He grabs my hand again, leading from the stairway in the hall to the front room, but when Rune swings the door open, he slams into an invisible force, falling back into my waiting arms.
“Fuck!”
I reach out and touch the unseen wall. “What is this?”
“It’s blocking me.” He drags a hand through his hair. “I think I have to accept the one thing I never thought possible. My magic is stronger than it’s ever been at this moment and yet I’m still kept in. There’s only one source of magic this powerful. My family. There’s a surviving Delaport behind this. There has to be.”
“Shit. What do we do now?”
“We wait forMistressto show up. Then it’s game fucking on.”
RUNE
I can’t believethis is happening. I’ve never been stronger in my life, but I still can’t break the magic around me.
When I turn to face the room, I drag in shallow breaths as I finally let myself fully take it in. It’s completely restored, from the deep burgundy velvet couch to the piano where my brother would play every Sunday for us. The yellow pillow by the fireplace is there too, where I sat and listened, enjoying my family before I knew what they were. But none of it’s real, it can’t be. I saw it burn with my own eyes.
I rush out of the room and up the stairs to my childhood bedroom. When I open the door, I stumble back, finding Atlas protectively behind me.
“It’s exactly the same as the day I left... I mean, it’s the way it wasbeforeI set the fire.”
“This is your room?”
I nod, bravely stepping inside. The walls are covered with posters of my favorite bands: Panic! At the Disco, David Bowie, and Fleetwood Mac. My credenza, filled with my potions and notes, sits undisturbed, as if I left it yesterday.
Reaching out to touch it, I brace myself for what I might feel, but I wasn’t at all prepared for the experience. My knees buckle as I slump to the floor. Atlas drops with me, tucking his hands under my arms to steady me.
“Rune. What’s happening?”
“It’s ancestral magic. My ancestors.” I shake my head as the only possibility bounces around my head. “It’s someone close to me. Biologically close. But it can’t be.”
“Rune… your sister.”
“No. She had no magic, and even if she bloomed late, she couldn’t possibly be this strong.”
“Okay, I don’t know how any of this works, but couldn’t she have summoned something to help her?”
Of course she could have. Why would I think she wouldn’t try? She is a Delaport, after all, and we aren’t exactly known for being chill.
“I think I have to face the idea that it might be her.” A dark laugh bubbles out of me. “My arrogance got me here. I never even considered that she’d be a threat to me, but the familiar foods, my t-shirt, the things she said. It’s the only reasonable option, really.”
“She’s stronger than you?”
“No.” I shake my head. “She’s siphoning magic from our ancestors, but I made it past most of her magic. I imagine nothing we’re seeing is really here. We’re standing in a burned-down carcass of a house. In fact, I’ll show you. Give me your hand.”
Atlas offers his hand, standing closer to me. I focus all my energy on removing the illusion, but I keep slamming into the ancestral magic blocking me. I try until I can’t anymore, then I slump against Atlas.
“Bitch.”
Atlas rubs my back. “She must have a reason.”
“Of course she does. She probably wants me dead. Fair, really. She doesn’t know that I showed her mercy on purpose. I thought she could have a normal life somewhere else. I guess I was wrong. I might have to kill her.” The realization hits me like a knife to the chest.
“Maybe she isn’t like the rest of them. You’ve never heard of her before now. Wouldn’t you have if she was doing the same stuff your family did?”
I consider that, nodding thoughtfully. “Good point. Regardless, she clearly has a vendetta against me.”
“Yeah.”
