“Sweetie, I know she’s your sister, but maybe that would be the best option,” says Jack’s mother, her voice kind and understanding.
I try not to take offence, but it’s hard. That’s mysisterout there. Sea dragons can be vicious, there’s no denying it. On the other hand, Alice is the person at least partly responsible for destroying so much of the village. And for killing Devlin Ward. Even if Cameron committed all those crimes, she was the one who must have alerted the coven of my use of magic and my location. She was the one who set the wheels in motion.
So yeah, I understand where they’re coming from. There’s just one issue with this solution.
“If neither of them returns to California, the coven will send more people to investigate,” I tell them. “A search party. As it is, she might not have reported back yet—not if she and Cameron fucked up the basic mission, which was likely to retrieve me.”
No, perfect Alice wouldn’t want to return home empty-handed, nor would she have called the coven for assistance. She had her reputation to maintain.
“She’s not wrong,” Ty says, his expression thoughtful. “We could capture Alice and make her report back that she hasn’t found Skye.”
“Then what?” Jack asks. “Hold her prisoner forever?”
I bite my lip. “We can’t. She’s got two small boys at home.”
The thought of her husband and sons is what pains me the most. Alice might not be the perfect sister, but she does love her children. If she died here in the middle of the forest, they might never know what happened to her, and that sort of mystery changes a person’s life forever.
“There’s no good solution here,” Maya says. “All of our options suck.”
Shifting forward in my seat, I meet Aiden’s gaze. “How about we bring her in, restrain her, and ask what all of this is about? Maybe she was brought here against her will. Then you can decide what to do with her.”
A flash of pity shines in his eyes before he hides it. And I know how I sound, I do. It’s just that I can’t completely give up on her, not until she tells me what happened in her own words. Iwantto give her the benefit of the doubt.
“How would you restrain her?” Jack asks. “She could attack you or any of us at close range.”
I pull a set of objects from my pocket and set them on the table. My damper bracelets. I haven’t worn them in days, because Aiden had been right. Regular use of my magic has brought me the control I’ve always craved, and I’m no longer ashamed of my rare and untraditional power. I’ve put it to good use, and I intend to continue doing that in the future.
“Oh.” Jack sits back, his anger gone. “Okay, then.”
He searches my face with his gaze, and I know what he’s thinking. He realizes exactly what putting these on Alice would mean. Alice’s magic would be cut off, rendering her no more dangerous than a human while causing her endless torment. It’s what I had become used to since high school when I’d first had these made. For almost ten years, I wore them every single day, too afraid to take them off for fear of hurting others.
Now we’ll use them in a similar way: while wearing them, Alice won’t be able to cause harm to anyone in the village.
“Fine,” Aiden says. “Then that’s what we’ll do. We can put her in one of the cabins and secure her inside.”
“Thank you.”
I don’t just direct the words at him but at the entire room—they are giving Alice the benefit of the doubt and acting more magnanimously than the witches would for sure. If my old coven caught a real live dragon… I shudder to think what would happen to them.
Aiden fixes me with a glare. “You can go to her, but not without protection. And no one will ever be alone with her in case she tries anything.”
“All right.” I stand and pocket the bracelets again. “Let’s go.”
Twenty-Six
Skye
The feeble Septembersun rises to its peak just above the treetops as we make our way back to where we saw Alice last. We left Ryan and his father watching over her so we didn’t lose her in the thick brush, and they report that she has returned to her camp and started another fire to keep herself warm. She seems intent on staying put, and I wonder whether she and Cameron had made plans to meet up here. With a jolt, I realize she might not even know he’s dead.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Jack mutters from beside me.
“No,” I reply honestly. “But I have to.”
I stifle the urge to roll my neck and do a couple of punches like a wrestler going into the ring. This could all end up a peaceful conversation. Maybe we won’t even need to restrain her?
Taking a deep breath, I step through the shimmering barrier of the spell. The magic tickles, and I have to pop my ears, but otherwise, the forest doesn’t look any different on the other side. The guys and the small group of villagers remain behind, ready to assist me but keeping out of sight for now. We don’t want to alarm her.
Alice doesn’t notice me at first. She’s crouched over her fire, warming a cup of water. Her curls are disheveled and her eyes shadowed as though she’s missed a lot of sleep lately. Despite it all, she’s still beautiful, like Ryan claimed, and her clothes, though slightly worse for wear, are stylish as always.
