Regardless, the bigger question now was: where was he going? Normally, when things went wrong, Andre was right there in the thick of it, handling whatever came at him with a calm that I was wildly envious of. It was odd to see him heading in the opposite direction to where people were still battling with the flames, especially since we’d made plans to meet up at my stall—plans that were supposed to have happened hours ago.

  It made me wonder if something else was going on, and maybe he needed help. So, I dragged up all my courage (or the tatters of what was left), and stomped down on the insidious little whisper that told me I should keep away, break it off, stay away from him for his own safety, and I headed for the break in the trees where I’d seen Andre slip through.

  With the sun set, and the last of the ruby light just smudging the sky above the horizon, stepping into the woods was like jumping from twilight to midnight. The shadows hung thick off the boughs as birds muttered sleepily while I passed under their perches. The wind moved gently through the canopy and the leaves rustled.

  He hadn’t gone far. I saw him leaning against one of the trees, like he was waiting for me. But something was wrong. The longer I looked, the blurrier Andre became, like someone had smeared the paint on a canvas. I had to blink hard to clear my eyes. There was still a person standing there, but it definitely wasn’t Andre.

  I squinted, but that didn’t help any. Pale hair instead of dark, the style cut shorter than Andre’s, but not by much. She, because it was a woman, wore a pale gray jacket as she waited beneath a large oak tree, looking like a ghost in the dark.

  Lacey, I realized after a second. It was Lacey. And then I felt a little stupid for ever mistaking her for Andre in the first place. I must have been more freaked out than I’d realized. And yet... I could have sworn it was him I’d seen. I mean, how would my mind have made such a mistake? Maybe I’d just wanted to see Andre that bad? He always made me feel more secure, like there wasn’t anything we couldn’t handle if we were together.

  Well, either way, whether I’d imagined Andre or whether there was something more sinister going on, I was definitely curious as to why it looked like Lacey was hiding out here in the dark.

  “Lacey.” I tripped over an exposed root and had to stumble to keep from falling flat on my face.

  I was half afraid she’d vanish in front of my eyes like the last two times I’d tried to speak to her. But she just watched me blunder towards her, a small smile on her face.

  “I just wanted to say how sorry I was about the other day. I didn’t mean to snap at you.” I batted some leaves away from my face, trying not to let the branch swing back and smack me. Even though I muttered the apology, my heart wasn’t really in it. Instead, there was something about this woman that had me on edge. The apology was just a way to hide my suspicious curiosity. “Things have been really terrible lately, just everything going wrong,” I continued, all the while studying her for some clue that might hint at why she was out here alone. “But that’s no excuse, and I hope you can forgive me.”

  Lacey hummed, considering. She was still wearing that tiny little smile, almost a smirk, and leaning back against the tree as she watched me—acting as if she had all the time in the world and wasn’t the least bit concerned about the fact that the bonfire had very nearly just consumed the entire festival.

  I shifted my weight, making the leaf litter under my feet rustle. It was awkward, waiting for her to say something, and I wondered how she’d respond. Finally, after a long wait, Lacey stepped away from the tree. She brushed off her sleeves, batting away little flecks of bark stuck there.

  “Well, Poppy,” she said, still wearing that little smile. “Have you ever thought that things have been terrible, because that’s what you deserve?”

  I gaped at her, my mouth dropping open as a rush of hot anger raced through my body, and my mouth moved, but I couldn’t think of what words to say. But I didn’t get the chance to say anything when she laughed at me, at the expression on my face, and my mouth snapped shut so fast, that my teeth clicked together.

  “What I deserve?” I repeated, frowning. I never had been good at confrontation and I figured this was just another example of as much. Had I been Wanda, I was fairly sure Lacey would now be a toad. Wanda didn’t do well with being offended.

  “You know, Poppy. I haven’t been entirely honest with you.” Lacey took another step forward, and the leaves didn’t stir under her feet this time. It was like she wasn’t fully touching the ground. She smiled again, but it was more a quick baring of teeth than anything friendly.

