He shrugs off the accusation, but when he glances at me, there’s nothing casual about his expression. It’s hard and cold and devoid of humanity. “If those monsters can’t survive the cure, they don’t deserve to live.”
Pain explodes across my knuckles as my fist connects with his face. “Say it again.” The words come out a growl, and I reach through the bars, gripping the fabric of his collar. With all the strength I can summon, I yank him forward and slam his face against the bars. “Say it!”
“Riley...” Wes stands from his mattress. “Enough, man.” The other Hunter steps toward us, but Paige holds up a hand. Wes backs off and Paige crosses her arms, shooting an irritated look into the back of Riley’s head.
“I hope I’m the one who gets to do it.” Riley doesn’t blink. His voice is steady. “I hope it hurts when she dies.”
With a speed I don’t expect, he reaches through the bars and slams two fingers into my throat. I choke, coughing as I lose the grip on his shirt and fall to the floor. My elbow scrapes against cement, and hot blood slides down the torn skin. Riley laughs and steps away from the bars until he’s level with Wes.
Paige sneers at me. “Pathetic.” She turns to the boys like I’m not even here. “I can’t believeshe’sthe one who captured us. It’s embarrassing.”
Trembling, I pull myself back to my feet. These kids, with their hatred and their cult-like obedience, are the real monsters. Hunters who want to kill us for no other reason than we exist. For the first time, I understand why the Council wants to kill them all. Even if we showed every kindness, they would never acknowledge our humanity.
It would be so much easier if we could turn their techniques against them.
I stumble back and bump into the worktable. I glance over my shoulder at the wall of completed potions. There are fewer than last time, and I don’t know what any of them do, but I find myself reaching for them anyway.
“What are you doing?” Wes actually sounds nervous.
Arms full of glass vials, I whirl back at them. “If you can kill us, if you can shoot David and drug little kids and try to kill someone you used to love, then fine. You win. We’ll be just as horrible as you.”
Paige and Riley share a worried look. Wes crinkles his brow. “Who’s David?”
I set the potion on the table and select a red one. “He was a Caster Witch. One of your fellow Hunters murdered him last weekend. He was going to create a potion that could kill every last one of you.” Their shocked, worried expressions light up all the brittle, angry parts inside me. I raise my arm. “But I’m sure one of these potions will do the job just fine.”
“Hannah.”
Archer’s voice whips across the room, and I lower my arm. Slowly, shame already creeping up my chest, I turn around. His disappointment nearly breaks me. He takes the potion gently from my hand, setting it on the table beside the others.
“Upstairs,” he says, his voice soft but full of command. “Now.”
17
DETECTIVE ARCHER LEADS MEupstairs, and worry builds with each step. I can already hear the lecture. Can already picture him bringing me before Elder Keating. Is it against our laws to touch a Caster’s potions without permission? That never came up at coven meetings.
What will the Council do to me?
My breath comes in short, panicked inhales as we emerge into the hall. Murmured conversation still rumbles from the kitchen. I don’t recognize the voice of the woman speaking with Elder Keating, and I brace myself to face them. Instead, Archer presses a finger to his lips and closes the basement door with a barely audiblesnick.
I follow him to a part of his house I’ve never been before. We pass through the living room and down another hallway. Archer opens a door and leads me into a small office. The walls are the same soft cream as the rest of the house, and there’s an open laptop sitting on the desk against the far wall.
Archer gestures for me to enter and closes us both inside.
We stand in the fading natural light that streams in through the windows. Neither of us says anything for a long time. I get the sense that he’s waiting for me to speak, that he wants me to apologize, but I don’t know where I’m supposed to start.
Finally, the detective runs a hand through his hair, hisposture deflating, making him look much shorter than he is. “What’s going on, Hannah? This isn’t like you.”
There isn’t any judgment in his tone, only curiosity, but I feel myself tense anyway. Feel myself grow bitter and sharp. “Alice came to Morgan’s. She told us about the Blood Witch. She told us what happened to him.” My throat closes, and everything the anger was trying to hide comes rushing forward. “Why did you let the Elder recruit me? Why didn’t you force me to stay out of this?” Tears turn the room into a blur of soft colors, but I press on, unable to stop.
“I’ve fucked it up at every step. I let Morgan come with me to Brooklyn, and she could havedied. Sarah lost her magic. Cal and I were almost shot. The HuntersmurderedDavid, and I can still feel his blood on my skin. I can still see him whenever I close my eyes.” Hiccupping sobs steal my words, and I bury my face in my hands. “We’re out of time to set up the raid, and the Hunters are still killing us. They’re going to keep killing us until we’re all gone, aren’t they?”
Archer doesn’t tell me I’m wrong. He doesn’t tell me that everything will be okay. I glance up when the silence stretches on. He looks sad. Impossibly sad and lost and scared.
The tears start all over again. “I’m right, aren’t I? We’re fucked.”
He shakes his head and buries all the naked worry behind a composed mask. “There isn’t an easy solution,” he says, confidence infused through his tone. I don’t trust it. Not after I saw the feelings he’s trying to hide. “But we’re not giving up. We’re making progress. Progress that wouldn’t be possible withoutyou.”
I wipe my face dry and sit in his desk chair. “You’re just saying that so I’ll stop crying.”
