Masie rolled her eyes. “That’s something else you should know. The school encourages the three species to engage and unify, but if things are anything like they were when I was a student, then it will be pretty segregated.”
“Segregated? What decade is this?” I gasped.
“Things in the supernatural community are much slower to progress. They’ve been stuck in their ways for centuries.”
“Millennia,” her dad corrected.
I glanced at him for a second, repulsed by the pride in his tone. They were obviously fond of the way things were.
Masie looked to the ceiling like she was searching for help or patience. “You’ll likely find that the three groups stick to their own.”
“But my dad was a shifter.”
Her father cleared his throat, and her mother fidgeted in her seat.
It clicked then. Masie mentioned that her parents were traditional and didn’t support my parents being together. I assumed at the time that maybe it was a religious thing, or maybe my dad didn’t ask permission to marry my mom.
No, it was this. It was because my dad was a shifter, and they didn’t like my mom being with someone who wasn’t a witch.
I narrowed my eyes at them. Masie nudged my foot with hers and raised a brow. This was still a sore spot.
“Inter-species bonds and relationships aren’t common, but it’s not like it can’t happen,” my aunt explained.
“Bond?” I asked, and Masie rubbed her temples.
“I should have told you sooner. There’s too much.”
“But isn’t there a chance a could take after him too?”
Her mother’s lips pressed into a thin line and he frowned in the seat across from her. “Witch blood and shifter blood doesn’t mix well and one is always dominant, so it’s most likely you won’t take after your father.”
“Shifters transition during puberty, so you would already know by now.” Masie added.
I shouldn’t be disappointed by that. I had enough to worry about being a witch, but it would have been something to connect me to my birth father. It felt like they were pushing him away, only focusing on their family line.
“We’ve begun our final descent. We should be on the ground in the next five minutes.” The pilot’s voice filled the small cabin.
Great. We were running out of time, and I was just grazing the surface.
“Your mother never should have been with that . . . man.” Masie’s mother nearly spit the words. “Witches belong with witches. It’s that simple.”
I ignored her, staring out the window at the expanse of trees. Nothing but green in every direction. Aiden would be so happy.
“What’s done is done, Susan,” her husband said in a defeated tone.
“Yes, Robert, and look what happened,” she bit back.
“Stop it!” Masie snapped at them. “Saige has enough to worry about, and you two aren’t helping.”
Her outburst surprised me, but I was grateful she stood up for me. They were stressing me out, and I was already at my max.
Her father straightened in his seat. “I apologize, Saige. Masie is right. You have enough to focus on.”
I was curious what his wife meant about what happened. My parents died, but my dad said it was an accident. Did she really blame my dad’s heritage for everything?
The plane bounced as the wheels hit the ground, and my nerves shot through the roof. This was it. I was about to see my new school. The place I’d be living for the next year.
Once we stopped, the pilot stepped out and opened the aircraft door so the stairs could extend. I waited for the others to leave before standing and taking my suitcase. I expected to see another tarmac and airport, but there was only forest to the sides and grass below us. When I descended and looked back at the long, narrow field I realized we landed in the middle of nowhere. At the end closest to us was a huge structure with one tall door open, revealing another plane. It looked like a storage building. Was that for the school too?