Page 56 of Firestarter

Chapter 17

Margo

An unrelenting shiver ran up and down my spine. Part of it was fear—we were about to face the pack after what had happened. I’d had more than enough time to realise how stupid I’d been.

“Still cold?” Dad asked on the drive to pack territory.

“I’m scared,” I admitted.

“Why would you be scared? You’re the victim here,” Mam said in a huffy voice.

“I made a choice that could have hurt somebody.” I stared at my feet. “They must be so angry at me.”

“There was an adult in the situation, pushing you into it.” She sounded angrier by the second. “I won’t have anyone blaming you.”

I glanced at Dad, hoping for support, but he kept his eyes on the road.

For some reason, I had expected a massive pack meeting in their out-building with me standing in front of a crowd, explaining myself. When we arrived, only Byron came outside to greet us.

“The others are waiting in my house,” he explained.

“The others?” Dad asked pleasantly enough.

“Nathan, Perdita, Dorian… and Amelia.”

Mam made a scoffing sound under her breath. The apprehension I had been feeling all morning only grew.

Inside Byron’s kitchen, my parents and I stood awkwardly by the door until Byron urged us to sit at the table.

My gaze turned to Perdita, who gave me a reassuring smile. Some of the fear fell away, only to be replaced by more guilt. Dorian greeted me with a brief touch of his hand before retreating next to Perdita on the other side of a long dining table.

My parents sat on either side of me, facing the others. I sat on my hands to stop myself from fidgeting, completely unable to look Nathan Evans in the eye. Was that what life was usually like for the pack?

“Well.” Byron Evans sounded weary. “I thought we should discuss what happened, and what should happen next.”

Amelia held up her hand. “I’d like to say something first.” I looked at her for the first time since entering the house. She didn’t look guilty. Rather, she appeared defiant—and perhaps cornered—as though she had been arguing her case for a long time. What had happened after I left?

Mam folded her arms across her chest. “I can’t wait to hear what you have to say.” I stifled a groan. She didn’t have to sound so confrontative before anything even started.

“We can all agree that Margo and I made a mistake, but in our defence, we were panicked and worried. It was a stressful occasion, and I admit I should have stopped Margo from—”

“Stopped her?” Dad blurted. “You’re the one who encouraged her.”

“Margo’s old enough to—” Amelia abruptly stopped and pressed her lips together for a moment. “You’re right. I should take responsibility for what happened. I know this seems scary. We took a risk, but I’m sure we both feel it was worth it. Imagine what we could achieve if these risks paid off. We both, very badly, wanted to help someone we care about, and we—”

Mam slammed both palms on the table in a move that made more than a few people in the room flinch. “We, we, we. Stop saying it like that. You’re the adult, you made the decisions, and you pushed my daughter into it. She’s the only one taking a risk. She’s the only one getting hurt. You need to stop using her!”

Amelia leaned back, appearing genuinely shocked by the outburst. “I’m trying to help her. Do you have any idea of how hard it is to be different from everybody else, but not know how or why? She shouldn’t have to go through that.”

I heard her sincerity. Amelia was stubborn and bull-headed about pretty much everything, but she meant well. So had I.

Perdita spoke up in a calming tone of voice. “We all care about Margo and what she’s going through. Trust me, Mrs Harding, of anyone here, I can speak to what it’s like to be blindsided by unpredictable, impossible things. Amelia knows she made a serious mistake, but her heart was in the right place.”

“I might have believed that if she was the one to suffer the consequences,” Mam said, though her tone was a lot more polite.

“I understand how you feel,” Perdita said sympathetically. “But seeing what happened to me, and how we all panicked, must have been frightening. I’m sure both Margo and Amelia went through a traumatic experience that temporarily affected their judgement.” She shot a stern glance at Amelia as though daring her to open her mouth. “For me, the real problem is how Margo’s power affects her physically. We should come up with a solution we can all get behind, but again, we don’t know enough about her condition to say what’s best for her.”

Dad waved a hand. “Trust me, we’re going to talk about the effect on Margo, but you all need to remember that Margo is a minor, and we are her parents. Anything she does needs to go through us first.”

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