Page 16 of Chosen, Eternally
My stomach sinks. They can’t really be talking about… “What are you talking about? What do you mean?”
“Your mother. You didn’t know she was selected as Chosen Protector when you were just a child?”
“What?” I gasp.
I feel more than see the way James tenses beside me. His hands rest over my shoulders in a feeble attempt to calm me down.
“You never thought to tell me about this, Cybil?”
My aunt pulls her brows together, disgust on her face. “Why would I?”
“Uh, I don’t fucking know. Maybe becauseI’mthe freaking Protector now? You don’t think it was relevant?” My voice drips with sarcasm and disdain. “Maybe because I’ve been begging for scraps of information about my mother for two decades, and you refuse to give me anything but crumbs? Maybe I would’ve felt a bit more understood and less alone knowing that she went through the same thing. Had the same doubts?”
“She was a disappointment.” Cybil rolls her eyes.
“You cannot be serious. She was sick! She had a mental illness!” Someonemusthave possessed my aunt or something, because she would never speak ill of my mother. Never has in all these years.
“This… seems like a personal conversation,” Tilly breathes, pushing away from her seat as she gazes nervously at the council members sitting around the table. Each one looks more uncomfortable than the next.
“Sit down,” I command.
“Right.” She settles back in her seat, and so does everyone else.
“We haven’t even gotten to why I’ve brought us all here.”
“Fine, then. Get it over with,” Ian says, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
I sigh and take a deep breath. I’ll deal with my aunt later. “Okay. Well. I’m here to accuse Dr. Ian McCaffrey of working with the vampires in order to sabotage this council, The Society, and my life. I accuse him of faking the death of James Kittle,and of aiding and abetting his kidnapping. I accuse him of using magic and influence to corrupt our governmental system.”
“You’re incredible,” James whispers in my ear. I smile triumphantly, readying myself for my big win.
Except—
“Are you insane?” Ian’s voice booms. “Howdareyou accuse me of all these crimes? What kind of evidence do you even have? And why are you bringing up anything related to James when he’s been dead for over a year?”
“Because he’s not,” Cybil’s voice—small, yet strong—sneaks up on us.
Ican’t help my gasp as I stare, wide-eyed, at the woman who raised me. “Aunt Cybbie? How doyouknow that?”
“Wait, hold on.” Ian glances back and forth between us. “What’s going on?”
“You mean you don’t know?” I ask him.
“Know what?”
With the wave of her hand, Tilly forces all the doors of the meeting room closed, locking them with a spell. The sound of the locks clicking into place reverberates through the room, echoing off the mahogany walls, eachclicksending shivers down my spine.
“Okay, then,” she says, her voice taking on one of authority. “Someone better start talking. Fast.”
The rest of the council nods, each one with a stern expression on their face.
Heart racing, I glance anxiously between my aunt and Ian, epically confused. “Well, I thought… Aunt Cybil?”
My aunt sighs and rolls her eyes at me. “You really are just as idiotic as your mother, aren’t you? Just as ungrateful, too.”
“I—” I genuinely don’t know what to say.
“Cybil, this ishighlyirregular,” Jane Winthropp, an old friend of my mother’s, speaks up.
