‘You know you don’t like it, yet you have to try it every time someone else orders it,’ Circe said.

Bethan scrunched her face, causing Circe to roll her amber eyes.

Agatha seemed to loosen up when the tension broke.

‘You know, in court, they say Green Witches descend from the fae,’ Kell told Agatha.

Kell.

She liked that nickname, the way it rolled off her tongue with ease.

Agatha’s face beamed at those words, and she inched closer. It was rare for Agatha to hear about her powers in such a good light. After all, her being a Green Witch was the very reason her father had abandoned her. Grey Witches would see themselves as superior compared to the Green Witches; Bethan put it to having an ability to manipulate nature is a fae trait, not a witch one. She wondered if Blood Witches were treated lesser as well.

‘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.