Chapter 28

A valynn opened the door to a frail child with long dark hair, big brown eyes, and tan skin. Behind the little girl stood the man they called Manny. He was of small stature and had the same dark features, but he was stooped over and holding a cane. Long gray hair hung past his shoulders. He leveled Avalynn with a narrowed glare that quickly softened. His eyes welled with tears. He pressed his closed hand to his mouth. " Dios mío . You look just like her—my Gabriela."

Lady Sonia gripped his shoulder and made the introductions. "Manny, this is Avalynn, Gabriela and Leaf's child. Avalynn, this is Manny Vela. He raised Mateo." Lady Sonia rubbed the little girl's head. "And this is Floriana, Manny's child from his union with a fae named Faeyra who is no longer alive."

Deep dark circles lined the skin under their eyes. They were bone thin. Their hair was brittle and breaking. A tear spilled down Avalynn's cheek. She wiped it away, nodded, and then swallowed. "Hello." Mateo had said they were ill with Dragon's Bellow. It showed, and she saw why Mateo had risked his life. And now, because of her, there were no healing seeds. "It is nice to meet you all. Mateo told me all about you." She wiped away another tear. "I am very sorry about your illness."

Manny motioned to Lady Sonia. "We are okay. When Sonia brought you here, she had healing seeds with her. You needn't worry yourself with us."

"As Nia, I did not know Dragon's Bellow was ravaging the Sublands until Mateo arrived," Lady Sonia explained. "The Stromms keep news of the Sublands province hidden from the rest of the realm."

"The Stromms," Manny hissed. "They have my boy. Mi hijo ."

"I want my brother back," cried little Floriana.

So, Avalynn was right. They still regarded Mateo as theirs. It was the definition of true love.

"We'll get him back, mija ." Manny stroked Floriana's brown hair. "Don't you worry." He held her closer, then brought his gaze back to Avalynn. His bottom lip trembled. "Can she do what Gabriela and Julio could do?"

"She can," Lady Sonia answered.

Avalynn cleared her throat. "Do you mean the blue light?"

"Yes," Manny whispered. "The fae called your mother and grandfather human witches. But really, it's only your aura. The light is all around you, all the time. Like an invisible cloud that can be used as a weapon or a shield. The gift to manipulate it is passed down through your human side, and it seems you possess it too."

"You can also see spirits," Lady Sonia added.

She was descended from human witches and had powers this whole time and didn't know? And she could see spirit forms? Her gaze drifted to Sonia. "The blue power came out of me. But I cannot see spirits." She grappled with these abilities. "That part is not true."

"The drink I gave you every morning suppressed your human witch abilities. And then, in your time of danger in the hunt, and having not had the potion, it came out. You should be able to see spirits too. You probably already have, yet did not know."

Avalynn glanced around as if in a daze. "I need to sit down."

Lady Sonia wrapped her arm around Avalynn's waist, like in the past when the maid recognized her sadness or conflict. Or, as in this case, confusion. "Let us go to the sitting room, and we can discuss everything."

With Stormshroud at her heels, Avalynn followed Lady Sonia down the short corridor to a small and cozy sitting room with thick beige walls. Blue and purple woven rugs covered the rocky floors. Stacks of books were piled in the corners. A fire burned in the fireplace, and lit oil lamps hung from the walls.

Back at the place where she was raised, everything sparkled with gold and marble and polished wood. Nothing could be touched that servants didn't follow up with a cleaning cloth. With all the fuss, the palace bore little resemblance to a space where a family lived. However, here, the atmosphere exuded warmth and comfort. She'd never felt more at peace or more at home.

Chairs and stools were arranged around a small round table. Manny eased himself into a padded chair. Floriana sat on his lap. A slightly older maiden who resembled Manny and Floriana entered the room with a tray, the scents of lavender and lemon filling the room. She must be Mateo's older sister. Her tray contained small white cookies, wooden cups, and a wooden pitcher. She flared her nostrils at Avalynn. Her venom found no hiding place.

Lady Sonia made the formal introduction. "Avalynn, this is Camilla. She is the eldest sibling in the Vela family. Camilla, this is Avalynn."

