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I glanced around, and everyone was now staring at me, watching me. Even Theseus looked over at me, concerned. I wanted to run, but as I moved to run, Sigbjørn spoke.
“I cannot stop you or force you to confront what you do not wish to confront, Druella.” When Sigbjørn spoke, I froze. “Or I better explain…I no longer have the power to read your mind as it has been closed off to me ever since you disappeared that day.”
I slowly turned back to stare at him. What? I asked in my mind. But there was no answer.
“I’ve met Wiccan who’ve hidden some of their thoughts, planted false thoughts or a maze of thoughts. But you…it is as if your mind does not exist for me anymore. It was there one moment, and now it is gone. It seems the further you try to run from this, the more complicated this all becomes.”
You can’t run from this, Druella, the voice said again. What must come, must come.
“I have so many thoughts. My mind is racing with what could have happened.” Adelaide threw her hair from her face. “If I’m thinking all of this, then that means so is the coven. So is Axel. Whatever magic you used, we all feel it still—it lingers. Druella, undo the spell…free me—us. Please give me back my magic. I need it. We need it, please,” she begged.
I didn’t know what to say. My chest burned, and so did my eyes. I felt sick and dizzy. I stepped farther away from her. I just wanted to run.
“Have any of you given a thought as to why?” Theseus asked, stepping in front of me. And his back, blocking my sight of the rest of them, made the world finally stop spinning. “She did not have to come to you, witch. But she did, knowing that it may put herself in danger. She did so simply because a cat none of us could see cried out to her for help. My brother has already confirmed her link to you is to protect you. To protect us all from something we do not know, something that may or may not have happened. If it is worth protecting like this, it is worth us avoiding.”
I reached out and grabbed his shirt, resting my head against his back, trying to relax, trying to breathe even though I didn’t need air. Everything inside of me was shaking, and I just wanted it to stop.
“It is not her choice!” Adelaide hollered. “All of us are forced to adhere because of her decision. A decision she even erased from her mind so she wouldn’t have to deal with it! By sealing our magic, she seals our fates!”
“Then maybe it is fated to happen as fate bestowed her such power!” he hollered back. “I did not need another century’s worth of loneliness in my memories. The memories I lost are not worth it to me if it means risking this present. All of us vampires, we will live and move on from it.”
“And those of us that are not vampires?” she asked.
“Not our damn problem. If your lover dies, that is on him for being weak. If you die, that is on you for being weak,” he said, and his hand reached around his back.
I stared at for a moment.
“Wherever you both go, the coven will not let her live in peace. They will hunt you both down. Axel Omeron will come.”
“So be it!” Theseus replied. “I am not afraid of Axel Omeron or any witch.”
He moved to lead me away, but I froze because I remembered the words. Except it wasn’t said by Adelaide the first time. It was said by Rhea when I refused to become immortal and tried to run away with Theseus then. Everything was different, the context, the person, the situation—everything except my trying to run, and Theseus helping me.
This had happened before. Whenever I twisted magic, some things still happened anyway, as if…as if…
“They had to be,” I whispered to myself.
You can’t run from this, Druella. What must come, must come. What must be, must be.
“Druella, we can go,” he said, turning back to squeeze my hand gently with one hand and cupping my face with the other.
“If we go, it’s going to repeat.”
“What is?”
I glanced up, really wishing it would be as easy as riding off into eternity of art arms and ancient stories. “Every time I run, I either run right back into more magic, or I get a memory, or something tells me a truth avoided. No matter what, it won’t end. We aren’t just going to be able to hide away in our bedroom. It’s going to keep catching me. Thank you for trusting me, but I have to face it. That’s the only way you and I can move on.”
“Do not push yourself if it hurts,” he whispered.
I smiled. “That is terrible advice. Pain is how we grow, right?”
“It is also how we know our limits.”
“I’m not at my limit.”
He frowned. “So stubborn.”
I stepped out from behind him and looked at the rest of the family. I looked directly at Adelaide. “Fine, I’m not running. I’m going to face it, but how exactly am I supposed to face it?”
