“What the fuck, Meiner?”
Pain blazed through her hand and up her arm. There was a fist-sized dent in the wall beside Cora’s head, and shame rushed in to replace the rage as fast as it had come.
This wasn’t her house. She’d have to pay for that.
Cora’s expression was defiant, but Meiner thought she saw a glimmer of hurt there. “You think you’re better than your gran and me. But you’re the same.” She pushed away from the wall, back stiff. “No, you’re worse, because you won’t admit it.”
Meiner watched her, speechless, as Cora flipped her blond hair over her shoulder and stalked away, slamming her bedroom door. For a moment she stayed there, seething.
The worst part was that Cora was right. These days she lost her temper at the drop of a hat, at the slightest provocation from Cora or Gran.
When she looked up, her stomach surged. Dayna was standing in the hallway, her face blank with shock.
“Why didn’t you knock earlier?” Meiner hissed, her voice made savage by the anger burning through her.
Dayna’s expression went dark. “I did. You didn’t hear me the first time. You’re welcome, by the way.”
She disappeared back downstairs, and Meiner groaned. She slumped against the wall, hand throbbing, the edge of the death card poking her in the thigh like a grim admonition.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
DAYNA
Dayna stared out at the garden from her spot on the front steps, still fuming. Seeing Meiner’s true temper had been shocking, and having a piece of it directed at her, however small, was not something she was going to put up with. She had half a mind to march back in there and demand an apology.
She wasn’t sure exactly what happened, since she’d been around the corner. She’d heard some of the exchange—the louder parts, really—and the pause, and then Meiner’s shout of disbelief, and the crash of a fist going through the wall.
Part of her was burning with curiosity, but honestly it didn’t matter, did it? There was no excuse for the way Meiner had behaved toward Cora, and toward her, not to mention the property damage, and after Yemi and Reagan had invited them into their home….
There was a thud from behind her, and Dayna jumped, turning to see Meiner in the doorway, her face flushed with anger. She marched past without a word, stalking across the driveway toward her car.
“Oh, I don’t think so.” Dayna sprang off the steps and followed her. She wasn’t going to get away from this that easily. “Where are you going?”
“Away from here. Away from her.”
“You can’t just storm off after that. You punched a hole in the wall, Meiner. You think Yemi can pay for that?”
“I’ll pay for it.”
“You should go in there and apologize.”
“Right now, if I go back in there, I’ll punch a hole in her face.” Meiner turned, marching across the driveway toward the cars, kicking up bits of gravel beneath her boots.
Dayna hurried after her, anger and disbelief making her sputter. “Y-you can’t just leave…Meiner! What about the vision? What about the research? We still haven’t even figured out where the ruins are, and we’ve researched every historical sight in Wexford.” She skidded to a halt, shoes slipping on the gravel, as Meiner yanked open the door and slid into the driver seat.
Dayna huffed and climbed into the passenger seat.
“What are you doing?” Meiner flapped a hand at her. “Can we do this later? The ruins aren’t going anywhere.”
“Yeah, well, me neither.” Dayna folded her arms over her chest, scowling at her. “How can you be this selfish?”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me! Who do you think is next on the killer’s list? Exactly how many witches do you think are in Carman? You may not care about your coven, but I do. I’ve been with those women since kindergarten. They’re my family, and I won’t let them—” Dayna cut herself off abruptly, annoyed to see Meiner didn’t appear to be listening anymore. She was staring at Dayna, eyes glazed over, mouth hanging open.
“What are you looking at?”
“Kindergarten!” Meiner’s face was flushed suddenly, her eyes glittering.
“What?” Dayna frowned as Meiner turned in her seat and started the engine without another word. “Wait, where are we going? What the hell was that about?”
“I just figured it out.”
“Figured what out? The ruins? Meiner—” she protested as Meiner gunned the engine, sending up clouds of dust as they shot down the driveway.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
DAYNA
At the first stoplight, Meiner let the car idle, and Dayna turned to look at her. “You think you know where the ruins are, don’t you?” She grimaced in the rearview mirror at the cloud of exhaust gathering behind them. Meiner’s car seemed to be held together mainly by spells and duct tape.
At some point they would need to talk about what just happened, but right now she was happy enough to change the subject.
“I just realized…when I was in kindergarten my school went on a field trip to Raven Point. There were the ruins of this building in the woods beside it, and we got in trouble for playing in it. It’s not a tourist spot, which is why I didn’t think of it. It’s just…there.” Meiner’s previous anger seemed forgotten; she looked excited, her face flushed.
“Ah,” Dayna said. Silence settled between them again.
They rode for a moment without speaking, the rattling of the engine loud in the quiet. Dayna stared out the window at the green countryside whipping past, trying to concentrate on the thought of the ruins and not on the tense silence between them.
Finally Meiner darted a sideways look at her. “Look, I’m sorry. I was pissed off at Cora, not you.”
“You still blew up at me.” Dayna gave her an even stare. “And you punched the fucking wall.”
“I know, that was shitty and I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” Meiner grimaced. “She just…makes me crazy.”
Dayna tugged at a lock of hair, staring straight ahead. This wasn’t over. Using Cora as an excuse simply wasn’t going to cut it, not if Meiner and her coven were going to work with them for any extended period of time.
“Fine,” she said shortly, and then added, “Tell me you at least found something when you were searching your grandmother’s room.”
Meiner shrugged, gaze still fixed on the road. “I dunno, nothing definitive. Old bones she used to do magic with, some book I didn’t even get to look at before Cora burst in, and a seriously creepy statue….”
“What statue?” Dayna waited while Meiner pulled out her phone and handed it over. She squinted down at the picture, which showed a statue of a man sitting cross-legged, the head of a one-eyed goat on his shoulders. She grimaced. “What the hell is that thing?”
“No idea. I didn’t stick around to google it.”
“Maybe you should.” Dayna pulled out her own phone, opened a search, and typed half man, half goat with one eye. Meiner made a disbelieving noise, but the first thing that came up was a Wikipedia page titled List of one-eyed creatures in mythology and fiction.