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A self-satisfied smirk stretches across her lips as she lowers again, clasping her hands and resting them on the desk.
“The attack,” I prompt, not falling for any of her intimidation tactics.
“So impatient,” Glenda says, clucking her tongue. “Very well. We’re working with the hunters to track the movements of the rift and locate those responsible for the attack.”
“What about the crystals?” I press, already knowing I’ll have to needle every piece of information out of her that I can.
“We have no way to know who placed them on the monsters. For all we know it could’ve been a more powerful monster who wanted his brethren to do his bidding,” she says, pursing her lips.
“You can’t track the power?” I ask skeptically, lifting a brow in challenge.
“No, Aria. We can’t because it obviously wasn’t a witch or warlock who put them there,” she hisses. “What we really need to discuss is the fact that you showed the entire school and a group of hunters how much magic you really have.”
“So what?” I snap, slapping a hand down on the weathered wood. “If I hadn’t done what I did then hundreds of people would’ve died.”
“So what?” she seethes, baring her teeth at me. “That wasn’t your choice to make. Now I have the rest of the elders breathing down my neck and demanding to have a meeting with you.”
I rock back in my seat at the cavalier way she’s dismissing the idea of hundreds of supernaturals dying. I always knew she was a cold woman, but I thought she had the coven’s, and supernaturals’ best interests at heart—but letting hundreds of people die just to protect my secret...
“Yes it was my choice,” I say evenly, not letting her see the disgust churning in my stomach. “The goddess blessed me with this power for a reason and that’s to use, not to selfishly hide it away.”
“You’re so young and so naïve,” she scoffs, shaking her head in disbelief, but I don’t miss the way her hands flex on the desk.
“What is the council doing about the students that were taken?” I demand, deciding to come out with the real reason I came here.
“That’s none of your business.” Her expression is closed off as she leans back in her chair. That sudden shift immediately sets off alarm bells for me. Are they actually planning to do nothing?
“Carter’s best friend Greyson was one of the students who were taken,” I insist, keeping my face as blank as possible. “He saved Carter multiple times during the attack, surely—”
“So why isn’t he in here pleading for my help, instead of waiting in the car like a coward?” Glenda demands, cutting me off.
“Not that you care, but Carter is still recovering from a head injury, and the last thing he needs right now is us arguing and sending him back to the healer,” I grind out, swallowing the accusation I want to fling at her. She was so angry with me that she hadn’t even called to see if either of us were okay.
“So weak,” she hisses, continuing before I can snap at her. “I wouldn’t send anyone to get those students even if it was your brother among them.”
I suck in a sharp breath, recoiling from the woman who raised me like she’s struck me, her words a physical blow. Pain radiates through my chest as I stand, needing to get out of here before I do something I’ll regret. It takes every ounce of willpower I have not to slap her right now, but a voice in the back of my head stops me. She might be a cruel, vindictive woman, but I may still need her. But family? No, she stopped being my grandmother the moment she said she’d let Carter die.
“There’s more to life than power, Glenda,” I breathe, my jaw tensing as I glare down at her. “I just hope you remember that before you lose the only people you have left.”
With that I turn on my heel and stride for the door. This conversation is done. There’s no way she’ll help me. But instead of snuffing out the flame of hope, it only strengthens my resolve. I’ll get Greyson back, and when I do I won’t waste another second. Damn what this woman thinks.
“You won’t leave me,” she scoffs, causing me to pause at the still-open doorway I hadn’t bothered to close. “You’re more like me than you’ll ever know, Aria. We both want power. You just haven’t truly tasted it yet, but soon you will.”
Her laughter follows me down the hall as I stride back to the stairs, sending a chill up my spine as icy fear clings to my skin. I’ve been trying so hard not to be anything like my mother all these years, that I hadn’t considered being like my grandmother might be even worse.
I descend the stairs in a haze, hating myself for letting her parting words get under my skin. The sight I’m met with as I reach the bottom step makes me pause. Sunlight streams through the window casting its warm glow on the painting in the front entryway. The one that Carter nearly knocked over before we left for the academy.
I’ve always been drawn to the image of Isabella Hart, to the power she exudes and the change she helped bring about, but there’s so much more to the scene. There aren’t just witches and warlocks fighting for our lives, our future, but there are shifters, fae, vampires, and pixies. It took all of us to claim Endcliffe, to save us from the humans and defend against the monsters.
Glenda isn’t my only option, and I know exactly where I need to go. Instead of heading towards the door, I walk back upstairs to my room. I’ll need a change of clothes for where I’m about to go.
People are more important than power, and they always will be. There’s still love in my heart, and I refuse to let that go. I’m not my mother, and I’m not my grandmother. I’m Aria Hart, future Coven Leader of the Hart witches, and I’m going to act like it.
I pull up to the curb, the bass already thumping through the car as I turn off the ignition.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Carter asks warily, glancing from the glowing neon sign reading Opal Moon, and back to me.
“Yes, now stay in the car,” I warn, giving him a stern expression.
