“Three vampires,” Gran says again, her voice gaining strength. “Three times we’ve seen them choose love over power, choose sacrifice over self-preservation. And you still doubt?”
Poppy sits unnaturally still on the fountain’s edge, her usual fidgeting completely absent. There’s something about her posture that seems wrong for a squirrel – too regal, too knowing.
Mom makes a small sound of confusion, and Dad’s hand tightens on her shoulder. Rowan’s mouth is hanging open slightly, and even Mia looks bewildered.
I glance around at my family’s faces, seeing my own confusion reflected back. Only Gran seems to know what’s really happening here, her eyes fixed on Poppy with that strange intensity.
What the hell is going on?
I realize with a start that I don’t know if the thought is my own or Marcus’s, but somehow, it doesn’t matter anymore.
“I think it’s time, Gaia, don’t you?” says Gran.
“Oh, for God’s sake. Fine!” Poppy huffs.
The air around her begins to shimmer, like heat waves rising from a summer pavement. I stare in amazement as the squirrel’s form starts to blur and expand, growing taller, more human. The energy in the garden shifts dramatically, immense power rolling off her in waves that make my knees weak. Marcus steadies me, his own shock evident in his bearing.
Where Poppy sat moments ago, a woman now stands. She’s tall and elegant, with flowing red hair that catches the moonlight like flames. Her green eyes – so similar to mine, to Rowan’s, to Mia’s – survey us all with an unearthly wisdom. Her presence fills the garden with an otherworldly power that makes even Darick and Soren take involuntary steps back.
“Oh, my God,” Mom whispers, her hand flying to her mouth.
Rowan makes a strangled sound, and I hear Mia’s sharp intake of breath. Dad’s face has gone pale, his usual composure completely shattered.
The woman – Gaia – wears a gown that seems woven from starlight and shadow, shifting colors with each movement. Her features are hauntingly familiar, like looking at an old version of our family portrait. The resemblance to all of us is uncanny, especially around the eyes and cheekbones.
Time seems to freeze. The fountain’s splash goes silent, the breeze stops rustling the leaves, even the birds halt their songs. It’s as if the whole world is holding its breath, watching this moment unfold.
A collective gasp echoes through the garden as Gaia takes a graceful step forward, her bare feet barely seeming to touch the ground. The raw power emanating from her makes my senses tingle almost painfully.
“Well,” she says, her voice carrying echoes of Poppy’s sass but layered with something deeper, more silky, “I suppose I can’t argue with the evidence before me.”
“I don’t understand,” Dad whispers.
Gran looks around at us. “Allow me to introduce your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great—”
“They get the point, Evelyn,” Poppy-Gaia says drily.
“…great-grandmother Gaia Blackwood,” Gran finishes.
“Holy shitballs,” Rowan exhales. “Poppy?”
“That’s me.” Gaia winks at her and twitches her nose.
I stare at the elegant woman before us, my mind struggling to process what I’m hearing. The sassy squirrel who’s been hanging around our family for as long as I can remember is actually our ancestor? The one who…
“The witch who created the Bloodbane,” Mia says, her expression echoing my own shock.
“A Blackwood witch created the Bloodbane?” My eyes are wide.
“Indeed.” Gaia’s smile holds traces of Poppy’s familiar mischief. “Though I prefer to think of myself as the witch who’s about to end it.”
Mom sways slightly, and Dad steadies her. “But…how? All this time?”
“Someone had to keep an eye on you lot.” Gaia waves her hand dismissively, but I catch the affection in her gesture. “Making sure the bloodline continued, watching over each generation.”
I feel the truth of it in my bones, in my magic. The power signature I’ve always sensed from Poppy but dismissed – it matches the magic that runs through our family spells, through our very blood.
“That’s why you’ve always been around,” I breathe. “The family familiar who never really belonged to anyone…”
