Page 19

Lilith

Leli runs to her room to start gathering everything while Daemon and I do the same. We just need to pack the bare minimum. We can replace a lot once we get there, like toiletries and clothing. We focus on the task at hand and silently throw our belongings into a bag. I store the Book of Shadows in the bag with my clothing and the rest of my magia tools that I have here and not in the library.

We go downstairs with our stuff and Kael and Callum’s belongings. Leli is setting her bags down as well.

“We need to go get what we can from the library,” I say. “I don’t even know what’s important and what’s not. We had an entire week left.”

“Oh, once you get there, Mazvyn can open the portal to give you access. Just leave everything there and handle it all when we get there,” Leli says.

“Are you sure? What if we…”

“I’m sure, Lilith,” she says. “When your mom was trying to escape and get back, she was trying to get to that portal. It just can’t be opened from either side without someone from your coven. Before your mom disappeared, the portal was closed; no one has been able to access it until you found it,”

“So, I have more family that has access?” I ask.

“I wasn’t even supposed to say that,” she says as we start taking bags to the car. When we get in and Daemon starts driving to the other side of the property, she turns to look at me and sighs.

“What?” I ask.

“I will tell you this, but only because I feel like it’s important you know you can trust me,” she says.

“Okay. What is it?” I ask.

“You have family in Voradia,” she says, and I smile. “But I won’t tell you names or how they are family. I seriously will get my ass kicked if I say anymore.”

“Okay,” I laugh. “Thank you for telling me.”

“I’m normally a loudmouth. I hope you know how hard it is to not say it,” she says with a smile and laughs with me.

“No, I feel that. I am the same way. I’m surprised I didn’t out myself sooner,” I say.

“Is that how the guys found out?” she asks, and I laugh.

“Uh, no. Apparently, witches do weird things when they are scared,” I say. “I was running my mouth and said more than I intended. When I realized I was leading them to it, I stopped talking and started freaking out.”

“Oh, the markings,” she laughs.

“Yeah. That’s when I electrocuted Kael,” I giggle.

“He deserved it,” Daemon says with a smirk.

“Wait. What did he do?” Leli asks.

“He grabbed me by the throat and pushed me against a wall,” I say. “And not in a kinky way.”

“Oh, you were pretty nice compared to what I would have done,” Leli says with a shrug.

“Yeah, well, Kael wasn’t my biggest fan there for a while,” I say.

“You know why that is, right?” Daemon asks.

“Yeah,” I say. “I’m sure he was like that with all of the maidens you guys had. If he acted like an ass, he thought it would hurt less when they died. Once he realized I wasn’t going to die, he relaxed.”

“Exactly,” Daemon says as he puts the car in park.

Kael opens my door, and we start taking bags to the plane. “I’m pretty sure we just heard wolves. We need to hurry,” Kael says.

“Lilith, you and Leli go sit on the plane,” Daemon says.

“I’ll do a bigger barrier,” Leli says. “I’ll have Lilith help, but hurry. It’s a bit harder to hold.”

Leli and I get on the plane and sit down. She turns and faces me before taking my hands into hers.

“Is this the same protection spell you taught me a few days ago?” I ask.

“Yeah, it’s just on a much larger scale,” she says. “Just concentrate on me and the words. Block everything else out.” I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths to center myself. I let everything around me fade away while keeping Leli at the forefront of my mind. Repeat these words until we are in the air. By the dragon’s light and the strength of the bear, I call for protection as we take to the air. ”

“By the dragon’s light and the strength of the bear, I call for protection as we take to the air,” I say in synchrony when she repeats it. We repeat the spell on a loop as we sit together holding hands. I feel the vibrations of the plane, but we remain focused on the words and our hands connecting.

“Hey… We made it. We are in the air,” Daemon says softly. We stop chanting the spell, and I open my eyes.

“Woah. You glow too,” I say. Leli is glowing yellow, as are her eyes. It is fading fast, but when I look at my body, I see the same yellow glow.

“Yeah,” she says simply.

“That was… I’ll never get used to that,” Kael says, and I laugh.

