Emma stared at Isaak in Delmare’s arms. He was nearly a year old now, and much bigger than both of the twins, although he’d been born after them. I’d watched him grow over the past few months, but Emma had last seen him as a small babe. She must’ve felt like she entered another reality.
“You guys are still gonna have your wedding tonight, aren’t you?” Emma asked Delmare immediately when she entered the room.
“Uh… wasn’t planning on it,” Stefan said, with a glance at his mate.
“It’s a little much with everything going on,” Delmare said reluctantly.
“Please don’t call it off,” Emma begged. “I want to see you guys get married. You deserve it. We can have one last night together as friends before we talk about what to do next. It would mean a lot to me, really.”
Stefan and Delmare glanced at each other. She shrugged, then Stefan nodded. “Whatever you think is best, Em. I guess we’ll get back to it once we’re done discussing all of… this.”
“And whatisall of this?” Evonna asked in a snippy way. She dotted her eyes with a handkerchief, as if the whole situation was too much for her to handle.
“Thisconfirms our suspicions,” Vocheck said. “Vara was the goddess of time, and Kalina has inherited her abilities. There’s no other explanation for Emma’s disappearance.”
“But what do we do to stop it from happening again?” Evonna questioned briskly. “None of us want to be sucked into any more accidental time portals.”
“I don’t know if it willhappen again,” Emma said. “I think something must’ve triggered Kalina’s powers. I don’t think she can summon that kind of magic without being prompted.”
“Droga obtaining the Crystals was a significant event,” Lucien agreed.
Evonna gave a loud sniff. “And there could be more. Kalina is dangerous.”
“She’s not dangerous, Mum. She’s just a baby,” Arthur snapped.
“A child who isn’t in control of her powers!” Evonna argued. “Having talented offspring is one thing, but keeping a demigod child with these kinds of abilities around is a risk. Most supernatural children can’t even perform magic until they come of age, and Kalina’s already casting before she’s even a toddler. What she can do isn’t natural.”
My hackles raised when Evonna said that. Whatever Kalina was, she wasn’tunnatural.She was my beloved niece, and she deserved all the love and care in the world, no matter how dangerous others claimed her to be.
“Hold your tongue, you vile woman,” Faylin spat at her.
Evonna and Faylin had been at each other’s throats since Emma had gone. Both had blamed the other for it. Faylin was long past putting up with Evonna and was ready to do whatever it took now to put her daughter-in-law in her place. No words Emma or Arthur could say would dissuade her from doing so.
“She’s a threat!” Evonna insisted. “A threat to the rest of the family, and we can’t expose ourselves to any more danger! We have to get rid of her!”
How could she suggest abandoning her own granddaughter, even in circumstances like this? Even Lucien appeared petrified at the suggestion, though he failed to stand up to his mate.
Emma’s hands slammed upon the table as she stood up. “You aren’t suggesting what I think you are,” she snarled.
“There are fae laws for this sort of thing,” Evonna said. “We would be well within our rights by the gods.”
I knew very well what she was hinting at. In the old days, Malovians who considered their infants to be bad luck would take the children into the woods and leave them, either for the faekin to raise, or for the elements to claim. I couldn’t believe Evonna was suggesting such a horrific tradition now.
“You’ll not touch my daughter!” Arthur bellowed.
“She’s my granddaughter, beastly as she is, so I should have a say in her fate!” Evonna snapped back. “You wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t delivered you into this world, Arthur, don’t forget that!”
“We’ll tie you up and leave you in the woods, and all be better for it,” Faylin grumbled.
The family broke into a fit of arguing. I gave my friends worn looks of annoyance, as we’d all put up with it tirelessly for a while now. Theo, Odette, Alexei, and Kiara hadn’t said a word the entire time, worried about getting involved in a family brawl. Stefan and Delmare appeared worn. I felt sorry for them, that they had to put up with this on their wedding day.
One voice could be heard over the rest. “That’senough!” Emma yelled, and the screaming came to a halt. “I am the Worldweaver, and considering how this is my mess, my destiny, and my call, I say that Kalina stays. She’s not going anywhere. If you don’t like it, you can pack up and go, Mom.”
Evonna rolled her eyes and snorted. “I can see my opinion isn’t welcome. You don’t understand what we’ve all been through, Emma. I am yourmother.You might’ve not felt anything when you were lost in that time portal, but I had to deal with not knowing where you were for months, and it’s because of that…thing.”
“Oh my gods, Mom,leave,” Emma told her sharply. “Before I do something I regret.”
Evonna huffed and shoved away from the table, storming out of the dining hall. I, for one, was relieved she’d fled the room. She’d been difficult to deal with over the past few months. She’d insinuated that Emma’s absence was harder on her than it was on me, as she was Emma’s mother and I wasjust her mate.It had been ludicrous.
