Ice skates down my spine, and a tremor works its way through my body. I cross my arms over my chest as if that can somehow protect me from the invisible wind pelting me from all directions.
“Delaney…” Amanda turns towards the far wall, where there probably should be a window. Instead, the wall is solid cement, painted an unassuming shade of beige. “Delaney will be difficult to win over.”
I snort. “Why am I not surprised?”
“She’s always been strict,” Amanda continues. “But losing her twin—your mother—changed something in her. She hates shifters for what they did to your mom.”
“So she’ll hate me just because I have shifter blood in my veins,” I reason, my voice turning cold.
Amanda doesn’t answer, but her silence speaks volumes.
“The shifters didn’t kill my mother,” I say, my nails biting into my palms. “From what I heard, my mother…”
I can’t finish the sentence. I never met the woman who gave birth to me, but knowing that she killed herself… It slices at my skin like a thousand rusty blades. Not sharp enough to cut efficiently but capable of producing festering wounds.
Amanda’s eyes soften. “I know that. Delaney does too, though she’ll never admit it. However, that doesn’t change the fact that she blames the shifters for stealing your mother away in the first place.”
I process all of this in silence. I have no idea what to feel, how to react. I don’t know Helena, yet she’s my mother. She gave birth to me. And obviously, something happened that made her decide to take her own life.
I can’t even blame Delaney for being upset. Helena was her sister, after all. Her twin. The closest thing I have to a sibling is Jake, and if I were to lose him, I would go insane.
God, myaunt. It’s strange to wrap my head around.
How is it possible that I went from having no family to more than I can possibly deal with? I have birth fathers who may or may not know of my existence. An apparently evil aunt who rules the witches. A dead mother.
What about grandparents?
Cousins?
Siblings?
My heart begins to pound faster.
“I’m sorry, Izzy.” Amanda’s soft voice pulls my attention back to her. Tears glisten in her eyes. “I never wanted this for you. When I first saw you and discovered you didn’t possess any magical abilities, I tried my hardest to shield you from this world. Then, when it became apparent that it wasn’t possible, I put you with Hale and Gerry, knowing that they would look after you. I never wanted you to be here.”
I study her expression carefully, searching for any discrepancies, but see only sincerity emanating back at me.
I believe her.
Amanda may not have been the warmest parental figure in my life, but she’s been with me from the beginning, from the very first shitty foster home to the last. She believed me when I claimed my old foster brother used to sneak into my room and tried to touch me. She didn’t bat an eye when I showed up at her office, crying my eyes out after my foster mother slapped me. She simply took me in her arms, promised everything would be okay, and moved me to a new house.
She tried her best, and though I sometimes wondered if her best was good enough, it kept me alive all these years.
I offer her a wobbly smile. “What should I expect next? Will I be entering a courthouse? A creepy, abandoned church?”
Amanda chuckles, absently brushing at a stray tear on her face. “How do you take your tea, Izzy?”
Um…what?
I blink, certain I heard her wrong, but she simply meets my stare with an arched eyebrow.
“My tea?” I ask, slightly incredulous.
Amanda checks her watch, frowns, and then moves to her feet. She smooths her hands down the sides of her skirt, straightening out imaginary wrinkles.
“The meeting will begin soon. Come along.”
Amanda doesn’t even wait for me to respond as she hurries towards the front door. She lifts her hand, waves her fingers, and the telltale sound of the lock clicks.
