Page 31 of Bewitched By the Wicked Witch
"You never showed any interest in joining the High Council as an investigator," I said, my voice rising with each word. "Your dream was always magical law, working to reform the system from within. So why did you change your mind? Why did you throw away everything we'd planned together?"
The unspoken question hung between us:Why did you change your whole life, including having me in it?
"I didn't change my mind about anything," he said desperately. "I was selected by the Council, recruited against my will. I was..." He trailed off, struggling to form words that seemed to stick in his throat. "I had no choice, Sage. They threatened..."
He gritted his teeth, his whole body trembling as if he was fighting against invisible bonds that prevented him from speaking freely. As if someone had cast a spell to keep certain truths locked inside his mind.
"Funny thing," I said, my voice dripping with bitter sarcasm. "They tried the same recruitment tactics on me during my second year at the Academy. You know what I told them?" I stepped closer, my magic crackling in the air around us. "I told them to go straight to hell."
He flinched as if I'dphysically struck him. "They became much more persuasive in their methods after that."
"What did they threaten to take from you?" I demanded, my blood heating with rage as the pieces began falling into place. "What could they possibly have offered or threatened that was more important than the life we were building together?"
I pressed my hand to my chest, feeling my heart hammering against my ribs like a caged bird. "What was worth more than me?"
Callum shook violently, as if he was finally breaking through some kind of magical barrier that had held his tongue for years. When he spoke, his voice was raw with anguish and his gaze held a sorrow so deep it threatened to drown me.
"Your life, Sage," he whispered, the words falling between us like stones into still water. "I had to give you up and join their ranks, or they would have made me watch as they condemned you to death by fire. They said they had evidence of dark magic use, that they could make it stick if they wanted to."
The truth hit me like a physical blow, stealing the breath from my lungs and making my knees weak. All these years, I'd believed he had simply stopped loving me, that I hadn't been worth fighting for. But he had been fighting, just not in any way I could have imagined.
Callum moved toward the door, his shoulders bowed under the weight of secrets he'd carried alone for so long. He picked up his coat with hands that shook slightly. "In the end, I lost either way," he said quietly, not meeting myeyes. "But at least you were still alive, and that was all that mattered to me."
I stood frozen as he walked to the front door, my feet planted firmly to the wooden floor as if roots had grown from my shoes. I watched his retreating form, noted the defeat in every line of his body, and I couldn't find a single word to say as he quietly closed the door behind him and walked out of my life again.
The silence that followed felt deafening. I remained motionless, staring at the closed door long after the sound of his footsteps had faded away. His revelation echoed in my mind, each word reshaping years of pain and resentment into something entirely different.
Your life, Sage. I had to give you up and join their ranks, or they would have made me watch as they condemned you to death by fire.
Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes, but I blinked them back furiously. I would not cry over Callum Renshaw, not again. He'd made his choice all those years ago, and regardless of his noble reasons, he'd still shattered my heart into a million jagged pieces that I'd spent years trying to reassemble.
Gran and Paige crept back into the room like cautious deer, their expressions carved with concern and uncertainty. Paige rushed over immediately and wrapped me in a fierce hug that smelled of vanilla perfume and unconditional love. I clung to her, drawing strength from her unwavering support and the reminder that I wasn't completely alone in this world.
"Oh, Sage," Gran murmured, moving to smooth a gentle hand over my hair in the same comforting gestureshe'd used when I was a child with scraped knees and hurt feelings. "I'm so sorry, my darling girl. I had no idea the full extent of what that boy had sacrificed."
I pulled back from Paige's embrace, roughly swiping at my eyes before any tears could fall. "It doesn't matter now," I said, my voice stronger than I felt. "What's done is done, and we can't change the past." I straightened my spine, forcing steel into my voice as determination flooded through me. "We have more important things to focus on right now, like finding those missing girls and stopping whoever's behind this before anyone else gets hurt."
Gran studied me for a long moment with those perceptive blue eyes that had always seen through my defenses. Then she nodded slowly, recognizing that I needed action more than comfort right now. "You're absolutely right. The past can wait for a more appropriate time. Tell me everything you and Callum discovered about the disappearances and this potential pureblood connection."
Over the next hour, I filled her in on every detail we'd uncovered: the girls' shared shifter heritage, the complete lack of physical evidence or ransom demands, the strange symbol appearing around town, and most importantly, Beverly's ghostly appearance to Paige with her cryptic message about being ‘magically displaced.’
With each new piece of information I shared, Gran's frown deepened and her blue eyes grew sharper and more calculating. I could practically see the wheels turning in her brilliant mind as she processed everything through the filter of her decades of experience with magical politics and community dynamics.
"I never trusted Reid Bishop," she said grimly when I finished my recitation. "That man is as slippery as an eel and twice as slimy. His family has always clung to the old pureblood rhetoric, even if they've been careful not to voice it publicly in recent years."
"You really think he could be involved in something like this?" I asked, leaning forward with interest. "But what would he have to gain by targeting these specific girls? What's his end game?"
Gran tapped one perfectly manicured nail against her chin, a gesture I'd seen countless times when she was working through a complex problem. "Power, control, the twisted satisfaction of believing he's preserving magical purity. Who knows what goes on in the minds of men like that?" She sighed heavily, the sound carrying decades of disappointment in human nature. "I'll reach out to some of my old contacts in the broader magical community, see if anyone has heard whispers about a resurgence of pureblood activity. These movements rarely operate in complete isolation."
I nodded, already formulating plans in my mind. "And I'll keep investigating with—" I stopped myself before saying Callum's name, the word sticking in my throat like a physical obstruction.
"You'll work with Callum," Gran said firmly, her tone brooking no argument. "Whatever personal history exists between you two, those girls need both of your skills if they're going to be found and saved."
"Gran..." I started to protest, but she held up one imperious hand.
"Listen to me, child," she said, her voice taking on theauthoritative tone that had once commanded respect from the entire town council. "That young man spent years in service to people he despised, all to keep you breathing. He sacrificed his dreams, his happiness, and the love of his life because he believed it was the only way to protect you."
She leaned forward, capturing my gaze with her intense stare. "That's not the action of someone who doesn't care, Sage. That's the action of someone who loves you more than his own life."
