way to Tír na nÓg. Also, your pets turned out to be a werewolf named Kaja and her daughter. Kaja killed the asshole who shot you. I’m Kelsey.”
Charlotte seemed to take it all in. “Did the witches get Summer?”
I shook my head.
She sighed in obvious relief. “Thank the goddess.” She frowned my way. “Ian better stop giving Sweetie belly rubs. I’m pretty sure she’s married.” She yawned. “I hope he brought the good food.”
I perked up. “There’s food?”
I was so stinking hungry. Maybe that was why I was all kinds of emotional. Hormones and lack of sustenance.
Charlotte Taggart sniffled and stretched and generally looked like a chick who didn’t let anything faze her. “Yep. I mean it’s not as good as real food, but there’s usually a lot of it. Where are the hoverbikes? He’ll keep them in storage there.”
I started to lead her to the bikes because if I could fill my belly, I would be ready for the next fight.
* * * *
Summer
I couldn’t quite believe the words coming out of Dean’s mouth.
“She did it, Summer. Erna placed me in thrall.” Dean was sitting on one of the benches that had been placed around the fire. While Marcus had held me close, the others had set up the high-tech campsite. There were several large tents laid out, and when we’d joined the group again, Charlotte Taggart had been awake and preparing meals for anyone who ate actual food.
I hadn’t missed the hollow look in my dad’s eyes when she’d passed him one.
How my dad had turned again was one more mystery in a day full of them.
“Why would she do it?” I didn’t understand why she’d done any of it. She’d been with me for nearly a decade, and while she’d always been irritable and cranky, she’d supported me. When I’d met Dean and wanted to help train him, she’d…
She’d tried to talk me out of it and then given in after I’d refused to stop. Had she thought bringing a male into our group would be too hard? She claimed she no longer followed the teachings of her coven, but she’d grown up surrounded by misandry. “Maybe she was afraid. She wasn’t used to being around men.”
“Or she found a way to control everyone around her,” Charlotte said, sinking down beside Kelsey. Her husband and Adam were working on the bikes while my fathers “patrolled” together.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
Marcus sat to my left, our shoulders brushing. “I believe she’s talking about the fact that she controlled you through that charm around your neck.”
I pulled away a bit, though not as much as I would have liked to because my mother sat to my right. “That’s not true. I made the choice to bind my power.”
“Did you?” My mother had a mug of tea in her hand. She didn’t seem to be at all harmed by her encounter with Erna. “Who suggested that you do it? Did you research it, or did she convince you to let her handle all the magic?”
I turned her way. “You don’t understand. I’d killed my whole tribe.”
A gasp escaped Charlotte. “You know what happened to the lost tribe? I’d heard rumors that they’d had a magical child, but I hadn’t made the connection until now.”
“Yes.” I hated that I had to think about this. I wanted to be inside that tent with Marcus, wrapping my body around his and letting him take me in the real world. Or sitting around the fire with my parents hearing stories of my brothers and sister. “A spell went wrong and I caused a great fire. No one survived.”
“Then why do I see Haweigh when the convergences come?” my mother asked softly.
“What?”
My mother’s gaze was steady on me. “I’ve seen her twice now. First, yesterday. She was in some sort of palace, and she seemed to recognize me.”
“Or she thought she was seeing Summer,” Dean pointed out. “You look shockingly alike.”
“Haweigh died.” My heart always ached when I thought of my foster mother. She’d believed in me, and I’d proven her wrong. “You must be mistaken. You only saw her once many years ago.”
“Trust me,” my mother said, her lips a stubborn line. “Haweigh’s face is imprinted on my mind. Beyond her people shooting me with an arrow, she took my daughter away. Summer, look in my mind. You can do it. You could as a baby. Simply reach in and you’ll see what I saw.”