“Sophie,” I whispered, “you’re practicing magic again.” It wasn’t a question, just the first thing that popped into my mind. As soon as the words were out, I knew they were spot on.
Using magic was dangerous. It left a signature, and if enough witches left enough signatures, it could create a hotspot—one of the primary ways Hunters tracked us. How they’dbeentracking us… for millennia. The last time they decided to rally a few decades back, they wiped out thousands of witches and drove the remaining covens underground.
These days, most witches were firmly in the broom closet, if they even admitted their magical heritage at all. Sure, other witches and supernaturals could ID them, but humans? Hunters? No way. Not without the magic.
“I guess I have a confession,” Sophie said.
“About the magic, or the fact that you’ve been keeping it secret?”
She met my gaze across the table, unwavering. “Both.”
I felt it then; something shift between us. A crack in the once solid foundation of our friendship, just wide enough for a secret to slip inside.
Seven years ago, in this city of the lost and the damned, Sophie and I had found each other, young and scared, both looking for a safe place to anchor, a safe place to stash our secrets. It was our identity as witches—as outcasts—that brought us together, made us instant friends and perfect roommates. And now, the thing that had so powerfully bound us was the very thing I wanted to shove into a box and lock away.
I’d always thought that's what she wanted, too.
“Hear me out,” she said.
I sipped my tea, reigning in my anger. “I’m listening.”
“No, you’re judging. That’s not—”
“I’mlistening, Sophie.” Trying to, anyway, which was all I could promise.
She nodded, eyeing me over the rim of her mug. Then, in a soft voice laced with guilt, “I’ve been meeting with Bay Coven.”
“With… I don’t…”Damn it.I knew she was friends with some of the Bay Coven witches—a few of them hung out at Illuminae, and I’d even gone with Sophie once to a dinner at the leader’s house—but I had no idea she was actuallyinvolvedwith the local underground.
Practicing magic.
And keeping it from me.
“Why?” I struggled to keep the sting of betrayal from my voice.
“They need me. The witches are strong, but Norah keeps everyone on a leash. If there were more of us, we could—”
“Us?” My head was spinning. I didn’t even know Sophiewantedto do magic again, let alone with other people. “Where is this coming from?”
Sophie shrugged, her rainbow braids lighting up as they brushed her shoulders. “I want to know who I am, Gray. What I can do.”
“What you can do is get yourself killed.”
“We’re witches,” she said plainly. “Hiding our magic doesn't change that.”
“No, it just makes it a hell of a lot harder for the Hunters to find us.”
“You’re doing that thing,” she said, pointing at my chest. “Putting on your tough bitch act, hoping you can fake it till you make it.”
“Whatever it takes.”
“Stop shutting me out.”
“I'm not the one keeping secrets."
"Bullshit." Sophie grabbed my hand again, thumb skating across the bandage on my palm. “This wasn’t some random fight. There’s something inside you, Gray. I can feel it. What happened?”
Heat flickered in my gut, like embers from a fire not quite finished. I closed my eyes and sucked in a cool breath, willing it to settle. To go away.
