“What type of questions?” I ask, frowning.
“Probably about your past. Your foster family. Your magical abilities—or lack thereof. Just tell the truth, and you’ll be fine.”
I fold my arms over my chest as unease skitters across my skin and discordant notes scream like alarm bells in my head. “And what happens if I say an answer they don’t like?”
Amanda meets my gaze with what appears to be great reluctance. Her lips purse, forming a perfect O, and her eyes turn haunted, plagued by demons I can’t see.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, Isabella.” She shakes her head slowly. “You don’t want to make enemies out of the Trinity.”
Two
IZZY
“The Maiden is Soraya.” Amanda awkwardly perches against the desk, her fingers drumming against the varnished mahogany.
“Soraya,” I repeat, envisioning the red-haired beauty I met in the woods.
Amanda nods once. “She’ll be the easiest of the three to win over. She goes to the local college and is a member of the sorority there. She, more than any of the others, likes to keep one foot in the real world. Try to relate to her. Get her to see your point of view.” She waits for me to nod, signaling I understand, before she continues. “Ara is the Crone.”
“She hates me,” I point out.
There was something deeply unsettling about the older woman with keen eyes and frizzy gray hair. It felt like… Well, would it be ridiculous if I said it felt as if she was looking into my soul? That she was picking me apart piece by piece, only to find me severely lacking?
Amanda snorts, and the tiniest hint of a smile tugs at the corners of her lips. “Ara hates everyone.” She shifts slightly and folds her arms over her chest. “But despite her crass demeanor, she’s just and fair. She’ll hear you out.”
“Wait. Wait. Wait. Back up.” I wave my hands in the air, garnering her attention. “Why are you making it sound like I’m on trial?”
Amanda blinks in surprise. “Because you…kind of are.”
At that, my eyebrows shoot to my hairline. “What?”
“You have magical blood, Izzy. And you know about this world. The Trinity doesn’t understand why you didn’t seek them out sooner.” Amanda’s features twist with sympathy.
“That doesn’t make any sense!” It takes considerable effort to keep from throwing something. Anger pulsates beneath my skin like an electrical current. “I don’t have any magical powers. At all. Everybody knows that. And I only just discovered my mother was a witch once upon a time?—”
“It doesn’t have to make sense,” Amanda interrupts calmly, her cherry-red lips curling into a frown. “But you have to understand one thing—the Trinity is the law around here. What they say goes. And apparently, they’re not happy with you.”
“They’re looking for an excuse to punish me,” I snap.
The words are curt and angry, but then I realize that…they actually make sense. I have a feeling I would be in this exact same situation, regardless of what happened in the past. For some inexplicable reason, the Trinity wants me to pay.
But why?
Because of my mother?
My fathers?
Amanda’s lips part, but she doesn’t utter a single sound. She simply stares at me for a long moment, seemingly attempting to gather her thoughts, before she pushes out a heavy breath.
“That may be the case, but it doesn’t change anything.” Her arms lower, and her fingers resume their drumming against the desktop.
“You talked about Soraya and Ara,” I say, changing the subject, my mind whirling. “What about Delaney? She’s the…Mother, correct?”
It feels weird to apply that term to her, considering how closely she resembles me in appearance.
And the fact that she’s, technically, a blood relative of mine.
My aunt.
