“Oh, sweetie.” Maisie got up as Byrd started sobbing. She took both of Byrd’s hands in her own. “I fuckinghatedthat bastard. I’m not sad that he’s gone, and you won’t see me shedding any tears over him. My mom will be upset, sure, but he deserved it and then some, if you ask me. I just hate that you had to see it, Bee. I hate that you had to experience that on top of everything else you went through.”
“I’m so, so sorry, Maisie.”
“Don’t be, doll. I promise I’m okay,” Maisie squeezed her hands and wiped some of Byrd’s tears away.
“Was your father a fae or a witch, Maze?” Cole asked.
“Fairy, the fucking bastard,” she cursed.
Cole nodded. “That explains it. Fae often work with hunters to sell… parts of supernaturals. It’s why hunters are often some of the richest beings in existence.”
“That makes sense. They did talk about how they sold some of my scales to help make some money.” Byrd shivered, pullingfurther into my embrace. Her tail curled around my leg, and her wings pulsed anxiously. She was cowering from her memories, I realized, and it broke something in me seeing my girl so very fragile and delicate. I continued caressing her to calm her down, but I wished there was more I could do. I wished that none of this had ever even happened.
My girl didn’t deserve this.
“Wait, that’s weird,” Maisie said, turning to Cole fully. “Lilah is a witch-fae, not a huntress. Why work with a fae to sell Byrd’s scales for money? As a fitch, I never would have thought about that as an option. Is it just because she was working with Cooper?”
“Well, she’s both.”
Nat stood at Byrd’s words. “Did you just say she’s both?”
Byrd nodded. “Lilah’s a huntressanda blood witch-fae. Her father was a hunter, but her mother was a blood fitch.”
My spine went rigid, and I cursed in Spanish. “That’s impossible…”
“She said that she grew up training to be a fitch, but she wanted to be a huntress, too. When it was time to become a huntress, her father didn’t allow it, so he moved them away when her friend started her training to be a huntress?—”
“Oh, fuck! Oh, shit! That’sthatLilah?! Oh, my gods, we grew up together!” Nat yelled, her eyes wide and bright with realization.
“Which one was she? The cute one who would always ask me for gum to get me to talk to her? Or, the one who just giggled whenever I spoke? No, was it the adorable one who used to wear her hair in pigtails and turn beet-red around me?”
Maisie shook her head. “So, you have been a pig since birth, huh?”
Cody waggled his eyebrows. “Or, maybe I’m just into powerful magical women.”
While Maisie flipped him off, I said, “Can we focus? Natty, keep going. Who’s the Lilah you know?”
“Mom thought it would be good for me to have a female huntress as a friend who was my age and came from a powerful family. When her dad was on missions, I would go to her house. You know how Mom was about men being in the house while I was there. Instant freakout mode. I always remembered her mom being so nice. She would heal our scrapes and bruises and cook the best meals and snacks. Lilah and I were close until she just up and left one day out of nowhere. I never knew it was because her father wouldn’t let her train as a huntress. I had no idea. When he was around, I remember him being a fucking asshole, even for what I could recognize as a kid. I just got bad vibes from him. But, I also had no idea her mom was a blood witch-fae. I just figured she could heal like Aunt Addie. I never would have guessed otherwise.”
“So, now the question is: why give Byrd up? What’s the reasoning? If she gets rid of those she sees as disposable, like she did to Maisie’s father, then why keep Byrd and the rest of us around?” Talli pondered out loud.
“She must still want something, but what exactly?” Teddy asked.
“It could still be a trap. I think that is the most likely thing.”
“What do we do then?” Simone asked along with her boyfriend’s addition. “How do we fight back?”
“For now, I think we just need to pull back and stay low. Keep quiet and don't do anything until we have more information.”
Byrd perked up at Everett’s words. She glanced at Teddy before clearing her throat. “Teddy? Can you get me some more water, please?”
“Of course, honey!” He got up and grabbed her cup.
As soon as he was out of earshot, Byrd whispered super low to Everett and anyone else close enough to her to hear. “Are you still proposing?”
Simone and Maisie gasped at the same time that Everett rolled his eyes. “You havegotto be kidding right now.”
“Okay, butare you?” Simone asked.
