Page 11 of Blood Witch

“There you are, Mabel,” she murmured, tucking me in. “Go to sleep, child. You are safe tonight.”

“Hey? Mabe? Where did you go?” Jade asked, concern glowing in her hazel stare.

“Um, I think maybe I was hunted by Enforcers when I was younger,” I said, somehow putting that together after my hazy memory had returned.

“What? How do you know?”

“Well, I grew up in a home for girls without families—”

“Like an orphanage?” Maia asked, and I rolled my eyes at the tears that immediately filled hers.

Typically, I did my best to ignore the oversensitive witches I roomed with. They were like one big hormone, and which one all depended on who was around.

If it was a mated couple, the hormone was obvious. It was something I calledsmexy times a coming soon. And it was enough to make me pea green with envy, not that I’d tell them that. But when it was the whole gang together, said hormone was eitherkumbayaorlet’s go kill things.

I was undisturbed by the latter, having developed a penchant for violence and a general distrust of people during my time in the home and later, when I’d run away and had to live on the street. But that was a story for another day.

“No, notlikean orphanage. An actual orphanage,” I growled.

“Damn, Mabe. Why didn’t you tell us?” Rio asked, putting her arm around an openly weeping Jade.

“Look, it’s no big deal. I was dropped there when I was a baby, so it’s not like I ever had a family.”

“Ohmygawd, that’s worse!” wailed Maia.

“Fucking hell,” I muttered and rolled my eyes. “Get a grip, okay? The nuns were fine. Mother Diana was as maternal as anyone you could ever meet.”

“Mother Diana. Who’s that?”

“She ran the place. She was like the head of that section of the Sisters of Charity. But I guess she was not just a nun,” I muttered.

“How do you mean?” Arlo asked, pulling Jade back to sit on his lap.

“Well, she taught me to pray to the Goddess, and I am guessing most Catholic nuns don’t do that.”

“Um, hard no, Mabe. They definitely don’t,” Rio replied, shaking her head.

The action sent ripples of blue hair cascading down her back, and I watched with no small amount of envy as Magnus ran his fingers through it. She leaned back on him without even looking. That level of trust and knowledge, that kind of contentment, was something I had never experienced. And I likely never would.

“Um, well, I never really paid attention to all that. Mother Diana said those lessons were secret. Anyway, she died, and I left.”

“When was that?” Arlo asked, his gaze flicking to Enok’s.

“When I was sixteen,” I said, biting my lip.

“What happened then?”

“Nothing. I mean, I spent a few years on the streets, living in shelters, and just roaming. Then things started changing for me.”

“You got your powers,” Enok said, nodding.

“Yeah, my magic came in hot, and I ran into Stolbright one night when they sorta got away from me.”

“Stolbright, ugh. What did that bucket of fun do?” Jade asked, eyebrows raised.

“Well, I was about to be caught by some cops who were after me and a group of friends. They were kids like me. Kids with no families. Or just runaways, didn’t matter. We stuck together for protection, but sometimes that was bad too.”

“LikeLord of the Fliesbad?” Rio asked, eyes wide.

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