Page 44 of Total Eclipse of the Moon
"You pop into my life twice a year and stick around for maybe an hour before you flee. All I have time for is teaching you a handful of tricks that might save your life before you run off. How long did you stay the other day? Two hours?"
True.
She muttered, "Dad made me feel guilty for using magic."
"You're a witch, hon. To stay alive, you use magic. The woman who raised you isn't your mother. She was an opportunity for your father. He needed a mother for you, funds to support his gambling addiction, and safety to raise you. That human was vanilla in comparison to your real mother. She was a dance-naked-and-have-sex-outside-in-the-moonlight kind of girl."
"Do I have family on my mother’s side?" She gripped her hands together to settle their shaking, not that it helped. Her deceased mom wasn't her mom? But her real mom was also dead?
"I don’t know. I searched and scried but came up with no one. I’m sorry." She picked up a dead leaf and stripped it down to the veins. "Being a Roales witch—that’s me and your father’s family—comes with a few truisms, which I’m ever so disappointed your father never made you understand. This is important. Listen closely. First, we must trust our intuition to guide our decision making. Second, our minds are rich and complicated. It’s why seclusion can help us get clarity. Third, getting distracted is our worst weakness."
A high-pitched laugh bubbled out. Madeline’s light-headedness worsened.
"Don't you dare faint on me." Cora uncorked a vial of something that came from who-knows-where to wave under Madeline’s nose. "We don't have time for bullshit weakness."
She backed against the side of the house for support. Weakly, she waved a hand. "Stop. Stinks."
"Look at me." She grinned and waved down her own curvy body. "I’m spectacular and most fear me. They’re going to do the same to you once you get your head sorted. Lose the guilt. Use magic. Perhaps my brother thought your magic wouldn’t wake up if you didn’t know anything." She rolled her eyes. "So asinine to think that. Magic is in our soul. We need it to exist. You spent the last year missing half of your magic. How was that?"
"It sucked."
"How do you think the queen found out about your magic? I'm sure your father slipped up and told yourmotherwho was always so desperate to impress the queen since that woman was adopted, like you." Cora paused. "You didn't know that either? Wow. Sorry. This is a lot. What I don't get is why the queen believed you'd be strong enough to pull of that zinger of a curse. Seems to me there was some other witch involved in finding you to curse the lycans."
She put a palm against the wall and blinked to stop the gathering tears from leaking. Her mom wasn't her mom. Her dad lied to her and made her feel guilty for having powers. And the woman she called "Mom" hadn't been related to the queen.
Cora took the stripped dead leaf and blew on it. It caught fire and dissipated into sparking embers. "I offered to take you when you were a baby, but your father refused. I’m still furious over that. We could’ve had such great fun together and none of this mess that’s turned your life to shit would’ve happened. You’d probably still chase after that lycan with the great ass, though."
"You admit he has a spectacular ass."
"It’s nice." Cora shook her head and pursed her lips. "We’re unable to ignore crazy chemistry. You come from two powerful magical lines. I’m not doubting your father loved you, but I’m sure he divined wrongly that it was best to keep you away from me and neglect teaching you. He sucked as a warlock and was even worse at divination. I’m sorry, but he was the pits when it came to magic. So unlike you, love."
"This is a lot."
"It wouldn't be so much if you'd given me more than a few minutes a year. I need you to understand your magical potential. It's time you believe in yourself. You’re capable of reversing this curse. You were powerful enough to cast it in the first place. The issue is I know youcouldreverse it, but I’m not sure if youshould."
"Why are you really here? This is all surprising but…"
Cora locked gazes with her. "If you let him, you’ll lose everything to Shane Lanzo. Your heart, your freedom, and your life. I’m here to stop that."
"He’d never steal my freedom. Shane’s not like that." A head shake didn't clear her sense of being overwhelmed. "Besides, I won’t let him."
"I’ll grant you he’s an atypically honorable lycan. But he has an agenda. I said it once, and I'll say it again. He’ll choose blood over you. Those brothers of his want to be free of their service to the monarchy."
"It’s my choice if I give anything to him."
"I could pretend to be supportive of your decision to reverse the curse, but I don’t have patience for that." She took a step closer and lowered her tone. "If you die to release him from that asinine curse, nothing will stop me from hunting him down. I’ll hunt down everyone involved. I don’t care if they’re semi-protected by angels. Even angels think twice before crossing me."
She knew about the angels? "You’re not my mother. So back off and let me live my own life. I'll make my own decisions."
Cora took a step back as if she’d been slapped. "You cast the curse under duress. It wasn’t your fault. You’ve paid a high price for casting it. It led you to distrust yourself and run from anything meaningful in your life, even me." Cora paused to gaze at her for several moments as if carefully choosing her next words. "I’m not your mother, true, but you’re my only living blood relation. You’re a Roales. Like lycans, blood means everything to us.Everything.I will do whatever I must to stop this madness and protect you."
Chapter Fourteen
"Why are you here?"King Frances looked up from his laptop to glare across a huge wooden desk through his reading glasses.
The glittering crystal blue water outside the window behind the king’s chair suggested they were somewhere in the Mediterranean or Caribbean. "We’re here to end our service to you."
The king pushed his glasses up into his gelled hair and laughed.
