She hurried across the pavement to where I stood beside my very ordinary and practical car.
“Rebecca, I’m so glad I caught you.”
Made one of us. I barely kept myself from saying it. Elena Wyler Symms looked a little too much like her sister—Aunty Mommy—and I couldn’t help the flash of knee-jerk hatred I felt every time I saw her. It wasn’t her fault and not fair to hold her responsible. She’d been tricked into gestating me and then Aunty Mommy had kidnapped me. Nothing was her fault.
She also looked a lot like me. Or I looked like her. Whatever. She had an oval face with honey-colored hair that nearly matched mine, except she’d probably dropped a thousand dollars or more on her chic hair style.
“Call me Beck,” I said yet again. I don’t know how many times I’d told her.
She gave it a little pout. She was way too fucking old to pout. “But Rebecca is such a lovely name.”
“I hate the name, and it’s rude to continue to use it when I’ve asked you not to.”
Her eyes widened. “I didn’t realize you find it so offensive.” A note of haughtiness tinged the not-quite-an-apology.
“Now you do. Did you get a new car?”
“I wanted a convertible. Do you like it?”
“It’s pretty.” I just preferred classic cars and the Porsche was a little ostentatious. “What brings you by?”
“I wanted to invite you to dinner tonight. Are you free? I’ll invite Mason, and you can bring Mister Matrovani. We haven’t had a chance to spend much time together.”
She sounded wistful and there was a sadness lurking in her eyes that made me want to say yes. She came from the world of witches, which was a world of wealth and power, but also one of insanity, if you asked me. All the children had to participate in the whole eugenics program. Families contracted pregnancies, breeding for power. The children were disseminated according to the contractual dictates, and the other parent’s family had nothing to do with them.
Ethan Osterraven, my sperm donor, wanted to use me the same way. I’d told the bastard he could take his demands and go fuck himself with them, but I doubted he’d given up on me. Or rather, my uterus, because really, what else could possibly matter? That was one of Damon’s fears: that good ole dad planned to snatch me, and if not him, another baby-hungry family.
“I’ve got plans already,” I said. “We could meet up for lunch tomorrow if you like.”
Disappointment dimmed her enthusiasm. “I wanted to have you over to my new house. It’s quite lovely.”
Surprise of a not particularly pleasant variety widened my eyes. “That was quick.”
She waved a dismissive hand. “I paid cash with inducements to vacate immediately, and had my decorator renovate. He’s from the Medevec family, and has stellar taste. I left everything in his hands and he and his people worked around the clock to get everything in order. It didn’t take long at all. They put in a gorgeous pool with waterfalls and a lazy river. It’s almost as big as the house.”
“Sounds impressive,” I said dryly. I had no doubt they’d used a hefty load of magic to make the renovations happen too quickly.
“I flew the staff in from my other homes. They all have minor magical talents, which they put to excellent use in domestic work. My chef is utterly divine. His bluefin tuna with white truffles is a taste of paradise.” She hesitated. “I hoped to make a place you’d want to visit. We haven’t really talked much since….” She trailed off, turning her sparkling bracelet around her wrist.
“Why do you want to know me?” The question had been gnawing at me. Damon’s suspicion of her motivations only increased my own.
“You’re my daughter.”
I shrugged. “You have other kids and didn’t raise them either. So what makes my disappearance such a big deal to you? I wasn’t even part of the contract. You can’t miss what you didn’t even know you lost, and even if you’d known about me, I’d have gone to my father per the contract. I don’t buy that you have an abiding love for me. It makes a lot more sense if you’re out to convince me to return to the family fold and make babies, or maybe you just plan to kidnap me.”
I studied her as I spoke, trying to get a bead on what she was really thinking. She flushed and her back stiffened at my accusations, but instead of an angry retort, she averted her eyes as if embarrassed.
“I don’t remember giving birth. I was sick for weeks after, and no magic seemed to help. They even tried ordinary medicine. Eventually I recovered, but I had postpartum depression. They medicated me and told me to get over it. They said I was lucky and should be grateful. I didn’t feel lucky.
“I couldn’t seem to stop crying or stop wanting you—all three of you. I’ve never even met your brother or sister. Ethan keeps them on a tight leash. Not that they’d be interested in knowing me. I never had more children. I couldn’t bear it. Nor did I want to raise any of the children from other family contracts. Mostly I wanted to disappear.”
The rawness of her emotion saturated the words. I had no doubt she spoke the truth. You just couldn’t fake that kind of pain.
She looked at me, her eyes haunted. “I did all the things I was supposed to do. I studied and got a degree, and I went to work. I kept myself busy with all sorts of unimportant activities that I couldn’t really care about. When I learned you were alive, it’s like color came back to my world. I dropped everything and came as fast as I could. I was terrified Ethan would drag you away before I could even meet you.” A smile curved her lips. “I imagine you gave him quite a shock when you refused to have anything to do with him.”
“He did seem startled,” I acknowledged.
“Beck, I know my sister abused you, and I don’t want to make your life difficult. All I want is to get to know you. I bought the house in the hopes you’d want to spend time there, and so you’d know I’m sincere and committed to doing whatever I need to do. You might not be ready to have me in your life, but maybe one day you will be. When that happens, I’m going to be here, waiting.”
