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“So you can take her place?” I asked.
She scoffed. “As if I would leave my home here to go live in that run-down realm. Being sent to Earth was the best thing that ever happened to me. It was a shame that Deidamia wasn’t sent with me.”
“And you never tried to save her?” Josephine asked. “You let her be abused by her stepmother while you were taken care of here?”
“By the time I could use my magic to transport realms, it was too late.” She bent down to Josephine's level, and I watched the evil twirl in her eyes. “Do you think you’re better than me, Josephine? You’ve always been so naïve. Your father spoiled you.”
“You didn’t stop him,” she countered. “At least I’m not living in this pretend world, feigning to be something I’m not. At least I’m not a monster.”
She cackled, and it echoed around us. “You were born of me, Josephine. You have our blood. You’re no better than either of us. You take what you want, and you always have. You broke that poor boy’s heart on video, and didn’t care that you ruined his life—”
“I won’t pretend to be happy,” Josephine yelled. “At least I’m not pretending with Kellan. I love him. I never loved Jacob.”
Her mother’s eyes shifted toward mine and held. There was so much emotion in them that I couldn’t pinpoint which one was winning. “Kellan still loves his first wife, Josephine. You’re stupid to think that you could make him happy.”
I squeezed Josephine’s hand, my heart pounding at the fact she said she loved me. It hammered in my ears like a lullaby. “She’s trying to get you to doubt yourself,” I whispered.
“Go ahead,” she taunted. “Listen to him because he’s been screwing you. Because he’s happy to have someone he can push around. Go ahead, Josephine. Listen to your big, strong—”
Josephine’s scream ripped through the midnight air as she lunged at her mother. The strength behind it startled me. She fell back onto her back as Josephine landed on top of her, and struck her across the face.
The hair on the back of my neck stood as I grabbed Josephine’s waist and hauled her toward my chest. The back door to my house opened, and Ernest stepped out onto the porch.
Her mother stood up casually. Wiping the blood from her face, she chuckled. “Josephine. Your father and I taught you better than to strike your mother.”
“You’re not my mother,” Josie shouted, kicking out at her.
I swung her around, putting my back to her mother, and braced my palms against her shoulders. “You have to stop,” I said softly. “We need to keep ourselves together.”
Josephine’s face contorted into hatred.
“Is everything okay?” Ernest asked.
I looked over at him, going to signal for him to stay back when my body stiffened. I watched as Ernest and Josephine’s eyes grew and I was lifted from the ground.
An invisible rope wrapped around me, keeping my arms tight to my sides and my feet dangling in the air. “You have two seconds to get your belongings together, or I hurt your boyfriend, Josephine."
Ernest stepped down the back steps as breath leaked from me. I attempted to breathe to no avail.
“Josephine,” Ernest said. “Go get Fern. Grab us some supplies.”
Josephine spun around. “I’m not helping her—”
“Do it,” he snapped.
His wise gaze settled on Josephine with a silent plea on his face. She reluctantly walked into the house to get Fern, while Ernest stepped closer to us. “We need his help to beat your sister. Him being dead won’t do any of us any good.”
Her mother snarled and tossed me to the ground. I gasped for breath and dug the heels of my boots into the dirt. “What’s your name?” Ernest asked.
She eyed Ernest suspiciously. “Delilah.”
Ernest stroked his long white beard while I climbed to my feet. “What do you plan to do with the spindle?”
She tossed the skirt of her robe back dramatically. “I’m finished with the twenty questions,” she said. “Bring the girls out now.”
Ernest stepped up the steps carefully, and as calmly as he spoke, he turned and zapped Delilah with a beam of golden light.
It hit her square in the chest, sending her back into the trunk of a giant magnolia tree. She struggled against his magic mercilessly and laughed as his power began to waver.
