Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
Selene
“So tell me again why we had to travel down the coast of the Adriatic Sea to grab a bite to eat.” I stood behind John— my father—in line at a small window carved in between other stone buildings. The ride in John’s rental car had been quiet.
John twisted so he could see me, merely giving me a look and turning back around. Aura didn’t receive any glances, even though she was cradled in John’s arms.
Ender’s arm brushed mine, and I leaned into him. The woman standing behind us who had come with John was Ender’s guardian, Priscilla. They boxed us in between them, and I didn’t like it.
The couple in front of us grabbed their food and walked away. John placed an order—in fluent Croatian—and walked off to the side. He set Aura down, much to her dismay, and waved for us to follow.
“She’s camouflaged. Similar to how the academy is.” Priscilla leaned in. When I raised an eyebrow, she nodded toward Aura. Oh. Now the lack of stares made sense.
Wind rustled the leaves as animals and insects hummed, and the ocean waves crashed against the shore somewhere behind the stone buildings and through the trees.
It reminded me of my island life growing up—even though we had rarely left our home.
Minus the quiet chatter among the few others eating, it would have been serene, but the silence among our group was stiff.
The man behind the counter handed four cardboard containers to John, and we headed to a nearby table.
“I’m trusting you’re not trying to kill us with food from a stone window.” Ender grabbed the box John held out and took a seat in one of the metal chairs.
“Opposed to the fast food restaurants with greasy, frozen food in America?” John sat and passed out the rest of the food as I joined them. “I have not been to this specific area, but all of these places are quite good.”
“Did you go to these places with my mom?” I spun the box around, flipping the lid open.
The smell of fresh sweet dough and Italian dressing wafted out.
Two different types of deli meat and sliced-up veggies were stuffed inside a flaky loaf of bread next to a sliced-up apple.
“And what makes you think I like whatever this is?”
“Your mom loved burek.” John’s lips naturally curved upward as if a joyful memory tugged at the edges.
So, you did go to these places with her. I shook away the image of them walking along the uneven stones through small cities.
“We have food now,” I said. During the ride here, he had said he would explain everything, but first we needed to get food. “Explain.”
“You haven’t eaten.” He frowned.
“I’m not hungry.” The only question he had answered was why he had shown up when he did.
Ender and I were already aware our phones could be tracked, but why show up at that moment?
His answer? Noretta. Apparently, he knew that Noretta, the very kind neighbor, had still lived next door and figured his strong-willed daughter—like my mother—would figure it out, and he apparently wanted to be there for me when I did. His words. Not mine.
A grumbling noise came from my belly, and I glanced at the sub-looking thing. Mom had made Viv and me large sandwiches all the time growing up. John laughed at my stomach’s betrayal, his normal professional headmaster demeanor gone.
“I will talk, but you need to eat.” He sounded like Mom.
“Noretta gave you the story, but I’ll still give you your background.
Anna, your mom and I separated—not our marriage—physically from each other to protect you and Vivian.
” John rubbed his empty ring finger. “Your mom had a twin sister who was also an ether mage.”
I spared a glance at Priscilla, waiting for her reaction. Something about her hollowed-out cheeks and strong jawline, straight black hair, and tall, athletic build was familiar, but I still couldn’t place it. While I didn’t know her, Ender seemed to trust her.
“She knows everything.” John folded his hands on the table, his thumbs grazing their pads.
“No one at the school knew your mom and aunt were ether mages, but we heard the rumors of ether mages being hunted. So we fled shortly after graduation. We were young and in love. We thought it would be perfect to create a quiet life in a different country. With magic, it was easy to find local jobs where we could stay hidden. Nathan, your uncle, and I knew of the dangers dark mages presented, but we didn’t know the dangers.
We weren’t careful enough.” He sighed. “We eloped at the same time, and shortly after, your mom became pregnant with you. Then Victoria became pregnant with Vivian after you were born. A dark mage—one of the strongest—found us. We weren’t expecting the attack, though; we had been so careful.
” He rubbed his eyes, his short blond hair falling over his forehead, making him look uncharacteristically disheveled.
I continued to slowly chew. My mouth felt numb as my brain processed everything even though I had gathered most of this from Mom’s old neighbor.
“Victoria and Nathan—your aunt and uncle—didn’t make it.
Your mom was able to push back the mage, allowing us to grab you and Vivian to escape.
We moved around until we came up with a plan to keep you girls safe.
The previous headmaster of Fives Academy was trustworthy, and her health had been declining.
