Night Witch (Weatherstone College, #2)(52)

When he placed my food before me and nudged it closer, without touching a piece for himself, the tension eased, and my family filled their plates as well.

Logan had given me so much that there was no way I could eat it all, so I grabbed an extra fork for him. “You can share with me,” I said. “I won’t eat half of this.”

A familiar, stubborn expression crossed his face. “I’m not touching your food until you’ve eaten. Now go on, you need the energy.”

That caught Mom’s attention, her spoon of mashed potatoes hovering above her plate. “What is he talking about? Are you okay, Paisley?”

Logan ignored her completely, tapping his hand against my plate. I already knew from the last week at school that he wouldn’t stop until I ate, so I rolled my eyes and grabbed my fork. “That’s the reason we’re here,” I said as I spooned up some potatoes. “My magic is waning, and we’re wondering if it could be the suppression potion.”

Jenna’s fork clattered to the table. “Why is she taking a suppression potion?”

Mom looked at me, then toward her eldest daughter. “We’ve been keeping you all in the dark about Paisley’s affinity, and I want to apologize because it was my call. Your sister wanted to tell you all when everything blew up last year.”

Jenna’s hand shook as she grabbed her fork again. “You’re going to tell us now, right?”

“Yes,” I confirmed before Mom could. “I’m going to tell you everything.”

Between bites of food, I started with the first monster appearances, and what had happened at the end of the year. “On All Hallows’ Eve, when the blanket over Weatherstone lifted,” I said softly, “my magic went haywire, and I called all the monsters. That’s when I knew I was actually behind the attacks at Weatherstone.”

My sisters didn’t utter a word as I told them everything, including what we’d learned from the reaper book, the fact that we were called “night witches,” and Gran’s letters. After, Mom filled them in on the suppression potion we were using to keep my affinity a secret. We put it all on the table, and it felt right to have everyone know the truth.

By this stage, I’d eaten as much as I could, and Logan finished the rest of my plate in an orderly fashion. He ate the way he did everything in life, with methodical skill that accomplished his task in the fastest and most competent manner.

“What is your part in all of this, Logan?” Dad asked him. His expression was neutral, but we could see the flames in his eyes.

Logan didn’t hold back. “My father hates your family. Since Mom’s death, he’s been building his wealth and power, all to take you down. He said that simply killing you all would be too easy. Too fast. He wants to watch you suffer the same way he has. He didn’t tell me the exact plan, but I believe he hopes to start destroying this family one member at a time, until you’re the only one left, Professor Hallistar—the best friend who didn’t believe him when he said there was a dark magic aura around your wife. He blames you the most, and he wants you to suffer as much as he has.”

The silence was heavy, broken only by a roar from Morris, who was outside. No doubt he was reacting to the devastation we could see on Jenna’s face.

“He didn’t tell me how he plans to achieve this goal,” Logan continued, the deep baritone of his voice growing stronger. “I’ve tried to play the good, dutiful son to stay in the loop, but a part of him doesn’t trust me. When he told me to go to Weatherstone last year to keep an eye on Paisley and report back what magic she has, I did exactly that, but I never told him my suspicion that she was involved in bringing the monsters into the school. Somehow, he knew, though, and on parents’ weekend he broke through the blanket briefly and fed his energy into Paisley so her magic went haywire and temporarily brought dozens of monsters inside the barrier.”

I jerked around to stare at him; he’d never told me that before. “So I didn’t imagine them.”

“Sorry, love,” he said with a sad smile. “I felt his energy when I raced into your room, and knew it was involved, but I didn’t know how. It wasn’t until last month when he called me home and told me that you were from the night witch affinity, also known as a reaper, that it all made sense. He believes you had something to do with the monster who killed Mom.”

I blinked. “Why hasn’t he come after me, then? What’s he waiting for in this plan to start killing us off, one by one?”

Logan’s energy rattled through the room, his darkening expression scary. “I can only guess that he’s not ready to go up against me, not in a direct attack. But he’ll have a plan, even if I’m at a loss of what it is.”

The realization hit me all at once. “Logan, my weakness . . . what if . . . ?”

Dad shot to his feet, his power swirling until the room’s temperature had us all baking. “What weakness? What’s happening to your power, Paisley?”

I shook my head. “I have no idea, Dad. But I’ve been exhausted to the point that on Wednesday, Logan felt me fading.” Swinging my gaze toward Mom, I asked again, “Could this suppression potion be weakening me? Draining my powers and energy until I’m in danger of fading away in darkness?”

She shook her head. “Not a chance, honey. It’s not dark magic. It’s very similar to the blanket magic over the school. To my knowledge, nothing but a very powerful curse can drain a witch’s magic.”