Chapter 28

T he next morning, I decided to admit the whole truth. Surely, Sir Reid had already gone to Mother with the information and told her I was consorting with a mixling. I could see her widened eyes and her eyebrows connecting with her hair. That would do it for my mother. No spells. No swords. Just a quick mention to send her overboard. Shaking my head, I wrapped my arms around my body as the caramelized, nutty aroma of my mother’s coffee tickled my nose. Beyond the door, my mother was either reading or talking with someone. Maybe Bernadette found a way back into the castle. The sinking pit feeling in my stomach hit me hard as I remembered the annoying ghost I summoned away. She has spilled my business to my mother one too many times.

Even though she was a pain to deal with, I missed her and the latest gossip in the castle. And right now, I could use all the distractions I can get.

Knocking on the wooden door, I waited with my hand on the cold knob until I heard my mother’s voice ring out, telling me to come in. My brief prayer to Youna, I hoped she would untie my tongue and give me the ability to say the right things. Exhaling, I turned the heavy knob and opened the door.

My mother had been seated behind the seat. Her curls were neatly piled on top of her head. She had on a white sleeveless dress with a pin of Youna over her heart. My mother’s green eyes found mine, and a smile graced her face, melting the stones in my stomach.

Well, some of them.

“Good Morning, my emerald moon. How did you sleep last night?”

Her eyes twinkled as she watched me closely. I knew she meant it jokingly, but the question sent my heart into a panic.

“…I slept well,” I said, smiling feebly. “I actually wanted to see if Sir Reid spoke with you recently?”

My mother nodded her head toward the chairs across from her. When I was seated, I tried to fold my hands together, but my hands had a mind of their own, as they found my wrist itching until I felt I could speak. My mother sensed my hesitation, which was my mistake.

“No, I haven’t seen him since yesterday,” she said, leaning back into her chair with her hands folded in front of her. “So you want to tell me the truth about Greyson before you’ve come up with a different story?”

The sound of my mother’s light chuckle helped quell my nerves. Sir Reid hadn’t made his way to Mother after all. I could hug him.

“How do you know his name?” I asked as the hair on my neck stood up.

If she had figured out Greyson’s identity, then she was doing a great job of hiding it because she sat unmoved with a smile on her face.

“Kaydian, you have the memory of a thousand-year-old witch. You slipped up last night and called Morgan… Greyson.”

Pieces of my hair fell when I shook my head. Another foolish mistake I’ve made.

“Well, everything was true except for his name. He doesn’t like his name. It reminds him of his past life,” I admitted.

My mother just watched me under her green gaze. If I hadn’t known better, I would have said she could see straight inside of my soul. She and I both knew that half-lie was weaker than a human. My mother’s sigh filled the quiet void. When she opened her mouth, the door opened, causing us to follow the sound. My father came ambling in with his jeans and black button-up shirt on. His face had that typical smug smile that I knew would ruin my day.

“Good Morning, my loves!” My father’s boisterous voice filled the room. “How are my two favorite girls doing?”

Using all of my willpower, I repressed the urge to roll my eyes at him. Instead, I turned back to my mother, who rolled hers before she noticed me staring at her. My mother averted her eyes. She almost looked frightened that she got caught, but she recovered quickly as she placed her smile back on her face. Interesting.

“We’re just talking about the Winter Harvest plans.” Smiling sweetly. “Is there something you need?”

My father kissed my head as he passed me to sit in the seat beside me. The petrichor clouded our small area, washing away the coffee aroma. My mother muttered, “Fix your face,” as I folded my arms against my chest.

“Last night was a madhouse. You’ve gotten yourself a handful to take care of Kaydian…Morgan James is such a strange person,” my father said, rubbing the short beard on his face. “Sir Cross and I spoke after that fiasco, and he’s going to do some digging into Mr. James. We have to be sure he’s fit to lead with you.”

The breakfast I ate this morning churned in my stomach as I turned my attention to my father. His brown eyes pinned me to my seat. My father and Sir Cross were nothing but persistent when they fixed their mind to something. I could only hope that Sir Reid took his time.