She proposed that I take her position. so I stayed away from my family, becoming headmaster and joining the council to help keep track of the dark mage covens.
We kept your true identity hidden and hid who Vivian was so there wouldn’t be a connection.
That night in Croatia, the dark mage had seen you—smelled you.
We knew he wouldn’t stop. And that same night, the dark mage became stronger. ”
Yeah, by draining my aunt’s magic and soul. And John became headmaster to have leverage. At the safest school in the world.
Ender placed his hand on my thigh. My emotions bounced around inside me but seemed to stayed tethered, and I couldn’t help but think it had something to do with him.
“And now that same dark mage is the one after Selene,” Ender said. During our travels, we had talked about the dark mage who had attacked the school. I told him how that wasn’t the same one who had killed Mom.
“We believe so.” John nodded.
“Who is we?” I asked.
“We.” He pointed between him and Priscilla. “The council doesn’t know who you and Vivian are.”
“So we basically don’t exist?” I took another bite of my sandwich, sinking my teeth in the fresh-baked bread. “But our last name is the same as Mom’s.”
“Essentially you don’t exist. Your level, capabilities, and ties to your full family lineage has been wiped clean.
Your mother’s identity was also hidden. Though it is only a matter of time.
” John glanced down at his sandwich, and I wondered how much there was that he had done to keep Mom and us a secret.
“There is so much to talk about, and it is a lot to take in. Let’s finish our food and find a place to stay for the night. ”
“No.” My voice was hard, causing others around us to look over at our table. I leaned across the table. “You let me travel across seas when you had the answers this entire time!” I whisper-yelled.
I stared John directly in the eye—they bore a resemblance to mine—as he stayed quiet, sitting there with his hands clasped together on the table like we were at a stupid conference meeting. My anger boiled as my normal composure began to crack.
“Why did you let me come all this way—when you said it yourself—it’s not safe?
To let me find out on my own?” I demanded, not caring if he was my father or the headmaster of the school I was currently enrolled in.
I swung my pack from my shoulder and fished out the cell phone Ender had found at my old home.
Once I retrieved the small phone, I slid it across the table at him.
“Your warning was too late. Mom is dead.”
John stared at the phone. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. After a few moments of blankly staring at the phone, his gaze flicked back up. A part of me felt sorrow for him—he had lost someone too—but he hadn’t told me the whole truth.
“The academy’s wards were intact. Someone let the dark mage inside.
” John glanced at Ender, who had tensed at the topic of the attack.
“Even though Miss Lee seems like the most plausible suspect, I believe she is telling the truth. She has stayed hidden for years to protect Ender—I don’t think she’d jeopardize his safety by letting a dark mage inside the academy wards. ”
“So you think there is someone else inside the academy who’s still a threat to Selene?” Ender drew his shoulders back as if he wanted to take on that person right then and there.
“Possibly.” John looked between us.
“Wasn’t that already suspected prior to our departure?” I asked.
“Yes. Priscilla and I haven’t been far from both of you since you left the academy, and the internal investigation at the academy is still being carried out,” John said. “You planned to leave regardless of what else I would have suggested. I wanted to ensure your safety.”
“You’ve been following us?” I laughed and went to ask how close they had been to us when Ender and I were at the cabin in the woods but stopped myself.
They would have had to camp in the middle of nowhere, and the cabin’s surveillance covered a wide range.
The cameras had never picked up anything—then again, he had known we were there.
I had wondered how the academy guards had originally found me and Viv so easily.
He knew the cameras’ whereabouts. Heck, he probably had set the cameras up himself.
“You helped Mom secure the safe house.” I stared at John.
“You had been so close to us but never visited.”
John swallowed again, the only display that he felt any emotion.
“We’ve been in public too long. Let’s go.” Priscilla stood. I couldn’t get a scent from her, and John’s belief that we were safer with the two of them following us made me wonder what her element was.
“Wait.” It clicked—where I had seen her before.
I reached in my pack again, pulling out the yearbook.
I skimmed through it until I found the picture I was looking for: my aunt, standing next to a tall woman with defined cheekbones.
Ender’s guardian. She looked more youthful, and her black hair was long.
I shoved the yearbook toward her. “That’s why you look so familiar.”
“Yes.” Priscilla nodded at the yearbook. “I was close friends with your aunt and mother. We need to leave.” She glanced at Ender and turned, making it clear that we were leaving right then and there.
John pocketed the phone with a gentleness of handling something delicate and stood.
It was time to go.