Page 14 of Watch Me Burn

“A knife.”

“It’s a witch hunter’s blade. You can’t see it, but there is an emblem on the hilt. Pure silver, a weapon like that can eliminate all kinds of supernaturals. Vampires, for one,” he says, almost conversationally as though we’re not talking about killing a creature I would’ve thought immortal. “Shifters, of course. Silver is the only mineral that can weaken and kill one of those beasts. As for witches… you can die from pretty much anything, but when a hunter comes after you with one of these, it’s a sign that they won’t stop until you are deceased—and that they believe they have the right to do so.”

I blink, stunned. “What? The right to kill me because they think I’m awitch? They can’t do that.”

“That’s not going to stop them. And that’s why we have a problem, Ms. Hayes.” He drops the knife into this drawer, closing it. “Simon brought me that knife tonight. He took it off of the witch hunter who tried to capture you in my city. The witch hunter you set ablaze.” A small smile tugs on his lips. “Now, tell me again that you’re not a witch.”

I don’t even know what to say to that.

AmI?

“Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that you are. He believed you were. That’s why he went after you. Pity that he was in no state to explain himself when Simon found him, but I’ll have my chance to… mm… talk to him later, I assure you. For now, the question is what to do with you. You see, we’ve never had a witch in Clarity during my tenure, and we’ve certainly never been infiltrated by witch hunters… until now.”

That he knows of.

Are there other witches like me? Those who were born with magic, but didn’t use any until their back was against the wall—or their hand was caught in a handcuff by some creep? If I acceptthat all of this is true, it seems like my magic was only triggered because it was a life-or-death situation.

Let’s say I’m a witch. Where did the magic come from? I doubt it was my dad’s side of the family since that means Aunt Maureen would’ve had powers, too. But my mom…

I don’t know anything about my maternal family. Aunt Maureen told me when I was a kid that my mom was abandoned at birth, brought up in foster care, and only found a family when she met and married my dad. They had five short years together before the car crash that stole them from me. I don’t know if she could shoot fireballs or even if she knew she might be magic, but the impact was so hard, death so instantaneous, she never would’ve had the chance to save them before they perished.

I honestly thought that, when he grabbed me, it was him or me. I made that subconscious decision, and though lighting him up like that wasn’t what I had in mind, now that I know he was a witch hunter… he would’ve done worse to me.

And that’s even if he knew Iwasa witch. Is there a way to tell? I’m beginning to think he might’ve known something if he tried to handcuff my hands behind my back the same way Thorn instructed his soldiers to do when they brought me to the cell, but was he prepared for me to go all ‘flame on’ on him?

How could anyone?

Don’t feel guilty, Bridge, I tell myself. He was a witch hunter. You’re supposedly a witch now.

It was either him or me in the end, and I will always choose me.

“I also understand that, having kept our secret, Elise hasn’t given you a fang yet,” Thorn says. “Is that true?”

Fang. Out of nowhere, a sudden memory pops into my brain. All those months ago, when I was newly living in Clarity and I first met Elise. I know more about her situationship with Peterand how it all went south now, and it had everything to do with Peter cheating on her with one of her co-workers.

That’s not what he called it. It’s how Elise understood it, and she’s spent the last six months ignoring any of his attempts to win her back. But I remember how he told her it was just a ‘fang’.

A vampire fang?

He must’ve been one of the privileged humans in the know. But that still doesn’t explain what he meant then—or Thorn means now—when they talk about giving outfangs.

Before I can ask, Elise takes pity on me and explains. Using her pointer fingernail, she taps one of her still-extended canines. “One of these, Bridget. If a vampire snaps it out of their mouth and offers it to someone, it’s a mark of their affection or protection. For you, it would be both.” At my look of obvious horror, she shrugs and drops her hand back to her side. “They grow back, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Actually, Iwas, but that’s not all. “I appreciate the offer, but… um… why would I need one of your fangs for protection?”

“Because, in Clarity, humans are our food,” Thorn says bluntly. “They sustain us, and we provide them a city where any trouble is quickly put to rest. We protect them, but a fang only works in Fang Cities. And I can’t imagine any will harbor a witch.”

Something in the way he says that…

“Wait. Are you kicking me out?” I came up here, torn between expecting him to, like,killme or throw me back in the cell downstairs because I almost killed someone else. Elise made me think everything was going to be okay… were we wrong?

Instead of answering me, Thorn asks, “What do you know about witch hunters?”

He’s joking, right? I doubt it, but I didn’t have any idea that witches were real until today. I don’t know shit about witchhuntersbeyond what he’s told me so far and I tell him so now.

“Right. I probably should’ve mentioned that they’re fanatics. Human fanatics who believe that witches exist to bring about the end of the world.”

So. Nutcases. Got it.

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