Page 117 of The Path of Blood and Betrayals

Although I’m not fond ofSola, I’m curious. “Why me?”Why my mother?

“Oh, poor, little lovie,” she coos. “You don’t remember your village, do you?”

Wincing, as if struck, I shake my head. The weight of not remembering my home settles like lead on my shoulders.

“No. I don’t remember it.”

She nods sagely. “I figured as much.” Grabbing my hands, she holds them within her paper thin fingers. “Your mother was a High Priestess ofEnyo, theGoddess of Life.”

The Goddess of Life,Enyo, was a powerful deity. One that had fallen from our mouths after the Great War of Neevea. Who would worship a Goddess of Life when only death surrounded us?

“But she was also the Patroness of Blood Summoners.” She smiles wickedly. “You’re the last of your kind.”

Something heavy sits on my chest, body physically deflating as her words.

The last of my kind.The last blood summoner?

It can’t be true. Nessa would have known, she would have told me.

“I was never told that. Nessa said?—”

The Mad Witch grunts, releasing me. “Nessa,” she hisses her name like a curse. “That Witch was so afraid of theBlut Coven. The only ones who had blood magic. She feared them. Just like shefearedyou.”

Licking my dry lips, my head spins. “But magic doesn’t exist. No one has it.”

She smiles wide. “Yes and no.” Looking to the side, her grin cracks. “Your village was spared.”

Spared?“I don’t understand?—”

Weathered hands hold up my chin. “You, lovie, are meant to change the world. The problem is, I can’t see which way you’ll go. Will you destroy it, or will youfixit? That is the crossroads you find yourself in. That is what you must decide.”

My stomach rolls, bile rising up my throat.

Nessa knew what I was.She taught me to fear my magic, to hide away. She said the only way I would be safe—that everyone would be safe—would be to fear what I could do.

But she knew. She knew there were others like me. That we had lived with our magic, had embraced it.

All this time, she made me believe I was the monster under children’s bed when really, her fear turned her into one.

Betrayal stings my heavy heart as I blink back tears. I loved Nessa like another mother. I love Tay and Nafre like siblings.

Did they know about my village, about my people? Did they choose to let the Coven taunt me, bully me because they were afraid?

Did they know of my prophecy?

“My magic.” I lick my bottom lip, wiping my eyes. “Can it be controlled?”

The Mad Witch looks to the roof again. “Lovie, your magic is a blessing from the gods. You were born to wield a gift fromEnyo. AndSetihas blessed you with a Hadeon. Your magic responds to you, whether you want it to or not.” My eyebrows rise, surprised she could see all this. “Your magic was once not so rare. It was coveted, loved in your Coven. But it was also sought out by those who would wish to use it. Wicked beings who need you to control the world.”

I swallow thickly. As much as Nessa lied to me, she was right about that.

I’m dangerous. So much so that I bring trouble wherever I go.

“Are there people who are looking for me now?”

She tilts her head as if listening to a silent voice. “Yes.”

“Will they harm me?”