“Braxton, why don’t you leave Morgan alone? You remember your first time drinking Fae wine? You almost got killed by my father for taunting him,” my mother said, drawing our attention. “Your father had to be placed in the dungeon until he was sober again.”

My father chuckled at the memory before he saw the look on my face. He immediately coughed, covering himself, fixing the cuffs on his sleeve, avoiding my questioning gaze.

“Oh, right…yeah, old times,” he said, squirming in his seat. I wanted to laugh at him, but I knew better. “I was looking for you, Kaydian. I went to your room to check in on you and you were already gone. I went to the Dragon’s wood, but I hadn’t seen you.”

My mouth twitched as I exhaled. If I didn’t know my father, I would have been scared for Greyson, but my father always forgets I know his little secret. He feared Sera and Luc. When I brought them home from the Pourciau’s farm, he nearly passed out. His skin turned ashen, and his wide tooth smile he had on his face wiped away. I never saw my father run so fast as he did that day. Ever since then, the furthest he would go was the entrance of the pathway.

“…come to think of it. Have you noticed anything weird over there? It smells like a shifter is nearby.”

Licking my dry lips, I smiled nervously, “Come on, Father. A shifter near our coven is just preposterous.” I dismissed him with a flippant wave of my hand.

“Anyway, shouldn’t you be busy with your daughter?” I spat the words out like venom. Childish. Yes, I know, but I preened from the fact my father averted his eyes. But not before I’ve seen the look of shame seated deeply in them. This made me feel a little sorry for the question…just a tab bit.

My father turned back to me, his eyes bright and not murky for once. “I’m truly sorry for not having enough faith in you. Yes, I jumped the gun, and let’s be honest, we’ve had many times you have given us enough reasons to worry. However, that doesn’t excuse my behavior. I love you, Kaydian. Ma petite étoile, my little star. Ever since I held you in my arms when you arrived in this world, I knew you would be a force to be reckoned with. Remember that no one can take what was meant for you.”

Turning to my mother, who sat at the edge of her chair, her green eyes sat in a pool of tears As one escaped down her reddened cheek and landed on the soft white fabric of her dress, she whispered my father’s name as if he just entered the room. “This is how it ends,” she muttered afterward. The room was more silent than a graveyard, but my mind couldn’t get the words my mother had spoken out of my head. Why would she say something ominous like that? My puzzled gaze landed on my mother as I sought the answers from her face. Her face went back to staring into the void. When my father turned back, his eyes were back to the same murky brown eyes that I’d known him for. He blinked rapidly, almost as if he was in a daze.

“Jaqueline doesn’t have any other place to go. So, I’ve asked Evie and Urick at the Inn if she can stay permanently with them,” he continued, and I had to wonder if I had imagined the whole thing.

My mother was still silent, staring off at our ancestor chair in the distance, waving my hand in front of her face instead of wearing out her name. She turned to me, her eyes still glossy and a small smile on her face.

“What’s more important is who will perform at this year’s Harvest? Right, Mother?” I asked, trying to make the room less awkward.

“Yes…yes indeed. Sorry, my mind was elsewhere,” she said, but I couldn’t be sure she was talking to me or to herself.

Biting my bottom lip, I guess it was time to break the awkward silence in the stuffy office. Clearing my throat and sitting up a little straighter than before.

“I want to know what happened to Mary Ann Muller…and I want to know the whole truth.”

“Oh Gosh, why do you want to bring—?” My father’s boisterous, dismissive voice returned. His head tipped with his eyebrows scrunched together. It wasn’t a lot of times I caught my father off guard, but this time was one of them.

“Mary Ann has always had a way of getting in trouble, even from death, it seems,” my mother said, cutting off my father. Her smile dimmed, but she continued, “I will tell you, but in return, tell me about Greyson.”

“Who’s—” Father asked.

“Deal,” I answered, ignoring my father.

