and a life like everyone else and didn’t burst into existence as an Elder.
“I’m sorry,” she says at last. “I’ve had my fill of adolescent Witch Hunters. Ryan, would you mind bringing down their food? They’re bound to start yelling about it any minute, and I don’t particularly want to listen to them carry on.”
“Did they give you anything?” Archer stands and motions for Cal to help him. They grab some premade sandwiches from the fridge and more of the water.
“They’re basically children. They don’t know nearly as much as I’d like.” She watches her agents leave, then sits in Archer’s vacant chair. “The young woman, Paige, reminds me of my brother’s wife. Well, ex-wife. She’s exhausting.”
“You have a brother?” I ask, before I think better of it. She may be an Elder, but she must have had a childhood like everyone else.
“I did,” she says wistfully. “He was actually the one who encouraged me to join the Council. Even among witches, the seventies weren’t an easy time for a woman to be in a position of power, especially a woman in her early twenties. I was one of the first female agents on the Council, but my brother never had any doubt about my ability to succeed. He always believed I’d become an Elder one day.”
“He sounds great.” I fuss with the printout of David O’Connell’s bio. “What happened to him?”
“Eli fell in love.”
I wait for Keating to elaborate, but she doesn’t. “I don’t understand.”
“Against my advice, my brother married a Reg woman. Like I’d warned him, she eventually came to believe he was hiding something from her and decided Eli was being unfaithful.” Keating grimaces. “She wasn’t wrong to suspect. He was hiding his magic from her, which is why we discourage witches from dating outside the Clans, but he was stubborn and thought their love was big enough to take the risk.”
“Did he tell her the truth?” I think of Gemma, who loves me like a sister and holds the secret of my magic. Of Archer, who I caught blushing as he texted Lauren before my trip to Brooklyn.
Keating nods. “He did. His wife tried to have him committed until he showed her what his potions could do. She accused him of using magic to control her and ran off. The Council had to get involved. I had to get involved.”
The Elder sighs, and the age she normally hides so well shows through in her exhaustion at the distant memory, heightened by a girl who reminds her of this past. “Eli didn’t want me to erase her memories, and he fought back. I was only a junior agent then, and ultimately the Elders decided his fate.”
“What did they do?” I’m afraid to know the answer, but I feel compelled to ask.
“They did what they had to. The Elders wiped the woman’s memories and stripped Eli of his magic. My brother was stubborn to a fault, and he fought their power. He fought until it killed him.” Keating shakes her head. “We had just beaten the last of the Hunters. It was supposed to be a safer time.”
“I’m sorry.” The words feel wholly inadequate. So many witches have lost so much. Elder Keating lost her brother. I lost Dad. Even Tori, the blue-haired Caster Witch who wanted to bind Alice’s powers, lost her parents to the feud with Alice’s family. When will it be enough? When will it end?
“It was a long time ago.” The Elder offers a smile. Her phone rings, and she checks the caller ID. “Excuse me.”
The Elder steps out of the kitchen, and Alice drapes one arm over the back of her chair. “I don’t get what she sees in you.”
“Do we have to do this right now?” I rub my temples, already irritated with her.
Alice continues like I haven’t spoken. “Maybe it’s your self-righteous attitude. It’s irritating as hell, but I guess Elders like that sort of thing.” She pauses, and though I’m expecting her to gear up for bigger insults, instead, all the earlier venom leaks out of her. “But I get what it’s like, losing people. You two don’t have the monopoly on that, you know.”
I sit silent in my chair, watching as the Alice I know fades away, revealing the real girl underneath all the bravado.
“When I was a little younger than you,” she starts, fussing with the plain ring on her middle finger, “I lost both my parents.” She blinks fast and stares at the ceiling like she’s trying