Page 131 of Valpar

Mom pushed back some hair behind my ear, taking out some of the dead leaves. “And even though Valpar is your mate and he will protect you, I will, to some degree, worry about you. You will always be my first daughter, my first child. Even if you didn’t come out of my body, you live in my heart.”

My lip wobbled, and I dropped the potion in my lap to lean forward to give her a hug. When I wrapped my arms around her, she asked, “Howdidyou know I was pregnant? I won’t be showing for at least a few more weeks.”

I went to open my mouth and I felt the bottle lifting from my lap and the loud pop of a cork. My body must have obscured Valpar’s vision because all of a sudden, I felt liquid dropping onto my skin. I gasped at the cold liquid and Simon bleated in terror.

My eyes grew heavy and Valpar screamed in rage, pulling me away and covering my body with his.

“Calliope don’t go to sleep! Don’t! Simon! What’s wrong with him?”

Uncle Osirus’s booming voice hit my ears, demanding the area to be cleared. The urgency in his tone created tension. I could feel it in how Valpar held me and the sounds of scuffling feet.

I could hear Simon whimper as everyone scrambled around me. They sounded like they were underwater. My body felt heavy and when I tried to speak, no words came out.

Where was Simon?

Valpar cried out. “Fuck! Calliope, stay with me!” His panicked face was the last thing I saw as my eyes became too heavy and they finally closed.

The gentle flickering of light danced behind my closed eyelids, resembling a torch playfully waving before my face, and coaxing me awake.

My mind reeled as I struggled to piece together what happened. Was I really on a mountain, surrounded by fierce dragons spewing their fire? It took a moment for my consciousness to fully return, and my eyelids were heavy as if weighed down by a heavy fog. Memories flooded back to the first time I woke up in Uncle Osirus and Aunt Melina’s grand palace, feeling groggy, disoriented, and weighed down by a sense of confusion.

As I sat up and vigorously rubbed my tired eyes. Slowly, my eyelids fluttered open, revealing a solitary lightbulb suspended from the ceiling in the dimly lit basement. It swung back and forth, its feeble glow casting eerie shadows against the cold cement walls. Faint echoes of thumping bass from the music playing upstairs reverberated through the air, creating a pulsating rhythm that seemed to echo in the space. The unmistakable scent of dampness and mustiness clung to the air and intermingled with the metallic tang of exposed pipes. In the far corner, a washer and dryer stood, silently waiting to serve their purpose.

I…remembered this place. It was a distant memory, more so a dream than real life, but I was remembering. This was who I was before—before I was saved.

I put my hand over my mouth and my eyes widened in shock.

I’m on Earth with her. My real mother.

No, she isn’t my mother. Theresa, my aunt, is my real mother. She was the one that knew how to be more a mother than this woman. The woman upstairs is just the person who gave birth to me, nothing more.

Goddess, please, I didn’t come back to live here, did I? Valpar wasn’t a dream, was he? My breathing came in heavy pants and my head dizzy with panicking thoughts.

I couldn’t stay in this basement. I couldn’t live down here another minute.

I made to rise from my cot but a hand stopped me and pulled me back down. I screamed and that hand covered my mouth.

“Shh, I got you.”

I instantly recognized her voice, but my heart still raced, and my breath still heaved.

I was going to pass out.

“None of this is real. It’s just a memory.” My fairy godmother patted my long, dark hair until she had me lean on her.

My fingers dug into the cot. I could feel the cold metal beneath it.

“Fairy Godmother,” I whispered, trying to calm down as her familiar scent washed over me, filling me with a sense of safety.

She stroked my hair softly, her touch soothing the racing of my heart. “You’re safe, Calliope. You’re not back there, you’re here with me,” she reassured me with her gentle voice. “It was just a memory, a flashback. You are in your mate’s arms, surrounded by those who care for you. Who will always be there for you.”

“My Valpar?”

Fairy Godmother chuckled and squeezed my shoulder. “Yup, he’s having a hissy fit, you being asleep and all. He doesn’t want you remembering this alone. He’s beating himself up that Karma snuck past him while he was holding you.”

I gave her a sad smile. Yes, he would be upset. He didn’t get to kill the witch, or Ivy. I hope he gets some revenge on Karma for blind-siding the both of us. But—the way I’m dealing with this sudden remembrance of my past, it may be for the best.

I won’t remember these memories right after our mating and I won’t have to draw out my memories. Perhaps the potion spilling on to me was for the better.

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