Page 82 of The Rebel Witch

Yeah. Even I wasn’t buying that, but so far she was my only real option to get out of here. I didn’t see how I managed to escape without my powers.

“Why didn’t it let me come up with you?” Casey wasn’t letting this go, and I was starting to get annoyed.

We had other things to worry about. “I don’t know. It’s a house. Why don’t you ask it.”

“I find it interesting that the house always leads you to me. Now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure it nudged me to the trellis I used to get inside last night. So I don’t know why it wouldn’t let me protect you.”

“From books?” I wasn’t about to tell him that several times during that brief exchange I’d felt threatened. “What were they going to do to me?”

“All right. How did you know Kelsey was in trouble? Don’t deny it. There wasn’t any decipherable screaming when you took off. If I couldn’t hear her, you certainly couldn’t.”

“The house told me.” How to salvage this? See, this was where I’d fucked up. I’d acted emotionally and stupidly, and now I had to lie. Well, twist the truth. “It wasn’t like it whispered. I got the sudden feeling that I should go to the garden, and I knew it was Kelsey. Who else would it be? She’s the one who’s always in trouble.”

“She wasn’t the one you saved.”

Yep. I’d acted stupidly because it was obvious Kelsey and Lee could handle the hellhounds, and the only one who would have died was the farting puppy.

And I’d seen it happen in my head and my body reacted. I’d launched myself across the yard, truly willing in that moment to do almost anything to save that dumb dog.

“The princess would have been intolerable if her dog got eaten.” I tried to shake off how relieved I’d been when Puff didn’t have to try to grow back any of his parts. He’d wriggled in my arms and licked every bit of skin he could find. He hadn’t seen me as a threat in that moment.

“Well, she definitely appreciated the save,” Casey said quietly. “I wish you would tell me what really happened.”

At least this man couldn’t read my mind. I would be in trouble if he could. “I did tell you. I’m sorry I lost the book. It’s confusing up there, and then I knew I had to get to Kelsey. I don’t remember what stack it was in.”

After I’d explained how I knew it was Lilith, Gray had asked me to show them where the book was. I’d had to come up with the confused-girl story really fast.

We’d searched for an hour, all of us in the upper library seeking something that never existed. The other thing I couldn’t find again was that door. I’d broken away and tried to locate the book I needed to pull, but I swear it was gone.

Lucky for me, Gray had another way to ID the brand and the hellhounds.

“I know you trust Tix,” Kelsey was saying, “but this is his mom we’re talking about. From what I’ve overheard, he adores her and she him. Why would he take our side?”

“Because he doesn’t have a choice.” Trent was back in pants. Which he didn’t have to do on my account. Despite the fact that I hadn’t been around Fenrir in years, I totally turned away because…he’s still a kid in my head. The way Lee and Evan are. When I look at them, I see their little faces as they asked for candy or if I would play a game with them.

I always had candy, and there was no game this teacher couldn’t play.

I kept it in my purse. Packs of chocolates or gummy bears and worms.

But Trent was fair game. He was totally an adult the first time I saw him, and he was hot. Like smoking hot. The wolf kept things tight, if you know what I mean.

Trent settled himself beside Kelsey on one of the luxurious sofas. Eddie brought a tray of something and placed it on the table in front of Kelsey. The tray was a beautiful, ornate crystal that looked like it cost a fortune.

“Is that spray cheese and crackers?” It looked like a joke. Like someone was pranking the beautiful crystal tray.

“Yeah, and jalapeno poppers,” Casey whispered back. “She’s got some weird cravings, and Eddie’s running his cloven hooves off to keep up with her.”

Diva. Except I knew it wasn’t Kelsey. Kelsey likely mentioned she was slightly hungry, and Eddie freaked out. He was a high-strung little guy, and taking care of his people was his reason to live.

Kelsey put a hand on Eddie’s shoulder, obviously thanking him.

I used to be able to do that. I would casually mention to Eddie or Albert that I was hungry and suddenly there was food in front of me, and not nutritious crap that’s supposed to enhance our powers. It was good food with carbs and everything.

Now I would get the cold shoulder and be told to rummage through the pantries for myself, and all because of some dumb misunderstanding.

“I’ll figure it out,” Casey whispered in my ear. “Come and sit with me. You deserve to be here. You brought us the most important clue to date. Besides, I’m not letting you out of my sight again now that I know the house has a problem with me.”

“I can stand.”

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