  “You haven’t been honest?” I repeated, getting that same sense of dread in my stomach.

  She nodded. “For one thing, my name isn’t Lacey.”

  She took another step forward, and I took an unconscious one back. I had no idea what to expect from Lacey (because I still wasn’t getting anything other than ‘human’ vibes from her), but I was suddenly very aware that everyone was distracted by the bonfire, and I was out in the woods alone with someone who at the very least was short a few marbles.

  Lacey stopped, and her body kind of blurred, like the lines of her body shimmered until I couldn’t really see her any longer. Kind of like what I’d witnessed earlier, when I’d thought I’d seen Andre.

  Pale blond hair darkened at the tips into a red so vibrant that even in the very faint moonlight breaking through the canopy I could see it. More scarlet welled up in her eyes, spilling over her cheeks to run in bloody tear tracks down her face. My breath froze solid in my lungs.

  Lacey’s body stretched, and she suddenly wasn’t a woman my height, but one who was closer to six feet than five. She would have stood almost a head taller than me if we were standing closer to each other.

  Her jacket moved oddly, squirming at the back, and a second later, the fabric melted away to reveal wings. Huge, leathery wings, like those of a bat suddenly flared wide to the sides, stretching like they’d been tucked away for too long before they mantled. I could see dark red veins against the shadowy membrane, and I took another step back, my heart in my throat.

  Lacey smiled, and her mouth was full of fangs.

  “My name is Alecto of the Furies, goddess of revenge. And I’m here for you.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Alecto took another step forward, her wings fanning the air and blowing the hair back from my face.

  I wanted to back up, to run, but it felt like my feet had been frozen to the ground. I couldn’t force them to move, or even unstick my throat enough to yell for help.

  The fury’s head tilted to one side, her blood-streaked hair trailing over the shoulder of the stained white shift she was wearing. The pale cloth fluttered around her bare legs, and a heavy belt hung at her waist, with a sword, of all things, hanging off it.

  “You were the one who’s been targeting me,” I said, my words an accusation, even as I intended to keep her talking so I could try to figure out my next actions. I didn’t know much about furies but I had a feeling, they weren’t easily dealt with.

  “Yes!” she hissed in response. “And you deserved it all, Poppy.” Alecto’s voice was low and rich, almost a purr. “This is vengeance. This is your punishment. And I’m far from finished.”

  I still couldn’t move. My body felt like I was being squeezed by a giant’s fist. I could barely move my chest enough to breathe. My heart pulsed in my skull, in my ears, the roar of it drowning out everything but Alecto’s voice. She came closer, close enough to touch me, and leaned in to give me a good look at her eyes, still leaking their bloody tears, and at the sharp white fangs that dented her lower lip.

  “You’re here for vengeance, you say,” I continued, forcing myself to remain calm, because I needed to understand what that meant. “Vengeance in the name of which person?”

  She laughed. “Isn’t that obvious?”

  “No,” I shook my head. “Or I wouldn’t have asked.”

  “Did you think you could break his heart and just walk away like it was nothing?”

  I froze.

  Marty? She was here for Marty? Had he summoned her? But as soon as the thought passed through my head, I knew such wasn’t the case. No matter how badly I might have hurt him, he never would have wished this on me. Marty just wasn’t like that. No, Alecto had to come after me of her own volition.

  Alecto made a flicking motion with her hand, like she was strumming a harp. “Your magic is unstable, Poppy. It was so, so easy to just twist it a little, to make you hex the things around you, without you even realizing what you were doing. All of your own fears leeching into reality and ruining things for you. Isn’t that beautiful irony, Poppy? You’re the source of your own punishment.”

  I could only stare at her, at those terrible, blood-soaked eyes. My magic was unstable. It had been ever since I’d joined the coven and my small, human power had been mixed with witch magic, and the death magic of a Blood Witch and warlock. Things had been a little off ever since. The idea that someone could take advantage of that, that someone could twist my own powers against me? Well, it had bile churning in my stomach.

