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Hands rubbed my back, but I sprang up and batted them away, anger filling my eyes.

“Mine?” Odie said with Cy behind her. They both looked at me like I had lost my marbles. And maybe I had.

I shook my head and gripped my hair between my fingers, yanking on it. This is all my fault rang through my head over and over as tears blurred my vision.

“Mine, please?” Odie stepped closer, but I wasn’t having it.

I jumped on the bed and leapt off of it and out the door. Next thing I knew, I was slamming the door to my bedroom across the hall. I couldn’t be near them. I needed space to calm the fuck down so I would be useful in finding Ellie.

I sat against the door with my head in my hands and my knees to my chest. I let everything come out and didn’t hold back. My throat would be raw by the end of it from the snot running down it and my failed attempts at screaming. My eyes would be big red sores, but it didn’t matter. I deserved it. Ellie was gone because of me.

Eventually, I calmed down, or the tears stopped because I simply didn’t have enough water in me to create more. The hiccups and sobs ended, and my mind cleared a bit.

Vaila had taken Ellie, but why? What was the point? If she had only given us a clue about it. The messages between her and Ellie gave nothing away, and no new messages came from her to Odie. Maybe some had been sent to Cy? No, that wouldn’t make any sense. She knew Odie had her phone before the heat and knew where Ellie’s would be and that we would find it eventually.

I laid my head back, hitting it against the door. We were missing something, and although the fog was clearing, nothing was coming together.

Vaila took Ellie.

Vaila tricked us.

Vaila was a friend of the family but more specifically Ellie’s mom.

Vaila was a Witch.

None of that helped me piece anything together.

With what we had, besides the texts between her and Ellie, we wouldn’t even have suspected Vaila, so why would she leave behind Ellie’s phone?

I sat forward and crossed my legs.

Was that on purpose? But again, why?

Was Vaila forced to take Ellie and leaving her phone was a clue? No, that sounded stupid, but I couldn’t mark it off the list of possibilities.

I was treating this like some crime show, but it was the only thing keeping me going at the moment. The tears were at bay, and I was done with them.

Back to the beginning.

Vaila took Ellie and either left her phone on purpose or by accident.

Vaila tricked us into trusting her and gave us faulty pills and maybe more than that.

Vaila was Ellie’s mom’s best friend and Odie’s ex lover, so of course Ellie trusted her and went with her willingly or otherwise. Given that her phone was left, the latter was more likely, at least in the end.

Vaila was a Witch who concocted birth control, fake suppressants, and a curse cure for me, and I had no way of knowing if the birth control or cure were legit. I had to hope they were, but only time would tell.

Again and again, I went over what we knew for sure and what was hypothesized, but nothing stood out. There were too many theories, and it all started with whether or not she was working for someone or for her own self interest.

Had they let Gerard know? Was he on his way, or were they out looking for her now?

I shouldn’t have ran away, but they needed to focus on Ellie right now, and I needed to get my shit together so I could also focus on Ellie. More hell was on the way, and at this point, I would rather not survive it, not if Ellie was gone for good.

Chapter 36

Ellie

Five Days Ago