Page 27 of Hunted

I wiped my lower eyelids with the back of my hand. “I don’t want that for anyone,” I said.

“Then you have to let us help you.”

“And what if it hurts you? What if it gets past your wards, and it decides that in order to get to me, it has to deal with all of you? I already don’t think I can live with myself for what I’ve done. I would die if anything happened to any of you.”

Evie reached out and placed a hand on my shoulder. “I know you mean well, but Helen’s right. I’ve seen that thing… with my own eyes. I didn’t really know what you were facing until I saw it, and now that I’ve seen it, I know.”

“What do you know?” Pepper asked.

Evie looked at her sister. “Amara is right. We can put wards up, but they won’t hold. Eventually, it will find a way in, and when it does, it’ll take all of our power to fight it off. And how many times can we really do that?”

Helen’s eyes widened. “Sister,” she warned, “There’s no need to frighten anyone.”

“I’m not trying to frighten anyone either. I just think, maybe Amara would feel more comfortable staying here, with us, if she knew how to defend herself.”

I frowned and looked up at her. “What do you mean?”

Helen and Evie seemed to be caught in some kind of staring competition. From the outside, it looked like they were having some kind of telepathic conversation. It was all eyebrows, and twitching facial expressions, and the occasional jerk of the head.

“I think we’re missing something, here,” Tallin whispered.

“Maybe we shouldn’t interrupt,” I said.

I looked over to the other side of the room, where Valerian was standing, his arms folded in front of his chest. He hadn’t said a word since we got back, though it did look like he had something on his mind. That made sense, given what we had just gone through. I decided not to pry right now.

“I disagree,” Helen finally said,aloud.

“I know you do,” Evie said, “But the poor thing is terrified. She feels vulnerable, defenseless. She should at least know.”

“Know what?” I asked.

Evie looked down at me, a soft smile on her face. “You’re only part Fae,” she said. “Your mother is human, like us. And even though she didn’t come from us,and even thoughshe was never allowed to study it, your mother has the spark of magic in her.”

“Magic?”

“Humanmagic. All humans carry it. Most humans don’t know it’s there, and even those who do often can’t do more than a cantrip or two, at best. But there are some witches who are just naturally gifted. Your mother was one of those witches, probably because she was part Fae.”

“That means you are, too,” Pepper added, smiling warmly from behind her half-moon spectacles.

“Wait… I know human magic?” I asked. “Why didn’t my mother tell me this before?”

“Because she doesn’t know,” Helen said.

“But… why?”

“Your mother was brought to us as a young child, and we were tasked with keeping her hidden from the Fae. Part of that was making sure she never used her abilities, so she would not draw attention to herself. As long as we kept her here, tucked away from the world—we thought—the Fae would never find her.”

“Fate always finds its mark,” Valerian put in, speaking for the first time since we arrived.

Helen glanced over at him and nodded. “Indeed, it does…” she agreed. “In any case, this is inconsequential.”

“How is me being able to use magic inconsequential?” I asked. “My whole problem is my lack of magic power.”

“Human magic and Arcadian magic are different things,” Evie said. “Arcadian magic comes from Arcadia itself. Human magic comes from within. They can both perform miracles, but they also both have their limits. I could teach you. We could teach you.”

I practically jumped out of my seat. “Yes! That would be amazing. Let’s do that.”

Helen shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. “No, no,” she said, sticking her hand up, “We can’t. We don’t have the time, sisters.”