Bad Decisions

Moon and stars align

Kassie

My life had been one f***k fest after the other. Why would figuring out who murdered my parents be any easier? And I had to be honest, I never had an ounce of patience to my name, so the endless questions coming to light were starting to really piss me off, my anger bubbling up at the seams, threatening to spill over.

“Well? Why the hell didn’t you tell me?” I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest defiantly. To be fair, I was taking my anger out on her and I knew it, but it was hard for me to care at the moment. She knew things and chose to withhold them from me.

I’d never admit it, but I was already looking at Crystal as a friend, a hard feat to accomplish, and her not being forthcoming off the bat had me feeling hurt, defensive.

She let out a defeated sigh. “I promise I was going to tell you, Kassandra, but you weren’t exactly in the best condition when you arrived here. You were severely injured and had toxins in your blood that were poisoning you. You don’t heal like a demon. You needed immediate attention. That was our first priority before anything.”

I felt myself go rigid, my breath catching in my throat. I knew there was something in that guy’s blood the other day. I wasn’t at all surprised. He was clearly a scumbag—and I was just a reckless bit.ch. I probably should’ve been embarrassed about being caught in my crazy endeavors, but I wasn’t.

“And then Heath sprung the news on you haphazardly. I knew you needed some time to process everything before I added to the mess of it all.”

I couldn’t really argue with her logic, even if I still didn’t like it. I visibly relaxed, my anger dissipating. The girl was lucky I liked her—she was spared from my normal wrath.

“Fine, but next time, Crys, just lay it on me. I’m not fragile. I can handle a lot more than people expect.”

She bit back a smile, amused. “Deal.”

I sat forward, slapping my hands down on the table.

“So my parents put you up to this?” I asked, waving my hand towards the necklace pointlessly.

“Just your mom,” she explained. “She came to me when she first found out she was pregnant with you, before she even told your father. It was hard on her. She was a hysterical mess, finding out about you. She had a lot to…sort through.”

Why did I feel like that was a nice way of telling me my mom didn’t want me at first?

“You’re a lot like your mom, ya know. She was one tough cookie. She would rather die than let anyone see her vulnerable side—other than Jaz, of course. Which is why when she came to me in tears, I knew I couldn’t refuse her request for help. She was truly terrified. For you…”

I pondered that thoughtfully for a minute. I remembered my mom being incredibly strong, while my father had been the sweet, gentle soul—he always spoiled both me and my mom. I understood my father and his kind-hearted nature. But my mom…I had to wonder if there was something that made her the way that she was.

“What was she hiding?” I voiced aloud. Chances were, Crystal had no knowledge, but I knew I wasn’t just being paranoid. There was more to it, I just knew it.

“I couldn’t tell you. Both of your parents were very secretive creatures.”

“But you think she was hiding something, too, right?”

She nods. “Why else would she have suppressed her own powers?”

“She…what?”

“Yes, she had a little mark behind her ear,” she turned her head to the side, moving her hair out of the way, and brought a finger behind her ear to demonstrate. “Right here. It was kind of like a star-shaped branded into her skin above the bone. If I had any guess, it was done by a dark witch. That’s why she appeared human. It permanently sealed any powers she may have had. Even her healing would’ve been significantly affected.”

Could that have had any effect on me? Or was it all thanks to this necklace?

I couldn’t be sure, but there was one thing I was confident about. “So, she was hiding from something.”

“Or someone.”

I rubbed my temples. Everything was such a mess and I felt like I was going to explode.

“Do you think she knew the guy that killed them? The someone she was running from?”

She shrugged. “There’s no telling. Unfortunately, the only two people who have all the answers, took all of their secrets to the grave with them.”

“Does Heath…?” I trailed off when she shook her head slowly.

“He doesn’t know any more than any of us.”

Fu.ck, why couldn’t my parents have done some cliche thing like leaving a note in case they died? If only there was some way I could talk to the dead…

I leaned forward, seeking Crystal’s hands and grabbed them in mine.

“So…you’re a witch, right?” I asked, a smile spreading across my face as an idea popped into my head.

“I think that’s abundantly clear,” she responded, a blonde brow arched. “What trouble did you have in mind?”

“Can’t you like…summon the dead or whatever?”

Her eyes widened and her hand went slack in mine for a second before she recovered and gripped mine back. She cleared her throat before replying.

“You’re…asking me to…summon your deceased parents?”

“That’s what I said, isn’t it?”

I thought she was about to reject the idea, tell me it wasn’t possible, anything other than the way she reacted.

A s**t-eating grin spread across her face, an eager gleam dangerously lighting up her eyes. I was suddenly questioning all the judgments I made on this girl—she may have very well been as unhinged as I was.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve done a seance.”

“Is that a yes?”

“It sure is,” she said, excitedly. “Oh, Kassie, we’re going to have so much fun getting into trouble together. Things have been boring around here for far too long.”

As if on cue, I picked up the sounds of raised voices and a loud thump from upstairs. I didn’t need to see...to know.

“Micah,” I muttered.

I stood, grabbing Crystal and dragging her up next to me. We rush up the stairs where we find Micah pressing an arm unforgivingly into Heath’s throat against the wall, his eyes dark and harsh.

Oh, crap…

I rushed forward, pulling Micah off of him and stepping between them. My hands rested on that hard, glorious chest of his as he peered down at me. I waited until recognition hit, his eyes returning to normal after a couple blinks, before I dropped my hands and put a step between us.

“What the hell is going on here?” I asked, feigning calm. I was anything but.

Micah’s nostrils flared, his jaw clenched. This wasn’t a position either of us were used to—it was usually reversed, him trying to pull me off of someone else.

A hand landed on my shoulder. Heath, fully recovered from the abruptness of Micah’s assault, stands at my back, meeting M’s cold gaze, unfaltering.

“He’s just not used to being challenged.”

Micah’s eye twitched and I was suddenly questioning what Heath may have said to make Micah’s temper rampant—I could take a wild guess after the nonsense he said to me.

“Careful,” Micah warned. “If you don’t have a death wish.”

“It should be you who is careful. After all, nothing is a secret here. I’ll figure out what you’re hiding, Micah Pellegrino.”

And with that, Heath stormed off, pulling a flabbergasted Crystal behind him.