Page 24 of When Storms Ruin

My mom shook her head, her gaze focused on her hands buried in her lap. “I made a lot of mistakes, and I am not proud of the decisions I made. I am merely a mortal. I know it isn’t an excuse…but I didn’t know how to help you through your awakening.”

“Did you know about Tess? About her parents?” I asked.

“Yes, I knew. They were Annelise’s friends, but they had a Shade child of their own to raise. She thought you would be safer with me, across the country. Tess’ parents were adamant about keeping this from the both of you as well, I couldn’t turn to them to ask for their help with magic.”

“But youdidbring me to Silver Oaks…” I trailed off.

If the spell had stuck, I never would have met Tess. If my birth mother had it her way, I never would have known I was a witch. I never would have known about my magic. I know she was trying to protect me, to keep me out of this war, but by doing so she was also hiding my true identity from me.

“Yes, I brought you here. Your magic began awakening right before your dad passed. I could see the change in you right away.” She met my gaze from across the room.

“But you let me think I was crazy. You told me I was imagining it, that I was only a daydreamer, and I was getting carried away.” My voice came out harsher than I intended.

“I never wanted you to think you were crazy. Diana, I didn’t know what to do in her absence. I knew how to raise a teenager, but I had no clue how to raise awitch. I also needed to keep your magic shielded from your brother. I didn’t want him tangled up in this, asking questions I couldn’t answer.”

Jake. Because he was mortal, too. He was their birth child.

My mother stood, the blanket on her lap falling to her feet as she crossed the room to me. She sat next to me on the couch, her leg resting against my own as she spoke. “Will you ever be able to forgive me?”

How would our relationship have been different if she had been honest with me? Had told me the moment she saw my magic manifesting? Instead of pretending it wasn’t happening and leaving me to figure it out all on my own.

I swallowed hard, meeting her gaze.

“Of course, I forgive you,” I replied, grasping her hand in mine and squeezing it.

A tear escaped, and I quickly moved to wipe it away. I had shed too many tears this last week.

“I know that I can’t tell you what to do, but I want you to be careful. There is a reason Annelise didn’t want you anywhere near this war, that she didn’t want this life for you,” she said.

“So, you knew where I was all this time?” I asked, turning towards her and propping my foot up on the ottoman.

“Tess’ parents went searching for you. They went to Istmere. They heard rumblings of a Stormshade being caught inPrins. You have no idea what it has been like these past few months, not knowing if you were ok, and not being able to go after you. A mortal cannot enter Istmere.”

I hadn’t known that, not that I would have wanted her to come searching for me, anyway. I wanted her here, safe.

“Did anyone come searching for something while I was gone? Did anyone ask questions?” I asked.

“There was one man, he said he was a teacher at your school. He was asking for a book that you had borrowed that you might have left here? But I couldn’t find anything like that. I came home one night to the house completely ransacked, but nobody was here. It has been quiet ever since,” she told me.

Fletcher. It had to be Fletcher, searching for the book of shadows. But how had my mom not seen it? I hadn’t hidden it well…if they had ransacked the house wouldn’t it already be in their possession? As soon as this conversation was finished, I would go up and search for it. I needed to bring it back to Istmere with me, assuming it was still here. There had to be a spell in there I could use, and I needed to know why Donika wanted it so badly.

Was it possible the grimoire had…glamoured itself? Nik had said it was almost sentient in a way. I wondered if it had known people were searching for it…and it had stayed hidden on purpose.

“To recap…my mother dropped me on your doorstep to raise a witchling and told you to bring me to Silver Oaks if my magic ever awakened. Tess’ parents are both witches and all of you hid it from us this entire time. And you were friendswith my mother before her death. Anything I’m missing?” I laughed, breathless.

“I think that sums it up,” she replied, giving my hand a gentle squeeze. “This doesn’t change anything…you are and always will be my daughter.”

“I know that,” I replied, giving her hand another reassuring squeeze. “But I also know that my place isn’t here, in this realm. I am the daughter of Osiris, and the rightful heir to the throne of Istmere. Donika has waged a war against her own people long enough.”

My mother swallowed hard, pushing her glasses back up the bridge of her nose before meeting my gaze again. “I want you to be safe. I know I can’t tell you what to do anymore, that this secret has changed things between us, but I wish things could stay the same.”

“A part of me does, too. But I can’t let my sister kill innocents and simply turn a blind eye. I’m not alone. Tess is with me, and there is a resistance gathering in Istmere. We are not the only Shades sick of the way Donika has ruled Istmere. She has to be stopped.”

“But do you have to be the one to do it?” she asked, her voice small.

I knew what she was asking, but I also knew there was no way I could come back. I didn’t belong in the mortal realm…going to college and pretending none of this ever happened. There was no going back. We would have to figure out a way to explain my absence to Jake, but I would leave that to her.

“I might not be strong enough to stop her on my own…but I’m not alone. I don’t see her as anything other than the woman who killed our birth mother, and there is no forgiveness for her in my eyes. Her soul is as black as the magic she has been corrupted by, and she has to be stopped.”

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