stung.

She narrowed her gray eyes. “Or do you want to be the kind of fae who is worthy of her name?”

Well, when you put it like that...

Tina was being callous, but she wasn’t wrong about needing to reevaluate my decisions. The not-so-friendly neighborhood eternal still held the threat of harm to Lena over my head if I didn’t learn to use my dimensional magic. I kept telling myself I risked Lena’s safety for Missy, to help her get closure, but that was only part of the reason.

I also enjoyed spending time with Laz and learning about spell-casting from him. He was one of the bright spots in this snowy, supernatural small-town experience, and I’d overlooked his faults and lies because of it. The guilt that realization inspired made me physically ill.

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