Page 29 of Alan

“You’ve put us in grave danger, while you had the ability to walk away from us and live in safety.”

“What does that mean?” Alan asked. “We were unaware of your continued existence until Keira found us—even then, she appeared to be an outlier. She had no knowledge of the coven or her place therein. We only recognized her thanks to the mark on the back of her neck.”

Selene and Iris exchanged a look which I already recognized, since Iris was the type who always needed to be reminded to shut up.

Then Selene spoke. “What Iris refers to is the protection which your clan once provided us. The lack thereof left us with no choice but to retreat deeper into the shadows, so to speak. While we never flaunted our existence, we felt safe enough to move among humans without notice. Now…”

“You cannot hold Alan or the rest of the clan responsible for the decisions my husband made.” Toward the end of the table sat a woman I hadn’t noticed before. Older, but still beautiful, with shining, gray-streaked hair I would’ve killed for. It gave her character.

“Bonnie,” Selene smiled. “You know very well the warm relationship I shared with Gavin prior to his betrayal. But it was a betrayal, no matter how one looks at it.”

“Betrayal? None of us betrayed you,” Tamhas insisted.

Selene locked eyes with Alan. “You know. I can see it. I do not believe any of the others know. Not even Bonnie.”

“What does she mean?” Bonnie leaned forward to look down the table at Alan.

“Alan?” The redhead beside me asked.

I suddenly felt sorry for him. He reminded me of an animal in a corner. A very large animal, granted, and one I wouldn’t dare goad into a fight. But still.

His chiseled jaw worked, like he was fighting with himself over what to say next. The place went so silent, I could hear water dripping somewhere in the cave.

“Alan?” Selene prompted. “You do know. There is no sense in lying. Perhaps this has been a secret for far too long. In a situation such as this, what is needed is honesty and understanding.”

“I assume all of you know?” he asked, his head moving from side to side as he looked at the witches.

“Naturally,” Callie murmured.

“She was our High Priestess,” Iris snarled. “We did not lose her without understanding why, and how your so-called leader refused to extend the same painful, yet necessary, justice to her counterpart in your clan.”

Well. Just when I thought I couldn’t be more confused, they threw a curveball like that one at me. I looked from side to side, and the same look of confusion was repeated again and again.

Except for Alan, of course. He knew exactly what Iris was accusing him of.

“Alan?” Tamhas elbowed him. “Tell us. What does she mean?”

Alan sighed. His shoulders fell. “He never told me who fathered the babe. I swear it. That was the one aspect of the story which he refused to share.”

“The babe?” the girl to my right whispered.

Alan nodded. “Yes. The babe Demeter carried.”

“We banished her for it,” Selene whispered. “My own daughter. My child. I had no choice; it was the law, part of the very fabric of our existence. Daughter of the High Priestess, heiress to the coven, and she left us in shame. While carrying a child.”

A soft gasp rose up over my side of the table.

This reaction seemed to please Iris. She must have decided to rub salt in the wound by continuing. “And yet, in spite of knowing this, and in spite of the guilt of one of his clan’s members, Gavin refused to bring forward the man who was responsible for the child.”

“Oh, no. This cannot be true.” Bonnie looked at Alan. “Is this the truth? Alan? Did my husband do this?”

He looked to Selene, his face a blank mask. She might have been able to read his thoughts, but the rest of us couldn’t. “Yes,” he admitted. “He shielded the clan member who fathered the child. He explained the incident and cited it as the reason why the clan and the coven split from each other, but he would not reveal the clan member’s name even to me. Even after so many years.”

“He was a hypocrite who admitted the fault of one of his clan members, yet protected them from receiving proper punishment. It was a blatant slap in the face to all of us, to the relationship both sides had benefitted from for centuries,” Selene whispered. She nearly vibrated with energy—heartbroken, furious, dangerous energy.

The torches along the walls blazed brighter than ever, and her eyes seemed to glow.

“I cannot believe this!” Tamhas muttered, shaking his head. “Gavin would never have lied to us like this, and he had the integrity to do what was right.”

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