Villain: A Wicked Midlife Adventure (The Wicked Midlife Adventures Book 1) by Beth Byers

Author:Beth Byers [Byers, Beth]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2022-10-16T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

Theo had stopped by The Poisoned Apple at my request, although I suspected he’d have come in anyway.

“How are things?” Theo asked as he took the tea latte from me.

I eyed him darkly.

His lips twitched with humor. “It’s hard. These kids aren’t…normal.”

I wasn’t sure I believed in normal people, but it was true that they eyed me liked a rabid tiger who was about to attack. Even when I took them for breakfast and dropped them at school.

“You might find that they’re better behaved for a while.”

Was what I was experiencing better behavior? The silence watchfulness was downright haunting.

“Then as they come to feel at home, you’ll find that they may start lashing out.”

I rubbed my brow and poured myself a multi-shot coffee. How many were too many? And how many would see me through the headache of bad dreams and live-in ghosts? Let alone the invasion of those big, broken gazes.

I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. “What am I supposed to do with that information?”

“Just try to ride it out,” Theo said. “Robin and Crow both have a therapist at school, and they’ll be able start working through the feelings of having someone step up for them.”

“Nothing you are saying makes sense to me,” I told him honestly. My head was pounding, and I wasn’t sure that it would stop before those girls were out of my house again.

“When you learn that the people in your life who should be there for you won’t be, it gives you this sense of abandonment.”

Yes, I thought. My face, however, didn’t twitch.

“It makes you think that you’re disposable. That no one will ever love you.”

Also, yes.

“And because of that, defensively, the girls might push you away before you can push them away.”

That made so much sense, and I hated it. I hated that he could just put together a few sentences that encompassed the nature of my life.

“With enough abandonment, it detaches you from other humans.”

Mmm, I thought, how difficult it was to be broken down into such simple statements. I sipped my coffee as though I was not bothered.

“This is what Robin and Crow are struggling through. The fact that you rescued them—no one has ever done that before.”

“I didn’t rescue them,” I said, almost horrified. I was not a rescuer. I couldn’t put that on the resume of this life. Daughter, queen, cursed, stepmother, murderer, witch, villain, and then hero? No. I’d already been more than any one person should.

“That’s exactly what you did.”

I turned, slamming my cup down, and stalked out of the front of the shop. I dabbled at running the shop. My employees did the real work. In my office, I slammed the door, wishing I hadn’t invested in the soft-close hinges. What a mockery of my anger. I sank down into my chair, took a deep breath, and then looked at the three computer screens.

The primary screen held the current feed of shoes from the shop both U and I loved.

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