Page 40 of Fortune Academy: Year Two
She shrugged. “Perhaps. There is your second mother to consider in your genetics.”
“Excuse me?” I’d thought Kaito to be exaggerating a lesbian couple situation, but the way my angel mother was talking was saying I actually had three parents.
She perused the treats on the table until she finally selected an orange and began peeling. “You’re special, my daughter. You were conceived by the power of an Incubus King, a fallen angel, and a third powerful supernatural that I can’t speak about on holy ground.”
That made me raise my brows. “Because she’s demonic royalty?”
She chuckled. “Something like that.”
“And you’re a fallen angel?” She sure didn’t look like one.
Her face took on a somber expression as she considered her orange. “I earned my feathers back when I sacrificed my mortal life.” She glanced up at me, peering through the filter of her white eyelashes. “I didn’t know if I’d ever get the chance to see you all grown up, but here you are.” The love she held for me in that gaze made me hold my breath until she finally looked away, working again at her orange.
We all went silent for a while and Orion’s relatives splintered off into quiet conversation.
“I’ll leave you be,” he said, leaning in to kiss my cheek. The motion was so natural that I didn’t pull away. “Don’t miss me too much,” he added.
There’s my cocky Demigod.
Silvia ate her orange, then wiped her fingers on a small napkin while Olivia sampled some of the more meaty dishes. I finished off my goblet, kicking it back to take in the final drops and then I set it down, only to find it completely refilled when I picked it up again.
“Why don’t the two of you tell me why you’re here,” Silvia said after we’d all been quiet for far too long.
Olivia startled, having been working on a slab of ribs, and set her plate down. “We were attacked.”
Silvia looked to me and I nodded in confirmation. “We were boxed in. I had the card and I knew it would take us somewhere else. I didn’t think too hard about it, just got us out.”
“I see,” she said, disappointment on her face as she looked at her hands.
I knew that I should feel something, or want to hug her or tell her how happy I was to meet her, but I didn’t know this woman—this angel. She felt so foreign and strange to me and I didn’t even know what to say.
“I’m sorry,” I finally offered, wishing I had something better than an apology. “I know that doesn’t fix anything, because you were probably hoping I’d come here to see you, but before today I didn’t even know you existed.”
She drew in a deep breath, as if collecting herself, and then smiled. “Edwin told me that your memories would be wiped, and it’s just as well. I’m grateful for that.”
“Edwin?” I asked, wanting first to know if this was another surprise I should be aware of. “He’s not my second father too, or something, right?”
She chuckled, the sound coming with a delightful little jingling in the air. “Heavens, no. He’s Renee’s mate and a fellow angel. In fact I intend to take you to meet him when we’re done here. He’ll be able to explain things about your… heritage, that I cannot.”
“Because…?” I asked, letting the word trail off.
She gave me that weak smile again. “Because I have regained my wings, dear. I’m no longer free to make my own choices, to an extent, and I am happy with that. However it means there are certain things I cannot discuss without violating the terms of my ascension. I will be more use to you here, as an ally and emissary, and Edwin will be able to fill in the rest.”
I looked warily to the gates where an intense brilliance shone through like light under a doorway. “I don’t know if I can handle going out there again.”
She chuckled. “It’s something you get used to, I promise.”
With that she got to her feet and brushed invisible dirt from her pristine dress. The silver fabric clung to her curves and I glanced down the way Orion and his relatives had gone. He had his back to us as he raised a goblet and crashed it against his Uncle’s. Wine went everywhere and his laughter carried on the slow breeze to my ears.
At least he was too busy having fun to ogle my mother.
“Can I come too?” Olivia asked as she got to her feet. She brushed away her white-washed hair, seeming to be self-conscious about it as she looked at her feet.
Silvia squeezed Olivia’s shoulder, making my friend’s eyes go wide. “Of course, dear. You’ll stay with Lilith until Edwin returns you both to your homes. I don’t know the protocol for your situation, so I’ll leave it to him to handle.”
Olivia offered a shaky nod before we all made our way to the gate.
Once outside and back into the bathing brilliance, I tried not to sweat as light seemed to go straight through my retinas and pierce my skull. There was no way I was going to get used to this.
