tiny freckles on his nose, the softness in his eyes. Then he pulled back, and she was left thinking about the way he’d smelled, like soap and woodsmoke, and how deeply annoying it was that she liked it.
He procured his water bottle and she sipped from it, glaring at him. How dare he be kind and helpful after she’d just threatened to turn him to stone.
“You don’t know how to use them, do you?” he asked. “Your powers.”
Harper fought the urge to fling the rest of the water bottle in his face. “Would you like another demonstration?”
“Hey.” Justin crouched beside her. “I didn’t mean that as an attack. More… an observation. Most founders get training after their rituals. You never did.”
“And your point is?” Harper said crankily.
“My point is that I don’t think you know how to fix the hawthorn tree. That’s why you were so willing to scare May off.”
“So what if I don’t?” Harper scowled.
“So… what if you could learn? My mother would happily give you lessons.”
Harper raised an eyebrow. “I am not taking lessons from your mother.”
“I’ll keep her under control,” Justin said quickly. “I may not have powers, but she’ll listen to me. And if she’s training you, you won’t be considered a threat to my family anymore.”
Harper hesitated. It sounded absolutely bizarre, the idea that she could possibly have anything to learn from the woman who’d destroyed her whole life. But Justin was right that it would make things safe for her. There was a catch here, though; there had to be. With the Hawthornes, there always was. And it didn’t take her long to figure it out.
“You want your tree back,” she said flatly. “That’s why you’re offering your family’s help.”
Justin nodded. “It’s a small price to pay for control,” he said.
But it wasn’t just about control. It was about the Hawthornes controlling her. Harper didn’t trust them, didn’t trust any of this. Unfortunately, she wasn’t sure she had any better options.
And there was that part of her that still kindled when she thought of him. A foolish, terrible part of her that was impossible to completely ignore.
“I’ll think about it,” she said slowly, and got to her feet.
May had stormed straight home from her encounter with Harper Carlisle, determined to make her mother understand why this was a potential threat. Why May deserved to be listened to.
Unfortunately, Justin had managed to worm his way in first. He’d called Augusta and told her whatever poisoned, twisted version of the truth best suited him. Which meant that May had returned to a furious parent who was pacing outside the reading room, collecting her thoughts before she came inside to yell at them.
May wanted to scream. She wanted blood under her nails and dirt on her fingers. She wanted to reach across her family’s scarred wooden table in the reading room and rip the smug smile off her brother’s face.
Instead, she forced the emotion out of her voice until there was only ice left.
“You gave Harper her memories back,” May said to Justin. It was not a question. “She turned our tree to stone, and you’re still crawling back to her.”
Justin flinched. “My personal life is none of your business.”
“It is when it leads to a direct attack on our entire family,” May said, shaking her head.
“What our mother did was wrong,” Justin said hoarsely. “I wanted to fix her mistake. Isn’t that what you wanted to do with Violet?”
He gave her a pointed look, and panic swept over her. She’d hoped that he had missed Harper’s allusions to what she had done during their argument, but clearly he hadn’t.
The door creaked open before May could respond, and Augusta swept in, her gigantic mastiffs trailing behind her. Brutus’s black jowls quivered as he let out a sharp, accusatory bark in her direction, and May felt a stab of hurt. Even the dogs were pissed at her.
She turned to Augusta, horror dawning on her as she saw the disappointment in her mother’s gaze?—directed not at Justin, but at her.
“You told her,” she breathed, rounding on her brother. “You told her?—”
“Enough yelling,” Augusta said calmly, sitting beside both of them. “Yes, May, your brother told me that it seems there’s some kind of rumor going around that you were the reason behind Violet’s memories returning. Is that true?”
Faced with direct confrontation, there was nothing May could do but nod, ashamed.
Augusta’s jaw twitched. “Very well. Yet again, you’ve both deceived me. Justin?—you’re grounded, effective immediately. No cross-country. No parties.