Page 135 of Scars Like Wings

I know it doesn’t make sense now, but all anyone who made these choices for you was your safety and your ability to find happiness in that safety. We wanted you to be able to make the choice to know the truth once the worst was over.

I know Mom would do anything to make sure I grew up safe and sound. She had fought for that. I knew that Aunt Max andPops had died for that. Uncle Everett was prepared to die for it, too. Everyone wanted me to be safe.

But at what cost?

Why couldn’t I get rid of the feeling that I had lost so much more than I really knew?

Hydrangea

It had been only a week since we had found Talli and started working with her to decode the grimoire.

Still, that one week felt like at least three.

Every day, as soon as Simone and I would get off work, Maisie would teleport us to Talli’s house using a connection they had built so we didn’t have to drive back and forth so frequently. We would work late into the night to learn as much as we could about the grimoire, its history, and the purpose of the Archaics and spells within it. Then we would teleport home to do it all over again the next day.

In the short time we’ve had to research, we were able to confirm many of Izzy’s theories. It was created around the 1870s to contain secrets particular to the Pierce family—one of the oldest grimoires Talli had ever worked with and she had worked with countless ones in her day. The grimoire housed stories from the previous generation of the Pierces to guide them through life like an ancestral manual. Only Pierce family members could fully read the book, but pages could be shown to others if the owner allowed it. Witch-fae have made edits to its magic to strengthen and add to it over the years. Talli’s magic was the one that made the grimoire empty, revealing only parts of it ata time once the question from the Forget-Me-Maybe spell had been answered. It had been added to the grimoire the day Mom died—which Talli naturally didn’t recall.

Still, there was nothing to inform us of how to break the spell to allow me to read everything. More stories hadn’t appeared, nor had I had anymore dreams about Mom or Pops. We also hadn’t been able to figure out what kind of shifter Mom, Pops, and I were based on the grimoire. There were still far more questions than answers.

Gods, I was long overdue for a vacation.

I was tired of thinking of possibilities, questions, and mysteries. I was beyond ready to just relax and try to turn my brain off. I couldn’t be more grateful that it was time for our annual Friendsgiving trip, this year featuring a tiny roadtrip just before.

“Remind me again why we can’t teleport to Daylily Isle from Bee’s condo like we do every year?” Simone asked, stretching up from the backseat to lean on the middle console. We already weren’t far from the cousins’ house.

“Well,” I answered. “Only certain humans can enter Blackbell, and now is not the time to see if the cousins are in that group unless you want to be driving all over Georgia andstillhave to teleport.”

“Besides, need we remind you that your island can only be accessed with a boat if you are on it, Sea,” Maisie added.

“Oh, yeah! I always forget about that Atlantisian spell!” Simone giggled. While Maisie and I shook our heads, Simone asked. “It’s about to be crazy to be teleporting with so many people!”

“Ugh, who are you telling! This is going to take so much magic,” Maisie groaned.

“I’ll make sure Dorian has those cocktails ready that you love! He’ll put some healing liquor in there, too.” Simone said, phone already out.

“Ooooh, Dorian? Is he the handsome pool boy or the hot butler?”

“Yes,” I answered, chuckling. “It’s an island of water elementals, merfolk, and aquatic shifters owned by theAtlanean royal family. They are inherently pool boys and servants. And they are all very fine.”

Maisie dramatically put a hand on her forehead like a Hollywood starlet. “Why would you have such temptation around me? I’m spoken for!”

“Yeah, every day that ends with a Y,” I snorted.

Maisie playfully punched my arm. While I rubbed my arm, I said, “Hey! I’m driving here!”

“Don’t talk shit if you can’t take the hit, honeybun!” Maisie laughed.

I turned my 4Runner from the woodland road to the circular driveway in front of the house. Despite having been to this house before, there was something still outright stunning about seeing it. There wasn’t a line of cars like there had been on the night of the party. In fact, there wasn’t anyone waiting for us at all when we arrived nor was there any luggage outside.

“Where are they? I figured they would be waiting outside,” I said as I turned the car off and opened the door.

“Maybe they are finishing up packing or something,” Simone said, getting out of the car. “I mean, Coco hasn’t texted me?—”

Simone’s words ended in a high-pitched squeal on the other side of the car before descending into giggles. Before I could round the car to see what was happening, I caught only the briefest glimpse of a beaming Quinn running toward me before I was swept off my feet, making me squeal, too. She lifted me up in her strong arms, and instinctively I wrapped my legs aroundher waist. She held me close, tight, and effortlessly like I weighed nothing at all. Which, I definitely didn’t. But the ease and weightlessness made me feel so giddy I couldn’t help the laugh that burst from me, especially as Quinn spun me around.

Quinn peppered me with kisses on my lips, cheeks, neck, shoulders, everywhere she could before she captured my mouth in a full, complete kiss. It was sweet at first like a welcoming hello after a long journey away. Her lips were soft, verging on torturously so. She moved them slowly against my own. But then, she deepened it. Her lips moved faster, and her tongue teased me. It took everything in me to swallow my moan.Gods, she tasted divine.I just wanted to drink her in and do this forever. When we both finally parted, we were both breathless.

“Ah,mi novia, I have been wanting to do that forweeks,” Quinn said into the crook between my neck and shoulder. Her smoky golden voice kissed my skin, making me shiver. She nuzzled her nose in the same spot and kissed it. I couldn’t help but giggle. “Mhm, even calling younovia! I just can’t get enough of it. I missed you like crazy,mi novia!”

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