Page 90 of Break Her Heart
She shook her head, breath catching. “About Bodaira.”
Here we go.
28
Adar
They stood frozen, like statues caught mid-motion, as if they hadn’t expected me to come. Or maybe they simply hadn’t expected me to find out.
But I had.
Of courseI had.
I was Father of the coven, and she’d gone behind my back like I was nothing.
The moment I heard what she’d done—how she went to Alden Gran in secret, confronted him without my knowledge, and stripped his connection to magic—I felt the foundation of everything Papa had built shake. That connection wasn’t just his lifeline, it was his tie to the coven. And she severed it. On her own. Without counsel. Without me. If the others found out, it would spark panic, maybe even revolt. She knew that. And she did it anyway. Something in me broke.
And now, as I strode toward her, the fury burned hot and clean in my chest. She looked at me like she already knew what I was going to say. Like she knew she’d crossed a line she couldn’t uncross.
August stepped slightly in front of her, but I didn’t care about him. Not right now.
This was between me and Bronwen.
“I never expected you to do something like this!”
She opened her mouth to respond, but I raised my hand sharply, silencing her.
“No. That’s a lie. I knew you were capable of something like this. You always act before you think! You’re too impulsive, B! And this lunatic is not helping!”
August cut in. “I did not help her. I went with her, but I stayed back the entire time.”
She turned to him, eyes flashing. “Nowis the time you choose not to take up for me?”
He shrugged. “I told you he would react like this.”
“I will not admit that you were right.”
“Stop talking like I’m not standing right here! The coven is my responsibility—not yours.”
August lifted an eyebrow. “Could’ve fooled me.”
“You didn’t do what needed to be done,” she shot back.
“It’s not your call to make.”
“Why? Because I’m trapped in a castle? You may have taken the title because I couldn’t, but it’s just as much my right to make decisions.”
“And you think that was the right call? They know he’s a vampire now.” My voice dropped. “What if they tell the coven? It took everything to keep the ones who helped us with Carrow from saying a word. What do you think happens if the whole coven finds out?”
August’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe we should take this conversation somewhere more private.” He gestured subtly to the crowd now pressing closer—faces pale, whispers rippling, some eyes wide with fear, others narrowed with curiosity. A few exchanged uneasy glances, edging closer to hear.
“No,” I snapped, louder this time. “There’s nothing left to talk about. You went too far.”
A low murmur surged through the bystanders, a few stepping back as though afraid they might be caught in whatever was about to happen. The air grew tighter, the collective breath of the crowd holding steady as I turned sharply on my heel, fury still clawing at my chest. Her voice chased me.
“We’ll talk more at breakfast, after you’ve calmed down.”
I didn’t stop walking. “If I even show up,” I muttered under my breath.
