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“What work? What are you planning to do with them?”
She smiles and it’s so fake it looks plastic. “I thought I explained that when I first arrived.”
“You can’t do that without their consent,” I tell her. “The spell you cast on them, you must lift it—”
“Must? Imust?” Her smile is gone. She takes a step toward me, her hands clenching into fists, and a force slams into me, throwing me a few steps back. “Really?”
Sindri grabs me before I fall, steadying me. “Aurora—”
“My name isOpheliaand I didn’t enchant anyone. Iammagic, sweet cheeks. And I am attractive, and these boys are drawn to me like moths to the flame. Aren’t you, boys?”
I glance behind her and see Jason and Emrys approaching, scowls on their handsome faces. Relief flows through me. “Jax. Rys.”
“You shouldn’t have come, Mia,” Emrys says as they reach Ophelia and place themselves on either side of her, like bodyguards.
“What, to the party? But I waited—”
“To the school,” Jason says. “You shouldn’t have come here at all.”
A searing pain goes through my chest. “You don’t mean that.”
“Mia helped you,” Sindri spits at him. “Over and over, and that’s how you show your gratitude?”
“She lied,” Emrys says, absently touching the old scar on his cheek. “Over and over. And she’s not the one we need.”
Pain shoots through me. “Oh, Rys,” I whisper, my eyes burning. “Why are you so angry?”
“Ophelia is twisting your thoughts,” Sindri grinds out. “Fight it, you fools.”
“Shut up, fae,” Jason snarls. “You know nothing.”
“I know you loved Ophelia or thought you did,” Sindri says. “She’s not who you thought she was.”
Jason sneers. “Neither is Mia, or whatever her name is.”
This time the stab of pain in my heart is worse. How can it be worse than my cousin’s cruel words?But Jason is mine, I think, a strange thought,one of my boys, my wolf, and he sounds like he hates me.
It’s killing me.
“Go back to the church, Maddie,” Ophelia says, “and say hi to your adoptive parents for me. Slut.”
I flinch.
“So, that was true, about the church?” Emrys narrows his eyes at me. “A truth among the lies.”
“She’s a human.” Ophelia waves a dismissive hand at me as she turns away. “She doesn’t have a single drop of Apollinari in her, a single drop of magic. She deceived you. Made you believe she was helping you.”
“Why would she?” Sindri says.
“Because you’re gorgeous, of course, and she craves your attention,” Ophelia tosses over her shoulder. “She wants to feel pretty. As for you, Sindri Arash, you are with her because you think she has magic. Meanwhile, she thinks it’s because you’re attracted to her. I’m saving you all the trouble here, see?”
I press a hand to my chest, as if it could lessen the pain. “Stop this,” I beg her. “I’m your friend. I love you. Why are you being so nasty?”
“Pfft. Kindness if overrated, sweets,” she says. “Truth is more important. And so is knowing your place in the world. You don’t belong here.”
Emrys’ eyes are hard and I bet he thinks the same. The fact that I lied seems important to him. The fact that I helped him and the others less so, for some reason. He was the one trailing after me from the start and now he appears to agree with my cousin that my place isn’t here. That I should leave.
But I’m not going anywhere until I’ve figured out what happened with Ophelia, who is after the boys, and that they’re okay.
