My grandmother drags a light pink nail across the photo and shakes her head. “It’s far too painful. Even seeing you for the first time was painful for me. For all her faults, I love her deeply and she gave me you. I know I’m not overly affectionate, or loving, or even understanding sometimes. Having you in my life has been one of my greatest blessings, if I had to do it all again, I would, only to have you,” she says.
Her pale blue eyes fill with emotion. Witches don’t cry, especially not Aster Delvaux.
So, I choose to believe her. She’s the High Priestess. She’s the only family I have. She’s the reason I’m in this coven and have found the love and the light that my life is full of. Even with some reluctance, I nod and hug her. She inhales deeply and pulls back.
“This coven needs you, Violet. You’re the future. This all had to happen for you to ascend, I’m sure of it. It’s time for you to truly prepare yourself to lead this coven when I’m no longer here.”
“I think you’re going to be around for quite some time.”
“Just because I’m alive doesn’t mean I should be the one leading. The Celestial Coven has been so powerful because we train our successors properly. We should boost your private lessons with me to two days a week.”
“Yes, grand-mère,” I say, and she strokes my cheek.
“You’re the most important person to me and to the life of our coven. I’m sorry I kept the truth from you. I thought I was protecting you. You already had such a hard life before we found you. We can’t lose you too, not to the past.”
I nod, feeling the weight of the coven on my shoulders. Maybe I am cut out to be the High Priestess. Maybe everything she said is true, or mostly true. But she’s right about one thing. Dwelling in the past has only made me hurt. It’s time to look toward the future. I need to up my studies; I need to get rid of Silas… even though there’s a part of me that doesn’t want to.
It’s the magic, the curse, nothing else.
“I’ll make you proud, grand-mère.”
“I know you will, it’s been foretold,” she says and I wonder what Iris’ grandmother has seen.
She pats my thigh, placing everything back in its neat little box as I leave the house. I turn back toward the window where my great aunt Daisy is looking at me with an eerie look to her eye.
Instead of reading into it, I continue my walk back to my home, mulling over everything my grandmother said as my phone vibrates in my pocket.
When I pull it out, I roll my eyes. Before Silas left my home, he said he should have his wife’s number. I disagreed, but unfortunately it made too much sense.
“What?” I say as I pick up the phone.
“I need you on the pack lands, now,” he says, and it sounds like there’s a ton of commotion in the background.
“Number fucking one, witches aren’t allowed on pack lands, second why the hell would I?”
“You’re a healer right, you’ve made an oath to serve and protect?”
“That’s human doctors,” I say with a roll of my eyes. “You need to stop watching so much television.”
“Violet,” he says my name like a plea. “I have a mother and a pup who might die if I don’t get some help here soon.”
“Don’t you have your own medical professionals?” I ask.
“We do, but this is beyond them. Please, Violet.”
It’s the word please, maybe accompanied by the story that my grandmother just told me that rip at my heart.
“Can you go outside?” I tell him.
“What? Violet, we don’t have time for this.”
“Just go outside, it’s more dangerous if I teleport into a building. But I recognize your signature enough that I can teleport right to you and then that way I don’t need to drive into pack territory and get there faster.”
“I’ll be right back, I’m getting help,” Silas says, a door clicks, and he’s breathing heavily on the phone. “Okay, I’m outside,” he says.
I place the phone back into my pocket and let this pesky magical tether that ties us guide me to where I need to go. With a deep inhale, I pop into existence and right into Silas Walker’s arms. I don’t dwell on how he effortlessly carries me, or how firm his grip is under my thighs and around my waist.
“Thank fuck,” he says, not putting me down and dragging me toward a small wooden cabin.
