Page 100 of Faerie Hunted

I don’t want this.

It moved beyond fear. I tried to voice those words out loud but they refused to come.

“The witches used their own blood with the ritual spell to keep you alive in my womb. I’ve always suspected they knew, as well, just how special you would be. Perhaps the goddess whispered in their ears.” Livvy risked a smile and it carved out my insides. “My beautiful baby.”

“And the journals?” I asked.

“When I woke from my dream, I wrote everything in those journals,” Livvy explained. Her expression darkened. “My thoughts, the words from the dream. The complete prophecy and the spell necessary to unlock your powers when we met again.”

“My powers.” My voice cracked and fear moved in quickly as she stared at me.

“Tavi, don’t you know how strong you are? There is such power in perseverance. It’s only one of your gifts. You have survived everything you've come up against.”

I nodded and my throat clogged as she scooted closer. Our legs pressed together but the love hurt. I’d spent so much time knowing I’d never experience it…

“You’re not alone anymore,” Laina added. She continued to stare into the distance, between worlds, back to her son. “You have us.”

“My magic is gone. The bite on my arm… I can’t fight.”

“You stop that,” Livvy scolded. “There's more to you than your magic, which is far from gone. You are not weak, my girl. You never have been.”

She seemed desperate for me to believe it.

Heart thundering furiously, I moved away, still within eyesight but far enough to be able to block out their words.

Actually, I didn’t want to know.

It made me a coward as surely as running away would have but it was too much. Being here, this reunion, hearing about my birth?—

I’m not special.

I just wanted to be me and to do the best I could to make it through school. Maybe find a way to work with Mike and see if things ever developed into something solid between us. My heart stuttered at the memory of the look on his face when we left, part confusion and part devastation.

The moms continued their conversation without me but I blocked them out. Lost in my head, the day passed quickly and we waited until night and Elfwaite’s return. No going back now. Not like we’d ever had a choice. We were here, and soon I’d be breaking into my childhood home.

A small zap of electricity popped at the edge of my vision and I turned in time to see her wings fluttering.

“He’s gone,” Elfwaite said breathlessly in her tiny voice. “Your uncle has left the house. It’s all black and empty.”

“Thank you for doing this for us,” I whispered back.

“Don’t leave me again. Okay?”

Her request was simple and it rocked me to my core. I wouldn’t. Not if I could help it.

I scrambled to my feet and almost plowed headfirst into a tree as blood flow returned to my legs and ankles.

Livvy and Laina rose as well, both of them swooping up on either side of me.

The quiet disturbed me on multiple levels. The streets should have been louder, people out enjoying the last of the day. But there was nothing and no one and most of the houses we passed were locked up tight. Only a few lights glowed from deep within their four walls.

The streets, familiar from how often I’d walked them, led the way back to my past, and I spared a sideways glance at Livvy, wondering what she thought about this.

What kind of feelings would she have seeing Uncle Will’s place? From everything she’d said, she wasn’t too fond of him. Would she remember my dad? Miss him?

Did she think about him when she looked at me?

The house looked exactly the same as when I’d left it. A few weeds had grown in place of flowers in the garden, and the cracks in the front brick walkway were more noticeable. My attention drew upward to the corner of the second floor like a magnet.

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