Thinking I’d somehow been teleported again, I spun to look back through the glass door. The problem was the door was now solid wood. The metal and glass door Sinthy had held open moments ago was gone. A window beside the door showed the outside world. It was the same city street we’d just been on. We hadn’t teleported. We’d only walked into a world hidden by magic.
“Holy shit,” I whispered.
“Pretty cool, yes,” Sinthy said as she walked deeper into the house.
“Sinthy?” a female voice called from a room down the hall. “Is that you?”
“Yes, Mother.”
“Well, it took you long enough, didn’t it?”
Sinthy rolled her eyes at Maddy and me before answering. “Mother? Did you forget you had me stop off in New York? I was out of juice. I had to recharge the batteries, so to speak.”
I froze. New York? That was the second time she’d mentioned being in New York. My phone call to Donatello flashed back across my mind.I guess you could say a little birdie told me to.That’s what he’d said. I remembered the dark black crow the witch had been before turning into her human form. These women had been the ones to get Donatello to help us. They’d pulled the strings. Donatello was powerful and mind-bogglingly rich. Whatever Sinthy had said to him must have made an impression to get him to help us again.
I pulled Maddy close and put my lips to her ear. “She’s the one who convinced Donatello to offer us his island.”
Maddy turned to look at me. Her face, at first confused, went wide-eyed as she made the same connections I had. “Holy shit,” she whispered.
“Come in the kitchen. We need to talk. I have much to tell you,” the voice said.
Sinthy gestured toward a doorway that led out of the living room into the kitchen. A fireplace sat in one corner of the kitchen near a small dining table. A woman sat beside the fire. She looked as old as the earth itself. Deep lines creased her face, and the skin on her hands looked as thin as crepe paper. When she turned her eyes upon us, though, I was sure this was no frail woman. She might have looked like she was a hundred years old, but the person inside that body was spry, intelligent, and cunning.
Maddy froze mid-step as she took in the woman’s features. The old woman stared back at her, a knowing glint in the ancient eyes. I glanced between the two, sure something was happening, but unable to figure it out.
Finally, Maddy’s brow furrowed in confusion. “I… recognize you. Or… uh… my wolf does. Maybe?”
The old woman’s face broke out into a bright smile. Her teeth were perfectly straight and white and appeared to be her own. I could see, with that smile, that she’d been a beautiful young woman many years ago. Many centuries ago, apparently—if what Sinthy said was true.
The old witch clapped her hands once in pleasure. “That is very good to hear.” She gestured to the extra seats beside the fire. “Please sit. I have much to tell you.” She glanced over her shoulder toward Sinthy. “Bring us tea, dear. Please.”
“Yes, Mother,” Sinthy said in a good-natured yet long-suffering tone.
94
MADDY
Sinthy brought us tea before sitting down beside her mother. Nico put a hand on my thigh, and I didn’t know if he was trying to steady me or himself.
The elderly witch leaned forward and extended a hand to each of us. “My name is Isme. Wonderful to meet you all. I suppose you want to hear the story. The true story.”
I cleared my throat. “I think we know most of what happened back then.”
Isme clucked her tongue disapprovingly. “You know about legend and rumor. Most of which has been twisted and defiled by the tongues of the so-calledroyals. I mean to tell you the true story. The story of Edemas, his queen, and… the princess that I can feel living inside you right now,” the old woman said, pointing at me.
Nico and I both sat back. The intensity of the woman made it almost impossible to argue against it. As old as she looked, her voice was strong and powerful. It was probably best if we let her proceed.
“Okay. Sure,” I said. “Go on.”
Isme gave a look of approval and settled herself to begin the story. “Many years before the royals overthrew Edemas, I was a hired witch. Helena’s family hired me to protect her, as she was to be the future queen of the small country we lived in. Helena was the crown princess, and because there were often threats of violence, I was hired to be a bodyguard of sorts. I was a small woman and not incredibly intimidating. I was the perfect candidate to watch over the young princess. If anyone made an attempt on her life, I could use my many talents to stop the attack. It worked well, and the family paid me more than adequately.”
“Is this before you met Edemas?” I asked.
Isme nodded. “Not long before, but yes. Princess Helena was sixteen years old when I found myself as her guardian. I went everywhere with her and grew close to her, acting almost as a surrogate mother. A few months before she turned eighteen, there was a banquet. Helena’s father invited all the nearby nobles, some distant kings, and other dignitaries. At the feast, a large burly man strode in and announced himself as King Edemas. This sent a stir among the crowd. The werewolf alpha was well known and typically didn’t venture out of his pack lands unless it was to go to war. He and all his line had been very secretive—it was actually quite the political statement that Helena’s father got him to attend.
“Being not only a shifter but a werewolf, he was both well-known and feared. Most of the attendees gave him a wide berth, but I witnessed the change on young Helena’s face when he walked in. Desire, from the instant she laid eyes on him. It stirred some misgivings within me, but I was not a bigot. After all, I was a magical creature too. Who was I to look down on a shifter? Instead of steering her away, I took it upon myself to introduce the two.” Isme waved a hand through the air andsighed. “Disaster. He wanted nothing to do with the princess. It was obvious from the start.”
I gasped and put a hand to my mouth. “He wasn’t attracted to her at all?” It seemed crazy with everything I knew about their relationship. It hadn’t ended well, but it had seemed like they were in love before things went bad.
