Page 52 of Unbound

“It’s really starting to look that way.”

“That’s impossible,” Marie says.

I go still.

“Why?”

“Because Eudora Bellamy died in a car accident sixteen years ago.”

Chapter

Nineteen

“That’s not possible,” I say. Antonio motions for me to put the call on speaker. I pull the phone away from my ear and tap the button. “I just found a police report with her name on it. She’s alive. Or at least she was a few weeks ago.”

“What did the police report say?” Marie asks.

“She ran away from a group home and was trying to get back to family in Connecticut.”

“A group home?” Marie repeats. “So she’s a minor.”

“Yes. She’s⁠—”

“Seventeen,” Marie and I say at the exact same time.

I go quiet.

“Well, that confirms one of the rumors I heard,” she continues. “The Eudora Bellamy I’m talking about died sixteen years ago.” She pauses. “Supposedly, she had a summer fling with a non-magical boy and got pregnant. The Bellamys, like I mentioned, are a prominent magical family. And they’ve always been very particular about keeping their bloodlines pure.”

“She was forced to give up the baby,” I say, filling in the blanks.

“That’s the rumor.”

My stomach twists.

“And the car accident that killed her a year later was officially ruled accidental,” Marie continues. “But there were plenty of people who believed she drove into that train on purpose.”

“Holy shit,” I whisper.

“Yeah,” Marie says softly. For a moment, no one says anything.

“So Eudora had a daughter,” I say slowly. “And the daughter was given up for adoption.”

“Yeah, it appears so. And the grief of losing her child and probably her lover was too much for her.”

“Hang on a second,” Antonio says, twisting around in his seat.

“Oh.” I hold the phone closer to me. “I probably should’ve told you that you’re on speakerphone and my brothers are in the car.”

“Hello, Wren’s brothers,” Marie says cheerfully.

“You said the Order had her,” Antonio continues. “But she was living in a group home. They just let her go?”

“The notes made it sound like she didn’t show much promise,” I say with a shrug. “Maybe they tested her and let her go. Though that doesn’t really fit the Order’s MO unless she had no idea she was being tested in the first place.”

“Typically,” Marie says, “witches start showing signs of magic relatively young. But a half-witch can develop differently. Sometimes their powers don’t really start coming in until later. Usually closer to seventeen or eighteen.”

“So…right now.” I close my eyes in a long blink. “Okay. The Order figured out her mother was Eudora Bellamy, a witch from a notable magical bloodline. They assumed her daughter would be powerful too.”