Page 63 of Twice Bitten

Tiegan’s cool fingers rested around my elbow. “Steady. It takes a while to get used to that spell of Macy’s.” A disapproving note rested in her voice.

I straightened, swallowing down the nauseous feeling, and tugged my arm from Tiegan’s grasp. “How long have you known Marinka?”

The first woman ignored the question. “My name is Heather.” She pointed to the blonde. “Tiegan.” Then to the redhead. “Macy.”

“Would you like a cup of coffee or tea?” Tiegan asked.

Neither would mix well with two vodka and tonics. “No, thanks.”

“Let’s get down to business, shall we?” Macy said.

Tiegan sighed. “Your mother belonged to our coven many years ago. Long before she became a solo practitioner. When she became pregnant with you, she left us.”

At my look of surprise, Heather nodded. “She wouldn’t reveal who your father was, and only said she wished to raise her daughter in a stable environment with no outer influence.”

Macy snorted. “Look how much good that did her. She doesn’t even know who she is.”

“Macy!” Tiegan snapped.

For whatever reason, Macy was not a fan of me. The redhead plopped down into a chair and crossed her arms, glaring at Tiegan.

“Anyway,” Tiegan drawled, giving Macy an exasperated look, “no witch is required to be in a coven, so we parted with your mother on good terms and stayed that way for years.”

Silence fell. “Your pause tells me there’s a but coming.”Mom had been anti-coven when I was growing up. Had something happened to make her that way? Or did her reasoning have to do with me?

Macy’s eyes glittered with malice. “Your mother started associating withunsavorypeople.”

I stared blankly at her. Unsavory could mean a lot of things, and perception wasn’t everything. “Unsavory like they don’t shop at certain stores or unsavory like they murdered an entire village?”

Tiegan snorted.

“You’re just like your mother,” Macy muttered.

I tensed. “Maybe you’re the reason she left.”

Macy scoffed. “Hardly. She fell in love with that piece of?—”

“Macy!” Heather snapped. “That isenough. You will treat our guest with respect, or you will leave.”

But her words had torn off a long tender scab. I’d never known my father, but Mom had loved him enough to leave behind everything she’d ever known to have me. Whatever had happened between them, he must have been a good man. At least in the beginning. Mom had always been discerning in her relationships and did not give her trust to just anyone. She made you work for it. Even I had felt like that sometimes and had pressed myself harder to earn her approval. I found myself wondering again who my father was and what had happened for my mother to change everything in her life for him. I’d been told he was dead, and it made sense—how could a man leave his child behind? I don’t think I’d be strong enough to do something like that. And yet, my mother had.

Something I’d tried not to think about resurfaced in my mind as I reflected on my mother’s paranoia. Had they left me behind to protect me? Was this the reason I’d been shipped away? I kept the eagerness out of my voice in the hopes Macy would answer. “You knew my father?”

Tiegan and Heather looked at Macy. “Is she right?”

Macy’s expression turned mulish. “I saw him once,” she muttered. “He was with your mother, and neither looked happy.”

At my dubious look, she held her hands up. “I swear. That’s all I know! I was too far away to get a good read on him, but there was something about him, a darkness prowling around him. You don’t get that from the kind of magic we do.” She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “Handsome bastard, though. Your mom picked a real looker.”

“Helpful as always,” Tiegan said.

“What were they arguing about?”

Macy looked like she might not answer me for a moment until I stepped forward. “Something about hiding something. That’s all I heard.”

“Why didn’t you say something?” Heather asked.

Macy shrugged. “Didn’t seem important.”