We move to the couches to sit. I am sitting in Callum’s lap with my legs across Daemon while Leli sits beside us. “I need to get in contact with Mazvyn,” she says.

“I was going to ask about that,” Callum says.

“Yeah, he needs to know we are coming sooner. How long of a flight do you think it is?” Leli asks.

“Kael said that to get to land is about two hours,” Callum says.

“Okay. Let me get everything ready,” she says as she stands up. I turn and look out of the window while she prepares.

I watch as we fly over rolling hills full of lush green trees. You can see the farmlands with their rows of various crops from up here. Everything looks peaceful and serene, like the world isn’t rapidly going to shit. The sun is starting to set on the horizon, and it paints the sky with a beautiful pink hue, streaking through the blue.

“Okay,” Leli says as she sits down with a bowl of water. She sprinkles the herbs into the water before slicing her palm to draw blood. When the last drop hits the water, Leli whispers, “Mazvyn.”

The water starts to swirl into focus, and Mazvyn appears again.

“What’s wrong?” he asks right away. “You said you wouldn’t reach out unless something was wrong.”

“I… Fuck,” she sighs.

“Is she okay? Where is Lilith?” he asks, clearly panicked now.

“Yeah. She’s right here. You just might get mad at me,” she says.

“What’s wrong, Leli?” he repeats.

“Lilith was crowned today. Everything was going fine through most of the celebration. I was giving Lilith a break from dancing. The lights dimmed for a slower song, and we thought it was Daemon who came up to get Lilith. I went to go get another drink and sit down for a minute….” She stops talking again, and Mazvyn sighs.

“I’m not going to get mad, Leli. Just tell me,” he says softly.

“It was Zypher,” Leli says. His eyes flash red again, knowing where this is headed. “He pulled her outside to a balcony and cornered her. He was saying some shit about how he owned her. When she said that the guys would kill him for this, he… Uhm… he pushed her against the railing of the balcony and was trying to pull her dress up. She panicked and shifted so she could get away. She managed to get to Kael, and… Zypher shifted, and I thought he was about to charge her… so I put up a barrier. I outed us both in front of everyone.”

“So everyone knows she’s a witch?” he asks with a sigh.

“Yeah,” Leli says, sniffing back tears. “I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I was afraid he was going to get her while he was still shifted. It would have killed her if he caught her. She’s so small, shifted… I was trying to protect her.”

“Hey. Stop, Leli. She’s alive, right?” he asks.

“Yeah,” she nods.

“Then you’ve done everything perfectly, Leli. We knew that it would come out eventually. Where are you?”

“We are on the plane,” she says. I sit up so he can see that I’m here. He visibly relaxes and smiles when he sees me.

“Lilith,” he says. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. I’m just glad I finally figured out how to shift,” I say. “Leli is a great teacher.”

“She is a wonderful teacher,” he agrees.

“Oh… So, I may have slipped up,” Leli says.

“About?” Mazvyn asks.

“We rushed back to the house to pack. Lilith mentioned wanting to get stuff from the Library. I told her once she was with you then the portal could be opened. I mentioned only people in her coven have access, but it was sealed when her mom went missing, and she questioned if she has family in Voradia. I told her she does but said she’d have to wait to get anything further,” she explains.

“Well, Leli… I’m honestly surprised you’ve kept your mouth shut this long,” he says with a chuckle, and Callum laughs.

“Sorry. It’s mostly my fault. I’m a bit stubborn,” I say.

“You come by it naturally,” he says with a soft smile. “Your mother was a stubborn little thing.”

“Was she short too?” Daemon asks with a chuckle. “The short ones are always a pain.”

“Yeah,” Mazvyn laughs.

“Alright. That’s enough,” I say, smiling.

“How far out are you all?” he asks.

“Less than an hour now,” Callum says. Mazvyn looks away from us before addressing someone.

“Striker,” Mazvyn says. “Go get Volis. Lilith and Leli will be here soon.”

“Wait. Does she…?”

