Page 36 of Stone Heart
“So you’ve known this entire time who I am and didn’t say anything?”
“It was forbidden,” Chelsey cried out with tears in her eyes. “I was sworn to secrecy. Believe me, I didn’t want to lie to you this whole time.”
“Are you even really my friend, or was that a façade?” Rina tucked her hair behind her ear.
She had to know: was her entire life fake? She’d forgiven Solana, but she had to know this, too: was her relationship with Chelsey entirely made up? She’d loved her friend as a sister and knew her heart would break if their friendship had been entirely one-sided.
“Of course I’m your friend. Everything between us was real. Solana belongs to my coven and asked me to help her. She needed a way to keep an eye on you without seeming to be the overbearing mother. When we first met, it may have been staged, but everything after our meeting was real.” Chelsey rushed to Rina and enfolded her in her arms.
Rina wrapped her arms around her friend and gripped her close. She squeezed her tight, and her eyes filled with tears.
“I’m so sorry for doubting you,” Rina sniffed and broke away from Chelsey.
“I get it. I really do. It was so hard not spilling the beans to you,” Chelsey said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “It just broke my heart when you’d get your migraines. I felt helpless.”
“So, a witch, huh?” Rina murmured as she looked at her friend. Now that shereallylooked at her, she could see it in Chelsey.
“Yes, not a powerful one like Solana.” Chelsey nodded. “I’m really sorry, Rina. I never meant to hurt you.”
Rina smiled and brushed her tears away. She motioned to her friend to the couch so they could talk. Before she knew it, two hours and a bottle and a half of wine later, they were all smiles. Chelsey had explained everything to her. How she’d protected Rina all of these years and had reported everything to Solana.
Rina had decided to put her initial anger to the side, knowing that everything about her on Earth was to protect her. She smiled at her friend as she set her glass on the coffee table.
“I can’t stay much longer. Rhodack will return to the gargoyle lair soon. I promised him I wouldn’t leave.” She chuckled. During their talk, Rina had caught Chelsey up on everything that had happened since the night Vikuth had saved her.
“You were never one that followed directions well.” Chelsey giggled. “You and a gargoyle? They’re such intense creatures.”
“When you meet him, you’ll understand.” Rina smiled, thinking of Rhodack. She remembered her initial reaction to him and chuckled. Now that her eyes were officially open, she wanted him even more than she had before.
Her gut was telling her they were meant for each other, but she didn’t know how that was going to work out if he was a protector of this realm and she was to rule Faery.
The hairs on her neck rose to attention as a warning went off in the back of her mind. Her smile slipped from her face, and she stood and moved to the front window.
Rina held up her hand and flicked it, using her powers to turn the lights off in the room. “Not a word,” she whispered. She sensed Chelsey’s fear from where she stood.
Rina gently pushed the curtain to the side slightly, just enough for her to take a peek out into the yard. She released a soft curse. The misted energy hovered in the yard.
It had found her.
