Page 102 of The Witch's Pet
“Real?” Rebecca lets out a bitter laugh. “You fed on her for months, Julia. You watched her waste away, and you kept taking.”
“I was immature and drunk on power. I thought I could control it. I—” I shake my head. “It does not matter what I thought. I was wrong.”
She glares at me, her expression glacial.
“You won, Rebecca.” The admission burns my throat. “The binding spell forced me to face what I am and what I’m capable of, and I hated every moment of it. I had to watch the same pattern threaten to repeat.”
She faces me, one eyebrow raised. “You’ve grown to care for the girl.”
I think of Hannah’s trust, and the way she looked at me even after learning what I’d done to Charlotte.
When she first offered herself to me back at her house, I feared she would meet the same end. It seemed like the only possible outcome. But Charlotte only loved my power. She loved what I could give her, and what we had never extended beyond that. But Hannah…
I stop that thought before it can complete. I will not admit this to Rebecca. What happened between Hannah and me is none of her concern.
Instead, I say, “I cannot bring Charlotte back, and I cannot undo the pain I caused you. But I want you to know that her death changed me, even if it took your curse to make me understand how.”
Rebecca’s exhaustion is plain in every line of her face. It’s not just tiredness, but the bone-deep weariness of carrying hatred for over a century.
“I don’t forgive you,” she says finally. “I may never forgive you. Charlotte was my sister and best friend, and you took her from me.”
“I know.” I expect no forgiveness, and I will not ask for it.
“But I’m so damn tired of hating you, Julia. I’m tired of letting what you did consume me the way you consumed her.” She laughs bitterly. “Do you see the irony? I’ve spent a hundred years letting you feed on me in a different way. My anger, my grief, my entirelifehas been about you.”
She balls her fist as if she’s about to strike me with magic.
“I dedicated my life to planning revenge, perfecting the binding spell, and ensuring that journal was never lost, knowing that if you ever awoke, I was going to make sure you suffered. And now that it’s happened…” She frowns into her tea leaves like she’s reading the future.
“It doesn’t bring her back,” I finish.
She turns the cracked teacup, examining the damage. “Revenge hasn’t filled the hole Charlotte left. It just made it deeper. I thought seeing you broken would heal something in me. But you’re standing here, and Charlotte is still gone, and I’m still the witch who wasted a century on hatred. So I’m choosing to stop. Not because you deserve it, and not because I forgive you, but because I refuse to let you destroy the remainder of my life the way you destroyed hers.”
I nod, unsure what else to say.
She sighs heavily. “Perhaps I can rest knowing you now understand what it means to risk losing someone you—” She pauses, giving me a meaningful look. “Someone who matters.”
Heat creeps up my neck, but I don’t deny it.
We stand in silence as the sun climbs higher, burning off the frost. The light is almost painful after the long night.
“I suppose I’ll see you at coven circles,” Rebecca says.
“If you’ll have me.”
“That’s not up to me.” She steps back, looking me up and down with calculating eyes. “Don’t expect us to be on good terms. If you return, the best I can offer you is neutrality.”
“That’s more than I deserve.”
“Yes. It is. But I’m not doing it for you. I’m doing it for myself and what’s left of my life.” She walks past me to go back inside, then pauses. “Charlotte loved easily. She was soft and trusting, and she would have forgiven you even as she was dying, because that’s who she was.”
The words hang in the cold air.
“But this girl isn’t like that, is she? Hannah sees exactly what you are. The monster, the killer, the creature who can’t help but consume everything she touches. And she’s choosing you anyway.”
My throat tightens. Indeed, Hannah is nothing like Charlotte. Charlotte made me feel powerful. Hannah makes me feel human.
“I wonder if it’s better or worse that Hannah sees through you,” Rebecca muses. “Charlotte died believing the lie that you loved her and were worthy of her devotion. At least she had that comfort. But Hannah knows the truth. She knows what you did to my sister and knows you could do the same to her. And she’s foolish enough to still want you.” She shakes her head slowly, pulling her shawl tighter. “Maybe that makes her braver than Charlotte. Or maybe it makes her more broken. Either way, I hope you seewhat’s happened here, Julia. You didn’t become a better person. You just finally got caught and forced to face consequences.”