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“But you didn’t. Why?”
“While I couldn’t read the book, Mom had told me what she could about it. She said it belonged to a specific druid and I had to find her. Adara later told me it was Tempest, but I didn’t know about the circles yet or that she was the gatekeeper. I didn’t have mine until today, but I know that the others have to be in place first. Tempest can’t call on the unification spell unless we all contribute our power.”
“You were looking for Tempest all this time and she was less than an hour away,” Mara said.
Alana huffed. “Don’t remind me. You have no idea what I went through to get a lead on her whereabouts. You come into your power and find her without even looking. It was humbling and embarrassing.”
Mara stared at her sister, and Kell could see her apprehension. They were close to finding out the truth of Alana’s fear. Everyone in the room could feel it except Alana. His mate was so out of touch with her own emotions, she couldn’t see she had sacrificed her family. Her freedom. One single event had changed everything, and they didn’t know what it was despite learning about the sacred book and the events in Alana’s past. What could make a mother send her daughter on the run? Was it for Alana’s safety or Mara’s?
Kell realized his mate had effectively glossed over taking the book and returning it to the store. “You took the book with you when you left. Was there an incident with it that made you bring it back? Did someone try to steal it?”
Alana frowned. “Nobody sees the book. It’s like it’s not there for those without magic.”
Legion nodded. “An aversion spell. It is similar to the one placed on the replica of my dragon form.”
Alana grabbed a fourth sandwich, and Legion’s eyes narrowed on her. “Yes. I didn’t realize that’s what it was, but I was so nervous about the book, I kept hiding it wherever I went. Then, when I was in Moldova on a hunt, my room was ransacked. The book was beneath the mattresses, but they had flipped them over. When I found my room tossed and the book on the floor, I realized they couldn’t see it. That’s when I brought it back.”
Mara nodded. “I get that, and I am aware of the spell on the dragon. It held my circle. But why did you leave Alana? After Mom died. I begged you to stay and for a second I thought you might, but you shut me out. Then, when I became the seer and you knew I had magic, I assumed you would stay, but you didn’t. Tell me why?”
CHAPTER11
Alana had avoided this conversation her entire life. While she had hurt Mara repeatedly, she didn’t want to have her sister judge her. That one stupid decision had broken her family and set Alana on a course she couldn’t ignore. She got up from the table and walked back to the front room.
The cabin was cozy with tartan curtains and couches accented with yellow throw pillows. The ancient weapons on the wall spoke of an owner who appreciated an era gone by. Only those in the cabin knew that these men had lived through it.
“Alana?” Mara asked.
“There was an attack, and I was responsible,” she said.
She stared out the window at a single cloud rolling lazily across the sky. It seemed to tease the mountaintop, appearing as if it may collide with the massive peak only to whisper past. She felt her sister enter the living room and sit down. The men stayed in the kitchen, and she appreciated the reprieve.
“What happened Alana? Why do you feel this attack is your fault?” Mara asked in a compassionate voice.
Alana crossed her arms and kept her eyes on the surrounding mountainside through the window. “I was so excited to have power. As soon as Adara spoke to me, it was like a faucet had been turned on. It wasn’t the oasis of power I feel building now, but I could do simple things and my senses were heightened.”
“This was what Adara warned you of? That she opened a pathway to your magic?”
Alana turned to her sister. “Adara opened a telepathic link. It was my careless use of my gifts, or attempt to utilize them, that alerted my attacker I was a druid.”
Mara clasped her hands in front of her. “You tried to cast a spell?”
Alana nibbled her cheek. “I tried. It was a location spell. Though I can sense an artifact I am set on retrieving, I have to be close to it first. I knew where I needed to start my hunt, but I was excited and wanted to test my new powers. It was stupid and careless, and it almost got you killed.”
Mara leaned back on the couch. “Me? I was never attacked.”
Alana took a seat on the chair opposite her sister. “We all were in a way. Mom may not have had power like you and I, but she was amazing at warding the shop. The way people felt at ease in our store was no accident. She repelled negative energy. Still, she couldn’t stop him from entering our home. Her ward simply alerted her she had an intruder once it was too late.”
Mara’s eyes widened. “Who?”
Alana chewed on her thumbnail. “I didn’t understand who or what he was at the time.”
“What happened?”
“I had snuck down to the kitchen to grab a few of Mom’s cookies. I was eating the last one when I returned to our room. He was standing over your bed and he was holding his hand over you. I could feel the power emanating from him, but he looked confused until he saw me.”
“What did he do?”
“He said it was me who called him. He claimed I was his, and then Mom came into the room. She said I was too young, and he had to leave.”