  Was that why Wanda couldn’t tell that I’d been cursed? Because it was my own power reaching out, causing problems for my suppliers, my customers, Finn. Oh my God, had I been the impetus that had caused Finn’s latest relapse?

  Icy terror burned away in an instant as fury rolled up my spine. This woman, this creature, would not use me to hurt my own son. That was what finally let me tear some control back, and get my mouth free at least from whatever power was holding me in place.

  “I didn’t want to hurt Marty,” I told her furiously, working my stiff jaw, trying to get some feeling back in it. “But I had to do what was best for both of us and so that’s what I did. I couldn’t give him what he wanted from me, so it wasn’t fair for me to continue to pretend.” I took a breath. “And I know Marty never would have summoned you.”

  He wouldn’t, would he? A little kernel of doubt settled into my gut. I’d never seen him so hurt, and he hadn’t really talked to me since Christmas. But I just couldn’t believe it, I wouldn’t believe it. Marty was one of the kindest, sweetest people I’d ever met.

  “Your guilt is what called me, Poppy,” Alecto said, interrupting the spiral of my thoughts.

  “I never called you. That’s a lie.”

  “Your subconscious summoned me. Because deep down, you know you deserve to be punished for what you did.” She laughed, a nasty bark of sound. “Did you really think not meaning to cause hurt somehow lets you off the hook?”

  I stared at her, my whole body straining back against the power holding me. I wanted to look away, to deny her accusations. But a small, shamed part of myself had to admit that what she was saying felt true. I’d hurt Marty, I knew I had. And I’d made it worse because I hadn’t been honest with him from the beginning. I’d hurt one of my favorite people in the world. Didn’t I deserve some kind of payback? I knew Marty would never wish to hurt me in return, but it might have been easier if he’d gotten angry or yelled at me, or something. But he’d just been so sad, so hurt. The memory of his face when I’d given him back his ring, it still haunted me.

  “There we go,” Alecto purred. Her wings flexed, rising out to block out the small amount of moonlight filtering through the canopy. “You understand, now. You have to suffer for your actions, Poppy. Only then can you be cleansed of your guilt.”

  Maybe she was right. Maybe if I suffered, then I could finally let go of that burning shame nestled up behind my ribs, the one that ached every time I took a breath.

  Alecto’s eyes were bright, bright red. They almost glowed in the dark as she came closer. Those bloody tracks down her face were all I could see.

  “And how can I make penance for Marty’s pain?” I demanded.

  “I have to take something from you. You need to understand the loss you’ve inflicted.” She smiled, and it might have been gentle if it weren’t for those horrible fangs I could see peeking through. “You broke his heart, so now I have to break yours. I have to take the thing you love most of all.”

  It took me a second to realize what she was talking about, but when I did, my entire body locked up in blind panic. No magic required.

  What I loved most? More than my home, or my friends, or my business? More than my own life?

  Finn. She was talking about Finn.

  Alecto was standing so close that I could feel the brush of her cool breath on my face. Her wings were almost entirely wrapped around us, blocking out the world. She was enjoying the terror running through me, drinking it down like sweet wine, and my stomach heaved.

  My body still felt like it was crushed in some invisible fist, keeping me in place so I couldn’t fight back. I didn’t have any potions on me, and even if I could have reached them, I hadn’t brought anything to the festival that could protect me. I’d only packed fun, entertaining things. Happy things.

  I didn’t have offensive magic. I couldn’t throw a curse or a hex like Wanda or Maverick. I wasn’t a witch, or a Magician, or a demon.

  But I was a mom. And this monster had just threatened my son.

  I’d barely managed to wriggle any part of me free, and I still couldn’t move anything from the neck down. So, I snapped my head back, and slammed my forehead into the end of her nose.

  Pain exploded in my head like I’d just run into a wall, and Alecto fell back with a screech.

  I didn’t think I’d actually hurt her, more that she was so shocked that I’d managed to do anything, much less fight back. Whichever it was, it was distracting enough that she lost control of whatever spell was holding me in place, and I scrambled backwards as her wings raked the air.

