Page 130 of Demise

“In Proctor’s shop,” Asher gnashes as he unlocks the car, practically tossing me into the back seat.

“What? Why?”

“Fuck if I know!” Asher says as he climbs into the driver’s seat, Vincent sitting in the back with me.

“Wait, Proctor? Like Elizabeth and John? From the museum?” I ask.

“From the trials,” Asher corrects. “And yes. One of the only families that didn’t get the fucking hint to leave Salem. If word gets out that we were seen in there…” he stops with a shake of his head. Instead of finishing, he fires up the car and takes off. We pass by the shop as we leave town, and I see Rachel on the sidewalk with a broom and a dustpan, collecting the debris from the shattered vial. I give her a sympathetic look as she shakes her head and looks back down to the ground.

Chapter Forty One

Skyla

When we get home, all the guys are already sitting around the living room looking absolutely livid. We don’t make it through the front door two steps before they are laying into me.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” Ronan snarls.

“You idiots took her to that side of the town? Really?” Wesley says in contempt.

“I leave for three goddamn hours, and everything goes to shit!” Liam adds.

“She wanted the full history. I took her to the Witch Museum—”

“Stupid.” Ronan interjects.

Asher throws him a look but continues on. “Then she took one look at the Proctor shop and practically ran to it.”

“What?” the three of them collectively snap.

“It’s not a big deal,” I say, earning myself five scathing looks.

“Not a big deal, siren? You don’t understand what those…people are capable of.”

“Maybe I don’t. Do you?” I counter.

Vincent scoffs. “I’ve encountered plenty of them, trust me, they are not your friend.”

“Maybe they aren’t my enemy either.”

Ronan shakes his head. “Baby, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“She was kind to me. I felt no malice or unease, unlike every other person in the Brethren apart from those in this room. Doesn’t that strike you as odd? That maybe you guys are on the wrong side of things? That you’ve been turned against a group of people out of fear, not reason?”

“They’re witches, babygirl,” Liam argues. “They’re bad news. They curse people, hurt people.”

“Says who, Liam?”

He opens his mouth to speak before closing it, shaking his head. I understand that they are all concerned, I mean, they’ve basically been conditioned into believing one set way their entire life. Maybe it’s time they break those mental chains, though, because if we are going off people like Christopher Putnam to give us the whole truth and nothing but the truth…we shouldn’t. That man is more evil than any witch ever could be.

“Little one, we’re just worried. You never know who is watching. If the Elders find out you went into Proctor’s shop, they could jump to conclusions.”

“Let them jump!” I snap before sighing. “I’m tired of the clouded truths, the hidden meanings. This world we have all been forcibly born into is fucked up and broken, and if you don’t agree, then each of you are part of the problem.”

They all stay quiet for several seconds before Vincent nods.

“She’s right. None of us are under the impression that the Brethren are just or saints.”

Soft murmurs of agreement sound through the room as Vincent continues.

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