But I’m not the only one who was changed when I stepped out of the labs.
Now I know why Aster looks like he’d rather jump off a cliff than suffer another moment with her. And why Kit’s been royally messed up ever since he tangled with her. She’s an expert at delving into your mind and fiddling around, using her stolenmagic to make you think and do things you wouldn’t normally, all while your body is screaming at you that it’s wrong.
I surge to my feet and hurry to the sink, washing and rewashing my hands until they’re dry and cracked. I’d frankly like to peel my skin off and start over, like a snake. Maybe then I could slither back to my crew—my real family—and they might accept me in my new, skinless form.
“Darling,” she calls up the stairs. “We’re going to be late.”
Right. Dinner with my family. A chance to find out how far they’ve got in what they promised me; a clean slate for the entire crew. Their records mysteriously expunged.
Then all we need is to deal with the king, and they’ll be home free.
I had thought the sorceress might be my solution to that issue. I’d thought I could charm her into assisting, that I could offer her my family’s connections and she could set my true family free.
But I should have remembered how slippery sorcerers are. All of them have kept me on the same hook for weeks now, and I’m just about ready to wriggle off.
“Sweetie?”
Or at least, I think I am. And then I wind up a mile from the house, clutching a handbag in one hand and a jar of stolen magic in the other, with no idea how I got there.
It’s a terrible feeling to have these great scars in my memory, where I can’t recall where I’ve been or what I’ve done. Part of me doesn’t want to know the truth.
I force my feet to carry me downstairs where she’s waiting with a smile fixed on her face. Her hair is tied so tightly it makes her look vaguely skull-like and unsettling. But I paste on a charming smile and hold out my arm for her to take.
Our special dinner is at an exclusive restaurant in the centre of the city. My parents have lowered themselves to make thetrip, due to the special occasion, and I’m hoping this will finally, finally be when they make good on their promises.
The restaurant is busy with a low hum of voices all around as we’re led by a stiff-backed waiter to a table right in the centre of the room. Crystal chandeliers glint above us, their light boring into me, and I stumble over my feet, earning myself a sharp nip on the arm with Araminta’s fingernails.
My parents and brother are already seated around the table, clutching drinks that are already half empty. The air seems to thin, and I fight to take a full breath as I sit down.
“Mother, father, Miles. So good of you all to make it.”
My father gives a curt nod before turning back to his conversation with my brother, who smirks over his glass at me.
Clearly, I’m not being accepted into the family fold anytime soon.
But I don’t need that. All I need is for them to have pulled some strings. To have had a word in the right ears and get the records expunged. And it’s not as though the king himself will know any of the crew’s names or details.
My heart pounds as Araminta bares her teeth in a smile, squeezing my thigh. “Shall we share the good news, sweetie?”
I nod and then wait an awkwardly long couple of seconds for my family to turn their attention to the two of us. “Myself and Araminta are engaged to be married,” I say.
I feel like a rat in a trap as the words come out. As though once they’re out in the world, they cannot be unsaid.
“Oh, darling.” My mother reaches across the table to pat my hand with cold fingers. “How wonderful.” She turns to my father and brother. “Isn’t that wonderful news, strengthening our family with a new member.”
Her surprise is entirely false. They’ve all known for weeks that this was the plan all along and that it’s part of the deal.
My mother is thrilled, obviously. Although Araminta might not be quite the pedigree of sorceress my family were hoping for, the level of power she’s now pumping out is enough to persuade her.
Beside me, my new fiancée rakes her fingernails over my knee, and I fight against a shudder of revulsion. Thankfully, I don’t need to say another word, not when Araminta and my mother commence a slightly stilted conversation over wedding plans. My brother and father are still locked in their own conversation that I’m not important enough to be involved in.
What a shame.
It’s too hot in this room. Airless too. My collar feels like it’s constricting my neck, and I reach out for a glass of water, but snatch my hand back when I see how badly I’m shaking.
Now’s not the time to show my hand or lose my cool.
Plus, I deserve to feel this overwhelming sense of discomfort. I knew what she was doing to Kit, confusing him, messing with his head. I knew what my brother was doing too, that he was manipulating Kit until he barely knew which way was up. While I tried to distract her, nothing I could do worked while she’s oddly obsessed with him. She was the one to insist on dragging Kit from the island into the city when my brother had alerted the authorities to the crew’s location.
