Page 83 of Bring Me Your Midnight

Wolfe helps me to my feet, and I fidget with my clothing, hoping the darkness is enough to conceal the heat in my face.

“Lovely to see you again, Mortana,” Galen says when he reaches us. He sweeps a hand over both of us, and I feel my hair settle and my skin cool. He keeps his back to the manor, watching me, and goose bumps rise along my skin.

Something isn’t right.

“Hello, Ingrid.” His voice is even.

It feels as if my heart stops and all the blood rushes out of my body.

“Galen,” she says in response.

I follow the voice, and there at the top of the hill, with the manor in perfect silhouette behind her, is my mother.

twenty-eight

My mother walks down the hill, and all the air leaves my lungs. I reach out and take Wolfe’s hand, holding it tightly.Don’t let go, I want to say to him, but I can’t make the words come out.

I look at the manor, where witches stand at the windows, watching from behind thick curtains. Others tentatively step onto the balcony, and I realize everyone in this house knows exactly who my mother is.

When I first came here with Wolfe, I was amazed, my world cracking open, so much bigger than I ever imagined. But now, as I watch my mother approach, I start to feel as if I’ve been fooled, as if this manor on this shore has always been known to all but me. I kept this secret and guarded it like a precious gem, only to discover the witches here didn’t need my protection.

My grip on Wolfe’s hand gets tighter.

“Hi, honey,” my mother says when she finally reaches us.

My greeting sticks to the inside of my throat, and I can’t getit out. I watch my mother as she meets Galen’s eyes, her shoulders back and her chin high, not a single worry creasing her perfect skin.

“It’s been a long time,” Galen says, looking at my mom.

“It certainly has.”

My heart races. I’d give anything for Wolfe’s perception spell to send me beneath the water, to take me anywhere but here.

“You two know each other,” I manage to say.

“We do,” my mother says simply, as if her words don’t reveal that she’s been lying to me for nineteen years. As if she doesn’t keep breaking my heart.

“You said the old coven doesn’t exist anymore.”

My mother moves her eyes from Galen to me. “I say a lot of things to protect our way of life.”

My entire body runs cold, and I shiver. “But I’m your daughter.” I hate the way my words get quiet and my voice shakes. I hate even more how calm my mother is, how my words don’t affect her.

“Some things are best kept hidden. Even from you.”

Wolfe doesn’t move. He doesn’t speak. But if I listen closely, I can hear his breathing over the sound of the waves, and it’s enough. That sound is enough.

“But I was willing to give up a life of my own to protect our coven. I did everything you ever asked of me in service of that goal. Surely I deserved the truth?”

My mother looks to my hand, to my fingers laced with Wolfe’s, and her brows knit together. For a single moment, she looks sad. Then it vanishes.

“You’re speaking in the past tense,” she says.

“I’m staying here.” It takes all my strength to get the words out, to make them sound sure and steady.

“Oh, honey,” my mother sighs, and it sounds pitying, like she feels sorry for me. Then she looks at Wolfe. “I haven’t seen you since you were a child.”

“Forgive me, I don’t remember.” He shifts but meets my mother’s eyes.