to find out from Miranda what my mother knows. My guess is Calvin already went to the council to complain about me. Oh well. It saves me the trouble of telling the story from the beginning.
“I’d better go see what she wants,” I say.
Wordlessly, Mom turns on her heels, and heads to her office. It’s a move typical of Isadora Leal, so I follow, like she expects me to. The first thing one sees right as they enter her office is the oil portrait of my grandfather, Shiryu Takashi, one of the greatest mages of Japan. He came to Salem in an exchange program of sorts, where he met my grandmother, Sarina Meester. At the time, she was training to be the High Witch, and was kind of promised to another guy. But the stories say it was love at first sight, and since my grandfather was a badass mage, the council perceived him as a better match. So, my grandparents married for love, my parents married for love, and I’m expected to marry someone I hate. Only thinking about it renews my anger and motivation to come clean once and for all.
Already behind her desk, my mother links her fingers together, leaning her elbows on her desk. “I assume you’re here to explain how you’ve managed to make a mess of things.”
“You’ll have to be more specific than that. I’m not sure which screwup you’re referring to. There have been many.”
“Don’t even try to be a smartass with me.”
“I’m not trying to be anything. I legit want to know what you’re talking about. I assume it has to do with Calvin.”
“Of course it has to do with Calvin. He has officially petitioned the council to end your engagement, and to remove you from the line of succession on the grounds you’re associated with a Blueblood. Is that true, Aurora? Are you screwing around with a vampire?”
“I’m not screwing around with a vampire. I’m mated to one.”
There. I said it. I can’t believe how easy it was to utter those words out loud. But my confession seems to hang in the air, like a heavy cloud of doom. The blood drains from my mother’s face, and she seems frozen in a perpetual expression of apoplexy. Her jaw eventually slackens, but it seems she’s at loss for words. I stunned her into silence. That’s a first.
“You what?” She presses her open palms against the desk.
“Saxon and I are mates. It’s a done deal; it can’t be broken.”
“Bullshit, it can’t be broken. I won’t allow my daughter to shack up with a bloodsucker.”
“No, but you can serve his king no problem. Do you even hear yourself?”
“Do you think my rebuttal of your ‘bonding’ is linked to prejudice?”
“You can’t deny the magical community secretly loathes vampires. I never quite figured out why. Is it because they’re immortals? Stronger?”
She laughs without humor, shaking her head. “All of the above, but that’s not the reason I’m against your ridiculous union with that Blueblood. You can’t be a High Witch and be married to a vampire. The council will never allow it.”
“Why not?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Power. The High Witch has always been the council’s voice in King Raphael’s court, but her loyalty is first and foremost to the council, not the king. If you’re married to a vampire, your loyalty to us will be compromised.”
I’ve always suspected that, but I never put much thought into it because I never imagined I would fall in love with a vampire.
I lift my chin in defiance. “If you’re telling me I have to choose between being the High Witch and Saxon, I’m choosing him.”
Anger sweeps over my mother’s features. Even her eyeballs seem to twitch. “If you do that, if you walk away from your duties, then you’re no longer my daughter. I’ll strip you of your place in the council, and your training will cease immediately. You’ll be shunned, forced to live as a rogue for the rest of your life. Is that what you truly want?”
Fury makes my skin tingle and my face hot. My eyes prickle, but the tears forming aren’t of sadness, they’re angry tears. I’ve always known that would be the outcome of my decision, but I had secretly hoped my mother would understand me for once. Wishful thinking.
“If that’s the price to pay for being true to myself, then yes. A thousand times yes.”
“You don’t know what you’re doing.”
“No, I know exactly what I’m doing. Oh, and by the way, I had two