Prologue

FERN

SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO

I whimpered when Mommy cut my finger with her special knife. I didn’t cry though. Mommy never cried when she made herself bleed, and neither would I. She pressed the cut on her finger to mine, whispering a spell I didn’t understand, then she lifted my sleeves and smeared blood on the inside of both my wrists then across my feet. I squeezed my eyes closed and bit my lip because it hurt really bad. Mommy cupped my cheek, staring down at me. She looked scared and sad.

I breathed heavily because my throat was tight, my eyes were stinging, and my belly hurt. “I don’t feel good.”

“I know, baby, and I’ll give you something to make you feel better soon,” Mommy said.

The sound of the back door in the kitchen opening and banging shut echoed down the hallway.

Mommy spun away and then back to me. “Quick, under here.”

“Why are you scared, Mommy?” I asked, positive I was going to throw up now.

“It’s going to be okay, baby,” she whispered, then pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Promise me, no matter what happens, you won’t move from this spot.”

“I promise,” I whispered back and crawled under the hall table.

“Don’t make a sound, okay?”

I nodded.

She stood, quickly arranging the lace tablecloth in front of me so I was hidden, and rushed down the hall toward the kitchen. The door opened before she reached it—

A monster stood there, his eyes glowing red.

“Get out of my house,” Mommy said, her voice loud but trembling.

“Give me the child,” the monster said.

“Never.” Magic sparked across her fingers.

“Don’t make this harder, Eleanor.”

Daddy!

He was here. I started to crawl out from my hiding place under the table because Daddy was strong. He’d protect us from the monster. But then Mommy lifted her hands, aiming them at him as well.

“You dropped the ward; you let him in. How could you do this?” Mommy said.

Daddy looked angry. “Yes, I let him in. This has gone on long enough.”

“What the hell is wrong with you? She’s our daughter. She’s your—”

“That abomination is not my daughter.”

“How can you say that? You were there when I had her; you held her in your arms. She’s our little girl.” Mommy’s hands were trembling. “She’s still young. Give her time—”

“There’s no magic in that child, no trace of witch. It would be bad enough if it was only your grandmother’s tainted blood running through her veins, but it’s much worse than that, isn’t it, Eleanor? We’ve pretended long enough. I will not have her polluting my family name, or my coven.”

“She is your flesh and blood—”

He laughed, but I didn’t like the way it sounded. “You’re a lying whore. That child has her father’s eyes.”

“Gerald—”

“No,” Daddy said. “She’s not staying in this house. You’re not keeping her.”

Sparks burst from Mommy’s hands, fire dancing on the tips of her fingers as she screamed.

The monster standing beside Daddy lifted his hand and slashed it through the air. Blood sprayed across the floor, and everything went quiet.

Mommy hit the floor—hard.

Daddy roared, and I covered my mouth with both hands so the monster didn’t hear me screaming.

Daddy knelt on the floor and lifted Mommy in his arms. “Goddammit, Grady, this wasn’t supposed to happen. You weren’t meant to kill my fucking wife.”

“She gave me no choice,” the monster said.

Mommy needed to wake up. Why wasn’t she waking up?

Daddy yelled at the monster to leave as magic buzzed through the room. The monster hissed and snarled as Daddy’s magic wrapped around him, and the monster was dragged by invisible hands from the kitchen and tossed outside.

I crawled out from my hiding place. “Daddy?”

His head shot up, and his eyes glowed bright. “You did this. You killed her!”

I shook my head. “No, I didn’t do it. It was the monster.”

“Go to your room,” he hissed.

“Daddy?”

“Now,” he yelled.

I spun and ran up the stairs and shut myself in. Curling into a ball on my bed, I cried and cried until my eyes were puffy and sore, and I couldn’t breathe through my nose.

There were noises downstairs. Voices.

My door opened, and I sat up. “Grandpa?”

He looked at me. “We need to pack your things, Fern.”

“Where am I going?”

He took a bag from my closet and started stuffing my clothes inside.

“I don’t want to go.”

He grabbed my arm, pulled me off the bed, and shoved my coat on. Then he took my hand and dragged me from my room and down the stairs. I searched, but Mommy was gone. I could hear Daddy talking to someone, but I couldn’t see him.

“Daddy!” I called as Grandpa opened the door and led me out.

We got in his car, and we drove away. No matter what I said or did, he wouldn’t look at me or talk to me. I was scared, and it was dark. We drove for so long that, eventually, I fell asleep. When I woke, the sun was starting to come up.

I sat straighter and looked around. “Where are we?”

He didn’t answer, he just got out of the car, got my bag, and opened my door. “Out,” he said.

I climbed down, and he grabbed the back of my coat instead of my hand as we walked toward a big old building. We took the stairs, and he banged on the door.

I didn’t like this place. I didn’t want to be here.

“Grandpa?”

He looked down at me but said nothing as the sound of footsteps echoed from the other side of the door.

“Mommy’s dead, isn’t she? And it was my fault?”

“Yes,” he said.

“What’s an abomination?” I asked him.

“You are, Fern.”