Chapter 3

So many of my mother's gifts were inside that room.

I ran toward the fire like a madwoman. I didn't think. I just ran.

The flames hit me the second I stepped forward. They climbed up my body without mercy. The skin on half my arm burned away, leaving raw flesh underneath. When my tears fell onto the exposed wounds, the pain was so sharp and sudden it stole the air from my lungs.

Anderson appeared behind me with Alice wrapped in his arm. I don't know when they had arrived.

He stared at the bloody ruin of my arm. His eyes were lit with amusement.

"I always figured you were some kind of all-powerful witch. Turns out you can feel pain just like the rest of us?"

"Anderson — how dare you burn my things?! Without everything in that room, you would have been dead years ago!"

"I said enough."

Anderson stepped forward and wrapped his hand around my throat.

"Don't you ever mention your filthy tricks around me again. The sight of them makes me sick."

"I'm not just burning your stuff. I'm going to make sure the whole world sees what you really are."

Before I could process what was happening, dozens of reporters flooded into the narrow hallway. Cameras and microphones shoved into my face from every direction.

"Georgina! You've been taking money from the Johnson family for three years. Do you feel any remorse at all?"

"This is fraud. Do you understand that? You could go to prison."

"She was trying to trap Anderson into marrying her — what a piece of work! Stop interviewing her, just hit her!"

A woman in the crowd grabbed my already-ruined arm. The pain exploded through my entire body. I slid down the wall and crumpled to the ground, and then the kicks and punches started coming from everywhere at once.

Anderson laughed, pulled Alice closer, and walked away.

That night, I was trending.

[Anderson Johnson's ex-fiancée exposed as con artist — drained nearly $1 million from the Johnson family in just three years. Shameless!]

[The Johnson family curse was a hundred-year scam — finally debunked thanks to Dr. Alice! Respect science!]

I staggered out of the building still wearing my burned and shredded wedding dress.

I tried to buy a change of clothes. My bank account was frozen.

The automated voice on the phone was flat and impersonal.

"Ms. Georgina, your account has been flagged for suspected fraud activity. We have no choice but to freeze it. We appreciate your understanding..."

I counted the cash in my pocket. Barely anything. I found a small motel and walked toward the front desk.

The owner spat at me before I could open my mouth.

"You're that scammer from the news, aren't you? Get away from my property."

I hadn't eaten in over a day. The burns on my body had already started to fester and weep. I pressed my palm to my own forehead and felt the heat radiating off it.

My legs gave out. I sank down next to a trash bin in the alley and couldn't get back up.

People walked by. Some recognized me. They threw rotten eggs. They poured garbage water over my open wounds and laughed.

I thought about the quiet mountain. I thought about my teacher.

But I couldn't leave yet. Tomorrow was Anderson's birthday.

When Anderson had grabbed my throat earlier, I had felt his pulse. Chaotic. Unraveling. Barely holding together.

I needed to be there to see it.

That thought pushed me upright. I pressed my hand against the wall and forced myself forward.

Then the world went black.

I came back to consciousness surrounded by the familiar smell of herbs.

I forced myself to sit up through the full-body ache and found my teacher, David, sitting beside me, carefully treating my wounds.

"David, I can't go back yet—"

David looked at me with quiet, heartbroken eyes as he worked on the infected burns.

"I know. You need to wait until his birthday..."

He didn't finish the sentence.

A crash outside cut him off. The door flew open, kicked in from the outside, and a group of men poured into the room.

They grabbed me. The one in front drew a knife.

And drove it into David's heart.