Page 12 of The Powerless Witch
I opened the files, frowning. There wasn’t much on Noah Castle despite his name, birthplace, and date of birth—he was in his thirties, apparently—likely another lie, although I wasn’t entirely sure if magicless males lived longer than ordinary humans. There weren’t any school or hospital records, no driver's licenses or legal jobs. No police records, no participation in social events of any kind. The only thing it said was that he was still alive and living in the same home he was registered at birth.
I googled his name just in case, searching through the pictures and links, but I found no images of anyone who looked remotely like the hunter who stabbed Celeste.
Snarling in frustration, I got up and started pacing before I broke something.
I hated feeling powerless, especially when Celeste’s life hung in the balance. Isaac had kept her alive and hopefully, the witches would be able to wake her up, but that would be for naught if I couldn’t eliminate the threats to her.
A knock sounded on the door just when I was making a mental note to tell Chester to find the best people money could buy to search for Noah Castle. If there was any trace of him on the web, I wanted it found. I might have taught myself how to use technology, but I wasn’t nearly as good at hitting buttons and finding things as I was at tracking them the old-fashioned way.
The door creaked, and a head poked in and, to my surprise, it wasn’t Chester. I had been so preoccupied with my thoughts that even though I heard the approaching steps long before they reached the Control Room, it didn’t occur to me that they didn’t belong to the butler.
“Lily,” I said in acknowledgment, slipping my hands into the pockets of my slacks and forcing my body to relax. “What do you need?”
“May I come in?” she asked, looking around with curiosity. All the monitors were turned on, showing feeds from different parts of the property or the city. I had a security crew that monitored them for me, but I wanted to have eyes on them for when I was feeling anxious and had nothing better to do.
I gave her a nod, and she closed the door, stepping deeper into the room. I waited for her to speak, but her uneasiness only grew stronger as the seconds ticked past.
There was a bandage running around her head and a few fading bruises peeking out of her clothes, but she was fine. The Martens had all been fine, just scared out of their minds and probably traumatized for life. Celeste should have just wiped their memories and let them live in ignorance instead of exposing them to the world of magic and monsters. But it was too late now.
“Any news from Celeste and that wolf guy?”
“No,” I replied, trying not to grind my teeth in frustration. The last I heard of Isaac was over twelve hours ago when he sent a message that they had reached the mountain and were heading into werewolf territory. No news after that and if it wasn’t for the pulsing mark on my chest, I would have gone after them the moment the sun set. “We don’t know how long it’s going to take them to reach the witches and for them to heal her. We need to be patient.”
Lily nodded, but she didn’t look patient at all. She paced around, peeking at the papers on the table, while her eyes turned distant and unfocused.
“Lily,” I said, and she flinched as if I had caught her doing something she shouldn’t. Forcing her chin up, she finally met my gaze. I tried to decipher her expression—she usually wore her emotions openly for everyone to see—but I could barely read anything past her unease. “Is something wrong?”
She snorted, and her shoulders relaxed a tiny bit.
“That is a very loaded question, Professor, considering everything that happened in the last few weeks,” she said with a bitter smile. “Maybe even before that.” I crossed my arms, arching a brow in a silent urge for her to go on. She bit on her lower lip,her face looking so young and so burdened at the same time. “I…I don’t regret asking Celeste to tell us the truth and then let us keep our memories. My parents don’t either…mostly. But…” She licked her lips, reaching for the table and gathering a few of the pages in a pile. “But I don’t know how to deal with it.” As if realizing what she was doing, she let them drop, catching her hands behind her back before looking at me. “I’m worried about Celeste, about what happened and what could happen. The witches are out there and the hunters are too, and who knows what else wants her dead? I…”
“Shouldn’t you be worried about yourself? Celeste is not as helpless as you might think,” I said as gently as I could and she winced as if I had just poked her in an open wound.
“Of course, I’m worried about myself! I’m worried about my parents and my brother, about you and Celeste, and even about that stupid werewolf guy who saved her life. I’m worried about everything and I…it’s so tiring to be afraid all the time! How do you do it?” She looked at me with those big, innocent eyes that had set her apart in my class even before she ever spoke. I didn’t get the chance to reply, because she scoffed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “What am I even saying? You are an immortal vampire. You don’t do fear.”
I sighed loudly, making my way to the table. She didn’t pull back like so many would have just because of what I was. She just stared, begging me to give her answers I didn’t have.
“You are wrong. I am afraid. All the time.” I smiled when her eyes narrowed with disbelief. “I might not be afraid for myself, but as long as I have people I care about, fear is going to be there. I have watched Celeste get hurt. I have mourned her death. I watched her get stabbed and almost die again, and I was terrified. Being afraid means that you care deeply about something, she taught me that. If you stop, then that means you no longer have anything of importance in your life and that is worse than any fate I can imagine. So be afraid, Lily, for your life and for the people you love, but do not let that fear dictate your actions.”
She exhaled sharply as if she had been holding her breath and the tension in her shoulders visibly uncoiled. Smiling at me, she nodded before looking down at her hands. I waited for her to tell me why she was really there, but she still kept quiet. I didn’t want to chase her away, but I had more important things to deal with than talking about her feelings.
I was just opening my mouth when she cleared her throat.
“I…thank you for that. I think I needed a little pep talk.” Smiling shyly, she glanced at the table before turning to fully face me. “That isn’t the only reason I came, though.” I nodded, giving her a sign to continue, and she scratched the back of her head, her short hair bouncing off her shoulders. “Um, well. I’m not sure if we even need your permission for this, but we are thankful for saving us and sheltering us after our house was blown up, so…”
“Lily, get to the point.”
“We can’t stay locked up in here forever. We want to go back to the city, at least for errands and…work. And classes.”
I blinked in surprise as she peered at me, trying to judge my reaction. Closing my eyes, I tried to keep the frustration down before I spoke again. I had sheltered them here because I knew Celeste would want it. I had given them rooms and all the comfort they could possibly need, with the servants taking care of their every whim. All to keep them safe and happy. And now they wanted to go out there where they almost died?
“No,” I said, harsher than I intended, and Lily’s face paled. “It’s not safe, Lily. I can’t protect you out there, especially during the day. It’s not humans that threaten you now, it’s something much worse. Here, you will be safe. Here, you—”
“Roman,” she said suddenly, and the fact that she used my name instead of calling meProfessorlike she always did made me pause. The shadows of fear crept into the corners of her eyes, but her look was one of sheer stubbornness.
“Being kept locked up is no better than being hunted.” Her voice was quiet, but the words hit too close to home. Celeste had said something very similar when we first met, even if the circumstances back then had been slightly different. And she was a powerful witch in her own right while they were…humans. Weak, fragile, foolish creatures that didn’t have enough fear of the dangerous world beyond their sights. “Besides, we still have Celeste’s mark. That gives us protection, right?”
I scoffed.