Anastasia settles in at the bench, then turns toward me. “What did he say?”
When I hesitate to respond, she nods slowly in recognition.
“Oh, he told you aboutthat, didn’t he?”
I purse my lips first before I say anything. “Definethat.”
“He told you that you’re a witch, didn’t he?”
I grimace because the word feels too heavy. “Yeah. That’s what he claims.”
“He’s not lying, you know? About you being a witch…” she laments calmly. “You must have done something that felt too strange to be explained logically, and that’s why he told you. Am I right?”
“I still don’t think I did anything. He’s a magical werewolf. It had nothing to do with me.”
Anastasia suddenly reaches out and takes my hand in hers, the swift movement sending a pulse of awareness coursing through my veins, startling me with a gasp.
“It hadeverythingto do with you, Annika. Heinrich and this pack have been losing strength ever since the demons began attacking three years ago. The majestic powers he once wielded have been depleting, and so is his ability to heal. But you did it—you healed him. He told me what happened when you touched him. And it’s only because you’re a witch. A healer, too.”
“Healer…?” I frown. “Aren’t you a healer…?”
Anastasia nods. “I am a healer, yes. And so are you. But your powers are a little different than mine. You have the ability to wield fire, if you would like.”
“Fire?”
Anastasia nods again. “You are the descendant of the wolf pack that was wiped out by the demons decades ago. The alpha of that pack was mated to a witch, and they had a child together. That child was saved and grew up away from the world of the werewolves, and it is suspected that the witch coven he was linked to did something to stop his shifter abilities. Perhaps even his magic. It is being reawakened in members of his bloodline, in the wake of the demons’ reappearance in our world, and the subsequent attacks on the wolves in the valley.”
Every word Anastasia speaks sounds like truth—I feel it in my bones, even if logic is trying to tell me otherwise.
She stares at me as if gauging my reaction, gently drawing her hand away to reach into her purse. She takes outa pocketknife, unclips the blade, then holds the sharp tip to her palm.
“What are you doing, Anastasia?” I ask in horror, but she smiles at me, almost appearing crazed and masochistic, considering she’s about to cut herself.
“I am showing you what it means to have healing abilities. You don’t only wield fire for the sake of destruction, but you are a gifted healer, too.”
She proceeds with cutting a neat slice into her palm, and blood trickles out from the gash, only for the two ends to crawl over the blood and weave together, leaving a faint line where the cut used to be.
My jaw drops because I’m seeing exactly what it means to be a healer, while recalling what happened when I touched Heinrich last night on his arm, where he’d been badly injured.
***
Anastasia had given me a lot to think about, and I can’t get the sight of her healing right before my eyes out of my mind. Standing in the kitchen, gazing absentmindedly through the window at the valley ahead, all I could think about was seeing blood, and then watching it disappear.
I pick up the knife from its sheathing holder, suddenly intrigued by everything I learned today, while in my mind remains the question of what this double life Heinrich has been living means for me. Could it be possible to be both a witch and a human?
I’m more curious about the witch part, and that’s when I press the blade to my palm, wondering just how much of those healing abilities I have. I’m about to apply more pressure, visiontunneled on the spot that will draw blood, when the knife is ripped out of my hand, and flung aside in a violent clatter to the ground.
“What are you doing, Annika?” Heinrich roars at me, and I snap out of whatever daze I’d been in to see him glaring at me with disbelief in his eyes.
“You want me to embrace being a witch, don’t you?” I scoff, turning back to the sink. “That’s what I’m doing.”
As I reach for another knife, Heinrich catches my wrist and stops me. “Not like this, you’re not,” he speaks in warning. “You won’t go around hurting yourself to figure out your powers.”
I snatch my hand out of his grip, narrowing my eyes at him. “It’s what I must do if I can see my sister again, right? So I’m willing to do whatever it takes. That’s my condition for helping your pack with my powers. I will live a double life if I must, but I want to see my sister again.”
Heinrich doesn’t respond to my demand and just stares at me blankly, the golden flecks in his eyes around his pupils swirling like a vortex and spreading over his greener irises. I frown at him, but it’s like he’s seeing beyond my face, and then he breathes again as if he’d been holding his breath, eyes focused again.
“I’m sorry, but I have to go,” he says, grabbing both my shoulders and staring deeply, worriedly, into my eyes. “There’s a demon sighting on our borders, and I have to take care of it. I promise we will continue this discussion. Just promise me you won’t leave the cabin. Whatever happens, whatever you hear, stay inside.”
