Thicker Than Water

Chapter Sixteen

Before I could react, Mara flicked her hand and my entire body stiffened. I was under another paralysis spell, like I had been in the basement of the coven house.

Everything inside me tried to wiggle free, to move just an inch. But I was completely frozen, like I had been set in concrete. With another move of her wrist, my body rose a few inches off the ground and floated to the couch. I landed with ease on my back, spread across the furniture like Snow White in her glass coffin.

Mara sighed, plopping down in the recliner across from me. Once she was comfortable, she freed only my head from the magic. I turned to look at her, fury covering my face.

"Let me go, you traitor." I snarled.

She shook her head. "Bridget, you have this all wrong. I'm not trying to hurt you with this," she motioned to me, frozen in place. "I'm just trying to keep you from hurting me."

"Smart." I gritted my teeth together, wishing I could sink them into her throat. Traitor. I can't trust anyone in this world.

"Bridget, I need you to understand something. Just like you said, I'm still me. I don't want to hurt you." She wiped a hand over her forehead and crossed one leg over the other. "I need to tell you a few things that will hopefully answer some questions you have. Namely, about those two weeks you can't remember."

"I've heard that before... from your friend Lenora." I glared at her.

"Bridget..." she stood. "I was Lenora."

A wave of shock washed over me. "What?"

She used her magic to lift me up so I was sitting. Once I was upright, she snapped her fingers and was instantaneously transformed into Lenora.

What the fuck? She snapped again, and switched back to the Mara I recognized.

"That was me, in the coven house. Those two dumbasses really messed everything up. I told them to grab you and bring you back so we could talk. I didn't show up there looking like myself because I was so scared that our whole plan would unravel if I did. Not only that, but I thought if you knew the truth, it might get you hurt. Lot of good that did me." She scoffed, a small smile tugging at the edge of her mouth. "I got there, and you looked like you were dead. It took everything I had not to drop down at your side and panic. I really did try to help you, but it went so wrong. When the vampires showed up, I knew my time had run out to save you."

I didn't know what to say. My best friend, my foster sister... was she being honest? My immediate reaction was anger, but this was Mara. I could trust her... right? I wanted to so badly... I was tired of being hurt.

"That whole day was a mess... so I'm going to do this a different way. I'm just going to tell you the truth." She sighed. "If we end up dead, so be it. I can't keep running around holding in these secrets."

"And why should I believe you?" I stared her down, waiting for an explanation.

"Because I'm the only person in this world who has cared for you the way you needed. I'm the only one who has ever said I would love you forever and meant it." Her eyes spoke more truth than she did.

That one hit me square in the chest. She was right, after all. I had no parents to speak of, no other friends, no boyfriend anymore... just Mara. Every day I had spent alone didn't kill me- because I had her. She was the one who had gotten me through every terrible moment in my life. Until a couple minutes ago, she was the only person in the world that I trusted with my entire being. And here she was again, the only person I could count on in this life to tell me the truth, or I hoped, at least. I swallowed hard, looking down at the floor. Tears threatened to spill from my eyes.