One thing at a time.
No one can prove I’m killing bats, and if that’s the worst thing to come out of this, I’ll take it. Though being accused of killing an innocent animal over some bigoted asshole feels worse for some reason. Only one will result in a long stay in prison, and that’s if the Order allows me to have a fair trial.
“Ow!” I yell when the incubus flies back over, opening its mouth and letting out a horrible, high-pitched scream. I duck out of the way and spin around, foot slipping. I drop down on one knee and freeze, not moving until I see the tiny demon. It bit the back of my neck, and this bite wound stings more than the others. Pain radiates from where it sunk its fangs in and I’m starting to feel weaker by the second.
The little shit is somehow draining my energy, and it’s draining it fast. Gritting my teeth, I get back onto my feet and yell as I slash the sword above me, moving in a circle before I bring my hand down, cutting the incubus in half. Both smoldering pieces land at my feet.
“Ethan!” Panting, I turn and look for my boyfriend as well as everyone else. Sam and Nik are by the barn, holding their weapons out in front of them as they scan their surroundings for incubi. Ethan must still be to the side of the house, right off the porch where the damn thing exploded and rained babies onto us.
I stop short when I walk around Sam’s truck, seeing that the car is still in the street in front of the house. In the dim light, I see someone with short brown hair in the passenger seat. She’s staring right at me, and as they pass under the single streetlamp, I swear I see that the woman is holding a phone. And I know that she was recording me.
Chapter
Nineteen
The car speeds away, and I’m left with another bad feeling. Because whoever that was knew exactly what we were doing, and they got that footage for one reason and one reason only: to prove I’m a witch. And I’m pretty sure it was Stephanie, wanting evidence to back up her claim that I’m a dangerous witch.
If there ever was a good night to creepy outside my house and get a video of me acting like a crazy witch who can wield a freaking blade of fire, it was tonight.
“Guys?” I let my hand fall to my side and I look at the flames as I walk. “Exire,” I say as the spell comes to mind. It’s another unburied memory, more knowledge that has been in my head all these years but was blocked.
The flames immediately go out, and I exhale heavily , looking around for more incubi. My mind is whirling and Tabatha’s warning about having things alter my sense of reality seems like it’s about to come into fruition. Now when I look at the house I remember more bits and pieces of my childhood next to the fabricated memories Aunt Estelle put in my head.
And also like Tabatha said, my childhood memories are faded, as expected. I can’t recall playing outside in the barn with Harrison all that well, but I very clearly remember playing the same exact game at my grandparent’s house but we were in their shed, not in this barn. It’s a strong memory, because Harrison got stung by a wasp on his neck and he got so swollen Grandma had to call an ambulance.
Only it was Aunt Estelle who did that. She put some sort of poultice on him first but the swelling got worse so fast she got worried, and I was scared something was going to happen to my twin. Both memories are there, competing with one another to be real. It’s confusing and dizzying and now what I thought were real memories I had with my grandparents aren’t real at all? I thought my grandparents were great growing up. They took care of us while my mom finished med school and influenced a lot of my life.
But maybe they weren’t. My grandma encouraged me to follow my dreams of being a vet from a young age. She’s the one who convinced my mom to get me a horse, and was my biggest supporter right up until she died.
Was it not her but Aunt Estelle instead?
“You okay?” Ethan jogs over. He has more blood on his face and chunks of guts splattered on his shirt and jacket. “We got ‘em all. Those little sons of bitches won’t bother you anymore.”
“Good.” I blink several times and look at Ethan. “I’d say kiss me, but I’m not about to get incubus blood in my mouth and then become the mother of perverted sex demons.”