Page 239 of Born of Blood and Ash

She released my hand, and I turned away, still feeling herskin against mine. I said goodbye to Marisol, or at least I thought I did. Iwas in a state of shock.

Ezra had touched me and had done it so casually. I couldcount on one hand how many times she had done that in the past.

If she had only done so because of who I was now, I didn’tcare. It didn’t matter.

“Seraphena.” My mother rose in aquiet rustle of silk. “May we speak? In private?”

Age-old tension crept in, erasing the shock. My feelingswhen it came to my mother were still as complicated as ever, even though I hada little better understanding of why she was who she was. Still, I was about tosay no because I didn’t need to continue allowing her to hurt me.

And that was both for my sake and hers.

But I remembered what I had seen snippets of, and what Wardhad shared.

My namesake.

“We can,” I said, and Nektasdidn’t look even remotely thrilled about that. “It’s okay,” I told him. “Canyou give us a couple of minutes?”

“Do I have to?” Nektas didn’t takehis eyes off my mother.

“Yes.” I walked past him, touching his arm. His bright gazemet mine. “Do not scare them.”

He huffed.

Without even looking back at Ezra, I knew she wasbrimming with excitement about the prospect of having a few moments alone withthe very first draken.

Actually, as I closed the doors behind me, I was moreworried about him than I was about her.

My mother waited across the hall, standing at one of thewindows overlooking the moonlit gardens. She faced me, expression withoutemotion in the soft, buttery light of the gas lamps.

Maybe I should be worried about myself.

“Thank you for speaking with me,” she said.

I stopped a few feet from her.

She clasped her hands together and cleared her throat. “Idon’t know where to start, and we surely do not have enough time for that.”

“No, we don’t.”

A faint smile appeared. “Is it true? You love him?”

Her question surprised me, and it took me a moment toanswer. “I love him with everything I have in me.”

She nodded, her gaze skittering over my face, and I wonderedif she saw any of herself in me. Or if she only saw my father.

“I didn’t mean to…upset you earlier when I asked what youwere. Seeing you was a surprise. Seeing what you can do was a shock. I knowthat is no excuse,” she went on quickly. “And I also know that how I treatedyou was not right.”

“If you’re attempting to apologize, it’s not necessary,” Isaid. “Or needed.”

“But it is.”

“For you?”

“No.” She held my stare. “For you.”

Shaking my head, I started to turn away.

“I wasn’t a terrible mother to you,” she said. “I wasn’t amother at all.”

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