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She squeezed her eyes closed before taking a breath. “Tell me what happened.”
Adara seemed to glide over the floor as she moved behind the altar. Her fingers caressed the pages of the large book in a loving manner. “Devlin invaded your father’s mind. He instigated the accident and had Allorin perform the binding spell when you were unconscious. When your sight was lost, they assumed the binding spell had worked. It was a clever way to protect your magic and blind you from the truth.”
“My entire life has been a lie,” she whispered.
“No Tempest. While it was my intention to protect you, the loss of your sight gave Devlin and Allorin the impression you were... weak. Both thought they could control you easily, and you blossomed in the darkest garden imaginable.”
A silent sob racked her body. “My parents didn’t deserve that.”
“No, they did not. Both loved you with all their hearts and there is nothing I can say that will alleviate the cruelty of their deaths. I cannot change the past, Tempest. I can only promise to protect the next generation and the one after that.”
“I thought the depth of Devlin’s treachery was over. I was just starting to heal from his lies and depravity,” she hissed.
“You have become stronger. You are ready to join your sisters in the temple.”
“They blinded me from the truth,” Tempest said.
“But not the world.”
Tempest swallowed hard. “What do you want me to do?” She felt her magic swirl inside her. A coiled snake waiting to strike. There was a faint echo in her mind, and she was sure Rhadan was calling her name.
“Return to the caves and place your circle in the temple.”
“I am here now. Can’t I do it now?” she asked.
“The temple is partially in your world and partially in this one. You must enter the caves. Bring the circle and complete the table of power,” Adara said.
Tempest glanced back at the door behind her. “There is more to it than that, isn’t there?”
“Yes. You must gather your sisters and return to me in your world.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow.”
She frowned. “I don’t understand. Why do I have my magic early?”
“You do not.”
“I do. While today is my birthday, I don’t turn twenty-three until next year.”
Adara smiled. “Surely you know that is not true. You can feel your power. You know it has reached its maturity.”
“How can that be?”
Adara chuckled. “In the midst of all the magical things you can do and have seen, this is what surprises you? I had your mother put the wrong year on your birth certificate. It has always been off by one year.”
Tempest huffed. “No wonder I was always mature for my age. I’m twenty-three.”
“Yes.”
Adara’s form began to fade. “I can no longer sustain you here. My powers are fading. Perform the ceremony at midnight tomorrow.”
Tempest’s eyes widened. “What ceremony?”
The temple faded away to insubstantial mist until she found herself standing before it. Her heart jumped as the wolf exited the blue smoke and loped toward her. “Ren!”
He sat at her feet, and her arms wrapped around his soft fur. It felt the same as it had every time she had hugged him in the human world.
