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“I think I found something for you.” She slides the book over a little and nudges the chair next to her in invitation. With piqued curiosity, I move to join her.
Poppy flips about two-thirds of the way through the book and stops. There’s a picture that takes up about half of a page. I see the familiar faces instantly.
Poppy makes a sound of surprise as I scramble to pick the book up and bring it closer to my face for inspection. I was under the impression that this book was one of the old texts considering it’s written in the old language. In fact, I know itshouldbe from generations ago. So how on earth am I looking right at a picture of my parents? And how could Tess have missed this?
The two of them stand between two other people, a man and a woman who I don’t recognize. I glance at the caption below the photo.
Shannon French Henry. Eleanor Jarreau. Miles Jarreau. Carlisle Langston.
“Oh my Goddess.” I turn to look at Poppy. “How did you find this?”
She glances away sheepishly. “I didn’t mean to overstep. I know Tess warned everyone away from coming in here, but I also know you’ve tried so hard to help me find my potential younger siblings. So I thought maybe I could try to help you too. I can’t read the book, but I can study the pictures. Something about the woman looked familiar, so I read the caption and realized this must be your mother—right?”
“Yes. These are my parents. This is a woman who has been sanctioned multiple times for exposing shifter culture to humans.” I point to Shannon French Henry and then the man. “And this, I’m going to assume, must be someone related to Jeff Langston.”
“Who?”
“A man who wants shifter land and will apparently stop at nothing to get it. I’m also wondering what the connection here is.” I gesture between French Henry and Langston. “Because Shannon French Henry exposed all of us tosomeone,and now I’m wondering if that someone is this Carlisle Langston.”
Poppy’s eyes widen. “That’s insane. To be honest, I never expected anyone to have more family drama than mine, but you Jarreaus…”
She covers her mouth as her eyebrows dip with worry. She speaks between her fingers, her voice muffled, “I am so sorry, Tasha. That didn’t come out the way I meant it; I didn’t mean to be insensitive.”
“No, it’s fine,” I reassure her. After all, she’s right. It turns out there’s been far more to Jarreau family history than we ever realized. Another string to tug at.
I flip a couple of pages back to the beginning of the chapter. The first few paragraphs give me a brief history of Bellesfield that steals my breath. Bellesfield. It’s all coming right back around to that place, it seems.
I skim over the history of the troubled city until I get to something new. It’s the story of my parents, one I know only the barest of details about. And there I find the one string that I’ve needed all along. I read aloud for Poppy’s benefit.
“The Jarreaus were frequent visitors of Bellesfield, the city once owned by Eleanor Jarreau’s family. The Belle family held the land until they were forced out due to accusations of witchcraft after they failed to explain their use of foreign magics.”
I set the book down for a moment, gasping for air. I never knew much about my mother’s side of the family. I was too young to really care until they were already gone, and it wasn’t like the North Summit Pack was keen to share anything with us. Not when my parents kidnapped an unknown shifter child and then abandoned us and the pack rather than face the consequences.
“That’s loaded.” Poppy’s voice is soft. “I’ve heard the rumors about your sister.” She clears her throat. “Do you think maybe that could explain where it came from?”
“I don’t know.” If anything, I thought maybe the glowing power flowing out of my sister and I might be explained away as a gift from our ancestors. Something meant to protect us when we clearly need it.
I didn’t think it might berealmagic. Witchcraft. Is that even possible?
There have always been rumors of witches and magic, but I’ve never seen anything really confirmed. Even this book leaves me skeptical. If magic runs through my family’s bloodline, why wouldn’t we have seen evidence of it before now?
I also am curious how I never knew my mother was a Belle. Traditionally, wolves always chose to take one family name together. Most wolves don’t do that anymore. We keep our own names because of how important family lines are. Which makes it all the more strange I would have lived this long having no idea where my mother really came from.
I guess now that I think about it, the details of my parents’ lives before us were never clear. Based on the way my parents talked about growing up together, I assumed they were both North Summit Pack from the day they met, but now I have to admit that I know next to nothing about the true story.
The people who raised me, the shifters who seemed abundantly normal in our town at the time, their secrets went deeper than I ever realized.
“Are you okay?”
I peel my eyes away from the page to find Poppy studying me with a worried expression. Of all the Glass siblings, she seems the most soft-hearted. I like her a lot, but I also feel the sudden urge to protect her from this.
This information has remained hidden for this long, and I have a feeling that it’s not a coincidence. No one wanted any of us to know the truth about my parents. No one except whoever managed to splice this section into Tess’ book where it’s so clearly out of place.
I can tell from the way the binding is slightly off, the way the paper weight isn’t quite exact, that these pages haven’t always been here. Someone who knew the old language well enough to write in it put this here for someone to find. Whether that’s Tess, me, or someone else entirely… I intend to find out.
“It’s a lot to take in, but I promise I’ll be okay. I just need to digest this, you know? Do you think maybe you could give me a little time alone?” I keep my voice soft.
“Of course. If you need me or want me to get Paxton—“
