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“You were saying?” I ask Darius.
“That I love your oversized flaming pigeons,” he laughs, shooing my phoenix away. He flaps his wings a few times, hovering in the same spot for a few seconds before taking off.
“Fine, you can come. But stick close,” Darius tells me just as the bathroom door opens and Tobias and Lycus hop out. Lycus is covered in bite marks, and it is obvious what they were doing in there.
“So, what's going on?” Lycus asks.
“Nothing that concerns you. You are housebound until further notice after your little stunt,” Darius tells him, and he groans, stalking toward the closet to retrieve his clothes. Tobias kisses my cheek as he passes me, also going to get dressed.
Everyone is on edge when we head into town for the first twenty minutes. We don’t bother with the car this time, instead taking backpacks and using the portals. I had hardly any magic when I left, but Tobias was staying behind with Lycus to let me siphon his power until I returned. Yet his power was burning through me fiercely, and the longer we were cleaning out the grocery stores of mince, rice, and spam, the hotter I became.
Moisture dampens my panties as I move toward the freezer section. I am tempted to stick my head in one of the freezers just to cool down when a set of arms wrapped around my waist. I peer over my shoulder, his bare skin offering relief, and I lean back into him when it washed over me with startling clarity. Fuck!
Darius ties his long sleeve shirt around my waist. “You're bleeding,” he whispers in my ear, making me look down. That explains why I feel so hot then. Yet could it have worse timing? This couldn't have come about an hour ago while still at the castle.
“Kalen, watch Aleera. We need to get out of here,” Darius calls to him. Kalen looks up from the shelf he stands in front of. “What's going on?”
“She is going to shred soon. We need to get her home before any power hunters pick up on her,” Darius growls.
“Crap,” Kalen curses, coming to a stop by my side. He looks down at my ruined pants. Why oh why did I choose today to wear white leggings?
“Get her out of here!” Darius snarls suddenly from somewhere at the front of the store. Kalen doesn't hesitate, tossing his hands up and opening a portal before shoving me toward it. Panicked, I look toward the front as Kalen tries to push me through the portal.
“Aleera, he will be fine,” Kalen tells me when I see a hooded figure walk across the aisle we were just in. Cursing, I shove Kalen through the portal, shutting it, knowing Darius would need help if power hunters were here.
Yet as I race past the middle aisle, a hand reaches out and grabs me. I toss up my hands, blasting them with power, but it bounces off the shield and smashes into the roof, blowing a hole in the ceiling and cutting out the lights. Yet as I peer through the shield and I stagger backward. Coming face to face with a face familiar, similar but older than mine. Dressed in the same black cloaks the power hunters wore. Leaving no denying what organization she is part of.
“Aleera,” she breathes.
“Mom?” I ask, staring at a woman I thought was dead all these years to learn she worked with the power hunters.
“I knew it had to be you when Waylen picked up on your magic. He said it flared off like a solar flare, so strong, so beautiful,” she whispers, cupping my face in her hands. I push her hands away, and she glances down the aisles behind her. I am in too much shock to do anything other than stare at her. It’s like looking at a ghost. Although, a voice in the back of my mind tells me to run. That she is no longer my mother.
“Who is Waylen?” I stutter out, unable to form a coherent thought. I am too shocked at actually seeing with my own eyes that she is alive. She looks a little older, her dark hair has a few grays, she isn’t as tall as I remember her or maybe because I am no longer a child. Her features are harder, sterner than I remember.
“He is a Dark-Fae, also a power seeker,” my mother tells me, and I blink at her.
“We haven't got much time. I'm not sure what Darius has told you,” she says, grabbing my wrist. She glances around nervously checking the aisles. I look at her hand on my wrist as she tugs me toward the back of the store. I hear fighting at the front of the store making me glance in its direction. I jerk my hand out of her grip, and she stops. “Aleera?” she gasps, spinning to face me.
“You attacked us,” I tell her angrily. She shakes her head.
“No, as soon as they said there was a Harmony-Fae. We couldn't leave them there in his hands; I just got lucky that it was you. We were trying to save you.” she tells me with a hint of desperation in her voice.
“We have to go, quick while Darius is distracted,” she says, but I pull out of her grip once again when she tries to grab me.
“I know Dad is responsible for the plague,” I tell her, and she tilts her head to the side, watching me.
“Is that what he told you?” she chuckles and shakes her head. “I knew they got in your head, Aleera. But I didn't think you would be silly enough to believe them,” she says, looking disappointed.
“You and Dad tried to kill me,” I tell her, and she seems outraged at my accusation as she clutches her chest like what I said mortally wounded her.
“No, he killed your father and blocked us from getting to you. I looked for you for years, but they put some cloaking spells on you. Not even Spark could find you,”
“Spark?” I ask her. My mother nods her head and smiles sadly.
“We used to follow him and hoped he would pick up on your magic but then he went missing. We thought he was dead, though I am glad he has been with you all this time.” She tells me, reaching for my hands, her hands feel exactly the same as I remember, warm and soft.
I shake my head. “Spark?” I ask knowing that was the name of my mother’s phoenix. She nods her head.
