I couldn’t keep from pacing outside the closed door. Every instinct in my body yelled for me to run fast and far, because while I’d been the one to initiate this discussion, I had no idea what was happening inside between my aunt and Micah. From the moment they met, I’d been excluded from the conversation.

I could never tell which way my aunt would spin something, and a niggling feeling whispered that our prior discussion about me using my gifts to uncover his secrets may arise.

The thought of jeopardizing what was growing between us turned my stomach sour. Maybe I should’ve been honest from the beginning and told him.

I’d tried to talk with him before—to explain that despite what my aunt might say, I hadn’t wanted to spy on him. It had been the very last thing I wanted, and I had adamantly refused her.

Yes, the Court used empaths when they needed to discern the intentions of others, but it had never sat well with me. Only under extreme persuasion and duress would I cave to their badgering. Thankfully, they had other empaths they could employ. It was my aunt who relished the opportunity of reminding me where my duty lay.

I had no problem helping and doing my part. It was the uninvited prying into the emotional psyches of people that left a nasty taste in my mouth.

The door handle quickly turned, and the door swung open.

The look on Micah’s face was calm and professional. He shook the hand of my aunt, murmuring something to her before stepping out into the hallway.

Perhaps it wasn’t so bad, I thought, inwardly sighing with relief.

Perhaps she’d stuck strictly to what I’d shared with her—that Micah may need additional help from the coven in protecting his beloved niece.

That was when he finally turned to me and lowered his guard. Thunder and anger blasted at me so hard that I staggered backward from the force.

His glare was like a lance piercing my soul.

“Sedona,” Aunt Millicent said, staring at me over the glasses perched on her nose. “I appreciate you informing me about Mr. Westbrook’s needs, and I believe we’ve reached an appropriate compromise. He has officially registered himself and his niece as permanent residents of Havenwood Falls and kindly shared his intentions of moving here. The coven won’t be requiring your services after all.”

I couldn’t speak even if I wanted to, as the realization hit me like a ton of bricks—there was no way Micah wouldn’t understand her meaning. Now I knew the reason why he dropped his guard and let me in. Now I knew why a storm brewed deep inside him.

My mouth flapped open, and I struggled to find the words.

“Thank you, Aunt,” I mumbled, regretting that I’d been foolish enough to trust her. They said that family was everything and that there was nothing you couldn’t turn to them for. My intentions had been sincere—I’d earnestly believed meeting with her would result in some kind of comfort for Micah. I didn’t want him feeling so alone. While I hadn’t expected him to share his secrets with everyone, he could believe the coven would step in and join his efforts to protect Holly.

I looked at him, hoping that by some miracle he would stay long enough to listen to me explain. He had to know that I would never spy on him, that the times we’d spent together were sincerely because I wanted to be friends—not because I was my aunt’s secret weapon.

His brows furrowed in disappointment and hurt. There was no need for me to press against his walls and judge his emotional status. The truth was plastered across his face with a flashing neon sign over his head.

Any trust we’d established together had been obliterated, and tears began to well in my eyes as I watched the shutters fall inside him. What had started between us was now over—a fleeting moment of happiness. Whatever hopes and dreams I held that maybe, just maybe, he could be the one evaporated in a puff of smoke.

“Were you wanting to talk to me, Sedona?” Aunt Millicient interrupted, her voice filled with arrogant impatience. In that moment, I wished I could blast her far away. I’d confided in her how much Micah was beginning to mean to me, and she’d ignored my feelings and acted in true Millicent fashion—nothing mattered but the coven and its agenda.

I stood staring at Micah, imploring him with my silence to please give me the chance to explain. Words still failed me. All my life, words and sentences had filled every waking moment, but now, I was confounded over what to say.

For a moment, I thought he was also quietly willing me to say something—anything so the ugly truth didn’t hang between us. But as each second ticked by, his jawline twitched from the clenching of his teeth.

I knew the precise second when he gave up.

It was also the exact time I found my voice, but it was too late.

“Micah, wait!” I called out as I watched him turn and head toward the exit. I couldn’t let him leave like this.

He paused in his tracks, his back still to me. “There’s nothing more to say, Miss Mathews.”

His use of my last name felt like a dagger in the heart.

Reaching out, I gently grabbed his arm, hoping he would face me. “It’s not what you think! I honestly thought this would help. I didn’t want you carrying your burden alone!”

Micah whipped around, his features twisted with anger. “So it’s not that you were asked by your aunt to use your gifts on me, to find out why I was here in Havenwood Falls?” When I went to answer, he shrugged off my hand and gestured for me to stop. “All those times I felt you pressing against my wards, trying to read me—it wasn’t because you were curious, but because you were working for the coven? All the times you asked me to trust you, to let you in, was any of it true, Sedona? Or was it all a charade . . . a game?”

It was my turn to feel hurt. “Seriously, do you think so little of me that I would do that?”

“Honestly? I don’t know what to think right now. All I know is I can’t stand here a second longer. I told you I didn’t have time for friendship and romance . . . for whatever has been building between us. I was truthful when I said that I wasn’t expecting you. I have one mission, Sedona, one task before me, and I allowed myself to become distracted by you.”

I could feel what was approaching—the sledgehammer of pain that was swinging fast toward me. Out of desperation, I stepped toward Micah, only to have him retreat farther away.

“Please don’t say it,” I implored. I didn’t care how needy that made me sound. Tears threatened to spill over my cheeks, and I shook my head in denial.

“You’ve left me no choice. Respect my wishes, Sedona. We can’t be friends, and I ask that you don’t encourage Holly to come to the bookstore anymore.”

I drew in a jagged breath. All while my aunt watched on, like those who slow down as they pass a car accident. The casualty this time was my heart.

“Please.” One word. It was all I could utter as my mind raced to find the perfect thing to convince him this was a horrible misunderstanding. The problem, however, was I knew this could’ve been avoided had I been open with him. Countless conversations flittered through my mind, showing me missed opportunities where I could’ve broached the topic.

Micah had entered the meeting I’d arranged blind. I’d assumed my aunt would stick strictly to what we’d discussed, and now she’d reduced me to an ass who looked like she’d been hiding something from the man she was dating.

In his eyes, I had betrayed him.

“Sedona,” my aunt said. “Let the man leave.”

Fury boiled up inside me, and I whipped around to level her with a hateful glare. “Don’t you think you’ve done enough? You were meant to help him, not make things worse. I told you I didn’t want to be used as some kind of tool in your arsenal. I refused you when you asked. At no time did I ever agree to spy and pry at your request. Why would you give that impression?” I took another deep breath, my hands shaking at my side.

“I’m not responsible for how others interpret things. Besides—” With a jaunty smirk, she pointed behind me. “He doesn’t seem too interested. I would think any man who respected you and held any kind of affection would stick around long enough to hear what you had to say in your defense.”

The emotions I had struggled to rein in broke free, and the tears finally fell. “I didn’t do anything wrong! You were the one being deceptive! He was someone important to me, and you trampled over everything. Your position with the coven doesn’t justify you acting like a . . .” I bit my tongue at the last moment before I hurled at her words that would’ve disappointed my mother.

“Watch your tone, young lady,” Aunt Millicent chastened. “Remember who you’re speaking to.”

Once upon a time, I admired the woman before me. Part of me had hoped to make her proud, but life had shown me a different path, and I wouldn’t be carrying on her legacy any time soon.

“That’s the problem. You’re the one who’s forgotten who she’s speaking to.” Not waiting for her reply, I shook my head sadly and walked away.

She didn’t call out for me to stop.