Chapter 385

Olivia

As I sat in front of Jenifer in the form of the witch, I felt stunned, like I was frozen to my spot.

“Well?” Jenifer asked, taking a step back and holding her arms out. “Suits me, don’t you think?”

“What suits you?” I managed to stammer with a defiance that I didn’t quite feel. “The persona of an old hag with a penchant for evil? Yeah, I’d say it suits you perfectly.”

Jenifer’s eyes flashed with something that almost looked like rage, but only for a moment before she composed herself and returned to her smug demeanor once more.

But in that moment, I felt it; another surge of my wolf’s strength. She was returning, albeit slowly, from whatever spell Jenifer put us under. I was almost certain that with just a little more time, I could fight my way out of here. I just needed to stall for a little while longer. I needed to keep Jenifer talking.

“So tell me,” I said, taking advantage of the fact that Jenifer loved hearing her own voice, “how did you manage all of this?” I gestured to her body, to the visage she had taken on that wasn’t her own.

“Oh, this?” she purred in the gravelly voice of the witch. “Just a bit of black magic. I learned from the best; although, of course that old hag only used light magic. She didn’t like it so much when I started taking my own path.”

“But why train with her?” I asked. “You were her student, right? What was your purpose behind that?”

Jenifer narrowed her eyes. “You’re trying to keep me talking, aren’t you?” she asked.

I shook my head, although my fingers were still wrapped around the rock behind me, and it was almost halfway out of its spot. “I’m dying today, aren’t I?” I asked. “Don’t I at least deserve a bit of clarity? You know how I am; curious as a cat.”

Jenifer stared at me for a moment longer with the witch’s eyes. My heart pounded so hard in my chest I was sure it would burst. But then, she let out a sigh and shrugged her shoulders.

“Fine,” she said. “Although I think it’s obvious; before Nathan sent me to that awful asylum, I sought out the witch to increase my powers. She didn’t want to train me at first, but you know how… convincing I can be.”

“So she taught you to shapeshift into something other than a wolf?” I asked. “I didn’t even know that was possible.”

Jenifer’s eyes gleamed with a sinister amusement. “Neither did I. But here I am, aren’t I?” she asked, gesturing to herself. “And then, of course, you and Nathan had to traipse in there to seek her services out. Almost caught me, too. I hid in a cupboard.”

I swallowed. I remembered the first time that we had gone to the witch’s hut to restore Alvin’s hand. Jenifer had been there the whole time and neither of us even knew it.

“And I learned so much that night,” Jenifer continued. “I knew just how easy it would be to take advantage of Nathan’s savior complex. And I knew that you both had a connection to the witch, so using her wrinkled old form would give me an advantage.”

The thought of it—of Jenifer taking advantage of the poor old witch, who I was just now learning never had any bad intentions—just made me sick, but I kept my face calm, my fingers still working at the rock in the wall. It was a little over halfway out now. Almost there.

“So, all of this... all the chaos you’ve caused, it was all part of your plan?” I asked.

Jenifer’s twisted grin widened. “Smart one, aren’t you?” she cooed. “I started with sowing discord, tempting you with that ‘deal’, as if I’d ever want that bastard child of yours. And once the seeds were sown, all I needed to do was cultivate them with a little bit of fear.”

“The baby,” I said, my teeth clenched. “You knew it would keep me complacent. Keep me from acting out because I was too afraid to miscarry.”

She nodded. “What’s even more hilarious is that you thought that silly amulet would help you,” she said. “Superstition. I thought you were smarter than that, Olivia.

My fists clenched at my sides. I felt cheated, deceived, and used. Nathan had only ever wanted to help Jenifer, to free her from the torment of the asylum. And now, his kindness had been nothing but a part of Jenifer’s cruel scheme.

“Nathan... he cared about you,” I seethed, my anger boiling over. “He never looked down on you for what you did. He only wanted to see you get better. To help you.”

Jenifer’s eyes blazed with anger, and suddenly, she had shifted back into her own form. “Help me?” she spat, her voice dripping with venom. “He sent me to that hellish asylum, Olivia. Do you have any idea what I endured there? The torture, the experiments? He abandoned me to that fate!”

I was taken aback by the intensity of Jenifer’s rage. It was true; I had no idea what horrors she had faced in that asylum, and Nathan sending her there unknowingly had likely been a source of her bitterness.

“But what you’re doing now, it’s not the way,” I pleaded, desperately searching for some semblance of humanity left in her. “You’re not just hurting Nathan; you’re threatening the lives of innocent people, our children.”

Jenifer’s laughter was chilling, echoing through the dimly lit basement. “Innocent?” she scoffed. “There’s no such thing, Olivia. Everyone has darkness within them. And Nathan’s bloodline is tainted by the very thing he so desperately thinks he’s not.”

“And what is that, exactly?” I asked. “What is this ‘thing’ that you’re speaking of?”

She chuckled. “Evil,” she hissed, taking a step closer. “He thinks he’s so good, so righteous, but he’s evil just like his father.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Jenifer was so consumed by her quest for vengeance that she had lost all sense of reason. Her obsession had blinded her to the consequences of her actions.

As she stepped closer, my fingers gripped the rock a little more tightly. I kept shimmying it out, keeping it hidden behind my back. It was almost there. Just a little more…

“And now,” Jenifer continued, her voice filled with malice, “he and his family will pay the ultimate price. His entire bloodline will be wiped from existence. No, not just his bloodline; his legacy. All of it.”

“You don’t know what you’re saying, Jenifer,” I said. “I know, deep down, you still care for Nathan—for your brother. You don’t want to hurt him.”

Suddenly, Jenifer lunged forward, crouching in front of me. Her hand shot around me, wrenching my fingers free from the rock as though she had known I was trying to wiggle it free this whole time. Then, she shoved me to the ground with so much force that it knocked the wind out of me.

“You’ll see,” Jenifer seethed, her stringy black hair falling like a curtain around both of our faces so that I could see nothing except for her pale gray eyes and her sick, twisted grin.

“I’ll see what?” I managed.

Her grin faded, and her voice dropped to nothing more than a whisper.

“You’ll see everything he built turn to ashes.”