“They’re looking for a source of magic. He’s letting me go with him.”
“So you’re going into the woods with some random witches.”
Raya ignored the fact that he’d echoed her own private concern. “What are you, my mother?”
His eyes narrowed. “Far from it.”
“Then try to understand, Phoenix. I live in a small town. I work as a school librarian. I don’t even know any other witches. Everything I learned, I learned from a book. This is my chance to finally become the witch I’ve always wanted to be.”
“So you get more powerful? Is that it? What does it matter?”
“I don’t expect you to understand.” She dug her fingers into her hair and tugged, the discomfort a distraction from the unease rippling through her.
“Maybe I don’t understand because you don’t bother to explain it to me.”
“Who said I owed you an explanation?”
“You think because you can conjure me or banish me at will, I can’t ask you a question?”
Holding eye contact in anger felt like channelling electricity through her body. “Why should I share anything with someone who’s only going to hang around until he finds something better to do?”
Phoenix ran his hands through his own hair in a movement that mirrored hers. “Do you think I’m jealous? Is that what this is? I’m not jealous, you idiot—I’m worried.”
She looked at him, thunderstruck. Phoenix didn’t know the meaning of the word “worried.”
His voice became softer. “Not all witches are like you. You know that. You know there are some who will go a lot farther to get what they want.”
“I—”
“Just be careful.” He turned and walked swiftly away into the crowd, fading into the darkness before she could stop him.
9
Verdant green fields flashed by as the regional train carried Raya through the French countryside on the way to the forest of Fontainebleau.
She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and shifted in her seat to lean her head against the window.
Sheer willpower had dragged her out of bed before dawn to catch the early train out of Paris.
It would be worth it.
The view flickered as the train passed through a forest, the rays of the rising sun piercing the trees like arrows of light.
At the station, she alighted on the platform and dodged the commuters who surged forward to board the train. She did not expect anyone to meet her, but it felt lonely all the same. Deciding she should save her feet for the hike ahead, Raya found a taxi outside the station and gave the driver the address of the cafe where she was to meet the rest of the group.
The city buildings—some old, some new—marched by as the little car made its way through the little city.
The driver pulled up alongside a cafe in the vicinity of the grand chateau of Fontainebleau.
Raya patted her hair and tugged her shirt straight before exiting the cab and stepping carefully onto the sidewalk. She peered through the windows in search of Nathan and his assistant, but saw no one she recognized.
Instead, a quiet contingent of townspeople started the day with mugs of café au lait.
Charming, but not quite the three-egg omelet she’d been hankering for, considering she needed a good, solid breakfast to start the day. Raya examined the menu board with the help of her phrasebook.
Fruit.
Toast.
