Page 17 of Shadowed Spirits (Haunted Magic #2)
CHAPTER 17
IZZY
“ Y es. It’s good to see you after so long. How did you end up in my shop?” Melinoe asks him, glancing between the six of us in confusion. She keeps looking between each of my mates and me, her slight smile growing as she does so, leaving me to wonder what she’s seeing.
Levi shoves a rough hand through his hair. “I’ve been looking for you, Mel. Your mom and dads have been worried sick about you, since you haven’t checked in.” His tone is slightly scolding, but there’s an undercurrent of concern.
Melinoe hugs her arms around her middle and looks away from Levi’s intense gaze. “I’m sorry, Uncle Vi. I didn’t do it on purpose.”
I try hard not to stare at how different the two sides of her are, but I fail. While one side has fair skin, golden hair, gray eyes, and richly colored clothes, the other is completely void of any pigment. Her hair, eyes, skin, and clothes are all translucent. It’s a cool contrast.
“Wait. So Melinoe is Anya?” I ask as I focus back on the conversation, wanting to make sure I understand everything correctly. I mean, there’s not really anyone else she could be since I just saw her transform. All this form switching is confusing to my puny mortal mind, though.
“I am, dearie.” Melinoe watches me carefully for a moment before she blows out a breath. White and black light bursts from her again. It’s so intense, I have to close my eyes and shield them with my hand. After a long moment, I squint them open to see an older woman standing in front of us.
I’ve seen her white hair, slight wrinkles, gray eyes, and heart-shaped face a million times. “Gran?” I whisper, confusion coloring my tone. I guess this confirms that Melinoe and Gran are the same person. I just never thought Anya had anything to do with it.
“Yes, honey, it’s me.” Whereas Anya had a raspy Russian accent and Melinoe had a clear, youthful voice, Gran has a wizened voice roughened with age.
“Why? Why lie to me? Were you embarrassed to be related to me?” My voice is choked with hurt. It would’ve been so simple to tell me that she was my grandma, but, instead, she hid it. The only reason I can think of is that she didn’t want to be seen with a magicless reject like me. My eyes burn with frustrated and hurt tears. A few drip down my cheeks, despite my best efforts. I angrily swipe at them before staring at the floor, wanting to hide how I feel.
I know I don’t succeed when Luca steps up behind me and slings an arm around my middle. I can tell it’s him from the dark, woodsy scent that wraps around me. After a moment of trying to fight the comfort I find in his arms, I give up and sink into it. While I don’t want to need my mate, I do. It’d be safer for them if I could just stay away, but I’m too selfish for that.
Gran rears back in surprise as she gapes at me. “What? No! I had this identity established long before you were born, Izzy.”
My traitorous lower lip trembles as I try to gather myself. I have to swallow past the lump in my throat a few times before I can speak. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I didn’t want you to get swept up in this war.” Gran hesitantly holds open her arms for a hug. After staring at her for a long moment, I step out of Luca’s hold and into Gran’s embrace. Gran strokes my hair comfortingly before pulling back to look at me. Her wrinkled hands continue to grip my arms, reluctant to let me go. “The longer I could keep Lua from finding out you were my granddaughter or that any of your family is related to me, the better.”
Levi has his hands intertwined behind his head and tips his face to the ceiling. He’s slightly shaking his head as he clearly works through something. Eventually, he looks back down at his niece. “Did you know that Isabel is part cura and part spirit mage?” It’s a bit of a mindfuck that my mate is my grandma’s uncle. The ridiculously long lifespan of curae make this whole family thing super complicated.
Oh shit . Does that mean I’m going to live for billions of years? I’m so not prepared for that. What would I even do to keep myself occupied for a billion years? Before I can freak out, I shove those thoughts into the dark corner of my mind for problems to deal with hopefully never.
Gran’s face drains of all color. “No. No, that can’t be possible.” She shakes her head back and forth, like that can ward off the fact that I’m a cura.
“Why not?” My forehead crinkles in confusion because it should definitely be possible. She’s part cura , so it makes sense that her descendants would be too. Now I wonder if Aiden, Rhys, or my mom are part cura too.
Scrubbing shaking hands over her face, Gran takes a few deep breaths before looking back at me. “I never intended to find my mate here, and I tried to resist your grandfather for the longest time. But it was a losing battle, and we eventually mated. Your mother wasn’t planned, and I was an equally terrified and elated when I found out I was pregnant with her. My worst fear was passing on my abilities to her, but it was clear as soon as she was born, she wasn’t like me. You shouldn’t have any of my cursed abilities, either.”
“What do you mean, cursed abilities?” I don’t actually know what magic Gran-slash-Melinoe-slash-Anya has, other than being excellent at potion making. I think Seph said something about magic being nightmare and spirit related, but I’m not really sure what that means.
Her smile is filled with bitterness and self-loathing. “I’m a Lucina , so my affinities are nightmares, phantoms, and madness. You can see why the other cura steered clear of me when one wrong move and my magic would drive them insane. That’s why I never wanted to have children. I never wanted them to be haunted by the dead like I am.”
“I’m a spirit mage, but I’m not haunted by the dead, Gran. Sure, some of them follow me around, but none of them really bother me anymore.” I don’t tell her how much I hate my magic, because I’m trying to make her feel better. I get where she’s coming from, though. It’s hard to feel anything other than defective when your magic thrives on death and is universally hated. Sure, I can do good things with my spirit magic, like I’m sure Gran can with hers, but it never feels like the good outweighs the bad.
Most days, I’d give almost anything to be as magicless as I pretend to be. Days like today, however, I’m glad I have my magic to protect those I care about. I’m sure Levi or Bishop could’ve stepped in to keep Mira away from Cain, but it feels good to be the one protecting him. I couldn’t have done so without the magic I’ve spent most of my life hating.
