Even as my mind reels, his question tethers me to the memory.
“Epiphaneia is not just the awakening of power to channel and wield primordial magic. It is the moment the light of theuniverse shines upon you, and the truth of everything you are, everything youwillbe, is weighed and measured."
My stomach drops with dread when it triggers another memory. Because yes, I do remember—in my dream, watching through a red haze as everything I was, was replaced by everything I was meant to be.
Whatever he sees on my face seems to confirm his suspicions.
“What happened?” I ask in a shaky whisper. “What am I?”
“You are what’s known as a Bloodwitch. Your power is somewhat similar to elemental affinities in that you can wield the physical properties of blood, however—” he pauses, which isn’t great. “Eventually, you will also be able to wield the magical properties of blood.” All three of them look at me expectantly, and in the stunned silence, only the cat’s insistent purring on my lap keeps me from disassociating completely.
My mouth falls open, but it takes a couple tries to speak. “I don’t—what does that mean?” I frown in confusion.
“What do demons, witches, shifters, etcetera, all have in common?”
“They… have magic?”
“How?”
“They have magical ancestors?”
“Every individual of each magical species—save vampires, but I’ll get to that in a moment—shares a common ancestralwhat?”
Oh.
Fuck.
My eyes widen, and the answer escapes in a breathless gasp. “Bloodline.”
He nods, steepling his hands. “In our world, bloodlines are sacred. Demonic dynasties are built and broken according to their pedigrees. The few witch covens that have been able totrace their ancestry to the Mother of Witches—like your friends, the Hektreia girls, for example—have managed to consolidate power over millennia. Shifters who can trace their bloodlines back to the original Fae, of which few now remain, are considered to be royalty among their own. Do you understand, Nyx?”
I look at Church, who’s watching silently.
To Esmé, who’s looking at me with sympathy.
Why is she looking at me like that?
“Yesterday, whether consciously or not—I suspect the latter, given what Esmé’s shared about how she found you—you summoned power from the blood spilled by long-dead wielders to strengthen the wards around the school, and wielded primordial magic to destroy them. And then—” oh God,no. “When I tried to contain your power, you started to siphon power from the living.”
I think I’m going to be sick.
My ears start to ring as fragments of my dream replay through my mind, and I squeeze my eyes shut. The cat starts to knead my stomach with its claws again.
“I found you before anyone died, Nyx.” She tries to comfort me. “As soon as I called out, you responded and pulled your power back. I can’t understate how extraordinary it is for a newly-awakened wielder to exert that level of control over their power. Especially considering yours is essentially?—”
“Limitless.” Headmaster Church cuts in, just as a tear escapes and rolls down my cheek. “Your power islimitless, Ms. Byrke,” he emphasizes. “As a witch, you wield primordial magic without constraint. As abloodwitch, you are capable of wielding whatever power anyoneelseis capable of. Living or not, as we saw yesterday.”
When I open my eyes, the cat is staring at me,still, purring and pricking me through the blanket with its claws. The worldspins as the implications of what I am, what I can do, what I almostdid, burrow into my brain—down, down, down into the darkness until my mind balances on the precipice of this new chasm within me, gazing into the bottomless abyss that threatens to swallow me, but its eyes hold mine. It doesn’t blink.
And neither do I.
“Unfortunately,” Headmaster Church begins, “that’s not all.”
I can’t help it. I laugh hysterically. I laugh and laugh and laugh until tears stream down my face and my stomach hurts and I hold my head in my hands.
“Of-fucking-course it’s not,” I barely get out through heaving breaths that may also be sobs.
“The Dark Council has opened an investigation into yesterday’s incident, and when you are fully recovered, you will be required to provide testimony regarding everything that occurred.”
