“Yes, please.” I smiled at her and accepted the still-steaming breakfast, its baked scent perfuming the air and making my stomach growl.
“There she is! You just needed some coffee.” Sariah winked before she took her seat opposite Donovan and me.
I ducked my head while slathering butter over the waffle. After drizzling maple syrup on top of the glistening goodness, I met my aunt’s gaze. “Sorry for being a grump. I’m not really a morning person.”
She held up her hand as though to stop my protest. “It’s genetic. Neither was your mom.”
My heart panged. I wished I’d grown up knowing my mom like Sariah did. Just then, I realized what minimal things my father had said about my mom might not even be true.
“What was she like?” I asked, taking a bite of my waffle.
Sariah took a deep breath; her gaze went fuzzy as she then smiled. After several heartbeats of silence, my aunt met my gaze. “Funny. Kind. A total smartass.”
“Cuss word!” Donovan shouted.
My heart skipped a beat, and both Sariah and I jerked in our seats, startled by my cousin’s outburst, which then resulted in laughter.
“She was amazing,” Sariah continued. “She was always so sure of herself, confident in her powers and her place in the world. Nothing really shook her.”
I grinned, drinking in this conversation about the woman who birthed me like it was sunshine to my soul.
“Well, nothing shook her until she met your dad, of course.”
My eyes widened, and I gasped. “Do you know that story?” I inched forward on my seat. “Tell me!”
A slow smile crept across my aunt’s face. “Well, going into the Shifter Island library is forbidden to everyone but the high mages … buteveryonedoes it, like a rite of passage. Even if just for a moment in the middle of the night.”
Fully awake now, I bounced my knee as my heart thumped with excitement and anticipation for this story.
Sariah leaned forward on her elbows, her silvery-white curls falling softly around her shoulders. “I dared her to go into Shifter Island’s library and steal a book.”
“Stealing is bad,” Donovan pointed out.
“Yes, it is,” Sariah replied and then looked at me and winked. “So, we went over about nine o’clock at night, long after dinner, when we thought the library would be unoccupied.”
I leaned forward, taking in every word. “What happened?”
Sariah’s voice dropped, and even though she was looking at me, she had that faraway gaze as ifremembering… “We opened the black door. Your mom strode into the library, her chin held high. She waved for me to join her, but I chickened out, telling her I’d stay back to hold the door open. I can almost see her now in my mind’s eye—she walked down the nearest aisle, grabbed a book, and then spun around, bolting for the open portal door. Of course, that’s when your father stepped right in front of her, and the two of them collided”—my aunt clapped her hands together—“Bam! Just like that, she ran smack dab into his chest.”
I giggled, and Sariah burst into laughter.
After our laughter waned, she sighed. “It was love at first sight. Well, almost. I mean, first, he called her a thief, and she snapped back at him, ‘Watch where you’re walking, you oversized dog.’ You know, that sort of thing.”
A huge grin took over my face as happiness poured into me. “What happened after that?”
Sariah checked her watch before answering. “He … he apologized. Then he asked her to stay so they could talk … and she did. With a wide-eyed wave, she told me to cover for her, and then I left her there. They ended up meeting that way weekly, at first, and then more often … even going on secret dates.”
That was similar to what I’d just worked out with Rage. The thought that we were doing what my parents once did made me smile even bigger.
“Thanks for sharing that with me,” I told her, my voice cracking at the end. After clearing my throat, I added, “It really means a lot to me.”
She nodded and reached out to squeeze my hand.
“Family,” Donovan said with a mouthful of waffles.
“Family,” Sariah confirmed.
My throat tightened even more. For so long, it had always been me and Dad. Lona and Mack were there too, but myfamilyhad always been so small. Now, I had more, and the wonder of it made me feel so lucky.
