Page 39 of Outlawed

I nod. Perhaps he’s right. My guess though is he simply paid off the coroner, like he did the sherif. He had one man to say Martin Hard had been shot and killed when he’d never actually died and the other pointed all the evidence my way. And who the fuck would argue with the coroner and the sheriff?

I feel sparks dance over my hands as my anger gets the best of me for a moment, thinking about the sixteen year old me who never stood a fucking chance.

“Poppy?” Shephard eyes my hands before moving closer. “Let’s get you out of here while my guys process the scene.”

“If it’s all the same to you, I’m gonna call Austin to pick me up.”

His jaw clenches, but he nods.

“He was the only one out of the three of you who was around back then. I’d like to know what happened in the aftermath. I never thought about the funeral or who paid for it, let alone who arranged it. Perhaps that person knows more.”

“I’d imagine he left instructions with Dale. Guess I might have to talk to Austin myself. See if he can shine some light on shit.” He sounds like he’d rather pull out his own teeth.

“You could talk to Jackie. She was with the old sheriff then. She split from him because of his handling of my case, which means she might know stuff others don’t. She sure as heck wouldn’t share it with me, not if she thought it would upset me.”

He sighs. “Alright, but if you want me to pick you up from Austin’s, just call me. We won’t be here long. An hour, or two tops, but I don’t care if I’m working or not. You say the word, and I’ll come get you.”

I lift onto tiptoes and kiss him. “My hero.”

Later, after Austin collects me from the cemetery and takes me to the place he’s holding Porter, I have a moment of clarity.

This is it. Tonight is the night I’ll kill my father.

“You’re quiet.”

“Just thinking how strange things turn out.”

He chuckles, the sound a little strained. “Strange is one word for it.”

“I’m in the car, heading to an unknown location with a man who—” I stop and swallow, looking out the side window into the ever-darkening sky.

“Raped you. You can say it. Nothing I say or do can change that.”

“That’s the thing, though, Austin. Using the word rape doesn’t feel quite right, either. I’ve been thinking about this a lot. I was sixteen.”

He flinches, but I reach over and pat his arm. “Not the point I’m making. I was young, naive, and lonely as fuck. I thought you were some god-like creature. Older, sure, but powerful, protective. I think that’s why I liked being around you. You made me feel safe.”

“Until I didn’t.” He squeezes the steering wheel hard enough to make his knuckles bleed white.

“Either Andy is guilty, or you are.”

“Both can be true at the same time, Cece.”

“Look, what I’m saying is, if you’d tried to seduce me, even just using one percent of that charm of yours, I’d have given myself to you on a silver platter. No drugging would have been needed. I never felt that way before.”

“Before witches come into power, they…I’m actually not sure how to describe it. I guess you could say they don’t feel things the way most teenagers do. Their powers being suppressed kind of holds their pheromones and hormones in check, too.”

“Huh. I did have questions about how that worked. You said witches came into their power at eighteen in most cases. I did wonder if there were a bunch of teenagers out there that had no idea they’d suddenly bonded to a witch because he’d fucked one in the back of his dad’s truck before she grew into her power and realized what it meant.”

He laughs and shakes his head. “The things that go through your mind…but yes, it’s true. There is little to no interest on the witch’s part in the opposite sex, or any sex for that matter. Not until the powers surge.”

I fiddle with the hem of my dress. “And yet I know I’m not the only one.”

“What do you mean?”

“It hasn’t crossed your mind what a fucked-up loophole that is? There is no way I’m the only witch coming into power who had her virginity stolen from her.”

He’s quiet, but I can see my words hit him hard. “Jesus. How though? I’d have heard something about it happening before, surely.”