Chapter 33

I pulled into my driveway and sat frozen for a moment. I wasn't ready for what was coming but I couldn't avoid it any longer. I climbed out of the car, Fluffy following anxiously. I could feel his concern like it was my own.

It was nearly morning and Mum was up, sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup of tea and eating a piece of toast. She looked at me as I came in and gave me a warm smile. It stabbed me; she had never before looked at me with such warmth. Somehow by coming here, living with me, capering in black markets together, she'd finally connected with me. Now that I wasn't ped, I guessed.

My face must have shown the mess of my emotions because she stood up, alarmed. ‘What's wrong, Elizabeth?' she asked. Fluffy moved in between us and growled loudly. ‘Stop that, you brute,' she grumped at him.

That was it. Connor called Fluffy ‘Brute' with affection, but I wouldn't stand for my dog to be mocked or belittled, not after all he'd been through. Not when he was protecting me. ‘No. You stop it, Victoria,' I snarled.

She stepped back as if I'd slapped her. I'd always been respectful to her, despite all her put downs and pushiness.

‘I know,' I spat. ‘I know what you did to me. You'd better tell me why or you are leaving Portlock and I'll never talk to you again.'

She sat down hard. She didn't ask what I knew; she read the rage in my face and connected the dots. To her credit, neither did she try to deny it. ‘I can understand why you're distressed,' she said. ‘But he did it to help you, darling.'

‘Help kill me, you mean?' My voice was ice. Then I realised what she'd said: not I or we, but he.

Mum looked horrified. ‘No! He was trying to help you! And the business,' she conceded weakly.

The business. Dad? Dad had done this to me? But with or without Mum's knowledge? ‘Did you know?' I demanded. ‘Did you know what he'd planned for me?'

‘No! I swear I didn't know. You saw how shocked I was that day!'

I replayed the memory.

‘Those marks on your neck, are they … love bites?' she asked, horrified. The truth was going to horrify her more.

My hand leapt up to my throat, covering the two tell-tale pricks in my neck. ‘No!'

She stood up and reached out to pull my hand and the jacket collar away, displaying the bite in all its vampiric glory.

‘Is that…?' She trailed off looking shocked and dismayed, then shook her head. ‘No, that's silly. They wouldn't dare…'

I looked at her, seeing the fear in her eyes. There was no point trying to hide it. Her long association with Dad's business meant that she knew what it was as surely as I did, for all she was practising denial right now. It wasn't a river in Egypt.

I decided to say it quickly, like ripping off a plaster. ‘I've been bitten, Mum. I'm a vampire.'

She clutched her pearl necklace and sat down heavily on the sofa. ‘No,' she whispered.

‘You were shocked,' I conceded slowly. Something in me eased and I sat down. ‘You didn't know.'

‘I swear I didn't!' she repeated desperately. ‘After I saw the marks, I went straight to talk to Cyril, to demand that Octavius find whoever had done this to you and punish them.'

‘But Dad wasn't shocked,' I said faintly.

‘No,' she agreed grimly. ‘He wasn't.'

Mum may not have been responsible for turning me into a vampire, but she wasn't without her sins. ‘And what about the lion and the bus?' I asked tightly. ‘You were trying to make my magic come out, weren't you?'

Her eyes filled with tears. ‘It was common practice in the magic-users' community. Most kids only needed a little scare. I was sure you had magic and I kept thinking that if I scared you a little more…'

She covered her mouth and gave a sob. ‘Your nana told me to stop – she said I'd get you killed. She had me taken to a doctor. I'd been suffering with undiagnosed post-natal depression and never connected properly with you. I've been in counselling ever since, and I'm medicated too. That's not an excuse for my behaviour but an explanation. I swear it was normal amongst witching families to bring magic out like that. I wanted magic in your life for you.' Her voice was full of tears. ‘I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.'

She shook her head. ‘I know there's nothing I can do or say to undo it, but Elizabeth – Bunny – I am so damned sorry. It will haunt me for the rest of my life.'

‘I don't know if I can ever forgive you,' I admitted in a small voice.

She flinched. ‘I understand. Her voice wavered. ‘But I swear I didn't have anything to do with you being turned.'

I nodded. ‘I believe you. Tell me what Cyril said when you spoke to him.'

‘Your dad and I have worked hard our whole lives, not for ourselves but for you. We wanted you to have everything you ever wanted. For me, that was for you to have access to your witch power, for your Dad it was his business.'

I gave an unladylike snort.

‘You should have been the most powerful fire elemental witch in centuries,' my mother went on, ‘so I was shocked when at age five you'd never even showed a spark of power. When we had you examined we were told you were a fire elemental, but nothing happened. I resigned myself to you being pedestrian, but your father … I don't think he ever accepted it.'

‘He couldn't make me a witch so he made me a vampire instead.'

She looked lost. ‘I didn't know until afterwards. Dad thought that you being in the conclave would give you the things that we couldn't – immortality, for one. You'd be in an amazing position to take over the company when we retired because you'd already have a relationship with the king. And I think he hoped the attack might trigger your powers, even if it meant you couldn't then be turned.'

I frowned. ‘What do you mean – couldn't be turned?'

‘Witches can't be turned into vampires because the two magics aren't compatible. A witch attacked by a vampire inevitably heals or dies. They don't turn.'

