Page 35 of The Accidental Witch

Yet, it left her wondering as she reached over and gripped Greer’s calloused hand. Mothers killing their children? Stealing their grandsons’ powers? Leaving them in a coma that took months of recuperation? How was this community any better than the one she’d left behind? No, her mother hadn’t killed anyone, but she’d sure left a lot of sick children in the lurch for her own selfish reasons.

Just as Robbie was beginning to feel like she might belong somewhere again, that maybe these new people were the answer to her wish to make connections that had nothing to do with her mother and her money, she felt like the wind had been knocked out of her.

This new world was a scary place, where scarier things than she could have ever imagined took place.

But then she remembered just how awful Greer must feel, and she experienced instant shame. She must remember, no one inherfamily had tried to kill her.

Though, they might if they knew…

Robbie shrugged that thought off and focused on how she’d never even considered Greer might not be a witch, too.

She felt ridiculously stupid. Never once had it occurred to her that Greer didn’t have any magic. She’d been so caught up in learning how to use this crazy accident, she didn’t think about much else.

“Anyway, that’s my story. Any questions?” he asked, cocking his head, his eyes capturing hers.

Robbie bit the inside of her cheek, fighting the impulse to ask amillionquestions.

Instead, she shook her head, gripping his hand harder. “No, Greer. I imagine this is a pretty painful subject, and we’ve only known each other a few days. You don’t owe me any explanations—except for maybe why the heck I can’t improve my levitation skills. If I drop Nina on her perfect ass one more time, she’s going to choke me out.”

Jeez o’ Pete, had that ever been a ruckus. If it hadn’t been for Greer teaching her how to freeze the moment and hide from Nina while she cooled down, she’d probably be minus some vital organs.

He barked a laugh, and then he shook his head. “I do owe you explanations. Especially about why no one has returned my calls from my coven.”

Yeah. She’d wondered about that, but because the idea that she should put up and shut up had always been so ingrained in her, she’d focused all of her energy on making this magic thing work and not making waves.

Her entire life was about not making waves, until it wasn’t. Until the one thing she’d cared about almost more than anything else had been smashed to smithereens by her mother.

She shrugged, reaching for Aramis, who’d decided he preferred the warm bed to the enormous kitty condo Nina had put in her room just for her felines.

Yes, Nina had literally gone on Amazon and bought a cat condo the size of her apartment for her cats. The gratitude she felt for these people was immeasurable.

And her cats? They all quite enjoyed the constant attention they got from all these new people, and once Waffles had shown them whose castle was whose, they’d all gotten along rather well.

Finally, she asked, “So why isn’t the coven calling you back? Is it that they don’t want anything to do with me? I mean,I’d get that, in light of the stories the girls told me about all the accidents they’ve helped with and the reaction of their own packs and clans to their turning. I’m not a born witch. I’m an accident. Maybe I’m an embarrassment to them?”

Listening to the ladies reminisce about what the paranormal world had been like beforetheycame along and insisted on inclusion for all was a trippy-trip. If anyone knew what it was like to be excluded through no fault of their own, it was the ladies of OOPS.

But they’d fought hard to be recognized and, in the process, had become revered, valued members of their communities. She’d hoped the same would happen for her. She’d hoped they’d embrace her.

His thumb stroked over the back of her hand, making her stomach do funny things. “It isn’t you, Robbie. I don’t think it has anything to do with you. I think it’s because of me. I think it’s because…after I found out that my grandmother was responsible for the loss of my powers, and that she’d killed my mother, I realized the coven leaders kept it from me. And like I told Wanda, I know they were just trying to protect me so I could fully recuperate, but I was still angry. I pushed them away. I isolated myself. Maybe this is a result of that.”

God. Hearing those words out loud was brutal. She almost didn’t know what to say.

As she looked around at the guest bedroom, the calming colors, the soft beige walls, Robbie used caution when she spoke. “But why did they keep it from you? They must have known you’d find out about it once you’d recuperated, right?”

Greer looked down at his work boots before crossing his ankles together, but he didn’t let go of her hand. “I have to believe they did it to protect me. Who wants to tell someone their grandmother killed their mother and attempted to bleedthem dry for their powers, before someone else stepped in and stopped it?”

Her stomach lurched. What an awful thing to discover.

Leaning forward, she sought his eyes with hers. “But do you really believe that just because you needed some distance and space from the situation, they’d simply ignore you now? That feels wrong after everything you’ve told me about them. Were they wrong to protect you? I have no right to judge, but they don’t seem like the kind of people who’d totally, blatantly ignore you. Especially now, when you most need their guidance. It feels wrong, Greer.”

He sighed, his look faraway, his tone bereft. “Then what else could it be?”

“I don’t know, but we could go and ask?—”

His laugh was bitter. “We could, but as I’ve already told Wanda. I don’t know where they are.”

As he explained how his coven was cloaked from the outside world, and how you needed magic to find them, she had to stay silent in order to wrap her head around what he was telling her.

---