Page 11 of When Storms Collide

“There is nothing I can do to fix the mistakes I have made in the past. All that we can do is move forward.” She sighed, running a hand through her mess of golden pink waves.

“You’re right about that.” I stepped back, my arms still crossed over my chest, putting a barrier between us.

I could sense myself building a wall to safely tuck my emotions behind as I wiggled my toes in the sand, attempting to ground myself. If I didn’t separate these emotions from myself, they would consume me.

I turned to head back towards the driftwood cabin, but one last thought kept me rooted where I stood. I turned towards Annelise once more, her hair whipping in front of her from the ocean breeze, obscuring half her face.

“You knew I wasn’t an ordinary witch. You knew I was a Stormshade. You knew my magic could turn on me and kill me. Steal my power. You had the means to bind my magic, and you kept that to yourself, too.” I turned to go but her reply had me turning back once more.

“I told Isaac. I told him what to do, what to teach you. I tried my best to help you and remain hidden.” Her handoutstretched, grasping my arm as if to stop me. I jerked out of her grip as if she had burned me.

“Yoursecretsare more important to you than anything or anyone else. You knew I could bind my storm magic, but you let it go on unbound formonthsonly because you wanted to stay hidden. Revealing that there was a bloodline would have revealed your true identity. You are no better to me than Donika herself.”

As soon as the words had left my mouth, I regretted them, but it was too late to pull them back now. I stormed off towards the house, tears falling in big, wet droplets against my freckled skin, leaving my mother staring after me on the ocean shore.

Ihardly wanted to storm into the driftwood cabin without knowing whose house it truly was. I lingered outside the door, hoping Tess had been watching us through the stained glass window.

Sure enough, the door squeaked open and Tess descended the steps, grasping my shoulders and pulling me close.

“You’re awake,” she sighed against me, squeezing me tight.

“Not for long if you don’t let me breathe.” I laughed against her, all the rage that had been simmering below the surface immediately forgotten with her presence.

Everything else may have gone to shit, but I still had Tess.

We walked over towards the pavilion that I had awoken in. It was set up as makeshift sleeping quarters, with a few beds sparsely decorated with plain, simple pillows and blankets. Each bed was covered in a mosquito net, and I imagined there were a great many other flying insects that loved the sea asmuch as we did. Tess leaned against one of the beds, inhaling deeply and filling her lungs with the salty air.

“If we weren’t in the middle of a war, I could definitely stay here forever,” she sighed wistfully.

“I could, too,” I agreed.

There was something peaceful about this piece of land, and the ramshackle house nestled among the rock cliffs.

“How was that?” Tess asked, nodding towards where my mother stood off on the shore, her back turned towards us, facing the incoming tide.

“Just peachy,” I replied, jumping up onto one of the beds and crossing my legs. “How long have we been here?”

“About a day,” Tess replied, jumping up onto the bed opposite me.

“My magic should be back any time now, I expect.” I ran a hand through my mess of auburn curls, finding that it wasn’t nearly as matted as I had expected it to be after the battle in Siraleth. Though that isn’t to say it wasn’t still in rough shape.

“I suspect that is true,” Tess agreed. “What did mommy dearest have to say?”

I pinned her with a deadpan glare which had her curling over with laughter.

“How she planned to come back for me, but never did because I looked ‘so happy’ with my mortal family. How she’s sorry, but apparently keeping her identity a secret from me was more important than helping me with my storm magic. Oh yeah, and she is bound. At least one of us has control over our storm magic.”

“She is?” Tess asked, her hand flying to her throat. “How could she let you go through that, let that storm hurt you… and she had the solution in her back pocket the entire time.”

I shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

I let out a deep sigh as I leaned back on the palms of my hands. I was utterly and completely drained from everything that was happening, and all I wanted to do was curl up into a ball and forget all of my problems. My body was drained of energy and magic, and I felt as if the fire had been sucked straight out of me. My head wasthrobbing.

“I know it isn’t any consolation at this point, but she’s the one who missed out. You are the most amazing person I know, and she would have been lucky to have seen you grow up.”

“Thank you, Tess.” I pushed off the bed and crossed the space between us, grasping her shoulders and pulling her into the circle of my arms.

If I could only stay like this, my head on Tess’s shoulder and her arms around me, everything would be alright. There would be no war in Istmere. No malevolent sister trying to torture innocents and steal my crown. No mother who abandoned me with a million empty excuses. No unbound, uncontrollable magic to contend with. And Nik would still be here—human—not some magic siphoning vampire.

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