Except that I had. I didn't say that to Mum, though, because I didn't think she deserved to know the truth. Not now, maybe not ever. ‘Dad wanted to give me to the king?' I scoffed. ‘Octavius only wanted to control me, to use me. He's a freaking psychopath.'

She shook her head. ‘At the time, your father thought the king had your best interests at heart. He and Dad had a great relationship. I know Octavius has a harsh reputation, but he had never been less than generous to our family.'

‘You don't know the truth,' I said grimly. ‘He's playing you both. He gave me to his son to be some kind of slave. The king was going to use me against you!'

She shook her head stubbornly. ‘No, darling, don't be absurd. Your father was trying to help you. You'd left home and you were struggling so much. Then you started waitressing! You had a university education, powerful witch parents – and a dead-end job. You were wasting your life. Dad wanted you to fulfil your potential.'

‘It was my life to waste!' I protested. ‘As for fulfilling my potential? I was trying! I had zero skills and the most worthless degree ever, but I had plans! I needed time. I'm only twenty-three! And now I'll be that forever, thanks to Dad!' I was shouting. I rarely yelled: usually I ignored a lot of things and did my own thing quietly, but now I was done with being diplomatic.

‘I know, I'm sorry. After I saw the…' she gestured to my neck, ‘I spoke to you father. He realised it had been a mistake, but it was too late. Octavius tried to strongarm your dad using you as leverage, which was why we couldn't help you escape. Octavius said he could have you killed and remain within the law if he did.'

I shook my head. Mum clutched my hand, forcing me to look at her as she continued. ‘If you want the truth then you need it all. There was a prophecy about you, which was why I tried so hard for all those years to raise your magic. The prophecy told me you had magic. I knew you had to have it to survive what was coming.'

I snorted. ‘I don't believe in prophecies.' Though my connection with Connor had forced me to accept that fated mates were a real thing. And if fated mates were real, was the idea of a prophecy so far-fetched?

‘Believe in them or not, official prophecies are recorded with the coven. This was made when you were born – you can check the records.'

‘Fine.' I folded my arms. ‘I'll bite. What did it say?'

She licked her lips. ‘It said: When the flame-born guardian descends to the night, the veiled city's mysteries will unfold. Thrice shall the cursed wolf's mournful howl sound, heralding the coming of the shadow beast. Love shall be her beacon and with its power, the city might endure the destruction that comes.'

The veiled city probably referred to Portlock – though it was definitely a town not a city – and the shadow beast almost certainly referred to the beast beyond the barrier. I blew out a harsh breath. Okay, maybe I could believe in prophecy, in which case ‘the destruction that comes' didn't sound all that good.

‘Your father became convinced that "descending to the night" meant you became a vampire. When it didn't happen naturally, he engineered it.'

I shook my head at his sheer audacity. ‘And he gave a shit about Portlock because…?'

My mother gave an unladylike snort. ‘He doesn't care at all about Portlock, but he did want his daughter to be a "flame-born guardian" with power enough to protect a whole city.'

‘And you? What did you think of the prophecy?'

She hesitated and looked at Fluffy. ‘Once you became a vampire, I worried that your dad had forced the prophecy on you. I returned to your flat later on that day to see a bloody werewolf prowling around outside and I knew it was there for you. Something told me that the werewolf was important. And I knew the prophecy – I knew you needed a cursed wolf by your side. I carry a safety curse on me, a shamanic one designed to downgrade any threat. So a cursed vampire might become a mosquito, and a cursed werewolf…'

‘Might become a dog,' I whispered, my eyes wide as I stared at Fluffy. He gave a bark. I swallowed hard. ‘You're the one that cursed Fluffy. You turned him into a "cursed wolf".'

She folded her hands primly on her lap. ‘I did.'

Outrage roared through me. ‘And you put him in a bin!'

She sighed. ‘You collect strays, Bunny, you always have. Yes, I locked him in the bin, but I knew you'd rescue him.' She spoke patiently, like she was talking to a slow child.

‘How?' I demanded. ‘How could you possibly have known that?'

She raised an eyebrow. ‘When I visited your flat that day, your waste bins were overflowing. I knew it wouldn't be long before you put the rubbish out, found him and took him under your wing. If your father wasn't above a little manipulation to make your prophecy come true, then I decided I could do the same.'

I felt sick. She'd risked Fluffy's life on my cleanliness? We were lucky he hadn't died. ‘He was so thin, Mum.'

She grimaced. ‘As I said, the curse downgrades the threat. Big strong werewolf, little thin dog.'

‘Fluffy is a werewolf.' I shook my head in disbelief. It was too much; all of it was too much. Still, if Mum had made the curse then she could undo it, like Anissa had said.

‘Undo the curse,' I ordered.

Mum blinked. ‘It's not that simple. It's not my curse, it's a shamanic one – one I bought from a market.'

Fluffy leaned hard against me and I finally realised that all along he'd been telling me not to trust my mother. He had growled at her from the moment he'd first seen her; his dislike had nothing to do with her irritating Pomeranian but the fact that she had cursed him.

I couldn't look at her. ‘I need time to process all of this.'

‘Bunny—' she started.

Hearing my name on her lips somehow made me angrier. ‘I need to go to work,' I snapped. ‘Don't be here when I come home.'

I stormed out and I didn't look back.