Werewolves & Wisteria by A. L. Tyler Page B

shifted her weight away. She was afraid of me, or what I was about to do. I forced my hand back to my side.
    “Then why tell me?” I asked. “If it won’t do any good?”
    “Because he’s going to try to hold on,” she said, still staring at the pendant with trepidation. “He might hold on a long time after you want to let go. What he’s going to go through might last months or years before he finds a balance, and he won’t be the same person when he’s done. He might not recognize that he’s the one changing, either, and he’ll project that anger and frustration onto you when the relationship starts to fail. If it fails, I mean. It might not, but that’s between the two of you. I’m just warning you that if you hold on, you should come to me if things go badly. I will be there for you when you need to end it. And Annie, I am serious when I say I need to be there. I have seen this end in death for one party or the other, and I don’t want to see it again.”
    I swallowed the dry lump in my throat. I couldn’t imagine that a time would ever come when Vince could be angry enough to try to kill me, or that I would have to kill him in self-defense. We’d been through too much together already.
    “Thank you,” I said. “I’ll call if I need to. I promise. I really just want what’s best for him at this point.”
    Adeline knew that I didn’t believe her. She crossed her arms and shrugged. “I suppose you’re seeing his resilience right now. It’s a honeymoon phase when the power is new. It fills him up with confidence so there’s no room for worry. Maybe that’s why he chose now, of all times, to approach you for something more. But it doesn’t last. I know you feel guilty about all of this. You should, because it’s your fault.”
    The words stung more than I thought they would. Even in the pain, there was some small freedom of release. I had been feeling guilty for some time, and everyone around me kept saying that it wasn’t my fault because no one could have foreseen it.
    But it was true. If not for me, this terrible thing never would have happened to Vince.
    Adeline’s eye twitched, and her next words were said with a fixed frown. “It’s not all bad. If he’s going to be with you, it’s probably the best thing that could have happened. Kendra could tell you what life is like for the witches that dabble. It isn’t easy. He would have been a target for every person you ever angered, made jealous, or got in the way of. Now he’s protected. That’s why we call it a gift. I always thought that’s why Kendra took up with Stark, and then Charlie. She’s made more than a handful of powerful enemies. She wouldn’t have a love life at all unless her men could protect themselves, so she only ever fell for the ones that could. With our guidance, Vince will be able to protect himself. I’m sure you don’t want to get in the way of that.”
    The sun was beginning to set behind the side of the mountain, and the cold September air suddenly felt even more chill. Adeline was walking away, and the stillness of the woods around me made me shiver. There were werewolves here, and no one would have ever guessed.
    “There are others.”
    When I spoke, Adeline turned back to me, looking weary.
    “There are others, besides Stark,” I said again, quieter. “Kendra must have had other enemies, if Stark needed to protect himself.”
    Adeline paused for a minute, looking away. She shook her head like she didn’t want to say it.
    “She has friends, too,” she said finally. “The name Hawthorn carries a reputation in a lot of circles, and even I can tell you aren’t equipped to deal with the consequences. Between the demon and the necromancer, you’re starting off on the wrong foot in this circle. You should watch your back introducing yourself to anyone else.”
    I followed her back to the car in silence. I found Martha lying on the hood with her back against the windshield, staring at the stars.