Chapter 63 - Tagan

I clenched my teeth to keep from yanking the light of my life out of her grandmother's arms. The whole idea that this woman who looked at the same age as my Sweetcheeks was her grandmother was throwing me for a loop. But with everything else that was going on in our lives at the moment, I had a feeling adaptability was going to be a precious attribute.

Ari patted her hands over Sweetcheeks' back, her face serene as she held the sobbing younger woman. "My sweet child, you did not kill her. You would have been unable to do so. She gifted you her power as a last defense against the evil that lurks under the surface of Alder Valley. She sacrificed herself to keep you safe."

I snorted. "Being raped on multiple occasions isn't really what I would consider safe."

Ari's eyes fired until they looked like sapphires drenched in flames. "What?"

Sweetcheeks shrank back, put a hand over my mouth. Shook her head as she looked up at me, pleading in her eyes.

I nipped her fingers. When she p