a seat.”
I shuffle to the offered chair and sit, sinking into the soft cushions. My body feels heavy with the after-effects of the drugs. I’m not sure where I am, but at the moment, I don’t really care, either.
“How are you feeling?”
I look at the man who spoke, my vision still blurry. He wears suit slacks with a dress shirt rolled to the elbows. Something expensive and classic.
His cropped dark hair and short-trimmed beard frame expressive eyes that stare curiously back at me. His features are relaxed, and despite the secrets he seems to hold, something about his expression invites me to relax too.
“I’m tired,” I tell him.
“Yes, an outburst like that will drain you.”
Outburst?
The fire. Dr. Livingstone. His accusations.
“I was upset.”
I have no idea if he means to somehow punish me for the damage I’ve caused, but he only nods, affirming me.
“Of course. It’s to be expected.”
I don’t know what that means, but trying to glare with such tired eyes only serves as a reminder of what they did to me.
“I don’t like being drugged,” I say, trying hard to sound angry.
My drugged brain moves slowly as does my sensory processing. All I can focus on are his words, my next breath, and the feel of the chair’s fabric underneath my hands.
“Magic is an emotional thing. We should work on mastering your emotions so we don’t have to repeat such drastic measures.”
Drastic measures. I snort.
You’d think kidnapping me was drastic enough.
“Miss D’LeLune, can you tell me how you created that fire?”
What?
“I...”
I glance around, noting the fish tank in the corner and the constant buzzing sound it makes. When I realize it’s empty, I look closer.
Instead of water and fish, there’s a reptile curled inside the glass tank.
The buzzing is from a heat lamp that shines into the cage. I stare at it, jealous of the warmth.
“Do you like snakes, Miss D’LeLune?”
“No.” I shudder and the man’s lips press into something like a smile.
But it isn’t.
He’s a snake.
The buzzing of the tank’s lamp thrums in my head, drowning out the voices that begin to whisper.
“Do you know when your magic first surfaced?”
I blink, tearing my attention from the caged serpent. The man watches me with a calculated charm.
Don’t trust him.
“I didn’t know I had magic until I came here.”
“And now that you know, how do you feel about it?”
I look around again. Nothing about this room is familiar.
“How did I get here?”
“You walked.”
Did I?
Between us is a coffee table and on it, a digital recorder.
“I thought I was supposed to have sessions with Dr. Livingstone.”
“This is a bonus session,” he says, and something about the words, the way he says them, sends a shiver up my spine. His calmness seems practiced now.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Dr. Cutter.”
The name sounds familiar, but I can’t place from where.
“What do you want with me?”
“To help you,” he says.
And even though it’s a direct echo of what Dr. Livingstone says, it sounds different.
Lie.
The voices are angry, and I know instinctively this man wants something from me that I won’t want to give willingly.
“I don’t want your help.”
He gives that placating smile again. “You killed someone with your magic. If it weren’t for me, you’d be in prison.”
I tell myself it’s a lie. I didn’t kill anyone.
“I’m already in prison.”
“Le Rêve is a sanctuary,” he says, and I don’t bother to argue. I’m too tired. “We save creatures like you. Help them understand what they are.”
“And what am I?”
“You’re a witch, Miss D’LeLune.”
At least he doesn’t pretend I’m here for my mental health.
In the terrarium, the snake has begun to move, climbing the walls and pointing its forked tongue at the lid. Its skin is a beautiful shade of aquamarine and I’m mesmerized by the way it glides through its space.
“My mother told me my grandmother once believed that too. But the idea of being a witch is nothing more than a lie that has destroyed the people I love,” I say, tearing my gaze from the snake and back to the man. I can’t help but feel angry and sad for the broken legacy I carry in my blood. “It’s our curse. Every single woman in my family who’s confronted it has gone mad.”
“Mad and magic are such a fine line. You of all people should see that. And your legacy is not what you think. You are the last in the line born to the New Moon coven. You’re tied to the earth and its elements, as were your ancestors, but especially,