“Mary was… an unsuspected surprise, as your grandmother once said. The late Ms. Muller had trouble conceiving, a rare problem for Royals, after having Sir Muller Jr. They repeatedly tried to have another child, but every other time afterward either died before their due date or before they drew their first breath. Until forty years later, when Mary arrived. Your grandmother was there for the birth and said Mary came out hollerin’ like we were tryin’ to kill her.” She chuckled at the memory. “She was brilliant and everyone that graced her presence fell in love with her. The Mullers didn’t need to worry about Mary until she decided she was going to take fate into her own hands. Mary had set her eyes out on Layla, your father’s last female cousin. Layla had been guarded tightly since your father’s family was the last of the barons, but they underestimated Mary, or any royal, for that matter. One night, when your grandparents were gone, Mary kidnapped her and kept her in one tower that had no protection against the English winter.”

My mother swiped her hand, sending the small tumbler with Fae wine and ice to her. While my mother drank, my father picked up where she left off. “I got word that Layla was missing. Your aunt was screaming from the rooftop that the Royals finally got their revenge on us. I hadn’t taken it too seriously at first because Layla had a tendency to sneak out for some much-needed time away from the house. I mean, could anyone imagine being a young adult and only being allowed to stand by the doorway once a week? We would go crazy. When she didn’t return the next morning, I became worried and panicked. Layla was the last family member to actually care about me after I left to be with your mother. So, I was disappointed in myself for not finding her quick enough. It took a month before we found Layla frozen to that mattress. We were the same skin color, but she looked as pale as Sir Reid when we found her. After failing Layla, your aunt cut me out of her life for good, which I understood, even if it felt like I lost a piece of myself.”

My father shook his head and continued, “No one knew why Mary Ann did it. The curse had long since set in before I arrived.”

I nodded along to their recount of Mary’s life, which made me think about her ancestor, Juna, the god of judgment. Before she started her bloodline, she killed many to find her perfect match. I guess the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree. To turn your back on your ancestor as a royal was unheard of but I guess Mary Ann really wanted to follow in her foremother’s footsteps.

“Mary was cast out of the coven a year later, after her parents died. That’s when she became senile from being truly alone. No family or mate. Somehow, she found herself in California, near Sacramento, with a bunch of shifters. Sir Muller asked us permission to kill a cast-out witch on our land, and we granted it. However, later on, we found out it was Mary Ann. He said she was in too deep in her glut curse and needed to be handled. He never returned with her body. His excuse was that he transported her to their family’s burial ground.”

Oh, damn!

How can I tell Greyson this? If I thought he was unhinged before, I would hate to see what would happen afterward. My teeth dug into the fleshy part of my lip. A big part of me understood Mary and her desire to find her own mate on her own terms. But was it worth it? Because in the end, she ended up paying the ultimate price. Death. If I were being honest with myself, this was becoming more than I wanted to take on. Ice filled my veins as I watched my parents move on to the next topic as if I weren’t crumbling inside. As if Greyson wouldn’t hate me even more than he already did, whether he wanted to admit it out loud.

Excusing myself from the office, I headed straight to my enchantment room to clear my thoughts. The tiny room has been abandoned by me since I returned home. When I walked into the room, thick grayish dust that lined the small items took flight and disseminated throughout the room. After coughing up a lung, I willed my magic to dust the room. The green aura wrapped around the walls of the room as it faded away, taking everything that didn’t belong with it. Nothing in the room held my attention. Not even the very last canvas that sat in the corner. Not the two books I hadn’t finished reading. Definitely not the peg board game Del had brought a couple of months ago for my birthday. Throwing my body onto the plush brown chair in the corner, covering my face with my hands in frustration, I screamed. The harsh pressure strained my vocal cords, making my throat scratchy and dry. Despite that, no tears formed. I needed Del and I couldn’t wait for her to travel to the castle. With my mind made up, I used the magic spell that I promised Del I would never use unless I was in dire need—the manifest incantation spell.

Using the manifest incantation spell wasn’t often used because it was one of the few magic spells, whether royal or not, that can’t be ignored. I’ve only used it twice, and both times were traumatic. Those two times were enough for me to realize it was one too many times.

“Delphine Pourciau!” I whispered.

“Delphine Pourciau!” I said again, she’s a stubborn headed woman sometimes.

“Delphine Pourciau!” I said, clenching my teeth. If I had to find her and drag her back here, I would.

