Page 91 of Fighting for Her Heart

I press my back into the chair. “When I was a kid. You took my blood.” I feel sick. “Were you using it to make lambent vampires?”

She shakes her head. “No, my darling. Your blood wasn’t ready. And we weren’t fully certain that you were the one. But I believed that you were. I always saw your potential.”

Again with the ‘we’. “Who are you working with? And who came looking for me at the farm that day? And who killed my birth mom and sisters. I don’t understand…”Which side is she on?

My heart is thumping and my mind spinning as I try to sort through all she’s said, hoping to line it up with all the information I’ve learned from both Zuben and Mom about the two factions of witches and how they split over the Illuminant. Over the Illuminants who came before me.

“I am on therightside,” Nora says.

“The Keepers of Light or Darkness?” I shake my head. “Which side is the ‘right’ side? Why won’t you just tell me?”

“I am a member of neither group.” She frowns. “And it was the Council of Magic Keepers who took me away from you when you were fourteen.”

Council of Magic Keepers?“Who are they?”

Her eyes narrow. “Smug cows who think they have control over witches.” Her chin rises. “They don’t.”

“And the Keepers of Light and Darkness?”

“Obsolete,” Mom snaps. “Years ago, the Keepers of Light caved into the council’s pressure. A truce long before you were born.”

“So…” My mind is a massive puzzle. The pieces keep changing shape. Just as I’m about to snap them in place, they reform and shift.

“Which sidewereyou on?” My throat tightens around the words as they come out. “Before the truce?”

“The Keepers of Light, of course.” Her tone implies I’m a fool for asking. “The ones who saw the true purpose of the Illuminant and understood her power.Yourpower, my darling daughter.”

“But I’mnotyour daughter.” I frown. “How did you find me after that fire, anyway?”

She sighs. “I suppose you are old enough to understand the whole truth now.”

“Tell me. And hurry or—” I can think of no ultimatums to threaten. She holds all the cards. It’s clear I can’t break the spells currently keeping me from saving my men. I need her cooperation. I need to make her see this is wrong.

“My sisters and I, we came to rescue you, but your mother hid you. She was a fool. Burning her house was the only way to break her magic, and then I took you away—toprotectyou.”

“Protect me from what?” I shake my head. “Please. I really don’t understand.” And deep in my gut, in my heart, I still can’t accept that the woman who raised me, who loved me, whom I loved and still do, would ever have done anything to harm me.

Her eyes narrow. “I was protecting you from the council. They wanted todiminishyou. To stunt your powers. To prevent you from fulfilling your destiny.”

My destiny? To help entrap vampires so she and her friends could stay young?

“You mentioned sisters?” I glance behind me again, thinking of the women I saw abusing my men.

“Yes,” Nora responds. “While they are not biological sisters, they are sisters in our cause.Yoursisters too.” She smiles and I think of my actual sisters. Sisters who perished in the fire set to take me away from my family.

Nora was the only mother I knew for most of my life, but at this moment I’m having trouble even looking at her. But I need to. I can’t let her see my growing distrust. I need her help if I’m going to save my men—even though it’s become increasingly clear that she’s also the person I need to rescue them from.

“The years you were gone… Where were you really?” She told me she’d escaped, and that she’d looked for me. I don’t know what to believe.

“I refused to give your location to the Council.” Leaning forward she rests her hand on mine and looks into my eyes.

“How long did they hold you? The whole ten and a half years?” My empathy for her returns for an instant. No matter how warped her reasons, she suffered for me. “Did they hurt you?” My voice cracks.

“The council had no grounds to keep me. They didn’t detain me for long.”

I gasp, pulling my hand out from under hers.

She shifts forward on her chair. “I didn’t want to lead them to you. I strengthened the protective spell around the farm and knew you were safe there. It hurt me, but I stayed away.”