A Little Wicked (The Bewitching Hour Book #4)(55)

But if Claudia had brought him back, why wouldn’t she say anything? She had apologized, as if she’d done something wrong.

“Derek,” she said, finally finding her voice. He was still pulling against Bastian’s grip as though he were an animal, solely focused on killing the witch who was now long gone. It was only then that she managed to get a good look at Derek’s eyes. They were pitch-black, not a hint of white showing. “What happened to you?” she breathed.

“He’s not your Derek,” said Bastian, sympathy evident in his voice. “This was Claudia’s last act. He’s our weapon now.”

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Angela drummed her fingers on the steering wheel and looked out over the empty field in front of her. She wanted to know what was happening. She wanted to know where Sam was. She wanted to know how long it would take Claire to wake up. “This is such bullshit,” she muttered before she pushed open the car door and stepped out into the cool morning air. They were miles away from where they’d dropped off Sam. Well away from where the fighting would be, and considering they were in the middle of nowhere, no one could guess their hiding spot.

Well, unless they used magic. Because who knew what the rules were when magic was involved?

“Get back in the car,” said Dante from behind her.

She rolled her eyes. “Why?” She turned to face him and motioned to the empty field surrounding them. “There’s no one here. We’re in the middle of nowhere. Hiding. I promised I was going to help Pierce and here I am hiding.”

“You were trying to help him,” pointed out Dante.

“And I failed. We all failed.” Saying it out loud just brought all the pain back. She’d never joined the military but had always felt a bit like a soldier since she joined the force. A feeling brought home when she’d gotten shot. But she’d never truly felt like she was losing the war until right now. “Pierce is gone. Claire is laying half dead in the backseat, and for what? Abigail is going to kill her. It’s only a matter of time. We’re not strong enough.”

“You can’t just give up,” said Dante.

“I’m not giving up!” Her shout seemed to echo off the trees in the silent morning, silencing even the birds. “I’m being a realist. What chance do we really have? We’re running from ass-kicking to ass-kicking and I’m really not seeing the point anymore. And you’re here for no reason at all.”

“I’m here for Claire,” he said through clenched teeth.

Angela let out a snort and immediately regretted it.

“What?” said Dante.

“Nothing.”

“No. Tell me,” he said. “Tell me how stupid I am for doing this.”

“I—” She didn’t want to say the truth, but right now she was suffering through a serious lack of filters. “Claire has bigger things than you on her mind. And you don’t know the first thing about relationships and you’re just pretending you know what you’re doing. And both of you are unhappy but too afraid to admit it because you don’t want to make the other person unhappy, but you’re both failing because you’re already unhappy. It’s stupid.”

Dante took a step closer, suddenly reminding Angela that she was standing alone with a witch who wasn’t only taller and stronger than her, but had the ability to make her do anything he wanted. She was pretty sure she could kick his ass no matter his physical strength, but the mind control thing was a bit of a curveball. She pretended the magic didn’t exist and tilted her chin to look up at him.

“Are you calling me stupid?” he asked carefully.

She wanted to shake the guy. She really wasn’t qualified to be giving anyone relationship advice. But he didn’t need to compel her to tell him the truth this time. She leaned in even closer and said the next few words carefully. “I think she deserves better than you. And I think you deserve better than her.”

The sun rose high enough to shine on Dante’s face. His green eyes stared down at hers and she had to suck in a breath. She couldn’t believe she’d just said that to him, and the shock of pain in those eyes made her feel damn guilty. It might’ve been true, but she should’ve found a nicer way to say it. “Dante—” She reached out and set a hand on his arm. He didn’t move closer or farther away. He also didn’t say anything.

And she didn’t say anything either. She didn’t want to hurt him anymore, but she meant everything she said. So all she did was remain there, giving him the small touch for comfort. And maybe touching him was comforting her too. She hated his powers, but it was damn convenient to have around.

The sound of a car door had her and Dante jumping apart. They both turned to see Claire stepping out of the backseat on shaky legs. Half a second later, Dante ran to her side. “Hey, I’m here.”

Angela thought Claire would ask logical questions, like “Where the hell am I?” and “How long was I dead?”

But the girl instead looked right at Angela and in a calm voice said, “I need to talk to Sam.”

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