“What is it?” I hissed, panic clawing at my insides.
“I believe it's me, dear.” Morgana’s silky voice sliced through the tension, her eyes locking onto Xavier’s. They seemed to soften as she took him in, her gaze flitting to Jaxon and then back to Xavier.
“They thought me dead after all,” Morgana said again, her icy stare now on their uncle. “After all this time, I’m flattered.”
“What is she talking about?” I demanded, my voice shaking as I tried to break through Xavier’s trance.
“I- It's…” Xavier stammered, his voice barely a whisper.
In an instant, Morgana's body transformed. No longer the tall, blonde figure she had been, she was now petite and dark-haired. The change was so sudden that I had to blink a few times to register what happened.
“Miss me, darlings?”
Chapter 40
Zara
I stared in utter confusion at the witch standing before us—the same woman from my nightmares, the same woman from the portrait over Xaviers' fireplace—and tried to piece together what was happening.
“How?” Jaxon breathed, but it was barely a whisper. “I was around you, I would have known… I would have…” He stammered.
“You only know now because I am allowing it,” Morgana said, her voice filled with a chilling glee. Was Morgana even her name? What was their mother's name? I never asked. Is she Winnie, Morgana, their mother…. or someone else?
“Gormick?” Gunnar’s deep voice said from behind us in question. His brows scrunched in confusion, but his eyes were sharp with focus.
Morgana laughed sharply, turning to my father, who stepped forward. His eyes met mine before locking onto Gunnar’s. They were steely, and there was no resemblance of warmth there.
“Hello, old friend.” My father’s icy tone filled the clearing, and his body transformed as if a veil dropped from around him. He was much taller and broader than before, his features mostly staying the same, but his hair was longer, and his permanent scowl intensified.
“I thought Gormick died in the war,” Xavier bit out, but my head swung toward him, and he met my eye.
“We all did,” Gunnar breathed, and Xavier cursed under his breath.
“Alana, why?” Gunnar's voice cracked slightly when he asked, but his eyes were filled with rage.
“I go by Morgana these days, although I did name my daughter after me.” Morgana turned to Lana, who looked bored. She stared out at us with her arms crossed over her chest. “Let me introduce you all to your half-sister, Lana.” My eyes widened slightly at the information, and Lana smirked as she met my gaze.
“Explain. Now,” Xavier snapped, his eyes darting to his uncle, who looked red as if he were holding his breath, his eyes frantically looking over all of us in panic. Unease settled in my bones, and I had a horrible feeling this was not going to go as we expected.
“Don’t worry about Flynn. He is fine, only spelled to keep quiet,” Morgana purred, chuckling lightly.
“Explain,” Xavier repeated, snapping toward her again.
“Such a temper.” Morgana smiled. “I think you get that from me.” She laughed. “Along with that delicious magic you have.” Her eyes shot to Jaxon, and she tsked. “Such a crime stealing someone’s magic, son, but glad you two seem to have worked it out.”
“Answer him,” Jaxon spat, his fists clenched at his side.
Morgana stared at Jaxon for a long moment and scowled. “You look exactly like your father.”
Silence enveloped the clearing, and Morgana rolled her eyes after a few moments.
“Well, you see, when your father imprisoned us in that cursed realm, his magic didn’t just take us,” Morgana began, chuckling as she glanced at Gormick, who grinned back at her. “There was quite a struggle at the end. Some of his guards tried to rush to his aid.” She let out another laugh, a sharp, mocking sound. “The look on his face when he saw them getting sucked into that rip…priceless.” She paused, her smile widening as she savored the memory.
“Anyway, our magic might have been drained, but theirs wasn’t.” Her gaze locked onto mine, the weight of her words sinking in as she spoke. “I was able to steal enough magic to shift again, and we maneuvered ourselves into a position of power fairly quickly. The rest of them,”—she smiled wickedly again—“we bred like cattle.” She said it so casually, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “We needed more magic, more power, so we experimented.”
Morgana sighed, a sound laced with bitter disappointment. “Then we thought, why not reproduce ourselves? Surely, our child would be powerful.” Her voice grew colder, more distant. “But after many experiments, we discovered our child’s power was useless to us.”
My eyes flicked to Lana, the scars on her body stark against her pale skin. My stomach churned as our gazes met, and Lana sneered at me, her eyes filled with a hatred that seemed to burn through the air.
