“Goodness.” A charming laugh escaped her. “It feels so freeing to tell someone…to tellyou.”
Even if she was a byblow of some sort, she would have known she was magical. She would have always known. “I don’t—that is, how did younotknow?”
“I’m not quite sure how to answer that,” she told him. “The best I can piece together is that my great-aunt kept our powers from us, from Laurel and me.”
A pit began to form in Alec’s stomach. “Your great-auntkeptyour powers from you?”
“In a pair of crystal boxes,” the pretty girl continued with a shake of her head. “When you hear yourself say those words out loud…I probably sound like a bedlamite.”
“I’ve seen boxes like that before,” Alec told her as that pit in his belly grew heavier and unwelcome memories began poking at the edges of his mind. Somewhere, a similar box containing his powers glowed an angry crimson.
She blinked at him. “So, I don’t sound like a bedlamite?”
“Not to me,” he assured her, wishing that the awful pit of discomfort would dissipate and that those plaguing memories of his would fade away to dust. They were still there, however. “Do go on.”
“Last summer, my great-aunt came for a visit. She insisted on reading my cards, which was something she often did. But this visit was different, thinking back on it she was more urgent, more insistent than she had been when we were younger. At the time, however, I was rather vexed as she rambled on about the three of us being the last of the Branwyck witches and descendants of Merlin.”
“You can throw a stone and hit a descendant of Merlin.” Alec smiled. “Fellow was rather proliferous in his day, apparently.”
When she stared at him blankly, he shrugged.
“Many magical families claim ties to Merlin. The Galbraiths of Ravensdale are no different.”
“So, if I was to throw a stone, I’d hityou?” her hazel eyes twinkled just so.
“I now regret all mention of stone-throwing.”
Her laugh was a balm that somewhat eased that awful pit in his belly. Almost like soothing a wild beast with a soft melody. “I promise not to throw any stones in your direction, Captain.”
“I am most appreciative, Miss Elstone.”
“Poppy, please,” she said. “We are sharing many secrets, and Miss Elstone feels too formal all of a sudden.”
“Poppy,” he tested the sound of her name on his tongue. He did like it. He liked her, but he’d known that the first moment he’d seen her, hadn’t he? “In that case, I do hope you’ll feel comfortable calling me Alec.”
She agreed with a nod.
“So, your aunt?” he began. “And her visit last summer?”
Poppy nodded once more. “After going on about who we were, and that we couldn’t ever breathe a word to Papa about any of it, I was rather frightened, to be honest, and I didn’t believe her. Sane people don’t go around claiming to bewitches, you know?”
Not to those who weren’t magical. That was a lesson one learned at a very young age. History books were filled with what happened to those with loose tongues.
She gazed up at Alec with the most heartbreaking expression of regret. “I should have listened to her. I should have asked all manner of questions while I had the chance, learned whatever I possibly could from her, but I didn’t.”
“What happened, Poppy?”
She heaved a sigh. “I was so lost in the magical embrace of light from that box…It was nearly intoxicating and there was no place for rational thought. For the first time in my life, I felt whole, complete, if that makes sense.”
Instinctively, he nodded. He knew what she meant, but in reverse. He hadn’t felt whole in a dozen years, like part of his soul had been ripped from him and kept far away from his reach. He could only wonder at what it must have felt like to have the missing part of her soul returned.
“Anyway, I remember Great-Aunt Alora said we needed to rest for the night, to reconnect with our magic and that she’d begin training us the next morning, but…”
“But?” Alec urged.
“She died in her sleep that night.” A staggered breath escaped Poppy. “Laurel and I have been lost ever since. Neither of us have any idea what we’re doing and we’ve had no one to talk to except each other, which isn’t any help at all as we’re both equally lost.”
And then all the pieces started to fall into place in Alec’s mind. Poppy wasn’t a byblow or anything of the like. Her aunt wouldn’t have been welcome at The Chase if that was the case. “Lady Halwell is yourstepmother.”
