Oh wow. This was the witch who cursed him all those years ago. So much for her suffering her under own curse. In fact, she didn’t look like she’d suffered a day in her life. She looked pampered and rich. I couldn’t believe she had the gall to show up like this.
“I knew my spell was broken. I could feel it, but I was out of the country when it happened. I traced your presence to this house. This is the first occasion I’ve had to come and see for myself.”
“I hate to break it to you,” I interjected. “But I think you’re the last person Ira wants to see right now. What you did to him is beyond the pale. How can you even live with yourself?”
She barely spared me a glance, her eyes seeking out Ira. “Tell this rude child to leave us. I want to talk.”
“Eh, I’m not a child and you’re not talking to him. Now go piss off back to whatever hole you crawled out of.”
She glared at me, her nostrils flaring. Then quite boldly, she moved to walk past me and right into the house. Oh, the absolute cheek! Now I was pissed. My magic bubbled up, and my arm whipped out. Sparks flew from my palm and knocked her flat on her backside.
“How could you possibly …” she breathed, trailing off. She wasn’t looking at Ira anymore. Now she was looking at me with a mixture of fear and fascination.
“Walk away, witch,” I said, holding my hand up as a threat of more to come if she didn’t get the hell off Finn’s doorstep in the next five seconds.
“No, no, you don’t understand. You shouldn’t have been able to do that.”
“Oh yeah, and why not?” I shot back, thinking she was going to say something like, Because you’re only a human.
But that wasn’t what she said. Instead, she replied, “Because the only witches who possess that particular form of defence are those from my bloodline. I know every member of my family, and I have never seen your face before in my life.”
“You’re lying,” I said, suspicious now. Was this some sneaky tactic to get past me and put another spell on Ira? My stomach tensed at the same time my magic did a weird fluttery thing in my chest. It felt nice, actually. It felt like my magic recognised this woman and was pleased to see her, which didn’t make a lick of sense.
“I’m telling you the truth. My name is Emilia Petrovsky, but my maiden name was Dragu. Only the Dragu women can wield electrical fire from the palms of their hands.”
She raised her hand to me, and the same sparks flew out. The name Petrovsky rang a bell, and I remembered Noreen telling me of the magical family, the Petrovskys, and how she thought my mother might be the daughter of Filipp, the one who disappeared. Ira mentioned something about Emilia’s husband being overly protective of his daughter while his wife went about having affairs behind his back. The family had needed extra protection against vampires, he’d said. Was that because those vampires wanted to get their hands on their daughter’s blood?
I almost felt like being sick as the pieces fell into place. This woman—this witch—could possibly be my grandmother. My grandmother cursed Ira. I didn’t want to believe it, but it made so much sense, especially with how my magic almost seemed to preen at the sight of her.
“What’s your husband’s name?” I asked her quietly.
“Filipp,” she answered sadly. “He passed away a number of years ago.” Her eyes narrowed as she studied me. “I hadn’t noticed before, but you have my daughter’s eyes. Who are you, child?”
“What was your daughter’s name?”
“Darya.”
“Fuck.”
“That sort of language is very unbecoming,” Emilia scolded. God, she really was my grandmother.
A warm hand touched my shoulder. “What’s wrong, Tegan?” Ira asked, standing close behind me.
I winced as I turned and looked up at him. Gesturing to Emilia, I said, “I think she might be my grandmother.”
“Your grand-what?” Emilia exclaimed.
I glanced over at her. “You heard me. Your daughter Darya was my mother.”
“That can’t be. Darya never had a daughter. She was kidnapped and killed before she even turned twenty.”
“She wasn’t kidnapped. She ran away. At least that’s what I think happened. She died when I was little. I never had the chance to learn about her past.”
“Ran away …” Emilia said, shaking her head in disbelief. She took a slow step toward me and