Page 85 of The Iron Flower

Yvan’s brow is knit tight as he sends me a look of concern. “Just give us a moment, Elloren,” he says kindly before following his mother into the house.

The door shuts firmly behind them, cutting off most of the light and casting me in frigid shadows once more. It’s like Clive Soren all over again.

But Clive quickly came around,I attempt to console myself.

I wait for a moment, feeling cold and dejected, before summoning the courage to step onto their porch and linger by the closed door. Eavesdropping for the second time today makes me uncomfortable, but this is going badly, and I want to know how much worse it’s likely to get.

“Have you given leave of your senses?” Yvan’s mother hisses. “Do you know what she is?”

“I do,” he replies, his voice tight.

“Do you realize how dangerous she is? How dangerous theyallare? Why is she with you?” Her voice is filled with dark suspicion.

“I know what you’re thinking. You’re mistaken.”

“Please, Yvan, please tell me she’s not your lover.”

Yvan hesitates for a moment before answering. “No, she’s not.”

“Are you in love with her?”

Again, he hesitates. “She’s my friend.”

“Did I raise you to be such a fool? Do you have any idea what kind of dark magic flows through that girl’s veins?”

I wince, all too aware of the dark power I feel whenever I’m around Lukas, but Yvan spits out an incredulous laugh. “She’s been wandtested, Mother. She’s a Level One Mage.”

“You can’t be friends with that girl, Yvan,” she insists, her tone urgent, as if this is shaking her to the core.

“I understand your concern—” Yvan starts, trying to reassure her.

“You don’t understandanything!” she cries with startling ferocity, her words cutting into me like a whip. “They are monsters, Yvan!Monsters!They will doanythingfor power! For control! You have no idea what they’re capable of! You were just a child—”

“She’s not anything like you think she is!”

“How could you bring that vile creature to ourhome?”

“She’s not acreature! If you knew her—”

“What, you thinkyouknow her? You think she can be trusted?” She pauses for a moment, and when she speaks again, her voice is full of fear. “How much have you told her, Yvan? What does she know?”

“Nothing. I’ve told her nothing.”

I’m thrust into a deeper confusion.

“Don’t you haveanyrespect for the memory of your father?” Yvan’s mother rages.

“She didn’t choose the family she was born into!” he vehemently counters. “I thought you, of all people, would look past her appearance and give her a chance.”

“She is Carnissa Gardner’sgranddaughter!”

“She cannot help who she is! No more than I can!”

“Even if, by some unlikely freak of nature, she’s not as monstrous as her relatives, her aunt sits on the Mage Council! She can’t stay here, Yvan. I can’t have her in my home!”

“We havenowhereelse to stay.”

“Youhave a place to stay, Yvan. You always have a place here. But not that monster you’ve brought to our home. She willneverset foot under this roof.”

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