  My head pounded, and my knees were shaky, but I started hobbling back towards the field as fast as I could go. I needed to get to Finn. Nothing else mattered, as long as he was safe. I could get Wanda to protect him if I had to—hell, the whole coven would protect him and I was more than sure they’d be enough against a fury. He would be okay. He had to be.

  Behind me, Alecto roared. “How dare you touch me, mortal?”

  Fire erupted in the trees around me, leaves curling in the heat as pine sap popped like a gunshot. I threw myself to the ground with a scream of panic as scorching heat rolled over my back and embers fell in a burning rain. Smoke poured into the sky, a hot wind carrying ashes up towards the clouds.

  I had to get out of the trees. We’d had a dry summer so far, and a fire would race through the woods around Haven Hollow. Nowhere would be safe, not from the flames, and not from the smoke. It had to be stopped, right here, right now.

  A branch shattered overhead in the intense heat, pelting me with splinters and pine needles. It was just like my dreams, scarlet and gold flames rolling up over the trunks, and huge gouts of smoke filling the air beneath the boughs, forcing me to crawl on my belly or risk suffocating.

  Alecto moved through the fire easily, like none of the ashes dared to fall on her. Her wings flared, and the hellish light cast bloody shadows on the ground.

  “Your life is mine, human,” she snarled. “I will burn your world to the ground.”

  And it seemed like she really might, when a huge tree crashed to the ground in front of me, blocking my mad scramble. It sent a gout of fire up into the air, leaf litter catching like tinder. The ground started to smolder under my shaking hands.

  The heat was too intense. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t see through the smoke to know where to go. My eyes streamed burning tears, blinding me. And then, blessedly chilly air touched my face, freezing the tears to my cheeks, like a miracle. A blast of frost smothered the flames on the trees, coating the trunks in ice and melting to soak the ground and keep the fire from spreading any further. A winter storm sprang to life beneath the canopy, filling the air with snow and hail.

  Alecto raised a wing to keep the sleet from pelting her, and she snarled.

  Chief Morgan, Princess and Heir apparent to the throne of Winter, hopped up onto the fallen tree, her service weapon out and trained on the Fury.

  “Stop where you are,” she barked. “Hands where I can see them.”

  I’d never been so happy to see another person in my entire life.

  My arms were shaking, but I crawled out of the way from between the two, not wanting to block Taliyah’s shot. Though I wasn’t sure bullets would really do much to a fury—maybe they’d be more like an inconvenience.

  “Really, Taliyah?” Maverick sauntered into view, pale violet lightning curling around his fingers. His tone was light, almost casual, but he watched Alecto like she was a poisonous snake he’d just tripped over. “That was the perfect place to make a ‘freeze’ joke. I’m disappointed.”

  “Not now.” Taliyah’s pale hair had escaped the knot she’d tied it back into, and it danced around her head on the winds of the storm she’d summoned. “Get down on the ground,” she ordered Alecto.

  The Fury looked at the armed Faerie Princess and the Blood Warlock ready to throw down, and she gave a little huff of amusement.

  “Who do you think you are?” Alecto tilted her head to one side, her hair draping towards the ground like a bloody waterfall. “I am a goddess, you pitiful creatures. Do you think I fear you?”

  She turned her horrible, glowing eyes on Taliyah, and barred her teeth in a vicious smile. “Especially you, failed hope of your people. Your family died so that you might rise, and you threw it all away like a spoiled child. The blood of your subjects stains the earth because you don’t feel like taking up your duties.” Alecto sneered. “Pathetic.”

  Taliyah stared at her, stunned, her gun dipping towards the ground like she’d forgotten she was holding it. I could see the rapid rise and fall of her chest, panting, like she’d been running. Maverick stepped in front of Taliyah, stretching up to his full, impressive height like he was trying to block her from view. Power crackled around his hands, wreathing him in purple as he snarled.