It’s not like you’ve cut off a piece of yourself. You’ve cut yourself off from what you are.”
“What I am killed my tribe,” she stated flatly. “I didn’t listen to good advice, played with forces I couldn’t control, and they died.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “It was an accident then.”
“It was,” she allowed, “but I deliberately disobeyed my foster mother. She asked me to not play with those magics until I was older. I thought I knew better.”
“Are you sure she’s dead? You saw her body?” If we were dealing with a spirit, then I would have to consider how to handle the situation because I knew I’d seen her when the veil between worlds had thinned to the point of not existing.
“I saw the ashes that were left behind.” She stared down at the water. “I burned down my whole village all the way to the sea. All was ashes.”
“So you didn’t have bodies to bury.” I knew I should talk about lighter, happier things, but my instincts were tingling.
“No, there was nothing at all left. I was the only person who survived,” she said. “Well, besides Erna.”
Yes, there were my instincts proving they were still fully functional. “Erna was there?”
“She was my teacher at the time. Haweigh brought her in to tutor me on some of the finer arts of magic.”
“Why? You didn’t need spells.” She’d been able to do spectacular things when she hadn’t even been able to speak.
“But I did. Haweigh bound my magic as a child because I didn’t have control. I would think something and it would happen. Binding part of my magic meant I needed spells to use it.” Summer’s voice had gone quiet, forcing me to lean in so I could hear her. “Even bound I was told I gave off magic. When I was a child that magic fueled our village. When there was an uprising and I was a babe, I managed to shield our whole village from invaders. We survived the rebellion because of my magic. It’s why it hurts so much that it was my magic that killed them.”
My mind was racing because I didn’t like the fact that Erna had been there. I also had to find a way to explain to my daughter that this woman she respected greatly was doing something hella shady. I didn’t want to be the bearer of bad tidings so early in our reunion, but a mother does what she has to do. “About Erna…”
I felt a crackle of energy and then there was a pop and Erna was standing in front of us.
I got to my feet and started to move in front of Summer.
“Momma, it’s okay,” Summer insisted. “This is Erna. She’s been my guide for ten years. Erna, this is…”
“I know who she says she is, child,” Erna said, staring a hole through me. “But she lies. She’s not your mother. She’s here to steal your power. She’s already worked a spell on Dean to make him turn against me, and now they want the book.”
“Hey, you’re the one who put a thrall stone in that kid’s head,” I countered. “You will stay away from my daughter.”
“Summer, you can’t believe anything she says,” Erna insisted, reaching out her hand. “It’s time for you to come with me and then we’ll talk about how to save the boy. Take my hand.”
That wasn’t happening. Not on my watch. I reached out to bat Erna away and felt a jolt of energy go through me.
Pain overtook me and I screamed as it felt like my whole body was on fire. Then the world went dark.
* * * *
Summer
I watched in horror as my mother’s body twitched and then dropped to the ground.
Panic overrode my confusion about what Erna had said. She was wrong. I knew the woman lying so still there loved me. I felt it deep in my soul. I felt her love for me the same way I was starting to feel Marcus’s.
Now I felt her death, and fear overtook me.
“Summer, you must come with me,” Erna said in a stern tone. “Now.”
I had dropped to my knees, putting my hands on my mother’s cheeks like a child who didn’t quite understand what was going on. “Momma?”
I felt heat around my throat, the charm warming against my skin, a pulsing reminder that I could remake this world. I could change the course of the next few moments and force the universe to do my will.
Except I couldn’t.