“Do you have a better one?” Dad asked.
“No. Not really, but Claudia and the rest of what’s left of this coven will be here tomorrow. I hate to do anything drastic like burning down her home when she’s already on the way.”
“And then what? This is a mess.” Mr. Dawson gestured around the compound. “If humans don’t stumble in here, animals will.”
“Why don’t we give them a proper funeral? Although I don’t know what’s right for witches.” I turned to Dad. “I mean, at the very least we should call Mom and ask. Or Tia Rosa.”
“I’d rather not drag your mother into this.”
“She’s going to find out about it.”
“I know, I just… I want to protect her from making that decision.”
Mom was going to flip when she found out that he didn’t consult her, but if he wanted to suffer the consequences, I couldn’t stop him.
“What if this is too big too hide?” Chris’ hair was way poofier than normal—a sure sign he’d been messing with it too much, something he tended to do when stressed. “We’ve talked about coming out to the humans. Why not now? Instead of covering everything up?”
“Not like this.” Mr. Dawson shook his head. “If our first impression is death and violence, then humans will assume from the start that supernaturals are dangerous. That’s exactly what we don’t want.”
“We should follow our usual protocol. We cover our tracks. Get rid of any sign of supernatural goings on. Dispose of bodies and the evidence of spellcraft. In a secluded area like this, burning the houses is a fine way to do it,” Donovan said. “I know this is not ideal, and yes, it’s sizable cover-up, but it wouldn’t be the grand first impression we’d hoped for. When we tell the humans we’re here it has to be done extremely carefully, or we’ll end up on the losin’ end of things.”
Donovan’s words hit me hard. I didn’t like covering this up. It made me feel like I’d done something wrong, when that was the farthest thing from the truth.
“Destroying Luciana’s house is smart. Burning those floorboards is the only way to make sure she can’t do anymore of her evil magic in there. But the rest of it…” Suddenly I was more than exhausted, and when Claudia got back tomorrow, it was only going to get worse. “Just do me a favor and tell Mom before you set everything on fire.”
“Okay, kiddo,” Dad said. “Probably a good idea.”
“We’ll leave it to you,” Dastien said. “Unless you need us for anything else…?”
“I can handle it from here.” Mr. Dawson nodded to Donovan. “You want to take the students back?”
“Aye.” Donovan put his arm around Meredith’s shoulders. “That’ll be for the best. It’s been a long night for all of us.”
In that moment, I was glad to be considered a student. I wanted no part of this. Going back and getting some sleep sounded like a much better option.
“I’m off too,” Cosette said. “We’re running out of time to wipe memories.”
“Chris,” Mr. Dawson said. “Go with her. I’ll tell my contact at the corner’s office you’re heading that way. Cazadores to me. Let’s get this clean up done.”
I gave Dad a quick hug and headed for the closest SUV. Meredith and Donovan piled in back while Dastien tossed the bag of books in the trunk.
“Well that was a hell of a night,” Meredith said as she buckled her seatbelt.
I leaned into the soft leather. “For real.” I closed my eyes. “Did we really fight a demon?”
“You’re damned right we did,” Meredith said, and Donovan laughed over her words.
I reached back and high-fived her “We’re seriously badass.” Laughing right then was probably asking for something worse to happen, but at this point—I needed the laugh. So, I took it.
***
Back at Dastien’s cabin, I showered and then threw on some pajamas. He set a plate with a heated up burrito and some chips on my lap, but I put it on the nightstand.
“You have to eat.”
“I’m way too tired.” I flopped down on the bed, pulling the covers up around me.
He moved in front of me. One of his dark brown curls fell in front of his face as he bent over. “Please eat.”