"Geez she looks like she is about to explode," I murmured to Damon, my wolf instincts shifting uneasily.
"Maybe," he replied, concerned. "This has been going on for two hours now."
"Two hours? Goddess..." I muttered.
"Enough!" Audrey shouted, snatching another book and setting it ablaze in her hands. The sight of her destructive anger sent a growl rumbling up my chest, my wolf reacting instinctively to the perceived threat. Damon was already on his feet, moving toward her with his arms outstretched.
"Hey, darling," he cooed softly, pulling her into a tight embrace. "It's okay. We're going to figure this out."
"Is it though?" she sobbed into his chest, her voice raw and ragged. "I feel so useless, Damon. I don't know what to do. Everything seems to hit a dead end." Damon held her even tighter, pressing a tender kiss to the top of her head.
"We'll find a way," he murmured, trying to sound confident for her sake. Audrey's tears gradually subsided as she leaned into Damon's embrace. The room seemed to grow quieter, our breathing the only sound echoing through the tense air. I couldn't help but watch them, my curiosity piqued by the depth of their connection. I had always known there was something between them, but in this moment, it was clear that their bond ran much deeper than casual flirtation.
As Audrey slowly regained her composure, her gaze wandered back to the table. Her eyes widened, a spark of inspiration igniting within them. Extracting herself from Damon's arms, she snatched up a piece of paper with an almost feverish eagerness. She flashed a grin at Damon; it was like seeing the sun break through storm clouds.
"Wait here," she instructed, her voice filled with newfound determination. Before either of us could question her, she bolted out of the room, clutching the paper to her chest. Damon and I exchanged puzzled glances.
"What do you think that was about?" I asked, unable to keep the curiosity from my voice. Damon shook his head, just as bewildered as I was. "I have no idea, but if it got her to stop crying, I'm all for it."
We waited for several minutes; the silence growing more and more oppressive. My thoughts raced, anxiety gnawing at the edges of my mind. What if Audrey's discovery led nowhere? What if she was grasping at straws, desperate for any semblance of hope?
"Boys!" Audrey shouted from upstairs, her excitement palpable. "Get your cute asses up here now." Damon grinned and nudged me in the ribs. I couldn't help but smile as well, despite the turmoil that roiled within me. Together, we climbed the stairs and followed the sound of Audrey's voice.
"In here," she called. We entered a large room decorated in various shades of pink and adorned with princess-themed items. It was unmistakably Sophia's bedroom. Audrey stood by a table at the centre of the room, watching intently as her young daughter sat drawing on a large sheet of paper. Every now and then, Sophia would pause to glance into a mirror laid beside her before returning to her artwork. Audrey looked up as we approached, her blue eyes shining with something akin to hope.
"Look at this." She gestured to the crayon drawing that Damon held, the one she'd mentioned before, Erica's wolf and witch. I still didn't quite understand its significance, but I could feel the importance radiating from it like heat from a fire.
"Alright," I said cautiously, my voice thick with curiosity and trepidation. "What's going on?"
"Watch," Audrey whispered, nodding toward Sophia and the mirror. As we observed, I noticed that Sophia's gaze flickered between her drawing and the mirror in a way that seemed almost unnatural. It was as if she were seeing something in the glass that guided her hand on the paper.
"Is she..." I hesitated, searching for the right words. "Is she drawing what she sees in the mirror?"
"Exactly," Audrey confirmed, her eyes never leaving her daughter. “She’s a mirror worker.”
"Mirror worker?" I asked, my voice barely more than a whisper. Audrey nodded, her eyes never leaving her daughter.
"She uses the mirror to see things, the past, present, and future, as well as other dimensional states."
"That's a sorcerer's power, then?" I checked, trying to wrap my head around this new information. Audrey confirmed my suspicions with a nod, but it was Damon who answered.
"Quite a rare powerful one, if I remember correctly." There was an edge of something in his voice that I couldn't detect. As realisation dawned on him, I could see his shoulders sag ever so slightly.
"Wait," I whispered, glancing between Audrey and Damon. "That means you're not Sophia's father, are you?" Damon hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. "No," he admitted quietly, his gaze downcast. "I'm not.But now I know who is." The weight of the revelation hung heavy in the air, and I felt a pang of sympathy for my friend. He had clearly harboured feelings for Audrey, and now he was faced with the knowledge that she shared a child, and a powerful one at that, with someone else, who by the sounds of it Damon wasn’t happy about.
Sophia's giggles filled the room as she proudly presented her drawing to her mother. Audrey's eyes sparkled with love as she admired her daughter's work, a warmth in her gaze that spoke of the deep connection between them.
"Done mummy, isn't it pretty?" Sophia asked, her tiny voice brimming with excitement. Audrey leaned down and pressed a tender kiss to the top of her child's head.
"It's beautiful, baby." She straightened up, studying the picture intently, her fingers tracing over the intricate shapes and lines. The silence in the room was almost palpable as we waited for her verdict, my heart pounding in my chest with anticipation. Finally, Audrey looked up at Damon and me, her face alight with a mix of excitement and determination.
"I've got it, the key!" she exclaimed. "The key to everything is Erica!"
Chapter 6
Liam
"Comeon,Kaitlyn,justpass her the phone," I pleaded desperately as I tried to get a hold of Erica. Her phone wasn't working, so I reached out to my sister for help. But Kaitlyn was refusing to give Erica the phone and insisted that she didn't want to speak to me. My frustration mounted with each passing second, the anger threatening to bubble within me.
