years ago. She doesn’t work anymore. Not at thievery, though I believe she misses it from time to time. Your father took over the Council. Do you know what that is?”
I shook my head. If I had my power I would be able to search my brain for everything I’d learned that one night, the night of my birth. Honestly, it had been years since I’d had that power and I’d forgotten how handy it had been to simply remember everything I’d ever experienced, everything I’d ever been told or seen. “No. I don’t remember a lot about the Earth plane. Most of what I know I’ve learned from vampire researchers. They’re fascinated with Earth plane vamps.”
“And I would love to know more about our descendants,” Marcus said with a light in his eyes. “But I digress. We don’t have much time. Are you still in pain?”
I shook my head. I felt wonderful here. I felt the warmth of the sun on my skin, and the whole place smelled of life. This was a home. “No. Thank you for that.”
“Of course. Do you want to see them?” Marcus stood. “This memory is from a day roughly a month ago. I was called up for a meeting with the king, and Zoey was getting the children ready for school.”
Did I want to see the children my parents had loved enough to keep?
“It was not like that, bella.”
Damn the man for being able to slip in when my walls were down. “I know it’s not fair. When I’m rational I know exactly why they did it. I know she sacrificed. How did she get out of the demon contract? And yes. Yes, I want to see them.”
I said the last words quickly because I knew if I thought about it long enough, I would say no, and I didn’t truly want to say no. I meant what I’d said about my mother. I knew she’d sacrificed for me. Her soul had been on the line and she’d chosen a child she didn’t even think was her own. I knew I was hers. I’d even tried to tell them that night, but I hadn’t been able to speak and Haweigh had been the only one who could interpret for me. She’d left that part out.
When I was older, we’d fought about it. It had been the fight that led to me wearing a collar and giving up all my power.
“Your mother was a clever woman. I was there that night. She found a way to fulfill the contract that didn’t involve turning you over.” Marcus nodded toward a hallway as a dark-haired kid ran through. He wore jeans and a T-shirt and his hair was a bit wild.
My brother. That was my little brother. “What’s his name?”
“Rhys!” a feminine voice yelled. “Don’t forget your homework.”
The boy named Rhys stopped and winced. That was when I realized there was a second Marcus. He stepped in from what looked like a foyer and gave the boy a grin.
“Did you forget your homework or did you forget to actually do your homework?” Marcus asked as though he already knew the answer.
“The second one,” Rhys admitted. “I was gonna do it. But then I was playing Xbox with Fen and I forgot. Maybe Lee did it.”
Another boy strode through, an almost exact copy of the first except he had on a T-shirt with some odd yellow creature on the front. “I didn’t do it. Whatever it was, I didn’t do it. Except I did brush my teeth.”
“Lee, did you brush your teeth?” the feminine voice asked from another room.
Lee turned back. “Yes!”
My mom stepped out, a hand on her hip. “Then why is your toothbrush perfectly dry? I check. I check everything.”
Lee groaned and his head fell forward as he marched back down the hallway.
My mom. No wonder they’d all been confused. It was like looking in a mirror. If she’d aged a day I couldn’t tell. My mother had her hair up in a ponytail and she wore what looked to be cotton pants and a top without sleeves. She wasn’t dressed for the day yet. She was far too busy getting her family ready. She looked young and soft, as though the world hadn’t ever kicked her when I knew it had. I’d felt her that day. She’d been through so much, and there hadn’t been a lot of hope in her heart that night.
This woman was well loved. This woman was in control and