Page 110 of The Omega's Bloodline: Part One

Yes, but I don’t know which path you’ll end up on. The future is not set, Logan. There are many paths you and the others can take, so we must wait.

“Okay, fair. Is there anything you can tell me that would help right now?” I stared down at the page, tracing over each of the names. The lifespans were astronomical to me. A dozen timeslonger than most humans would ever live. “Do you know which one of them is my birth mother?”

Yes.

One of the names illuminated in silver. Mairead O’Clery. She had a death date listed for her in the nineties. It crushed a spark I didn’t know I had kindled. It would’ve been nice to have a mother again. Below her was a space without a name, only my birth year twice with a dash between making it look like I’d passed as a baby. Did the book think I’d stopped existing because I had been adopted by the Murphys?

It didn’t look like there were any O’Clery witches left alive.

“Should I add myself to the family tree?”

Hecate shook her head.Your bloodline is not well thought of. It is far better for you to be known as Logan Murphy than Logan O’Clery. The others of your bloodline knew it, too. You are not the only one lost to that line.

Hecate was gone as quickly as she had come, returning my consciousness to the suite, where Seth and Caden were watching me carefully.

“Anything new and exciting?” Seth asked.

I relayed to them what Hecate had told me.

“How are you supposed to make up for something that happened four hundred years ago?” Caden asked. “I know the future isn’t set, but surely the end task is?”

I shrugged. “Not like I can strong-arm a goddess to give me information.”

I read over the names, familiarizing myself with my ancestors. Now that I knew they were mine, looking at the names felt different. There was one name, Una O’Clery, where it said she had died as a baby too, but something about that feltdeeplyuntrue. I laid my fingertips over it and took a deep breath.

Show her to me.

A familiar face flashed in my mind.

Virginia Burke.

From the position of her name on the family tree, that would make her my aunt. Was that why I had been able to see her? Has she been erased and adopted out to a human family who would never know the difference since her magic was bound?

If even the magic of Melinda‘s book couldn’t tell the difference, how were we to know who was actually dead? How many witches had lived past the recorded death date? How many had taken on new names to distance themselves from the bound lines? Did they all even know that they were witches?

I slammed the book shut, my head suddenly throbbing. I didn’t know how to pace myself with my magic yet, and even what I thought would be a simple task of claircognizance had depleted my batteries. Caden took the book from my lap and I slipped down onto the bed, closing my eyes.

We needed to find Anya and get some answers.

“How the hell are we supposed to find this woman with only her first name?”

The card that Melinda had given to Logan was essentially useless, with a lot of the information rubbed away over time. The only thing we could really make out was that Anya’s last name started with “La—” and that she’d owned a tea shop in Winnipeg that had closed down seven years ago.

Yelena had acquired a laptop for us, and had agreed that I could help Logan today instead of being immediately assigned to the kitchens. Every time she looked at me with that amused sparkle in her eyes, it got my hackles up. Iknewshe was baiting me, and I fell for it every fucking time.

The speaker on the wall crackled, Yelena’s voice filling the room. “Caden, meet me on the main level. Don’t forget your collar. Precious, you stay where you are.”

There went the hackles again.

Logan looked up from Melinda’s book. “What do you think she wants?”

I shrugged, trying to work the stiffness from my shoulders. Yelena was too used to being obeyed and I wasn’t a fan of being under her thumb. Haru had placed a set of three collars by the door for us and I bristled as I buckled one of them around my throat.

Logan hopped off the bed to kiss me before I stepped out the door. “Be safe. I know you don’t like her, but we have to trust that Yelena will protect us in here.”

I cupped Logan’s face in my hands, stroking her cheeks. “If she lets anything happen to you, I’ll tear this place down to the foundation.” I glanced past her to Seth. “Be good. I’ll be back soon.”

Yelena and Haru were waiting for me when I stepped off the elevator. Her gaze swept over me, landing on the collar, and that infuriating smirk graced her lips. “Hello, panther.”

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