The air in the room became thin, causing my lungs to gasp for air as sweat coated my forehead. A gust of green and white finely misted mixture swirled before me, causing my hair and the end of my dress to flutter in the magic storm. I watched as the colors shaped and molded themselves until I saw a pale arm formed from the mist. Clutching the arm of my chair, Del morphed and appeared in front of me as the magic storm died down. Half-naked and barefooted. The pink dress she had tried to put on was hanging off her waist, leaving her small breasts exposed. Del fell to the floor, screaming. The blood-curdling sound that formed out of Del sent my hands to my ears to prevent them from bursting. I had to get up and help her. Every step toward Del made my covered ears ring against my palms.

When I finally reached her side, the screams had stopped, but she had her arms wrapped around her so tight that her chest and stomach were the same shade of the orchid-colored dress. Not wanting her to suffer, I wrapped my arms around her. My green aura engulfed her pale, trembling skin. We stayed in our position until I no longer felt her tiny body shivering, and she picked up her head that was tucked against her chest and leaned against me. The pine-scented soap tickled my nose.

After two minutes, Del muttered, “Shit,” and we both chuckled.

“I really hate you right now, KD,” she said, leaning off of me. “Why couldn’t you have sent me a message and then I can walk here like a normal witch?”

Pulling my lips between my teeth, I fought the giggle that threatened to come out. Del knew I would never laugh at her pain, but it’s rare to see Del being mad and bratty.

“I’m sorry, Del. I—I needed you. I needed my best friend.”

Del, who was fixing her dress, peered at me. Those robins egg blue eyes turned from murderous to worry. Her small hand cupped mine. Lowering my head in complete and utter shame, I stared at our entwined hands, both different as night and day, but perfect in their own way.

“What the hell is going on, KD?”

She squeezed my hand after a moment of realizing I was stuck inside of my head.

“Greyson is a shifter…well, half shifter and half witch.” I paused, letting everything sink in. When I looked at my best friend’s face, all of her blood rushed to her face. Before she could make sense of my revelation, I continued, “His mother was a Royal, Muller’s youngest sister…I’m mated to a mixling.”

“A fucking shifter!”

The weight of the secret finally lightened, even if it was a little. A deep sigh left me as I watched Del’s face morph again for the second time. This time to pure disgust.

“So, you lied to me then? Or should I say again?” Her voice dripped with resentment. Del folded her arms across her chest, this time not in pain but in disappointment.

“I hadn’t lied about anything else. I’m sorry. I should have told you, but I—I really thought I had a handle on things and Greyson, but…” biting into my fleshy bottom lip. “I can’t stop thinking about what you said the other day.”

Poor Delphine she had a look of utter confusion on her face. Her thin upper lip twitched up, and her eyes bunched as she tried to remember what I was talking about.

“Okay, now you’ve lost me. What are you talking about... I mean, we’ve talked about—” Del paused, and I saw those globes widen as big as her mouth. “Wait! You’re serious, aren’t you? I didn’t mean to actually kill him!”

As I turned to my friend’s stunned face, I really thought about her question. Did I really want to kill Greyson? No, but something kept bringing me back to The Three Sisters and my prophecies. I had pushed the confusing riddles aside, hoping I could turn a blind eye to it. Not wanting to deal with finding out what they may have meant for my future. I guess Elder Alo was right.

“Celestoria has four journeys, but only three will survive. The third will be met with a death by the sun.” Aimlessly, I spoke the riddle out loud. “Maybe I’m supposed to go on three journeys to find Celestoria? Or maybe…I’m not sure.”

Del worried her bottom lip. “Listen, I hardly should be the voice of reason when it comes to these things, seeing as I will probably never find my better half. My Youna! How will you sit on the throne with a shifter? And what is Celestoria?”

Del’s questions rebounded in my head, leaving me with thoughts of my future and what lay ahead of me to take my rightful position, the position that was mine from birth. The one thing, other than Del, I would kill for and make sure everyone knew that Youna’s name would live on. No matter how nutty I became.

