Page 28 of Enemies By Fate

“I was fine!” Malachi counters angrily, the reminder of his pain still a touchy subject.

“We were all in mourning and trying our best to keep it together in the aftermath,” Warrick interjects smoothly. “Even though we expect them to all go together, it’s always a shock when they do die at once like Apex mates do.”

The grimace on Malachi’s face grows, and I quickly change topics. “None of this has to do with how she lost her memories,” I tell them. “How did she forget if she was there the day it happened? And why didn’t she shift when she was supposed to shift?”

Helplessly, we look at one another. None of us can provide the answers we need.

I sit upright in my chair. “Her mother.”

“What about her?” Malachi asks with a rightfully blank expression.

Both of my brothers gape at me.

“Who is her mother?” Warrick asks, cocking his head to the side.

“Her real mother was probably a rebel, too, and lost in the cause,” I reply. “But the adoptive mother—the one who took her in—the witch. She probably knows more than she told Poppy. I bet she’s the reason Poppy doesn’t remember anything. That makes the most sense. But we have to find her and find out what she knows.”

Understanding floods both my siblings’ faces, and they sit up straighter in their seats, nodding vehemently.

“You’re right!” Warrick concedes. “That makes perfect sense. Maybe the witch can talk some sense into her daughter.”

“Or maybe the witch will try to kill us, too,” Malachi grumbles darkly.

It doesn’t take longto track down the witch. The packs in Tennessee under our rule respond swiftly to our call for aid. The shifters who prove to be the most valuable in this situation once attended school with Poppy and are familiar with her living situation, making it easy to pinpoint the witch’s location.

Within hours, Sadie arrives in our hidden town.

The witch looks at us with defiant nervousness as we lead her down the dank stairwell, her mistrust tangible. She has made it crystal clear she isn’t happy to be here even though I’ve reassured her we have Poppy’s best interests at heart.

“For someone who claims to care about Poppy, these aren’t very nice accommodations,” she hisses haughtily. She wants to flee, to turn around and leave us to deal with this on our own. But she won’t, not when her daughter is in a prison cell.

“She tried to kill us—twice,” Malachi snaps from behind her, but I shoot him a warning look.

“It’s for everyone’s safety,” Warrick tells her gently. “She was in a beautiful suite upstairs, and I’d happily put her back in it if she promises not to attack us again.”

The witch snorts and rolls her sooty eyes heavenward. “Did the big, bad girl scare you three Apex Alphas? For some reason, I thought you were stronger than that.”

I smother a smile, realizing where Poppy got her attitude from as Sadie throws her head up and marches further into the bowels of the cavern, pausing to look at the scruffy prisoners before casting me a look.

“Are these…?” she breathes worriedly.

“Rebels,” I conclude for her, and she exhales.

“Does she know who she is?” Sadie questions, her gray eyes widening.

I shake my head. “I don’t think so—not really. She won’t talk to us. Every time we try, she… well, we hope you can explain it to her.”

Sadie’s mouth purses into a fine line. “Poppy deserves to know the truth now. She never deserved anything that happened to her.”

“You should have been more forthcoming with her,” Malachi tells her sharply. “None of this would have happened if you had.”

She hangs her head, and I read the shame on her face. “Where is she?”

I gesture up the alleyway, and she heads forward as we linger back, ensuring that Poppy doesn’t see us in the shadows. “We’ll stay back here. She won’t talk if she sees us.”

“Good idea,” Sadie mumbles, offering me a grateful look. Inhaling, she stalks forward and into the dimness, stopping at Poppy's cell.

“Poppyseed? Are you all right?”

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