Page 21 of Magic in the Woods
CHAPTER TEN
Dafni
Luke’s plan was risky.That was what Annabel called it when he’d finished explaining.
“The human-born witches are arriving to the Academy tomorrow,” Luke said.
“Tomorrow? Already?” She stumbled over her words. “I thought we’d have at least a full day or two to prepare…” She looked at me. “To say goodbye.”
Luke ran his hand over his face. “The only information I get from the Academy is what I can overhear. Luckily, I heard about the human-born arrival as I was leaving today.” He looked at the clock on the kitchen counter. “Well, yesterday.”
“So, we have less than a day.” Annabel took a sip of her potion. “The truck’s arrival is happening today. Those girls are in the truck right now, probably scared out of their minds.Those lying witches at the Coven promised their parents that they’d receive intensive college prep courses…” She looked down at her lap, the bottom lids of her eyes keeping the tears that welled up there from falling. “And the only thing they’ll get at the Academy is forgotten.”
Luke reached out, putting his hand over the top of hers. “There’s nothing you can do right now, Mom. I know you’re staying quiet to protect Emily and me.”
It took a moment before Annabel gave a slight shake with her head. “Still…I should be doing something. Every year they trick more witches into coming, and what they go through down there…” Her hand tensed beneath Luke’s.
“You can’t do anything, Mom,” he said. “I know you want to, but Emily is still so young. We can’t give them any reason to lash out, to make our lives more difficult.”
“I know.” Annabel shook her head, looking down at where their hands still touched.
A wave of jealously, or maybe just longing, rushed through me. What would it have been like to have a mother like Annabel, a brother like Luke—someone to protect me?
“We’re going to have to make this work somehow.” Luke tapped his fingers on the tabletop. “If I’d overheard about the freshening earlier, we could’ve forged a registration…I could’ve slipped her information in with the rest of the human-born witch’s paperwork.”
“But that’s no longer an option,” Annabel said.
“If”—Luke talked louder, the words tumbling out of his mouth faster—“we can intercept the transport, Dafni can sneak in the back of the truck with them.” He paused, looking over at me. “They’ll have a set number of witches in the truck. The Academy hires outside contractors for transportation, and the Academy will be counting the girls as they arrive to make sure everyone’s accounted for.”
I nodded.
“You’re going to have to push one of the witches out of the truck,” Luke said.
My head snapped back. “I’m not going to push someone…”
“If you don’t, there’s going to be one too many witches when you get dropped at the Academy. There’ll be questions.”
Luke was right; there had to be one less witch in the truck so I could join. I looked down at my lap, at my small hands. I’d gained strength and muscle since I’d arrived, but I didn’t know if I’d be able to push another witch my size.
“The girls will probably be so scared.” Annabel looked down at her cup. “I know it’s not in your nature to hurt, but you shouldn’t have to push hard. She’ll likely land on her feet.”
“What will happen once they’re out of the truck?” I asked, remembering my time spent alone in the woods, how it’d almost killed me—how it would’ve killed me if Luke hadn’t found me.
“I’ll be there,” Luke said. “I’ll grab her as soon as the truck pulls away and bring her into town. There, she can make some phone calls and hopefully be reunited with her family.”
“Before the Coven’s disremember potion takes full effect…” Annabel mumbled.
I tilted my head, looking at Annabel.
She sighed. “When the scouts pick up the witches, they administer a disremember potion to their families. It’s slow acting—they don’t forget their daughters all at once. The first couple of days they might forget where their daughter is for a moment before remembering, laughing the forgetfulness off. A week later, they’ll be pausing as they walk by their daughter’s room, trying to remember whose stuff is inside. Two weeks later, they’ll be packing up their daughter’s things, driving them to a donation center…and then they’re just…forgotten.”
That was terrible. No wonder Annabel had started tearing up as she talked about the girls in the back of the truck. Shewas probably imagining Emily being taken from her, then someone coming and taking all her memories of Emily away too.
Annabel waved her hand in front of her face, composing herself. “If we’re quick enough, we can get the girl back to her family before any of that happens. The potion’s effects are negated if the person who was supposed to be forgotten is around.” She cleared her throat. “It’s worth the risk to get you in, hopefully unnoticed.”
They were right. This was the kindest way to lessen the number of the witches in the truck so I could join.
“Right. She’d be one of the new witches. They’re just as inexperienced as she is.”
