21. Evelyn
21
Evelyn
T he new semester was starting tomorrow, and I found myself back in my small dorm room. Everyone had insisted I’d stay with Alister, where I had a room and would be safe. But I needed the breathing space.
Being surrounded by so many people all the time was nice but also overwhelming.
I was used to only having Lia around unless she was with her entourage. These males took up a lot of space—not just physically but emotionally, too.
It scared me how attached I was getting to them—they were more than friends now; they were family.
Alister was my fated mate, which alone was unreal.
I felt it though.
I had sensed something special about him from the moment I landed in his arms. Ever since he bit me, that feeling had intensified tenfold.
It was like he had been woven into the very fabric of my heart.
I was no longer alone—his essence was a comforting echo within me. It was both exhilarating and scary in its intensity.
How this beautiful, thoughtful, and let’s be honest, slightly terrifying male, could be mine left me feeling undeserving, especially given that I had developed feelings for others.
A riot of emotions erupted in my stomach.
I had always wanted a family.
Wanted to belong.
After my parents died, Lia was that person, but it was nothing compared to how I felt with the guys. There was a sense of belonging and rightness with them, and I didn’t want to mess that up.
Then there were my powers.
The idea that I could potentially tap into all the affinities of my lineage—abilities I barely understood, let alone controlled—was overwhelming. The thought of wielding such immense power was unreal. It was both frightening and exhilarating at the same time. It felt like I was holding a storm of power inside me, one that could either protect or destroy.
It was a lot.
I needed a little space to think and focus.
My priority was gaining control over my powers and uncovering Morgana’s schemes; then I could think about my male problems.
I agreed to spend weekends at the manor…and in all honestly I don’t think I could have stayed away for much longer than the school week.
Chad also said he would stay there, and Alister had prepared a room for him. It was amusing to see how eager Alister was to have him there, like the annoying younger brother he never had.
Despite their insistence, I couldn’t wait to get back to my new routine—training with Chad in the mornings and now sword training on weekends with Rafe.
My room was small but familiar, its simplicity comforting amidst the chaos that had become my life…except for the rather garish red painting splashed everywhere and the large spelled writing above my bed: “traitor among us.”
Oh, well.
Like I said, priorities.
There was also something else driving me back here—a curiosity about Lia.
She hadn’t looked well at Yuletide, and despite everything, something felt off. There was an unease in her eyes that I couldn’t shake.
I placed Phoenix, my beloved sword, by my bed, admiring it for a moment, before sitting down with a sigh.
I glanced at my schedule for the semester.
Advanced Potions with Lucien—that would be interesting, to say the least. Tactical Defense training again this semester with Instructor Tamsin, and a bunch of other classes I was no longer interested in.
I lay back on my bed, staring at the ceiling as a vision came to me.
The ceiling began to blur, and a familiar sensation washed over me. My vision tunneled, colors shifting into a kaleidoscope of hues before settling into an image of a hand—delicate and familiar.
My mother’s hand.
The scene played out with startling clarity.
Her fingers gripped a pen, adding a name to a piece of paper. Once she finished writing, she carefully folded the paper in two and slid it inside the back cover of a well-worn book—my favorite children’s book.
The vision faded, leaving me breathless.
My heart raced as I sat up abruptly, searching the bookshelf where I kept that book.
I found it tucked among my other ones. My fingers trembled as they brushed against the spine of the familiar volume. I pulled it from its place and turned it over to inspect the back cover.
Sure enough, there was a spot where the binding wasn’t quite secure—a tiny gap that had gone unnoticed all these years. My hands shook as I pried it open, revealing a folded piece of parchment nestled inside.
Nervously, I unfolded the paper. The delicate script matched what I’d seen in my vision. It was some sort of family tree, with Calla at the top. Below her name were others, including my grandmother’s and my mother’s, each accompanied by notes about their magical affinities.
My eyes scanned the names and details hungrily, noting some missing links but seeing how my mother had started to piece together our lineage and affinities—trying to understand my powers—overwhelmed me with emotions.
I clutched the paper to my chest.
This was everything.
I looked up the name of the witch ancestor with seer abilities and whispered a thank you to her.