Charity walked forward and narrowed her eyes. “Who is your father, Ava?”
“My father?” I stumbled over my response. “My father was a human. He died a long time ago. I barely remember him.”
I swallowed the saliva that had pooled in my mouth, the hairs on my arms standing on end.
They could tell that I was lying... couldn’t they? Shit!
Charity pointed her wand at me and asked again. “Who is your father, Ava?”
She wasn’t using her magic on me. Not yet.
A shot of fear coursed up my spine but I didn’t dare turn to my father or Tavlor for help.
Instead, I focused on step mother dearest. “I told you. He was nobody special.”
Charity laughed in a strange way. “Why don’t I believe you?” She turned towards another female Council member, the other witches and warlocks sitting back and watching. “Maryanne. Tell Ava why I don’t believe her.”
Maryanne, the red headed witch who had attacked me during the trial lifted her nose and spoke to me like I was a rodent on the floor. “If you were half human, there is no way you could be this powerful. None, whatsoever. Another mix perhaps. Powerful witch and a Fae? Is that the answer? Is your father a Fae?”
“I... I don’t think so.” I said quietly.
My cheeks burned as my father stared at me. What
would he do if it all came out? My instincts were telling me that these women were not going to rest until they knew the truth. The real truth.
Charity spoke some words I’d never heard before and pointed her wand at me.
“Fuck,” I managed to say as cold magic wove around my body, wrapping around my legs, my belly, my arms, and my chest. Like a boa constrictor settling itself into place before he squeezed the life out of me. “What... are you... doing?”
“Getting the truth.” She said simply, and no-one was going to stop her.
I finally let me gaze move to Matlock’s.
I couldn’t tell them. Not for his sake. Fuck him.
For my sisters. If they found out about Bella and Courtney, my whole family could end up with their heads on the chopping block.
“I... I told you.”
The squeezing began and I couldn’t breathe.
I gasped and gagged as her magic began to poke inside my head.
I wasn’t giving up. I didn’t care what they did to me.
The pain was excruciating, but I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of knowing that she was hurting me. So, I closed my eyes and thought about the past. My home. The fields I ran about with my sisters.
The bands relaxed and my eyes popped open. Was she stopping? Thank god for that.
“Tavlor. Get the truth out of her.”
Tavlor stepped up and I could see how defeated he was. In the look of his posture and his eyes. His shoulders slumped forward a fraction. His lips turned down. There was nothing he could do to fight off the Council. He knew it. And I knew it.
But I had to say something. Even if it gave me away. “Please don’t.”
He stepped closer and lifted his hand. “I have to.”
I knew he would. But I still did not think he was the monster he was about to become.