Page 92 of Wicked Warlock
“It is with great pleasure and my honor to take the position of headmaster at Evermore Academy.”
Matteaus met her eye and nodded. “Go ahead. Do it.”
“As your new headmaster, I believe I would like to start this next stage of my life with totally and complete honesty.”
The crowd frowned in confusion, looking at one another, and I felt the same. What the hell was she talking about? Bluish-gray smoke seeped from her hands, covering her entire body. When the smoke began to clear, a completely different woman stood there, one I’d seen only in my memories. Long, dark red hair fell from the top of her head down past her shoulders in wild waves. Her skin turned smooth and clear, and she stood up taller and straighter. Gone was the glittery outfit. In its place was a black turtleneck and dark blue jeans. She was curvy and beautiful with a wildness about her that looked so familiar to me.
Whistles of appreciation broke the silence and her cheeks turned a light pink. She put her hands up to silence the crowd. “Enough.”
When they grew silent, she turned to look at me. “I have spent the last fourteen years in hiding. My real name is Rosalie. Rosalie Lockwood.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “Mom?”
I couldn’t do this, couldn’t handle this. My mom left me years ago, but she’d been right there the whole time and never said anything. Everyone turned their eyes on me, and I bolted off the stage. No. Nope. I wasn’t doing this.
“Astrid!” she called out behind me, but I opened a portal and jumped through.
I landed right in Beckett’s and my room. I needed to get this damn dress off. I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. I paced back and forth from one side of the room to the other. A blue portal opened beside me, and I expected Beckett to walk out. Instead, my mom strolled through. I am going to kill him.
I whirled around and put my hands on my hips, not saying a word. What could I possibly say?
She held up her hands. “I know I have some explaining to do.”
“Some?” I began to tap my foot.
“You have to know I would have never left you if I didn’t have to.” She looked around the room and at the single, rumpled bed. “Are there two of you in here?”
“You don’t get to be gone for years and then come back to play mom.”
She shook her head. “Of course not. You’re right. But all I’m asking is for you to give me five minutes and you will see.”
“Five minutes.” I’d been alone my whole life. Why should I need her now? She left me.
She folded her hands in front of her. “I had to leave you. There was a prophecy of your death and I just… I just couldn’t let it happen.”
I crossed my arms over my chest.
“When you were very young, you had this mark, and I had no idea what it was. So I took you to the only place I knew that would hide anything from Alataris—the circus of freaks. You must know I was in hiding myself. He slaughtered the Lockwoods to the point of extinction and we were the last. So, I took you there where magic was bought and paid for. While we were waiting, a small boy only a year older than you walked into the room. It was the scariest thing I’d ever seen. It was a prophecy accusing you of becoming queen and losing your power. You were supposed to die, Astrid, and I just couldn’t let that happen. If you were a queen, then you needed your power to survive. As your mother, I had to make sure you survived.”
I wanted to believe her. To think the mother I never had was working somewhere to help make my life livable. Wasn’t that the fairytale of all fairytales? “Go on.”
“Two queens of the same cast had never happened, and I knew it was coming for you. So, I did the only thing I knew to do. I hid myself in plain sight and gained access to the most extensive warlock knowledge in the world. I researched for years and finally I found the solution.”
“Why didn’t you come for me then? Why leave me alone for so long?” I kicked at one of Beckett’s boots on the floor.
“The prophecy. You couldn’t know until you gained your full queen powers, and by then, it was always a bad time. Until now—now that things have settled—I’m free to tell you. And here I am.”
“So let me get this straight. This whole time you’ve been trying to figure out a way to get me past the age of becoming a queen?”
“Yes, and it wasn’t until Penny came back that it truly all made sense. Then I had to find her parentage to see if any of the solutions I came up with would work. There were several. But turning her into a goddess made the most sense.”
I shook my head and dropped down on the bed. “I was so alone for so long.”
“No, I left you with your father.” She shook her head and her wild hair floated around her face the same way mine did.
“My father was never around, Mom.”
“Your father was always around.”