“I don’t know what or who Celestoria is, my sweet Del, but I know I want what’s mine, which is my time on the throne. I know you said I should keep what the Three Sisters said, but I have to tell you, Del. I have to hide Greyson until the bonding ceremony. My mother would kill Greyson if she found out he was a mixling…I just need more time.”

Del blanched, which I knew she would. She sat pale-faced, squirming in her seat. I knew she believed the words that came from my lips. If I can just get Greyson to see reason and work with me, then we can both win, but with each visit, the idea of us ruling dwindled into the dust. I could see the doubt in his brown eyes.

Looking at Del’s pale face. She seemed ready to pass out at any given moment. Walking over to the small makeshift bookshelf, I searched for one of the family’s journals I had taken from my mother’s office and forgot to return it. My shaky hand hovered over the pages until it stopped in the section about the Muller family. Shifting through the different family members’ questionable handwriting, I landed on the sentence that I needed.

July 20, 1750: Silver defeats the Mullers, not their beloved golden beryl, the jewel of their family. After years of searching and observing, they finally made a slight mistake and gave themselves away. When I handed them the silver necklace, I purchased for Sir Joseph Muller, his brown eyes widened as the metal siphoned off his magic…

Closing the book mid-sentence and placing it back onto the shelf along with my other books. My hands became damp with my sweat as I stared idly at the bookcase.

“…what’s the plan, then?” Del’s voice was unmistakably so low I almost thought I was hallucinating.

That was the million-dollar question, as I couldn’t directly kill Greyson. Because I was a coward, and I wanted us to work. But second, it was physically possible for fated mates to kill each other. If I were to drive a knife into Greyson’s chest with a silver knife, the Muller’s stone, he would just pull the knife out and heal. The pit in my stomach became heavy with the thought. Then, like a switch, it hit me.

“I have the perfect plan until I can figure out my next steps.”

I turned to Del, scratching my wrist as she threw herself into the chair.

“Oh shit, I don’t like that look…at all.”

“Del, I promise it’s not bad. We have to lock Greyson up. It’s the only way. He’s a liability. His wolf has become unstable. What if he leaves the cabin? I can’t have him attacking anyone else,” I said as I delved into the story of last night’s events. By the time I was finished, Del looked ready to pummel Greyson—or me, for that matter.

Running her hand down her face, she said, “Kaydian, you know my family and I can’t get into any more trouble with your mother. I’m only lucky your mother likes mine or else we would have been Sera’s lunch a long time ago.”

Getting up from the floor, I walked over to my best friend. “Listen, Del. I understand, but we won’t get caught. I’ll carry him with my magic. I just need you to watch my back. So, no one won’t catch us. This will only be temporary until Greyson and I figure out our next step.”

Del sat, rubbing her hands together as if the small space was cold. Pacing back and forth as my mind racks through How I can get Del to help me. If push comes to shove, I could order Sir Reid to help me, but I would rather walk on nails. He probably would just laugh at me and proceed to hack Greyson into pieces. He would love that since he had been ever so eager to offer his help to me. Leaning against the wall, Del still hadn’t uttered a word to me. She just sat with her head bent to the ceiling and her eyes closed. If she doesn’t say something soon, I will throw up every bit of my breakfast. Back and forth, I paced the small room until I marched over to the chair, grabbed her by the shoulder, and opened my mouth to plead with her. Hell, I’ll beg her at this point, but she beat me to it.

“Fine, but I hope when the time comes, I will get a favor out of this…if I survive, that is.”

Biting my tongue, I fought to say she was overreacting, but I couldn’t fault her for wanting to be cautious. Instead, I dragged her out of the chair and hugged her tightly. Del dug her face into my hair and sighed. I had almost forgotten about the kiss with Del until now. Standing here with Del’s nipples, threatening to poke a hole through me. She pulled away abruptly. Her face was blazed.

“It’s okay, Del. Thank you for helping me and just trust me. I don’t have all the details planned, but know that I will always protect you. So, let’s do it tonight. Sir Reid has gone on a secret trip for my mother.”

Del rolled her eyes with a pinched look on her face, “Of course, it would be last minute.”

Hopefully, she’ll still feel that way when it’s all said and done. Del had returned to the farm to finish her chores before tonight as I got ready for the plan.