“Yes, why are you here?” Mildred says from the doorway, startling all of us. “And next time, please do use the front door.”
Kaleb recovers first, his expression smoothed to one of respect and politeness. Sincerity infusing his rich baritone, he answers, “I’m sorry we barged in this way, but Felix informed us of the emergency. We hurried here as fast as we could.”
She gives me a look that makes me really hope there isn’t a spell to read minds, then returns her attention to Kaleb and Donovan. “Since you’re here, what do you know?”
Donovan walks over to my desk, pulls out my chair, and sits in it backward. He rests his arms on the back of the chair and answers, “The fire means that the people that killed the Jacobs are back.”
“You don’t know that,” Kaleb asserts, rubbing between his brows. “What happened to the Jacobs here isn’t a secret. Anyone could have done it as a copycat… perhaps to try and scare Callie and Mildred away.”
“Does her torture know no ends?” Felix laments, dropping his head against the bedspread.
“You have to be fucking kidding me,” Donovan grunts, his hands curling to fists. “You think the Witch Bitch did this.”
“I beg your pardon,” Mildred gasps, scandalized.
“He means Gina,” I sigh. Frowning, I sit up with my legs crossed in front of me. “But she has air magic.”
“I’m pretty sure Anastasia specializes in fire,” Kaleb offers, cautiously sitting down next to me on the edge of the bed. “And she’s one of Gina’s followers.”
“Anastasia? That’s the girl that chased after Nolan in kindergarten, right?” I ask.
“That would be the one,” Donovan answers, his jaw flexing. “There’s also lighter fluid and matches. No magic required.”
Not knowing what else to do with my hands, I go back to fiddling with my pant legs. Folding the fabric like a fan, then smoothing it back out.
Mildred’s lips are pinched, and her gaze zeroes in on me. “Gina is the girl who’s bullying you at school. The one you specifically begged me not to get involved with over the horrendous incident that daft woman from the school had the audacity to blame you for. Do I have it correct?”
“Danger, Will Robinson. Danger,” Felix mutters unhelpfully.
Clearing my throat, I answer, “Um, yes. Also the daughter of the leader of the local coven, who’s also the mayor of the town, and who would be bad to piss off since we’re trying to stay under the radar of the Council.”
Her brown eyes narrow, and she rests her chin on a fisted hand while the other arm is crossed over her chest. “You think she could be responsible for nearly burning our house down?”
“It’s one speculation, yes,” Kaleb interjects. There’s an apology in his eyes, when he adds, “It could be a number of people. Individuals who believe Callie is manipulating us by… distasteful means and want to seek retribution.”
I’m not really upset with Kaleb for telling my aunt about the rumors, but my stomach sinks knowing I’ll have to explain them.
“I know about the rumors,” she announces, annoyance making her words even more clipped. “That woman told me. I insisted it was all rubbish, and the twit had the gall to say I was biased from seeing the situation clearly. She became very quiet when I informed her that you all fell asleep watching movies in our living room Saturday night, then helped me cook breakfast the next morning.”
“Thanks, Aunt Mildred,” I reply with a soft smile.
“No thanks necessary. It was the truth,” she says in a straightforward manner, then walks over to me. With a hand running along my hair, she promises, “I’m always here for you, my dear. And I’ll always be on your side.”
I nod, warmed by the knowledge that I have people that will always believe me-- then slightly guilty for my slight abuse of that trust.
Rubbing at my eyes, I sigh, “So we’ve deduced that the fire could mean murderers raring up for round two are back, Gina’s fucking insane, or there are an innumerable amount of the student body that don’t know how to use their words. Yay!”
“Is this a multiple choice or can we mark all answers we think are right?” Felix jokes, sitting up. “Because I’m pretty sure at least two of those answers are always true.”
“You’re not wrong,” Donovan chuckles darkly.
Mildred raises a single brow but doesn’t ask me to elaborate, instead stating, “I’ll place guardian stones around the property. If anyone that wishes us harm crosses the perimeter, it’ll not only alert me of their presence but what type of species they are. That should narrow the list of suspects, and if they don’t return, all the better.”
“Can you…” Kaleb asks but is interrupted by the sounds of sirens.
“About bloody time,” she hisses, pushing the sleeves of her cable-knit sweater up to her elbows. “If we were human, we could’ve died waiting on them.”
I know I told her to call them, but now that the police are here, there’s a sickening weight in my stomach and a cold sweat along my neck. An irrational anger itches down my skin, and I hug myself tight, trying to keep all these new feelings from escaping.
