“We’re happy to see you’ve recovered, Nula,” Maverick said politely.
I shot a look at him. “How do you know her?” It felt like I was missing a huge chunk of information. I had a vague recollection of hearing Brianna mention her from the fun few hours I’d spent at Tiberius’s manor, but the details were sketchy.
“Rasmus found her when we searched Tiberius’s estate for you the night you disappeared from the club,” Zane explained. “She was almost dead,” he added, not caring that it might upset her.
I watched as she drifted back toward Adam and sat next to him on the bench. His arm snaked around her waist, which made me uncomfortable as hell. What exactly was their relationship?
Even though he wasn’t my real father, and it had been years since my mother died, seeing him with Alaric’s mom gave me the ick. Ugh, if they were an item, Alaric was now my stepbrother, which was all kinds of creepy.
“Stop spiraling,”Kenji scoffed. His three cousins nodded in agreement after the four of them pinged into view. The darkest one shoved a sausage into his mouth and chewed loudly.
I grimaced. While nobody would accuse Kenji of having impeccable table manners, his cousins were like feral trash pandas. The sort of familiar a horrible witch like Demented, aka Demelza, (RIP) would have deserved.
“I’m not spiraling,”I said.“I’m merely expressing some discomfort at the idea Alaric is now my stepbrother.”
“Really? Then explain why your Magizon reading library has books featuring the stepbrother trope?”I did not appreciate Zane’s input.
“Get out of my head.” I glared at him before making an excuse about needing the bathroom.
As I passed through the kitchen, taking in the bundles of drying herbs and the stacks of clean potion bottles ready for market day, I realized the farm no longer felt like home.
A figure I recognized stepped out from a side room, making me jump.
“Raven. You’re back.”
“Willow!” I opened my arms to hug her, but she moved out of the way, leaving me awkwardly grasping at thin air. This was the first time we’d seen each other since solstice, so her coolness hurt more than I expected. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she snapped. “Just surprised you remember who we are now that you’re the big cheese.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Willow rolled her eyes and shoved past me. “Nothing.”
I stood rooted to the floor, confused. Willow had been like an older sister to me growing up. We’d been close, despite the age gap. Sure, I’d not been in touch, but it was hardly my fault!
“Didn’t Adam tell you first-year students were not allowed to contact home?” I pointed out after following her into the kitchen. My mates were still talking on the porch, but Willow was my focus.
“Yeah.” She reached up for a clean glass and filled it with water.
“So why are you mad at me? I would have emailed or messaged, but when I left, none of us had phones.”
“We still don’t,” she muttered before spinning back out.
“How come?” I asked, determined to get to the bottom of this schism between us.
“Adam doesn’t think we can be trusted not to say stuff online that might bring attention to you.” She rolled her eyes again and headed into the living room. Tally and Nova sat watching a wildlife documentary on the small television Adam had bought many years ago.
They looked up and nodded before focusing on the screen, where a pack of lionesses stalked an antelope.
These witches had once been my family. Now they all acted as if I were a stranger. Unwilling to let this lie, I took a seat next to Tally and smiled brightly.
“It’s great to see you guys! Have you created any new potions since I left? Are the chickens still laying okay?”
Tally grunted something that may have been a yes.
“Wow, amazing,” I chirped. Willow threw me an incredulous look and then stomped back out.
I dashed after her, following her upstairs. She tried to shut her bedroom door in my face, but my patience had officially expired.
