I coughed. “Err . . . umm.”
Alex squeezed my hand and swooped in.
“Then we’re of the same mind, Mrs. Dane.” My heart stopped at his words, but Alex didn’t seem to notice, and kept right on talking. “Although, what Odette and I want to talk about is much more pressing.”
“We’re all ears,” Dad said, amused eyes sliding from my face—which was probably beet red by now—to Alex.
My boyfriend placed his hand on the table and nodded to his totem. “Odie and I have discovered a connection between our totems.”
“A . . . what?” Mom’s eyes narrowed in confusion.
“They have a shared past,” Alex explained. “One that, as it turns out, allows Odette and I to accomplish miraculous feats of magic together.” Alex shot me an unsure glance. We’d decided to tell my parents everything because we needed help, although neither of us werecompletelysure it was the right thing to do.
Realizing that it wasn’t fair for Alex to shoulder all of the burden, I cleared my throat. “Our totems once belonged to famous witches—ones who we’re fairly certain are of our bloodlines.”
“Do you mean Deliverance Dane, honey?” Mom asked.
“Even farther back than Salem. Someone indisputably powerful and more famous.” My hand pressed against my totem, and I inhaled a shaky breath. “This used to be Morgan Le Fay’s necklace, and Alex’s ring belonged to Merlin.”
Dad began coughing and pounded his fist on his chest.
“As intheMerlin?” Mom’s eyes were locked on Alex’s ring, and for some reason, Ishtar’s taunt about people remembering Merlin and not Morgan rang in my ears before I batted it away.
“Yes,theMerlin,” I said. “He was Morgan’s teacher and lover and apparently, they accomplished great things together. Like sealing the Hellgate.”
Dad regained control of himself and sat up straight in his chair. “How do you know all of this, Odie? And why didn’t you tell us sooner?”
I told them the truth. That we’d learned it piece by piece and until recently, it had felt too personal to share. I still didn’t want any Joe Schmoe knowing, but as crazy events kept piling up, we knew we needed to tell someone. Plus, if I didn’t survive the catastrophe that I was sure was coming, I wanted my parents to know why.
While I told the tale, the food arrived, and yet, no one moved to take a bite. Mom looked physically ill, and a line had formed between Dad’s eyebrows.
When I was done, I set my hands in my lap, not sure how to proceed.
Mom broke the silence first.
“Obviously, you’re right that your totems have a shared history. While I don’t know a lot about Morgan and Merlin and why the totems reacted the way they did the night you saw Ishtar, I have an idea as to what happened during your last warping class,” Mom said, her tone tight and emotional.
She glanced at Dad, who gave her a single nod.
Mom sighed. “When I was at the agency, I studied totems. Only a few are as powerful as yours, and even fewer are known to have done what I’m about to tell you.” Her gaze shot from the stones on my necklace to Alex’s ring. “Your totems were already bound by previous owners, but the night that Alex saved your life—” Her voice broke, and Dad placed a hand over hers.
Mom sniffled, and I felt terrible for telling her about the ghost banishing and the extremes I’d gone to to save Amethyst.
She sniffled again and wiped her eyes before continuing. “That night, Alex poured his magic into you—a lot of it, if I’m not mistaken. And now some of it lives on inside of you. Your totems now recognize your need to be together. Their understanding of that need was what brought you physically together that night. Not true warping.”
My lips parted. It was strange, but it did explain how Alex had simply appeared before me.
“Do you think it worked so easily because I’m a warper?”
Mom shrugged. “Possibly. The few other cases that I researched didn’t involve warpers at all. In three of the cases, one person showed up to the other’s aid when they needed it, but it was a traumatic experience.” Her lips pursed. “Which clearly wasn’t the case for Alex—new, perhaps, but not traumatic. You might be onto something, honey. I wonder if it would be easier for you to find Alex in a terrible situation, rather than vice versa?”
“As in, Odie can use the totem’s power more easily because she can travel through space, whereas I might only feel the pull?” Alex frowned at the revelation.
I pressed my lips together, knowing exactly why that annoyed him. He was, after all, taking warping lessons so thathewould be able to findmeif I needed his help.
“It seems that way,” Dad said. “But from what you two have told us about Morgan and Merlin and everything that connects you, who knows? You might be breaking all the rules.”
“There seems to be a lot of that going on lately,” Mom added. “I’ll do more research on the totems and Morgan and Merlin when I get home. Thanks for telling us.”
