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VANESSA

I crawled out from under the pile of boxes I’d been flung into, my entire body screaming. It could have been a lot worse.

One moment, we were all gathered around the tables, enjoying ourselves and having one big party, the next we were in a war zone. I had no idea what was going on or who the strange woman was who had decided to destroy half my home.

My mind couldn’t even begin to think what we were going to do about that. How did I explain that to my landlord? At least if insurance agents inspected it, they would see it was a freak lightning strike that had destroyed it.

Most importantly, where were my babies?

As I struggled to my feet, I saw the woman was now on the ground, magic crackling in her hands. There was something so intensely otherworldly about her, it made my skin crawl and intrigued me at the same time. I was caught up in her, like she had a naturally hypnotic effect on me. It took some effort, but I shook myself free, and as I did I remembered some of the stuff I’d read online in the past couple of months with all my research. It could be bupkis for all I knew, but it was all I had.

Running to my greenhouse, I grabbed all the dill I had been drying. Sprinting back out, I threw it as high in the air as I could, and it formed a wobbly circle that encompassed most of the shifters splayed about.

God, I was going to look like a complete ass if this didn’t work, but I had to do something. A sliver of hope sputtered within me when the woman stopped and tapped her fingers on the air in front of her. To my surprise, her fingertips sizzled when they tried to cross over the line of dried leaves, making little sparks that crackled through the air before disappearing into nothingness.

“Cute.” The witch smirked. “But you’re fooling yourself if you think a protection spell from a diluted dryad will last more than a few minutes against my full power. Even your mother couldn’t hold up against my son. What chance do you possibly think you have against me?”

My eyes widened, and time stood still. My brain stuttered, trying to decipher her words. Suddenly, the things Frederick had said rushed back into my mind, and I put a bunch of fragmented thoughts together in very rapid succession.

First, the woman in front of me had to be none other than Katarina Morgana, mother of the warlock brothers we’d taken down. As far as I knew, she’d disappeared decades earlier. Never in a million years had I thought I would see her in the flesh.

Secondly, her son Frederick had known my mother. And I had a horrible, sinking feeling he might have had something to do with that fateful night when my mother had been ripped away from me because I’d been too scared to come out of the closet I’d hidden in.

Katarina clocked my reaction instantly, and her expression became a touch concerned in a mocking way.

“Oh, my dear. Did you not know? What a travesty.”

“Know what ?” I hissed, acid dripping from every single word.

“Well, this is awkward now. I came here to avenge my sons, and I ran into an old sin.” She let out a sigh, and all the magical tension in the air dissipated. I had no idea what was going on. I’d expected all hell to break loose. But no, the witch seemed almost... reasonable? That didn’t make any sense.

“You see, a mother does her best, but there must be something inherently lacking in my parenting ability because all my sons saw fit to try to challenge me rather than live the blessed, relaxed life I had set up for them. Frederick especially had grand plans. He thought if he were to produce progeny with the ever-so-rare dryad, then he would be able to make his own brood to one day usurp me.

“I wasn’t concerned, so I didn’t stop him, and for that I’m sorry. Last I heard, your mother refused him and managed to escape for a good long while. When he realized she wasn’t going to cooperate, he made sure nobody could have her.”

Shock. Horror. Disgust. Revelation. All those emotions flowed through me at once, making my stomach twist and my heart beat so hard I was surprised I didn’t puke. My mind was racing through a million things at once, replaying the same nightmare that had been in my head ever since I was a child.

“Venny, come out, please. I’m here to help you!”

“Ven, I can’t find you. Please, come to Mommy. Come out!”

“There you are!”

I remembered being unable to see and my lungs burning as my mother hauled me out of the closet. We’d tried to stay as low as we could to the ground, and against all odds, we stumbled out of our apartment building into the pitch-black night. My mother kept carrying me—a block, then two—until she collapsed entirely.

The smoke inhalation had killed her. She’d spent too long looking for me. I’d always blamed myself, because if I hadn’t hidden we would have gotten out in time.

“Your son killed my mother? ” I shrieked, lunging forward.

I was blind with rage and had no idea what I planned to do, but thankfully Chiga caught me and held me back.

“I know. It is such a shame, isn’t it? I don’t even remember the last time there was a dryad running around in these parts.”

Some small part of me couldn’t help but question what the hell a dryad was, but it was buried under the torrent of exponential hate burning through me. I had always felt bad for Leo and his pack for being preyed upon by the brothers, but it turned out one of them had orphaned me.

“This does indeed complicate things, doesn’t it?” the witch mused as if we were having a normal conversation. “I came here seeking to even things out, but as it were, you were merely retaliating for things my sons did to you. Wicked, cruel things you didn’t deserve.”

Was… was she about to call it even?

“I hope that finding out about your heritage and knowing what happened brings you peace. I do wish you the best in your journey, and honestly, it would be a shame for it to end so soon. I am not an unreasonable woman. I know my sons got what was coming to them, but you must understand, I loved them. They were all my babies. And blood demands blood. ”

Her gaze turned to the wolf in front of me, whose hackles were raised in warning. I hadn’t even realized Leo was standing between all of his charges and the witch who could easily destroy us all.

“Ah, you’re the alpha. I’d know that posture anywhere. Let me propose a deal. I will take care to personally destroy every single member of your pack in the most violent way possible, especially that lovely dryad of yours.” What? That sounded completely at odds with what she’d just said! “ Or you can submit yourself to me to experience every one of my sons’ deaths over and over again until even your healing magic won’t save you.”

What?!

“Don’t do it, Leo,” I cried, struggling against Chiga’s grip. “Fuck her!”

“The choice is simple really, but I will not pressure you. You have one week to decide and complete anything that may be on your bucket list.” She flicked her hand, and a shining gem fell to the ground, bouncing right up against the line of dill I had thrown.

“This will lead the way for you. If you choose not to surrender yourself, you may run, but know that I will find you. I will spend every ounce of power within me hunting down all you’ve ever loved, and I’ll make you watch as I destroy them.”

Slowly, she began to rise into the air again, but she paused a few feet up. “I apologize for interrupting the party. It did smell quite lovely.”

Without another word, she continued her ascent and disappeared into the clouds, leaving the lot of us devastated and in shock.

What the fuck were we going to do?