Avalynn nodded despite the hate stares that came her way. She could not blame Camilla or any of them if they despised her. "Nice to meet you."

Camilla made no eye contact with Avalynn. She set the tray on the table with a clunk and took her place beside Manny and Floriana. "That is Mateo's wolf, not yours." She patted her leg. "Stormshroud, come."

The beast ignored her and moved closer to Avalynn. "Sorry about that." Avalynn nudged Stormshroud toward Camilla, but the wolf wouldn't budge. "She's been stuck to me like this ever since I met her."

"Because she is a wolfbeast," Lady Sonia explained. "They are bound to the Strongs. And Stormshroud just might be the last surviving one."

Avalynn pulled her chin in. The revelation made sense with all the times Stormshroud had favored her over Mateo. "Oh. I had no idea." She scratched Stormy behind the ears. "But it fits with what I have learned about this fine wolf. She saved mine and Mateo's life?—"

With her arms crossed, Camilla cut in with a huff. "Are we going to sit around and act as if she isn't the cause of our Mateo being thrown into a dungeon awaiting execution? We need to go get him!"

Avalynn froze. They despised her. She was foolish to think they wouldn't. They also didn't care that Mateo was a full Stromm. He was still their son and brother. The High King and Queen had never regarded her with such affection. Were they looking for her now? Doubtful. Were they glad she was gone? Probably.

" Mija …" Manny rubbed his forehead. "We promised Lady Sonia we would listen. This is Gabriela and Leaf's girl. She is one of us. Come on, now."

Avalynn could not feel any worse. She deserved Camilla's antagonism. Mateo's fate was on her. "I did not ask to be switched at birth. And I'm sorry about what I did to Mateo. But I had no choice. My life and that of my little sister were at risk."

Floriana perked up at the mention of a little sister. "You have a little sister like me?"

"Yes." Avalynn smiled. "Very much like you. Her name is Lily." She had to believe that Lily was okay and safe from the High King.

Manny hugged Floriana tight. "I cannot even imagine the position you were put in, Avalynn. My heart aches for you and what you endured with those Stromm monsters." He angled toward Lady Sonia. "But Camilla is right! We need to get my boy, Mateo. I will wait no longer!"

Everything she and Mateo had shared at the Green Falls replayed in her mind—the laughter, the tenderness, the intimacy. Fear for his safety and what he must be enduring in the dungeon stabbed at her heart like a razor-sharp knife. She needed to fix this situation. She would prove to this family what Mateo meant to her. "Yes, no more waiting. Let's go get him."

Scooting to the edge of his seat, Manny slammed his hands together. "Yes!"

Lady Sonia nodded. "That is the idea. But first, Avalynn needs to claim what is hers, as foretold by the prophecy." Sonia faced Avalynn and a hush fell on the room. Her voice lowered. "Left by your mother and grandfather, Julio, and held in the Passing Place, the last remaining piece of aquoise."

The words of the prophecy repeated in Avalynn's mind. "The sword of blue. So the blue is the aquoise? The power stone? I thought it didn't exist anymore."

"The last remaining piece was kept inside of Gabriela. She and her father put it there with their combined magic. My witch coven sisters and I removed it from her and infused it into the blade to protect her and to keep it safe. My sisters and I believe it will enhance your power."

"I see," Avalynn swallowed, not completely understanding it all but trusting Lady Sonia. "But what about the Passing Place? To go there, do I have to…die?"

"Works for me," Camilla muttered.

Manny shot his eldest a look that Camilla shrugged off before rattling off a phrase in a foreign and indecipherable tongue.

Manny must've caught Avalynn's confusion. "It's Spanish, my native language from the human realm. I'm Hispanic, you are part Hispanic too, from your mother's side."

Her brain was cluttered with all the things about herself she didn't know. She felt lost. Drifting alone in an endless and unknown sea. "I have a lot to learn."

"Everything will make sense with time." Lady Sonia touched Avalynn's arm. "But for now, we need to focus on the mission. Retrieve the sword, then rescue Mateo. If you are ready, please follow me to the bedchamber."

No amount of preparation would have prepared her for any of this. It was as if someone had been writing a great tale and then suddenly ripped out the pages and started over halfway through. Was she prepared for those new pages?

She was about to find out.