“Go get your brother,” he says, cutting him off before turning back to us. “So, warn Kael that when he gets close, we will have six witches put up some flares to guide him to where he should land. Once he sees it, he will understand.”

“Hear that, Kael?” Daemon asks.

“Yep,” Kael calls out from the cockpit.

“Alright. We should be there soon,” Leli says. “I honestly have no idea what they will walk into when they go back, considering they heard some wolves off in the distance as we were getting ready to take off. We don’t have to worry about that right now. They’ll have no way of getting to them in Voradia.”

“Yeah, we can worry about that later. We have a lot to cover first before we even consider going there,” Mazvyn says. “Well, I’m going to take care of a few things before your arrival.”

“Okay,” Leli says happily.

“And Leli…” Mazvyn says.

“Mhmm?”

“I’m proud of you. You did well,” he says.

“Thanks,” she smiles. “See you soon.”

Off in the distance, we see bright orange flares of light. The landscape looks exactly like Midavor, Grimitara. “Those are Redselle Mountains,” Leli says. “It has a waterfall called the ‘Dancing Wench’. It flows into a lake named Shanrog.”

“It’s beautiful. It looks like Midavor, but more loved,” I say.

“The witches here have a deep connection with nature, and the land benefits from it,” she says.

“It’s gorgeous,” I say as I watch out of the window. I am anxious about what I am about to walk into. Some part of me still feels hesitant. After everyone found out I’m a witch, I knew that I would be safer here, even if it turns out that Mazvyn is a liar.

When the plane touches down, I feel a sense of relief wash over me. Any of the worries I had on the flight here start to dissipate as Kael leads the plane to where he’s being directed. The plane comes to a stop and Kael starts shutting it down.

“You ready?” Leli asks.

“Uhm… No,” I say honestly.

“Everything will be okay,” she smiles. “Don’t worry about the bags. I’m sure he’s going to have someone grab them so we can all talk.”

“Alright,” I sigh and stand up. We walk to the door, and Kael comes out of the cockpit. He hugs me and kisses my temple as Callum opens the door.

I let everyone else go ahead of me, but Kael motions for me to go ahead of him. I see there is a group of people watching us as we descend the boarding stairs. When we get closer, I see Mazvyn. I abruptly stop walking when I see my mom beside him. She is slightly transparent, but Mazvyn looks over at her and gives her a sad smile before looking back at me.

I start to tear up when the realization hits me who Mazvyn is. From his appearance to the sadness in his voice when he talks about Mom. The answer was right in front of me all week, but I missed it. There are only so many reasons why someone would spend twenty-three years looking for someone. That is the kind of dedication reserved for a spouse… or child.

His eyes glow a vivid blue as we are both in tears. When I find it in me to move, I take off running to him. He catches me in a hug, and emotion slams down on me as I start to cry. My entire life I have been praying for someone to save me from the life I was living. I couldn’t see an escape, so I accepted what everyone did to me. I took it all on and made myself believe that I was a willing participant in the vile acts people committed against me. I thought I was alone in this world, all while my father had dedicated his entire life to finding his daughter while also grieving the loss of his wife. A daughter he had never met before. This moment we are sharing, where he is holding me tightly while we both cry, makes all of the hard work he put into finding me, trying to save me from the pain I was dealt in life, worth it.

“You’re home now, Lilith,” he says softly. “I’ve got you now. You’re safe.”

When I start to calm down, I pull away and see that everyone around us is also in tears as they watch us. Dad cups my face with his hands before wiping away my tears. “I have spent every single day since your mom went missing waiting for this moment. I never once gave up on you or her.”

“You’re my dad,” I say tearfully, somewhere between a question and a statement.

“Yes, sweetie. I’m your dad,” he says as he hugs me again. “I tried so hard to get to you. Please know I tried to save you from that life.”

“I know,” I say as I sniff back tears.

“So,” he says. “There is more you should know.”

“I’m not used to all of this emotion,” I say, and he smiles.

“I’m just going to introduce you to the rest of your family,” he says as he wipes a stray tear from my cheek. I nod, and he motions for the teary-eyed group of people to come closer. I turn to Daemon, Kael, and Callum, seeing they also have tears in their eyes.

