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"It was hot," I said There are few topics less coht? "Outside Where exactly is the Brannicks'

place?"

"Tennessee," Mom answered

"Okay, well that'sWait, Tennessee?" I sat up to look at Moland to here It's this ie," I started to explain, but she was nodding like she already knew "Anyway, I left Thorne at night, and I got here at night, so I couldn't have gone that far"

Moin her voice o icy "Thorne Abbey burned down nearly three weeks ago"

I stared at her "That's iht,"

Shaking her head, Mom reached out and cupped ot word of what happened at Thorne I thought" Her voice cracked "I thought you'd been captured or killed When Finley brought you in tonight, it was like a

Seventeen days

I re, still blackness But I'd only felt it for a moment or two before I'd found myself flat on my back in the woods How had seventeen days passed in the space of a few heartbeats?

Then another thought occurred tosince Thorne burned down, youabout Dad Or Cal, or the Casnoffs"

"They're all gone," a voice said from across the roo as I did A wo She earing jeans and plain black T-shirt, and her red hair, darker than Izzy's, fell over her shoulder in a long braid

"Vanished off the face of the earth," she continued,into the room Beside me, I could feel Mom stiffen "James Atherton, the warlock boy, the other warlock boy, those Casnoff witches, and their pet deured you disappeared with thehter"

I'd guessed this badass wo her in front of me sent my stomach somewhere south of my knees I cleared my throat "In my defense, she pulled a knife first," I said

To ht have been a chuckle She handed"Drink this"

"Ureen contents Whatever the liquid was, it s how this woured it was poisoned

But Aislinn just shrugged "Don't, then No skin off my nose if your head hurts"

"It's okay," Mo her eyes off Aislinn "It'llme dead?" I asked "I o away, but that's a heck of a side effect"

"Sophie," Mo tone in her voice

But Aislinn just regarded ot a mouth on her, that's for sure," she said Her eyes flicked to Mootten that from him You were always quiet"

I looked to Mo Aislinn Brannick, her face pale

"You need to get downstairs in fiveto stand at the foot of the bed "Fa It tasted even worse than it smelled, but as soon as it slid downainst the headboard "Why do you need us for that?" I asked "Can't you guys justBrannick it up without us?"

A heavy silence fell over the roo at one another

"She doesn't know?" Aislinn asked at last, and a er rose up in my chest I didn't want to deal with this I wasn't ready to deal with this, not yet

But when Mom turned to me, I knew I saw it in the fear and sadness on her face, in the way her hands were clutching the blanket And I knew that whether I wanted to face it or not, there was a very simple reason for why she was here

Still, I heard myself ask, "Mom?"

But it was Aislinn answered "Your mother is a Brannick, Sophia Which makes you one of us, too"

CHAPTER 4