Page 44 of Return to Garoureve

Scarlett stared at her, wide eyed, and Violet realized she was standing. When had she stood up? “I... I think they’re dead.”

“You think?” How could Scarlett not know? She had to talk to someone, someone she knew. Someone that... knew the people Violet grew up with. How could Scarlett not know about Mardoc’s parents? “What... okay, I didn’t see Mr. Reeve. Does he still live out at the old farm?”

“Do you mean Cole?” Scarlett shook her head slightly, and looked down at her cup. “You should probably sit down.”

“No, I don’t mean Colburn,” Violet scoffed, and crossed her arms slightly. “I mean his dad. The pack leader. The wolf who runs the town.”

Scarlett was looking at her like a deer in headlights, just before the front door of the bakery opened, and another woman walked in.

“Hey, who was that wolf with— Oh! Oh my gosh! New person. Hi! Totally weird with the wolves out front, right?”

“She knows, Ariana,” Scarlett said, and stood up from the table slowly, a hand in front of her. “But she looks like she’s about to pass out.”

Ariana was looking from Scarlett to Violet, and Violet between the pair of them. Looked like she was about to pass out? No, she felt like she was about to explode.

“Who’s still alive?” Violet finally managed to ask. “Who... who from the pack is alive?”

Scarlett and Ariana shared a glance, then both looked back to her, mouths open.

“How bad was the fire?”

Still, no answers.

Violet sat back down into her previous chair, hard, and stared at the tea cup she had frozen. It was back to normal liquid, a sign that her emotions were too chaotic to pick one direction. She tried to reach out for any element, any sort of magic, any sort of flow, but all she felt was chaos and loss.

Emptiness.

No fire.

“Most of the town burned down, according to Colburn,” Ariana whispered. “Uhh... you’re one of the witches, right?”

“Mabel’s daughter,” Scarlett answered. “The one mated to Roddy’s cousin.”

“Rodolphe is still alive?” Violet asked, still staring at the cup. She couldn’t find any emotions other than some small relief. “His parents died before the fire, but what about his Grandmother?”

“She’s alive and well, as is her sister.”

Ansa was alive... Thank all of the spirits for that.

“I don’t know everyone’s names,” Ariana continued, making Violet wonder how long she had been in town, if she didn’t know everyone. It was a pack, after all. Fuck, another human? “But Tristan is still here... or he was. He left yesterday with his mate.”

“I thought there was an issue with the town line?” Violet questioned, her brow furrowing. “Henrik said no one could leave, when he came back to the town, so he stayed outside of the line, rather than being trapped.”

Scarlett and Ariana shared a glance, then nodded slightly. “Yeah... Whatever your mom and her sisters did—”

“Sisters?” That had Violet really confused. “There were no sisters. It was just me and my mom, and my mom’s spell was only to reinforce the boundary, as far as she was aware.”

“Well, whatever she did, she kept most of Garoureve trapped here for years,” Scarlett said, and rubbed her arm slightly.

“Oh, and we know Silver as well,” Ariana added on. “And then, there’s a lot of young families, and old guys.”

“Silvestre?” Violet blinked at the thought of Silvestre being okay. His sisters... What about his...

Oh. Oh.

Oh, fuck...

“Umm, I think I need to make a phone call,” Violet said, pushing herself up to stand. Her mother had to know who was dead... or... Did her mother already know? Had she kept it from her?

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