I take a second to hug them. Their comfort calms me down and brings me back to baseline. “I’m so happy for you,” Kael says before kissing me softly. “Go meet your family. We aren’t going anywhere.” I smile and turn back to Dad, who is smiling as he sees me interact with the guys.

“Okay, so I’ll start with Striker and Volis. They are your brothers,” he says. “Ashara is their mother also.”

They sandwich me in a hug, squeezing me. “You’re like a pocket-sized version of a sister,” Striker says. They both look like a younger version of Dad, only slightly taller.

“I’ve had brothers for thirty seconds, and I’m already getting picked on,” I say, laughing when they pull away.

A little girl comes darting through people to cling to Striker’s leg. She has long black hair and bright blue eyes, like me. “This is Sylvie, my daughter,” Striker says as he leans down and picks her up.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I say to Sylvie.

“This is your aunt Lilith,” Striker says to his daughter.

“It’s nice to meet you, Aunt Lilith,” she says in a tiny, sweet voice.

“You’ve already met Leli,” Dad says. “She is my daughter, but you have different mothers.”

I snap my head to Leli, and she smiles sheepishly, like she’s been caught with her hand in the cookie jar before dinner, as she walks closer to hug me.

“We do look the same; I don’t know how I’m just now finding out,” I say.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you. I wanted to, and it was really hard to not blurt it out,” she says.

“It’s okay. I understand why you couldn’t say anything,” I say as we both pull away.

“I almost slipped up a few times,” she says.

“You did better than I would have,” I laugh.

“This is your Aunt Sana,” Dad says as he gestures to a woman who looks a lot like my mom, only older. “She is your mother’s younger sister.”

“It’s so nice to finally meet you,” she says softly as she hugs me.

“This…” Dad starts to say. “This is your grandmother, Arieana.” I look at the older woman who is smiling but has tears in her eyes. I step closer to her, and she holds my face between her hands.

“You look just like her, the last time I saw her alive,” she says softly, making tears surface again. “She is proud of the woman you have turned out to be.” She hugs me as tears slip down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry you lost her,” I say quietly.

“We both lost her, sweetie. I just wish you had been able to know her in life. You are just as strong as she,” she says as she pulls away.

“I saw her in my dreams right after I found out they were my mates,” I say.

“Your father told me you mentioned that,” she says.

“I saw her just now when I got off the plane. Did you see her?” I ask Dad.

“Yeah,” he says, wiping tears from his face. “I think that was her finding peace now that you are here.”

“I’m glad we were able to give her peace. I got the feeling she watched over me a lot from how she spoke,” I say. “She looked the same age as me, though.”

“She was your age when she disappeared,” Dad says.

“That’s unsettling,” I admit.

“See,” Leli says as she hugs Dad. “I told you it was weird.”

“You did good, Leli,” Dad says softly, cupping her face. “Thank you for bringing your sister home.”

“I won’t lie. I wish I had found her before getting raped repeatedly, but to see you two meet like that… All of that was worth it,” she says.

“And I will make him pay for what he did; I can promise you that,” Dad says, glancing up at me. I walk closer, and he puts his arms around Leli and me. “They will all pay for what they have done to my girls.”

“Do they treat you okay?” Volis asks me, gesturing to Daemon, Callum, and Kael. “We can take care of them if not.”

“Volis,” Dad sighs.

“Hey… King or not, I’ll still kick your ass if you hurt my little sister,” Striker says to the guys.

“They are good to her,” Leli says. “It gets pretty loud when they are really good to her.” I instantly blush at her joke, making the guys smirk, but they stay quiet.

“Leli!” Striker gasps as he covers Sylvie’s ears. “A child is listening.”

“Dude… Given what our father is… Don’t act like you’re innocent,” Leli laughs.

“Well, I was going to wait a second to bring that up,” Dad says. “I am an incubus, which makes you half witch and half succubus.”

“Ah, yeah,” I say. “That’s what the guys were guessing the day I met Leli.”