Page 124 of The Witch is Back

“Yes. Her aunt told her who her dad was, and he used to write her letters, contact her through the mirror. Secretly, of course, because of my mother.”

Yes, he could only imagine what Clarissa would do if she learned of a child from an affair with a human. He didn’t know what Clarissa would find more offensive—the half-human child or the implication that Emma’s dad had found Clarissa so lacking he’d sought a human for comfort. He released a long breath. “Goddess.”

“When we discovered it, we knew we had to keep it from our mother. We weren’t sure what she’d do—maybe nothing, but...” She shrugged. “Without Dad, we felt Sloane was vulnerable. Not only to outside forces but inner ones. What if she came into magic? She wouldn’t know what to do. Kole could get messages to her, but it wasn’t a long-term solution. I was constantly monitored. But I wouldn’t be...” She hesitated. “After we married.”

“Which was why you didn’t raise a fuss when Clarissa pushed for a quick wedding,” he said slowly.

“I’d hoped you wouldn’t mind having a half-human sister-in-law, but I didn’t want to risk you refusing to marry me if you found out. A quick wedding was the answer. Once out of Clarissa’s house, I could help Sloane more. And then...”

Bastian felt his eye tic. “You found out about the Joining—if you didn’t already know.”

“I didn’t, I swear,” she said in a rush, one hand lifting as if in plea. “I was reading over the contract, trying to see if I could protect Sloane once I was married, and I found the clause that stipulated that a Bluewater could Join with Truenote magic.”

“It’s something I’ve never understood,” he said tightly. “If you weren’t behind that clause, why bother? Did Clarissa think she could intimidate you after we married and use my power that way?”

Emma moistened her lips. “Like most witches, Clarissa keeps back some of her gifts from public view. Years ago, she learned the art of leeching magic.”

His head came up, distaste plain. Hallie yowled in protest as he jostled her, and he immediately cradled her again. “That’s disgusting. She drains people of magic?”

Emma looked at Chester as he nudged his bulk onto her foot. “It’s more like she can take a sip. I don’t know what would happen if the cup ran dry.”

“She’s done this to you.”

She jerked a shoulder, unwilling to say the words.

He battled with too many emotions, his head ringing with revelations and so much that he didn’t understand.

“So she wanted to access Truenote magic through your marriage bond to me,” he gritted out. “If you didn’t know, why the...” His throat closed up and he snarled. “Why do what you did?”

“That night in the gardens, I was freaking out. Not only because of what the Joining meant for you, but because of what it could mean for our plan.”

He looked at her blankly.

“Our plan to help Sloane,” she elaborated. “Me and Kole. If you found out about the Joining clause, you might stop the wedding. We needed—I needed to help her.”

“And you didn’t think to just tell me?” His voice lifted in volume.

“I was scared you wouldn’t go through with it,” she threw back, adding a little more volume herself. “If you’d learned about it, you’d have stopped it. You wouldn’t have wanted your family’s magic joined to mine.”

“You made sure I didn’t get a say in it,” he muttered and then forced a nod. “Fine, I would’ve stopped it. Because it’s our fucking magic, Emma.”

“And she’s our fucking sister, Bastian.” The fast words slapped him. She looked at him, a plea spread across her face. “She came before everyone. So when I heard someone listening to our conversation, I panicked. I thought someone had heard about Sloane. We portalled out and I cast a silencing hex. I didn’t know it was you, I swear. I... I don’t know what I’d have done if I knew. We were young. I didn’t know what I was doing. I reacted. I wanted to keep her safe.”

He didn’t know what to think. He was bursting with so much anger that it sparked everything it touched, like wildfire. She’d betrayed him worse than he’d ever dreamed and it was clear she didn’t even really regret it.

“When you left,” she continued as if he wasn’t about to explode, “it seemed like we’d done it for nothing. But it became clear there was an opportunity here I could use to actually get away, out of New Orleans fully. So I did. I worked on my mother until she let me go to be rid of me, I came to Chicago and I took Sloane on.”

Everything made so much more sense—why Emma had rebelled to the extent she had, why she’d looked desperate to get married those last few weeks. Why he’d never felt like she’d told him everything, let him in.

“Why is it still active if you don’t need me anymore?” he ground out.

She looked shamefaced at that. “I didn’t know who it was in the garden. Or what they’d heard since we’d mentioned Sloane. I didn’t realize you’d barely heard anything. I’ll undo it.”

“Gracious of you.”

She flinched. “I’m sorry.”

He looked at her with a bone-deep tiredness. His rage burned out, leaving blackened ash of what had once been alive. “Are you, though?”

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