CHAPTER 53

Ethan wrinkled his nose, as if the memory had conjured up a bitter taste on his tongue. 'Money. She wanted money. She came from a dirt-poor family and grew up in a rural town in Romania. They had nothing. Literally nothing. She claimed she wanted the money to send to them, you know, help them escape the shit-stinking poverty they lived in.'

I frowned. 'But, that's a good thing, surely? I mean, I'm not excusing her for betraying you like that, but if she wanted to help them...'

He laughed, the grin widening. 'It was a lie. She had no intention of helping them. They freaked out when they found out she was a maledicti and accused her of being in league with the Devil. Old Romania was steeped in a superstitious fear of witchcraft and spirits back then, it still is in a lot of places. She couldn't actually do all the things they thought a witch could do, but she still burnt her family home down anyway before running away. She killed her grandmother, her aunt and her baby brothe