Page 93 of Potions & Prejudice
“Oh, I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe that no matter how much I try, I can’t get you to listen. I can’t get you to behave. I can’t get you to make good choices.” The mischievous smile disappeared from her face, and guilt clutched me tight, but I was too agitated, too far gone, to stop myself. “You can’t live with me anymore,” I said.
Elspeth was always honest. And she’d told me herself what she really thought: people couldn’t change. That meant I couldn’t change. I wasn’t even enough for Elspeth to consider staying in Thistlegrove.How could I be enough for my sister? She needed structure. Discipline. She needed more than I could give.
Georgie stepped back. “What are you talking about?”
I swallowed, holding back the tears gathering in the corners of my eyes. “You’re going back to the capital with Grandmother.”
Georgie’s hand covered her mouth. “No. You don’t mean that.”
“You can’t do that.” Edgar flitted in front of my face.
I kept a mask over my face, even though it felt like my heart was breaking. “It’s what’s best for you, Georgie. She’ll help you become the witch you were always meant to be.”
“I’m already that witch! I don’t need Grandmother to help me.”
She was too young. She didn’t understand. But hopefully she could forgive me one day. Hopefully she could understand why I had to do this.
She surged forward, handing me a crumpled piece of parchment, then she turned and ran.
“Do whatever you need out here,” I called after her. “Then get back to the apartment and start packing. Grandmother won’t want to stay long.”
I uncrumpled the paper, staring at it, reading through the ancient language of Ethorial.
Fucking hellfire.
Georgie had done it. She’d fixed my mug spell. This was it. She’d actually found the solution.
She truly was brilliant. She’d thrive under Grandmother’s tutelage.
I slowly turned and walked back toward town, knowing I’d never forget today. It was the day I was losing everything that mattered to me.
Forty
ELSPETH
The cart bumped along the road, Adelaide and I riding in the front like always, while Mama, Prue, and Auggie sat inside.
Emptiness filled me, and I stared blankly ahead as the cold wind whipped around. Right now we should be setting up our soup stand, greeting everyone at the market: Veldar with his scowl. Morty with her knowing smile. All the residents who supported us and our business. Who never questioned the strangers or why we’d appeared in their town. They just welcomed us with open arms. Draven’s face flashed in my mind, and I shoved it in the deepest crevice I could. I couldn’t think about him right now. It was too hard.
I dashed away a tear as Adelaide sniffled beside me. I looked over at my sister, her eyes puffy, her cheeks red. And she was still absolutely gorgeous.
“What are we doing?” she asked.
“What do you mean?”
“We were happy, Elspeth.” She gestured back toward Thistlegrove Forest, growing farther and farther away in the distance.
“But we weren’t safe.”
“How do you know that?” Adelaide asked.
My eyes widened. “Witch Superior is coming to Thistlegrove. She’s Draven’s grandmother. If she even got a hint that we’ve been living in the Witchlands illegally?—”
“I know he hurt you,” Adelaide said.
I sniffled. “I don’t care about Johanes.”
“Not Johanes,” she said gently. “Father.”
