A Darker Past (The Darker Agency #2)(46)

“You little bitch,” she howled, charging through the mirror. With the door open, I probably could have scampered into the shadow and transported myself to the other side, next to Mom, but my feet wouldn’t work. No matter the command, I stayed rooted like a moron as she came at me. Cassidy crossed the room and grabbed the front of my shirt, spinning me to the wall. “How dare you?”

I needed to diffuse the situation. “I know it looks bad, but I can—”

“Shut up.”

I bit down hard on my lip and cringed at the venom in her voice. Grasping at her hands still wound around fistfuls of my shirt, I dug my nails into her skin. I wasn’t about to get physical with my best friend’s mom, but I had a right to defend myself.

“You have no respect—” Cassidy flew backward.

“Get your goddamned hands off my kid,” Mom roared.

The fiercest Monster Masher I knew, Mom was definitely a force for the chaos-causing Otherworlders to fear. But threaten her child? Forget about changing your zip. You’d better look into changing your country code. Or your planet.

“If you ever lay a finger on her again, I might forget you’re human and just eradicate your ass,” Mom seethed.

Cassidy climbed to her feet, rage seeping from every pore. Her movements were stiff and jerky, and her lips pulled back with a snarl. “Just like a Darker. Threaten, threaten, threaten.” She laughed and raised her arm, fingers curling tight into a fist. The skin around her hand began to glow deep red. “It’s about time someone taught you some manners.”

“What the hell?” Kendra came through the door and stopped midstride when she saw Mom and Cassidy facing off against each other. There was something in her hand. Her gaze fell to Jana, lying pale as paper on the other side of the mirror. The thing, a book, fell to the floor as she rushed to step between them. When neither mom answered, she turned to me, then dropped to the ground beside Jana. “Jessie?”

What was I supposed to say here? Your mom attacked me? I couldn’t do that to Kendra. “They showed up. I assumed it was because you brought them.”

“I was meeting Jana,” Cassidy snapped. She turned to my mom, pointing a finger in her direction. “She just showed up. Then, so did the demon. Why is that, Klaire?”

Mom’s face turned red. Cassidy Belfair was one of the few people that could push her buttons. I knew they’d gone to school together, and more and more lately, I’d come to the conclusion that there was more to their history than I’d been told. She took a step forward and jabbed her own finger. “I know you’re not implying what it sounds like you’re implying.”

“Guess who attacked,” I said, wedging myself between them, next to Kendra. This was getting ridiculous.

Cassidy backed off a bit. “It killed Jana,” she said to Kendra as she picked herself off the ground. “I thought it would kill us, too, but it said Jessie was inside and left without laying a finger on either of us.”

“I dunno how it knew I was there when no one else could see me.”

Everyone seemed to be calming down. Good. This was good.

Kendra looked from her mom to mine and took a deep breath. “Mom, this isn’t Jessie’s fault. I brought her here. I thought we could—”

The sound Cassidy’s hand made as it clipped Kendra’s cheek sent me about a foot into the air. I moved without really thinking about it, lunging for Cassidy, but thankfully, Mom was fast. She snatched my wrist and yanked back before I could make the situation ten times worse. Getting in the middle of a coven issue? That was just death wish territory. Still though, Kendra was my best friend. No one, including her own mother, was going to rough her up on my watch.

I settled for words instead of action. A rarity for me, but hey, you worked with what you had. “Mrs. Belfair, Kendra was worried about the coven. She thought maybe if we looked at some of your historical archives, we might be able to figure out how Lorna and Charles—”

“Lorna and Charles.” Cassidy said the names like they were curses. “None of you have respect for our ways. It stops now. For good.” She whirled on Kendra. “You will no longer associate with the Darkers.”

Kendra rolled her eyes. “Sure. And you plan on taking care of the demon problem all on your own, right?” Kendra didn’t talk back to her mother often, and when she did, it was timid and hesitant. Now though, it was like a totally different person was standing in front of me. This witch was confident and brave. Whether it was because she’d been inducted as a full coven member, or just because she’d finally gotten sick of Cassidy’s controlling crap, it didn’t matter. I was so damn proud of her.

“We will handle the demon,” Cassidy said with certainty.

Mom took a step forward. “Even if you could locate the prison, you can’t give him what he wants.”

Cassidy glared at Mom, then laughed. “I’m not Lorna. I can’t be ordered around by a Darker. I will do what I want. What I need to do to protect my sisters.” She snapped her fingers and pointed to the door. “Kendra, we’re leaving.”

“Mom, I don’t think—”

“Do not make me say it again.”

Kendra sighed. “I’ll catch you in school tomorrow, Jessie.”

She made a move to walk toward the door, but Cassidy grabbed her wrist. She held so tight that the skin on Kendra’s arm went from red to white. “No, you won’t. You are to stay away from anyone with the name Darker. That’s an order from your coven leader, not your mother.”