Page 81 of A Whisper of Cinders

I open my mouth and close it again. “No offence, but I would tell you you’re on drugs too.”

She laughs. “None taken and I can imagine that, yes.”

My smile falters. “But I’m not, am I? On drugs?”

Mrs Delalune tilts her head, offering me a compassionate smile. “Althea gave you something to ease the pain, but that is not the cause of what you’re currently seeing.”

I look outside the window, watching little snowflakes fall from the sky in the morning light. They too look different, or… I see them differently now. I could easily draw every little detail, my sight somehow impeccable. I turn back to Mrs Delalune. “Am I losing my mind?”

“You’re not.” She pauses, contemplating what to say next. “What do you see that is out of the ordinary?”

Everything? Where do I even begin? “My skin looks like it is set on fire from the inside out.” I look above my head. “And then there are the little fiery sparks that fly around me. They are around you too, but less.”

I don’t mention that my vision is picking up colours more vibrant or the shimmering aura that is around her, just in case she changes her mind and does think I’m going insane.

“What do you think it means?”

I wave my hand around the sparks, but they move with me instead of away and when I take in my hand that is now right in front of my face and notice how it is glowing even more now, only one thought comes to mind. “Magic. It looks like magic.”

“Correct.”

I look up, shock going through me. Yet, somehow it doesn’t surprise at the same time. “I know?”

“You have magic in you, Maily, and being here unlocked a part that was hidden in the deepest parts of your soul.”

To any sane person, this would make no sense at all. But all I can think about is that I want, no, need to know more. “How is this possible?”

“It goes back to your lineage. I know you can’t remember them, but your parents were no humans. They too had magic coursing through their veins.”

“Magic…as in flying on broomsticks and making potions?”

“Some of us can fly, yes, we don’t need broomsticks for that, but we do make potions.” Right, that makes so much more sense. “It means you are fae, just like I am. And so were your parents.”

Fae…I’ve read about those, some of my favourite books have fae in them. I had always daydreamed about being one too. And now it turns out I am one? What the actual fuck.

“Why am I hearing about this just now? I’m twenty-one years old. If I am fae and my parents were too, shouldn’t I have known that by now?”

“You know, or at least you did. You arrived at House of Anima with nothing but a paper note, covered in bandages, gone were your memories and other possessions. Correct?”

I nod, not wanting to be reminded of the day my hell began.

“Your parents didn’t abandon you out of free will, you were brought there by a friend of the family for your own protection.”

“But I…I killed my mother, maybe even my father too. That is why I was there, as a punishment, because no one wanted me anymore.” The lump in my throat is too big to swallow away and I am seconds away from bursting out into tears.

“No, my darling, that is what they made you believe. You didn’t kill your mother, but she did perish in a fire, that much is true. Your father had fallen ill when you were a little girl and passed away. He wasn’t there at the moment of the fire.”

The little relief I feel that I didn’t kill both my parents is short lived. I look at my hands, the pale patches still glowing. “I… set the fire…myself?”

A finger lifts my chin up, my burning eyes meeting her lavender-blue ones. “Although we do not know the details of what happened that night, we do know for certain that you did not cause that fire. You didn’t kill your mother.”

“I didn’t?” I whisper, my heart nearly exploding out of my chest.

“I promise. I will tell you all I know. But later, rest up first and —”

“No, please. Tell me now. I need to know.”

She debates it for a second, but my desperation wins her over. "The magic you carry within you is immensely strong. So strong, a lot of fae can sense it on you, even when you were younger. Your mother did everything she could to hide it, temper it even, because she knew what dangers it could bring. You would never stay too long in the same location, and every single time you moved, she would cast enchantments so strong, no one would be able to find you even if you were standing right in front of them. But that night…”