Page 23 of When Storms Ruin

“I don’t want you to hate me,” my mother admitted, tilting her head back to fight the tears that threatened to fall.

“I could never hate you,” I told her honestly. “But I need to know how we got here.”

She hadn’t called the police or filed a missing person’s report, she had known exactly where Tess and I had gone when we disappeared those months ago.

And so had Tess’ parents.

It felt as if I were being betrayed all over again, to admit that she knew about magic and Istmere and had kept it from me. I had suspected that this was the case, but the confirmation stung deeply.

She let out a humorless laugh as she took a sip from her mug, anxiously picking at the skin on her fingernail.

We were the same in that way.

I fidgeted with the blanket in my lap, wondering if I should ask my questions first, but then she began to speak.

“It was a long time ago that I met Annelise in New York. She had come to this realm, and we were fast friends,” she spoke softly, meeting my gaze with an expression I couldn’t read.

“You were friends with my birth mother?” I asked, surprised.

Somehow, in my mind, I had thought I had simply appeared on their doorstep, not that she had known my mother at all. That they had been friends.

“Yes. I hadn’t believed her…at first. About the magic. But she showed me and…I couldn’t deny what was before my owneyes. She went to college here in the mortal realm, before she had either you or your sister.”

She knew about Donika, too. She’s had these answers all along. I bit the inside of my cheek to ease the emotional sting that threatened to consume me as she continued.

“She returned to the other realm after college, and we didn’t speak for a long time. After I married your father, we had settled down and bought a house. One morning we heard a knock on the door, and despite not telling her where I had moved, she had found me. She was wild with fright…and you were bundled in her arms,” she said, wiping away a tear that fell with the back of her hand.

Tears strung the back of my own eyes, but I tried my hardest to bite them back.

I needed to hear this.

“She told me you weren’t safe in the other realm. There was a war, between the Nightshades and the Stormshades, and she was caught in the middle. Because of your magic…because of who you are…she had to hide you. A seer had foretold your future, and you were the key. They key to saving Istmere. She needed to keep you safe at all costs. She told me she couldn’t think of anyone else she would rather raise her daughter. I miss her terribly.” More tears fell in earnest now and my mother stifled a sob as she buried her face in her hands.

“So…she left me with you.” It came out more as a statement than a question. I had known as much, Donika had told me this part of the story.

“Yes, she left you with me. To raise you. She was supposed to come back for you.”

“But she never did. Because she died,” I bit out. “Did dad know?”

My mother paused before answering. “Yes, your father knew. Annelise didn’t want that life for you. She didn’t want you to be raised in Istmere, with such violence and strife. She thought she could change your fate by bringing you here, raising you as a mortal. She wanted you to besafe.”

“Lot of good that did,” I scoffed, my eyes on the crackling fire.

“I could see that your magic was awakening, despite all we did to conceal it. Anna spelled you before she left, to bury your magic. Hide it. She warned me that it would wear off, that one day it would need to be spelled again, to reinforce it. But she was gone.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked, my voice strangled.

If I had known about Donika, if I had known about my magic, everything might have been different.

“She didn’t want me to. She wanted you to have anormallife, a mortal life,” she replied.

“Do you have any idea what I went through? Discovering my magic on my own, thinking I was going completely insane?”

“Diana, I’m sorry. I made a mistake. When your dad passed away, I didn’t know how to handle your magic unearthing itself. I was raising you and Jake on my own. Annelise told me to come here, to Silver Oaks, if the spell ever began to wear off. She told me there were other witches here who could help.”

“She got that part right, at least. This place is crawling with them,” I admitted with a sigh. I pinched the bridge of my nose with my fingers. “We were going to move to Silver Oaks even if dad never passed away?”

“Yes. I wish things were different. I wish she had come back for you. I wish she had lived. I wish the spell hadn’t worn off, and I wish I knew how to help you when it did.”

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