Chapter 22: Chapter 22: Mahalia

The newest member of the Hayle clan had an ice-green stare, hair as black as a raven feather and skin so pale she seemed to glow. Absolutely stunning as an infant, she was an instant hit with the family, seeming to understand as though by instinct what they looked for from her and giving it to them.

But I was the only one who saw her inside was no match for the gorgeous little girl she grew into. Her soul was as dark as her hair, flickers of her true nature showing through with only the most careful of observations. There were times in those first two years of Mahalia's growth I tried to convince myself I was wrong, that I judged her too harshly. But the morning I found her two-year-old self carefully drowning one of the barn kittens in the glass of milk she'd offered it as a lure, eyes narrowed as she focused, I knew I was right.