‘Really?’ Agatha squeaked; the plant that acted as the table’s centrepiece also wiggled with excitement.

Kell nodded.

Those Elmwood eyes widened, and her face paled, as if she remembered who she was talking to.

She wasn’t outwardly mean to Kellan, but she avoided conversation with him at all costs.

Bethan wondered if Agatha saw Kellan as a romantic threat against her half-brother. Maybe she thought Kellan and her weren’t platonic.

Bethan winced at the thought of being with anyone. Tharin had scared her into never seeking a relationship ever again. She did long for a romance like the ones she read in her books, but for so long, she thought it would be Tharin, and when it wasn’t, she found herself not believing in finding a love like that anymore. Without her magic, she didn’t deserve anyone.

So, no, Kellan was not a romantic threat to Tharin.

‘How’s the search going?’ Agatha asked.

‘Since the attack, we’ve hit a wall,’ Bethan told her. ‘Nothing we searched through led to anything. It’s making me wonder if Dana was ever even onto something in the first place. I just wish we had answers. You know?’

‘Maybe you should see my mum. Get a reading from her.’ She turned to Kellan. ‘My mum is a Mystic Witch. They possess Small magic like every other witch, but they are clairvoyant. Most people think they’re a joke, but my mum is always knowing about things before they even happen. She predicted that storm we had a few weeks ago.’

Kellan nodded.

‘She might give you some clarity,’ she said with a glint of hopefulness in her eyes.

‘I don’t really believe in that stuff.’

‘It might make the path clearer.’

‘Or complicate things more.’ Circe spoke like something was weighing on her despite seeming in high spirits.

She slouched in her chair, clutching her teacup, staring into nothing.

They made eye contact for a moment when Bethan raised her thick brows at her.

‘Canden Whittaker is being released,’ she said.

Kellan slammed his coffee down, breaking the silence. Her jaw dropped at the news.

‘They can’t—’ she hissed through her words.

‘They can, he claimed he was not in the right mind during the shooting.’ She shrugged.

‘He tried to kill you, aren’t you worried?’ Agatha voiced.

Circe squeezed Agatha’s hand.

‘I’m not worried about myself but the vampires. He is back to already spouting his hatred for them. It’s only a matter of time before he tries to hurt one. Right before the elections as well, he is so vocal, it might change the sway towards Julius.’

‘I have never seen a vampire,’ Kell added.

‘They are not a circus attraction,’ Bethan quipped, nudging his arm.

He scoffed at her, gently pushing her back.

‘There are a lot of sanctions against them, ever since the Blood Plague,’ Circe told him.

‘But the Blood Plague happened centuries ago; the vampires involved are all dead anyway, so why punish them?’