Page 33 of Queen of Vampire Hearts

My mother was singing me to sleep. Her bright red hair shone in the low light as she hummed, the words lost. I looked down at myself, my brows furrowed, trying to place the moment. I was so young, likely around five or six.

My father waited for my mother, leaning against the doorjamb, his lilac eyes taking in the scene. His midnight hair was windswept, and lines of stress showed around his eyes. My eyes closed, listening to my mother humming, a tear slipping down my cheek. My mom stopped singing, kissed my head, and joined my father in the doorway. Instead of remaining in my bedroom, I followed them. As they softly closed the door behind them, I absently noticed Bast trotting along behind my father. They whispered to each other, and I struggled to hear them over the roaring in my ears. They were here and alive.

“She’s already too powerful, Michelle,” my father said. “Soon, the Council will know the truth.”

My mother placed a gentle finger over his lips, hushing him. She pulled him into the living room, shutting the door to the hallway behind them. “They will kill her!”

Kill me? What could they have wanted with me at such a young age? I hadn’t hurt anyone…yet.

My mother broke off at the sound of knocking on their front door. I could see the dread cross both my parents’ faces as they went to answer it. My father’s hands lit with battle magic, preparing to defend our family with spells that only he knew as a son of Atreus. Unspoken words vibrated between them as my mother opened the door, my father looming behind her, prepared to attack.

An elderly crone stood on their doorstep, hunched over with age, her hands gnarled, clutching a cane to keep her upright. Her hood was pulled down low over her face, tendrils of snow-white hair escaping. My parents stepped back, their mouths gaping, the magic in my father’s palms flickering and then dying.

“May I come in?” the old woman croaked, holding herself over the cane.

My father nodded, bowing his head in respect. “Norn, you honor us.”

A Norn? An Oracle? The old woman shuffled into the room, her bones creaking as she sat in the chair offered to her.

A visit from an Oracle was an enormous deal. They were so rare, and they did not visit people. Why hadn’t they mentioned this to me? My parents always talked about being honest with me, sharing the good and the bad. Was that all a lie? Was anything in my life true?

My father sat in the armchair, my mother perched on the arm next to him. The scene was so familiar it made my heart ache. I missed them so much.

“I’m here to discuss the girl.” The norn’s voice crackled with age and power even I felt.

Wait—what was she here to talk about?

My father shifted in his seat, his elbows on his knees. “Her power is growing each day. Soon we won’t be able to hide her anymore,” he said, his voice conveying his worry.

“She is the one who will set it all to rights. The centuries of lies will end. But…you will not be there to see it,” the norn continued, her blue eyes becoming hazy as she stared at a point over my parents’ shoulders.

My mother gasped. “I would never abandon her!”

The oracle sighed. “You will not have a choice.”

My parents gazed at each other. A look of understanding flickered between them before morphing into one of determination.

Tears flooded my eyes, falling heedlessly down my face as I watched the scene. I wanted to reach out and touch my beloved parents, but I was only a spectator of the scene, not a participant.

“The gods have decreed her to return the balance. They set her destiny. All you can do is prepare her.”

What balance? What destiny? I wanted to scream, but my parents just nodded gravely. They were content to die for me? My heart ached anew at the loss. They hadn’t even hesitated when the oracle explained they would die. The tears continued to fall as the Norn stood to leave, her body spry for her age.

On her exit, she stopped at the door, and in a voice not loud enough for my parents to hear, whispered, “You’re not supposed to be here.”

I looked over my shoulder to see whom the norn was addressing. There was no one. She was speaking to me in the present day, though the moment spanned years. For a second, a film of ash seemed to fall over her, and I recognized the familiar swirling eyes behind the guise. Cassandra?

The realization threw me out into the hallway, and I landed on my back in Întuneric, the impact with the hard stone making me lose my breath. A sharp pain radiated through my chest as I struggled to breathe. The door in front of me slammed shut, closing off my view of the past, and slowly disappeared before my eyes. The blank wall was left behind as if the entrance had never existed.

I coughed as the air returned to my lungs, the hacking sound echoing in the empty hallway. When I could breathe normally, I rested on the floor, trying to piece together what I’d just witnessed. My parents knew they were going to die. They had constantly talked about preparing me and how I needed to hide my ability to rift. I thought they were just overprotective. But could it have been more? Were they trying to prepare me for whatever destiny Cassie hinted at?

My parents had taught me magic instead of sending me to spell school with other young witches. I’d never suspected they were concealing me from the Council, believing they wanted to take care of my education themselves. It had isolated my parents. They had only left me behind when they had full Council meetings that required them to attend.

Why the need to hide me? Why the visit from Cassandra? Why? Why? Why?

I lifted my head off the ground when I heard footsteps approaching. Cassandra was coming closer with her hands stuffed into her pockets. I sat up, my eyes narrowing on the oracle. My throat is clogged with tears and emotions, and I wrapped my arms tightly around my drawn-up knees. It was like my parents had died all over again.

“Is it my fault they died?” I whispered.

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