“Mom mentioned the vampires are coming to town. I refuse to miss them.”
Mom’s been…careful—yeah, let’s say that—since I returned, always watching me like I’m about to explode or cry, or both. Even though the Darkness has oddly and surprisingly quieted the past couple days, with only the odd slither to remind me of its presence, she made the recommendation of visiting Harlow and getting her insight to keep it at bay. I agreed, mainly because I miss Harlow and didn’t see enough of her before Freya was kicking her back to Alec’s castle, insisting they can’t be around Banff…for whatever reason. Considering they have superhuman speed, it made more sense for them to come here rather than us drive the nine hours one-way to them.
I arch a brow at my cousin. “Trying to get your ass kicked by Alec? You know how protective he is of Harlow.”
He rolls his eyes and reaches for a chocolate muffin as he takes the seat to my right. “While objectively pretty, sure, she’s no different than you. Believe me, not interested.”
“Tell Alec that. Might save your skin.”
Shadows creep over his expression. This conversation reminds me of something from my time in Twilight Grove—something I’ve been too busy hiding from the world and trying not to think about Sloane and her coven to consider.
I angle towards Mom. “Did you ever give him the bracelet?”
Jasper freezes, muffin halfway to his mouth. “What’s she talking about?”
“Carina, no—” Mom starts, but I ignore her.
“Archer—”
“Archer?”he hisses, dropping his food—and then his fist hits the table as he zeroes in on Mom. Sparks from his magick, from anger, radiate over his hands. “Archer fucking Yarrow?AdalynYarrow?”
Clearly, I’m missing something.
“Uh, yeah. They’re with Sloane?—”
“Adalyn is part of Twilight Grove?” Jasper’s head swivels to Mom, pinning her with a glare. “You’ve been lying to me this whole fucking time?”
Mom stands with all the poise I know her to have as she wanders across the room, acting like no one is yelling at her, even as he trails her. I twist to watch the drama unfold; for once, it’s not me.
“Where’s the bracelet?”
Mom conjures the leather strip on the flat of her palm, and he snatches it possessively, his eyes a bit manic as he glares.
“What is going on? How do you know Adalyn?”
Jasper jerks his head. “You wanna tell her, or should I?”
Mom folds her arms over her chest, and then crosses her ankles, staring impassively at him before her gaze slides to me. “A few months before Jasper’s birth, there was an agreement that Dominique’s child—since at the time I didn’t have you—would marry one of the twins. When Jasper came to be, that arrangement was with Adalyn. As you know, I only put it all together recently that Sloane was behind Harlow’s parents, so back then she was simply another High Priestess. She ended the arrangement a few months after their births and didn’t explain why—only that she didn’t feel it necessary any longer.Dominique wasn’t concerned and figured it’d be better for Jasper’s future.”
Jasper fists the bracelet tighter. None of this answers how they know one another, but instead of letting Mom continue, I muse about the theory beginning to formulate.
“Archer and I were engaged before my birth, so I wonder if it was Sloane’s way of connecting covens together, to collect the heirs. If her only son was intended for me, he wasn’t available for Harlow. Putting Jasper with Adalyn was Sloane’s way of getting near Harlow.”
Mom pauses with her mug halfway to her mouth. “It’d make sense, though it would depend on when she learned the future from her Seer. It doesn’t fully explain why she’d break off the union and instead send two of her own to retrieve Harlow.”
My fingers drum on the back of my chair. “Do Seers have different lifespans? Because he looked around my age, but if this timeline’s correct, it means she knew about this years before coming for Harlow.”
If so, her knowledge is two decades old. Surely the Devil got his bride by now. Which would make the trajectory of this upcoming war already started.
“I don’t know much about Seers,” Mom admits.
“If no union, what’s the story behind that?” I jerk my chin at Jasper’s fist, which comes into the air as he rounds on Mom.
“The story,” he grits, “is that she obviously still fucking cares about me if she has this.”
Mom ignores him and returns to the table. “It was the summer your cousin was seventeen, and he was very insistent on seeing Toronto…for whatever reason. He and a friend travelled there, and it was by coincidence that Adalyn and Jasper met.”
Jasper stares at the leather in his hand before taking over. “I didn’t know who she was. Being around mortals, we both had our eyes masked.” Because purple eyes don’t blend well withhuman society. “It wasn’t until we were alone that I realized she was like me. She claimed to be in the city, exploring like I was.”
