"It’s not," Ava answered almost immediately.
"So, you are indeed kicking us out," Phil said without hiding the disappointment in his voice.
"If that’s what you think... then go ahead and think that way."
"You— " Phil clenched his jaw. "What happened to us being family forever?"
"We are still families Phil. But I am not putting you— "
"Enough," Phil said. "We are leaving tonight."
"I told Marylis that you could stay here for the night."
Phil stared at her for a long— long time. "You changed V."
"People change Phil."
"You used to be so— "
"Let’s not talk about the past... alright?" Ava said almost gently. She cared about her brother. And that was the reason why she couldn’t just stay with him. Once people knew that she was a Lycan’s mate, they would surely go after her and the people that she cared about.
Was that worth it?
The simple answer was... she didn’t have any clue.
But one thing was for sure.
She wanted to keep her family safe.
And the best way to do that was to... stay away.
"I know you are hiding things from me. I hope... that it won’t be too late for us to talk about it."
With that, Phil left.
.....
"Did you really have to let them leave?" Baba asked as she approached Ava.
"Do I have a choice?"
"You could have let them stay for the night. Everyone’s too stressed and you already said the house doesn’t have a good water system. The pipes might be frozen."
Ava turned her head towards the older woman. "You knew why Baba..." she said. "I am too unstable. It’s better not to drag them into this." Ava accepted the glass of red wine that Baba handed her. She took a sip and smiled. "I used to think it was just bad luck you know."
"What was?"
"Growing up without a mother and watching my father get killed," Ava said. "I thought it was good when Gabriella found me. She gave me a home, a brother, school. It was almost... normal. You know? I felt normal for a few years."
She could feel Baba’s gaze towards her. She didn’t know if she pitied her. But Ava didn’t care. She just wanted to talk about it. She blinked and let out a sigh.
"You were right. I was too unstable and this isn’t the first time it happened."
"Was it when your mother... died?"
Ava snorted then she shook her head. No. Everything started when she saw those shifters kill her father when she was seven. That was the first day she discovered she was a witch. A powerful witch at that.
She finished the rest of her wine.
"Power does that," Baba said. "It can isolate you. It can make you feel alone and lonely. I don’t know what you have been through but I know a powerful witch like you wouldn’t survive until now if you quit."
Ava turned towards the older woman. Earlier, she told Baba that to cover up her unstable behavior, she chose to work for Trillium. After all, Trillium is above the law. Now, her assumptions were biting her in the back.
At twenty-six, she could barely control her magick that was fueled by her anger. The angrier she gets, the more powerful she became. And sometimes... anger would blind her.
Of course, she left this part.
How could she tell Baba that the source of her ability isn’t... nature? It was anger.
"Matthew already arranged everything. His people will be following them and I would personally put an enchantment in that house to keep them safe. Though.... I would be very careful when talking to your sister-in-law."
"Marylis?"
"She’s like me... isn’t she?"
"She’s weaker. She could see glimpses of the future. Or at least that’s what she told me."
Baba nodded.
"She’s hiding something," Baba said. "But you already know that, right?"
Ava nodded. "She’s been very unstable since she gave birth."
"Ah... so you think it was just depression?"
"Part of it."
"I’ve heard the case about your brother," Baba said. "It’s terrible to even think that your brother could kill your mother. But... the fact that someone has been imitating him all this time is just a little too suspicious."
Ava nodded at that.
The first question that she had was; why?
Why would they imitate Phil?
She didn’t believe that this was just because they want to throw her off from her investigations. No. Ava was just a simple employee working for Trillium. It’s not like, she could do anything against the organization or against the biggest coven in the US.
Everything didn’t even make sense.
The second question was; what?
What was Phil’s part in all this? Why imitate him? There should be some connection somewhere. But whoever did it, actually chose Phil.
And the third question was; how?
How the hell are they doing that? There was some magick that could copy a person. But to a person mannerisms, speech patterns and even some of the stuff that Phil knew is almost impossible.
Unless of course, it was someone close to Phil.
And the only one that she could think of was naturally... Marylis.
And now, Baba is telling her that something is suspicious about her sister-in-law.
"Your brother seems to be... dancing in her palms too. And no matter how I checked it, he didn’t seem to be enchanted or cursed. It’s strange. Something about your brother... is wrong."
Ava lifted an eyebrow. It’s weird how she thought something was strange about Phil too. But just like Baba, she couldn’t tell what it was.
"If given the time I could — "
"You want them to live here?"
"Isn’t it wise to keep your enemies closer?"
"Not in my case."
"I understand your point of view so I am not going to tell you what to do. I am just simply tell you that if given the time, I could find out what was wrong with your brother."
Ava sighed. She turned towards the view outside of the window. Now, she felt torn. She knew that something was wrong. It would be better to have someone check him.
And the best person to do that is definitely Baba.
But then again, she couldn’t just stay too close to her brother anymore.
Ah.... She could feel another headache coming.
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