and I don’t blame her. I dropped a bomb on her, telling her that witches and demons are real without much explanation. I didn’t have time for a sit-down chat then, but I do now. “About what?”
Danielle opens her mouth only to snap it shut. She swallows hard, looks at Binx, and then back at me. Pinching her eyebrows together, she sets her jaw and takes a breath. “I did some research, and I…I…I don’t think you’re just a witch.”
Chapter 11
“What do you think I am?” I ask slowly. There’s no way she could jump to the conclusion that one of my parents was an angel. No. Freaking. Way.
“I don’t know.” She clasps her hands on her elbows. “But my cousin had a roommate last year who was a witch. I never took her seriously until…until… well, you know.”
“Until you got kidnapped by demons and rescued by me and my cat-army?”
“Yeah. It sounds so weird when you say it like that.”
I nod. “Which is why I say it like that.”
“Well, I asked my cousin to put me in touch with her roommate, and we’ve been talking.”
Great, here we go. I keep my face neutral but internally I’m rolling my eyes Eliza-style. “And?”
“She said witches are peaceful. They don’t fight demons. But you do, and you kicked its ass. That thing…that thing overpowered every single person in that basement, and there were some pretty big guys down there.”
“If I had a dollar for every pretty big guy I saved, I’d have spent them all on several bottles of wine which I can’t even fucking drink right now,” I grumble.
“You can’t drink wine?”
Shit. “I’m on a diet,” I spit, and Danielle’s eyes go to my stomach, which is exposed in this purple crop top. I’ve always been naturally athletic with a fast metabolism, which I know now is from being half angel. But I also dedicated myself to working out. Cardio is important when you’re running towards—and sometimes away from—demons.
“Oh.” Her hands go to her own stomach, and I immediately feel terrible for making anyone feel bad about themselves.
“Okay, not really. I drink too much,” I blurt because, yes, I’d rather Danielle think I have a drinking problem than contribute to the insane amount of pressure the whole fucking world puts on women to look a certain way. “I’m trying to cut back for my mental health.” I tap my forehead and then motion to the table. “You look a little pale. Sit down and I’ll get you something to drink.”
Danielle doesn’t move, and the look in her eyes is one that strikes a chord inside me right away. She’s scared of me. I blink and see the momentary fear in William Martin’s eyes. I don’t quite remember when my powers first started showing, but I remember the first time the man I thought was my father looked at me with fear in his eyes.
It was followed by him slapping me across the face. We were sitting in the dining room, and Scott was throwing some sort of fit over not getting his way and was pushing Abby’s buttons on purpose. Misery loves company, and if Scott was unhappy, he wanted everyone to sulk in unhappiness just like him.
Scott slowly inching closer and closer to Abby, encroaching on her personal space and elbowing her each time he lifted his fork up to take a bite. Abby finally had enough and shoved his plate back into his spot, which resulted in knocking over his glass of water. It spilled in his lap and all over his Gameboy. Scott got mad and jumped up, holding his dripping wet Gameboy in his hands.
The look in his eyes still haunts me to this day. He was so mad at Abby. His little sister. She was only nine at the time. He thought his stupid video game was broken, and he raised it in the air, ready to hit Abby with it. He wanted to make her hurt.
Everything happened in slow motion. His face wrinkled with hate. His hand moved back, knuckles whitening from gripping the device so hard. And then he swung, set on hitting Abby right in the face.
All I did was stop him.
He swung his hand down, and I grabbed telekinetically, stopping him from hitting Abby at the last second. He stood there, frozen and unable to move his arm. And then sudden I was the bad guy. Scott’s screams still echo in my head. I didn’t hurt him, though I should have. I