Page 49 of Reckless Witch

“The three of us dealt with The Shadows in Miriam’s house,” Raith says.

Liar! my mind screams. Grams stood for everything the opposite of darkness. My mind races. I have a thousand questions.

How can you tell such terrible lies?

Why would you tell such terrible lies?

Angels teaming up with the Illumina? Are you crazy?

Shadow husks in her—my—home?

You don’t know my grandmother.

Fucking Shadows. If they didn’t exist, Margidda wouldn’t have been nearly annihilated, magic wouldn’t be regulated, and we wouldn’t be in this fucking situation.

We drive in silence for a long moment, then I say to Raith, “You defeated The Shadows in the final battle.”

He doesn’t reply. I look at Ethan in the rearview mirror. “You were there, too. The two of you together.” Before he can answer, a thought strikes, and I add, “You too, Blade. Miss Mack called you Commander, but I didn’t know you were there. Why?”

“Because my part was more…covert,” he replies.

“What did you do?”

Ethan’s gaze snaps onto Blade, and Blade says, “It’s best you don’t know.”

“How did The Shadow war begin?” I ask.

“People began to disappear,” Ethan says. “When they returned, they were…different. But not all who changed left. We don’t know where those that left went to.” He pauses. “None of them are alive to tell us.”

A chill slides down my spine. “Miss Mack says you beat The Shadows with trust and love projected through a lucid dream.”

The same embarrassment that washed over me in class does so now. Love and trust? From birth, we’re taught meditation and earth magic as protection against The Shadows. I hadn’t thought of it before, but I now wonder why we weren’t taught exactly how The Commanders beat The Shadows. Shouldn’t that knowledge be standard teaching, as well?

“How can you defeat pure evil with trust and love? I mean, that part about meditating to center yourself. Sure, we’re taught that from childhood—we’re taught almost everything Miss Mack shared in Reaping Preparedness from the time we’re babies. But killing while inside a dream? That’s science fiction.”

A look passes between Blade and Ethan.

My third chakra tightens in my solar plexus. Raith has a secret. I glance at him. He’s not telling me everything that happened when they defeated the Shadows. But that’s not his only secret—not his big secret—I realize.

I slow for a stop sign, glance both ways, then accelerate through the intersection. “I know there’s more to the story than the drivel Miss Mack taught us in class.”

“That drivel may save your life one day,” Raith says.

I cast him a sideways glare as I maneuver another curve. “How did you drive them away?”

“We put a stop to all magic,” Raith says.

“Buffalo chips,” I mutter.

A weird silence descends.

“Buffalo chips?” Blade repeats.

I wince. I’ve probably just lost any ground I might have made in convincing them I’m a no-nonsense badass.

“There’s no fucking way you eradicated all magic,” I say. “That’s simply impossible. Hell, the crime bosses’ use of black magic would have fed The Shadows’ hunger.”

Raith turns his steely gaze onto me. “You know nothing.”