Page 19 of Beta Hybrid

If and when I ever meet my mother, I will be sorely tempted to ask her what drove her to leave me. My father, too. What made them leave me behind?

As I watch the Dark Witch rise to her feet, ready to face me—to train me—I’m struck by a fierce desire to know if my mother was a badass. A witch who would stand up for herself. Someone who would nod and smile and agree with Divina, shouldering me gently, knowing that she raised a strong young woman. But she didn’t. She didn’t raise me at all.

Divina doesn’t raise her hands.

It jars me. Cai always raises his hands.

Ready to hit. Or slash with claws. It’s the standard we’re going to fight pose, right?

But no. Divina’s hands are by her side. Resting. Calm. Her whole posture is calm. Eerily so. I mimic her stance and catch the smirk that kicks up her mouth. ‘The first thing to learn about fighting, is that most of the time, you will not have time to ready yourself.’

I nod. Right. Aidan had said something similar. Makes sense. ‘So how do I… start, then?’

‘It is often not a matter of how to start a fight, but when. When you realise you have an advantage. When your opponent is distracted or weakened. When you decide best suits you. Or when you will only have one chance to make a blow count. Fighting, in sparring and in real life, is all about timing. An excellent fighter can be caught off-guard, injured. Even asleep. But an amateur can take up a knife and slit someone’s throat with only the skill to sneak into a house or a tent.’

‘Well, that’s new. He didn’t tell me anything like that.’

Divina waves a hand. ‘Mordecai is not the be-all and end-all of fighting, or strength. He is still young. Headstrong. Egotistical.’

I try not to smirk. ‘True. And you’re not.’

‘I am not.’ Divina tilts her head to me. ‘How would you attack me?’

I blink. ‘I wouldn’t.’

Divina looses a silent laugh. ‘But if you would. How?’

I stare at her a few paces away. I didn’t realise fighting involved so much talking. ‘Um. When you least expect it?’

At that, she chuckles. ‘Wise answer, enough. But be specific. Have you ever seen me sleep? Or injured, for that matter?’

I think back. ‘Sleep, no. Injured, nope. But weak, maybe. Back before the blast. At Wolf Grove. So, I’d wait until you were using your magic, draining yourself and distracted.’

Divina smiles. ‘Good. Would you like to know when I would attack you?’ She arches a neat brow.

I huff. ‘No,’ I say miserably. ‘All the time? Cause I’m weak and my magic’s a mess—’

‘I wouldn’t.’

‘Very funny,’ I say drily.

‘No, I mean it. I wouldn’t.’ She begins to walk, slowly. I match her movement, keeping my distance. Two cats, eyes locked on the other. ‘A woman such as yourself is a wild card. A hybrid with unknown powers. With emotional responses.’ She tusks. ‘It makes you unpredictable, and, likely to be able to defend yourself by instinct.’

I keep pace with her, never turning my back. Playing her game. ‘Are you saying I’m strong?’

Divina considers. ‘Yes, but my point was that you’re … strategically a disagreeable target to fight with.’

‘That doesn’t mean I won’t get in one.’

Divina raises a finger. ‘So very true.’ Her fingers dance, black smoke curling. ‘So, hit me. With any power. Whatever you’ve got. Look at me and get angry. Think of your mate. Or whomever. Look at me and want to hurt me. You won’t,’ she adds with a small smile. ‘At least not permanently.’

I look at the Dark Witch, who had, at first, quite frightened me. Now, she’s become an ally. To build my anger, I think of Mordecai. How he rejected me. How even though we’re together now, I still don’t feel like I’m enough for him. I think of my parents, who I told my mate I wanted to find. Those people—the first ones—who left me. Who didn’t want me. I think of the powers I grew to have, unlike other witches—my visions, my marks—and wished I were normal. Just a witch. The chasm inside me is now an ocean of raw pain.

My vines spring from my forearms, curling over my skin like small snakes, until they stretch outward like seeking branches, growing thicker by the moment. I yell as the tide inside me breaks, crashing with the pain I’ve lived with my whole life. I aim at Divina.

A shudder grips the woods, sending the trees swaying, cracking at the trunks. Roots torn from the ground. Birds shriek, taking to the sky. I close my eyes, focusing on my power. On both of them. One from each parent. My father’s side, faeries, comes from some old power that I may never comprehend. All I understand is that it wants dominance. Blood. Power. My witching side uses the nature around me to savage my foe.

A cry echoes in the woods.

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