Gran lets her hands drop from my arms and balls her hands into fists. “But you have to hide what you are. I’ve felt the power pouring off you and could never figure out why you pretended not to have any magic. Now I know it’s because of what I passed on to you.”
“It’s not your fault, Mel,” Levi jumps in to try to reassure her. “Magic is neither good nor bad. It simply is. What matters is what you do with it.”
“And I’ve done some horrible things with it.” Gran stares off into space, her eyes pinched around the corners as she gets lost in her memories. She shakes herself out of them after a moment or two. “I’m happy to talk to you about our magic all you want, Izzy, but I assume there’s a reason you and all your mates came to my shop today?”
I scrunch my nose in confusion. “How’d you know they’re my mates?”
Gran huffs a laugh and gives me a small but genuine smile. “I can see mate bonds, since they’re bonds between our spirits.”
“Why can’t I see those bonds if you can?” I resist the urge to pout. Everyone else has super cool powers, like stopping time or seeing mate bonds. All I can do is see ghosts and heal them, which is the least useful magic I can think of.
“We’re related, but we don’t have exactly the same magic,” Gran explains. “I’m also fully cura , while you’re half.”
I narrow my eyes in thought. I’m incredibly bad at math, but even my horrendous math skills tell me that doesn’t add up. “Wouldn’t I be a quarter?”
Gran shakes her head. “It doesn’t work that way for cura . If anyone is part cura , they’ll donate entirely cura genes to their children. If your father had cura in his family, you and your brothers would’ve been fully curae .”
“So, you knew I was part cura but not that I had spirit magic?” I ask.
“Yes.” Gran nods before she disappears in a flash of white and black light. When I can see her again, she’s back to her Melinoe form. I wonder if that form is the most comfortable because it’s her natural one. It’s a little weird that my grandma looks the same age as I do, but it’s definitely not the weirdest thing to happen today. She hops up to sit on the front counter before turning back to me. “But it shouldn’t matter, as long as you and your mom and brothers don’t drink water from the Styx. While you four will get a power boost from your cura side, you shouldn’t have too many unusual abilities as long as it remains dormant.”
“Uh, too late for that one. Hades spiked my drink yesterday with water from the Styx.” I have yet to discover any new powers, so that’s good. Of course, it’s only been a day, so who really knows yet. Here’s hoping I get a badass power, like being able to vaporize my enemies with just a thought.
“Papa did what?” Gran gapes at me.
I look at her sheepishly, like it’s somehow my fault Hades almost killed me. Okay, maybe not almost, but close enough to be extremely rude.
Levi sighs. “Hades thought that was the best way to tell if Izzy was cura . We all put him in his place for it.”
Gran blinks at Levi in shock a few times before shaking her head. “Why were you even down there?”
“Doyle found out Izzy’s a spirit mage with an obrussa .” Levi’s eyes flicker between black and red as he remembers how close I came to being executed. “We went to Infernus to find out who he had given them to so we can figure out how Doyle got it and who’s helping him. Hades said you were the last person he gave one to.”
Gran curses under her breath. “I didn’t give it to him. That man is a spineless weasel without any morals. However, I know who did.” She’s not even slightly wrong about Doyle. Although, comparing him to a weasel is offensive to weasels, who can be super cute.
“Who?” Levi demands.
Rolling her lips between her teeth, Gran’s eyes flick between Levi’s a couple of times before she reluctantly answers, “Lua.”
“Fuck.” Levi looks like he wants to punch something at the mention of his mom being responsible. I hesitate before walking over to him, unsure whether he wants comfort right now or not. I offer him my hand. He grabs it in one of his much larger ones and squeezes it as he tries to calm down. “What happened?”
“Papa kept getting reports of disturbances in the mortal realm. Strange wars, conflicts, and fights between groups that were previously extremely peaceful. I begged him to let me come to Earth to investigate. It took me a hundred or so years, but I finally figured out the cause was Lua. She somehow escaped Tartarus and came to Earth to increase her power. When I tried to stop her, she stripped me of my ability to create rifts.” Gran’s face falls as she talks about her fight with Lua, looking like she feels guilty for losing. “I don’t know why she’d give the obrussa to a mage, though.”
Levi’s mouth opens and closes as he tries to figure out something to say to that wild account. “How did she strip you of your ability to open a rift?” Levi asks.
I didn’t even know stealing powers was something that could be done. Obviously, Aggie mentioned that yesterday, but I still don’t know how that’s possible. Our magic is an innate part of us. I’m not sure magic users can even survive without it.
Gran shrugs. “I don’t know, exactly. She used some spell that took parts of my magic for herself.”
Her mentioning a spell helps me put some of the pieces together. “I’m guessing I know why she gave it to Doyle. He’s probably helping her collect magic from lower mages and all the people they’re experimenting on.” That orange glowing stuff flowing from the unconscious boy in the council basement might’ve been the magic she’s using Doyle to steal. “Why does she need more magic? Aren’t cura already super powerful?”
“Yes, we are. However, we’re still able to be overpowered by other cura . That’s how we were able to lock up Lua Mater in the first place. She’s probably trying to grow her power to keep us from imprisoning her again. Fates help us all if she succeeds.” Levi mutters the last part to himself. That’s not concerning at all.
I don’t know that I really want to know the answer, but I ask, anyway. “Why was she locked up?”
Levi looks reluctant and hesitates for a second before telling us, “She tried to kill me, and she successfully plunged the last realm we guarded into chaos that led to the eradication of all life on that planet.”