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Imogen shook her head. She came into the room, but she didn’t sit even after I’d closed the door behind us. She looked down at her hands and then at me.
“I’m going home,” she said.
I blinked at her. “What? You don’t mean—not to your aunt and uncle’s house.”
Imogen dropped her gaze again. Her red curls hung limply on either side of her wan face. An angry red blotch marked the side of her neck where she’d gotten one of the spider bites.
“I don’t know everything that’s going on,” she said. “But there’s obviously a lot going on, and you can’t tell me, but someone is very, very angry with you, and… It seems like I’m in more danger here than I was back home. I can say no to my aunt and uncle. I can turn down suitors. I can’t defend myself from massive spider attacks.” She rubbed her elbow, where one of the other bites was.
“I’ve just laid down fresh protections,” I said. “They’ve only managed to breach the spells I put in place here that once.”
“But whoever’s against you, they’ve hurt other people. I know from hearing you talk with your consorts. They’re going to keep trying.” She bit her lip. “And, I don’t mean this as an insult, but I don’t really know you. I don’t know what you’re messed up in. You’ve been really kind to me, and I’m grateful for that, but it just doesn’t seem smart to completely throw myself in here when I don’t even know…”
She trailed off as if hoping I’d take that cue to fill her in. I even opened my mouth, willing the words to come out. But the full truth of it, the nitty gritty details that would make her believe, were locked in my throat.
“They want to use you,” I said. “They want to...” Spark help me, the specifics wouldn’t dislodge from my throat. “I wish I could show you everything I know.”
“But you can’t. I get it.” She let out a huff of breath and raised her chin. “I’ve got to look out for me just like you’re looking out for you. As long as I don’t take a consort I can’t trust, I’ve got no magic for anyone to exploit anyway, right? I can hold my own back home.”
A faint tremble ran through her voice. She didn’t sound completely sure. How could she be, when her family’s pressure had gotten so bad that she’d come running out here in the first place?
I groped for something more I could tell her, something that would convince her, keep her here safe. Once she was back with her aunt and uncle, who knew how they might persuade her to go along with their plans? How they might threaten her?
“We’re getting closer to shutting them down,” I said. “If you just wait a little longer…”
“They’re going to fight you harder if you’re getting closer, won’t they?” She bit her lip. “I already made up my mind, Rose. Thank you so much for letting me stay here as long as I have. But I can’t—I can’t look anywhere without seeing those spiders, how they were crawling everywhere. I can’t relax in this place anymore. It doesn’t feel safe. So I have to go. I promise I won’t tell anyone anything I overheard here, not that I think I know much that could hurt you anyway.”
I hadn’t even thought of that, I’d been so focused on how those people might hurt her. My lungs constricted. I didn’t know how much of our planning she might have overheard. She couldn’t know what details the Frankfords or their allies could use.
My fingers closed into my palm. I could have forced her to stay, said that was for the safety of everyone else here. Locked her in a room. Set a magical barricade tuned to her at the gate.
Like my stepmother had done to me once when she’d wanted to ensure I did whatshewanted.
I forced my hand to relax, willing the tension clamped around my chest to loosen. I was not going to be that kind of witch. I was not going to trap Imogen like her family meant to.
“All right,” I said. “I’ll say one more time that I think you’re still safer here, but I’m not going to stop you. Just… If you go back, please be careful. And you’ll always be welcome here if you change your mind.”
Imogen swallowed audibly. She gave me a quick squeeze of a hug. “Thank you,” she said again. Then she was hustling out of the room. I watched her go, an even tighter hopeless feeling winding through me.
Every time I thought I’d gained a little ground, I lost more.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Seth
“This stretch of land hasn’t been used in almost twenty years,” I said, nodding to the overgrown field on the outskirts of town as Rose and I drove past. “I looked up who the owner is, and they’re open to selling. They just haven’t had the motivation to really look into it.”
Rose gazed out the window of the pick-up truck, her brow knitting, but she didn’t say anything. She hadn’t said much since I’d told her there were a few things around town I wanted to show her. I knew she was waiting for me to finish this little tour so she’d have all the pieces, but I could also see the stress weighing on her movements. It was more than the after effects of the bites she’d gotten.
My brother had told me one of the witches she’d taken in had gone back home yesterday. And Rose had already been beating herself up about the Frankfords piercing her home defenses.
Seeing her deflated like this made me ache from head to toe. I didn’t think she was beaten, not for a second, but this constant conflict was wearing her down. I had to hope that the plan I was going to lay out for her would boost her spirits.
I turned the wheel, bringing us back around to the side of town where we’d started. I pointed to a for-sale sign standing near the road at the start of a long gravel driveaway. The house at the end of that drive wasn’t much more than a shack. “And this one,” I said. “It’s going cheap. You want to take a look? The house is vacant at the moment.”
“Okay,” Rose said, sounding confused.
I parked partway up the drive, and we stepped out onto the gravel. It rattled under our footsteps as we walked a little closer to the house. The blue sky overhead was dotted with puffs of cloud, and a hot summer breeze wafted over us, not offering a whole lot of relief.
