FIFTY-SEVEN
WILLOW
“Your real mother,” Korah adds. “The woman who birthed you and Warren in Vakeeli.”
I turn slowly to face her again. She’s standing a short distance away, her eyes damp, wisps of hair flying with the ocean breeze.
“What are you talking about?”
“Her name was Xinthia. She lived in Vanora.” Korah’s eyes are wetter, and it seems a tear will fall the longer she stares at me. She blinks it away before it can. “She was a wonderful person and became important to me. You and Warren became equally as important to me too.”
I have no words.
All I can do is gape at her as she minimizes the gap between us. For the first time ever, I see her bottom lip trembling. She’s always been so strong, so to see her like this causes a wrenching in my chest.
She’s hurting.
She’s been hurting for a very long time, it seems.
“It pains me that you think I’d willingly hurt Warren,” she says. “I spared his life. I refused to let him become one of those things Selah wanted him to be. I refused to allow her to use him.”
“I—I don’t understand. What about our parents on Earth? How did they end up raising us?”
“It was me who delivered you to your Earth parents. I was left with no choice. I found a couple who’d been trying—a barren woman who desperately wanted children. I left you and Warren inside her car, and she found both of you after a work shift. I figured if both of you stayed there and I kept away, you’d be safe.
“We wanted to prevent you and Caspian from mating for as long as we could and figured there was no better place for you to be than on Earth. You were only babies, so I knew you’d adapt. But Selah traced the two of you. She and Decius. That’s why she tormented your parents. She wanted you both alone and vulnerable. She was hoping to trigger you both with visions and memories of your past lives so you’d question yourselves. And Decius, well, he took advantage of that link Selah provided. I assume once she sent her whispers to The Council, the return for both of you was made much simpler.”
“Oh.” I drop my gaze, unsure what to say.
“I didn’t know Xinthia long, but she was close to me,” she goes on. “I trusted her more than I would any other descendant of Selah’s creations. She was an honest woman, kind too. Before meeting her, when the Seed of Yuri was born—your Caspian—I could feel it. There was this pull —something calling to me. It felt like a warning. That’s when I knew that sooner or later, the twins would arrive too.
“It took me a while, but I’d finally found the person carrying the twins. Turns out Xinthia was Mythic. A very powerful one too. And she had a lover, Tepper.”
“Tepper?” I repeat. I’ve heard that name. Maeve mentioned him once, back when I first met Caz. She said Tepper was dead, that he was the mate of a woman who looked just like me. That woman must’ve been my birth mother.
“He and Xinthia were very strong. And, oddly enough, she was a virgin.”
“Really?” I ask, stunned.
“Yes. I’ve never been sure why she was chosen to bear the twins. I suppose it was to protect you, and perhaps it’s because she was already friends with Caspian’s mother, Azira. We don’t get to decide who births the Cold Tethered children again once they’re reincarnated. We just wait and see where they wind up next. I revealed myself to her and Tepper and told them what you and Warren were destined for. She then took me to Azira so I could inform her about who Caspian was.”
I try not to let my jaw drop. “Does Caz know this?”
“He’s not aware of it yet. But she did all she could to protect him.”
“I should tell him.”
My mind drifts to when Caz and I first met, around the time Silvera first came to me. I saw a vision of a woman in all black feeding and talking to Silvera when she was a puppy.
That had to be Azira. She knew I would come.
“After my visit, your parents and Azira had one mission and it was to protect the Cold Tethered children. But during my visit to Azira, I could feel Decius’ energy everywhere. I wasn’t sure how he’d gotten so close, but I sealed Azira’s home and told her to cut contact with everyone but Xinthia and Tepper. She had a chosen child. She could not let him fall into the wrong hands.
“I didn’t know then that Decius was pretending to be a man called Manx, but since I’d blocked him from Caspian, he took another route to get to him instead. He had Azira killed and Caspian taken under new custody, thus leaving Caspian exposed.” Korah pauses, eyes glistening.
“I knew exactly what he was planning to do with Caspian, so Hassha and I agreed it was best to take the twins away. Get them out of Vakeeli so that Decius wouldn’t be able to force an immediate bond between you and Caspian. He was only a child. He wouldn’t have been ready for what came next. With you gone, there was nothing he could gain from Caspian then. Yuri’s power hadn’t yet been activated and the tether he had with you would be fractured.
“I’d informed Xinthia and Tepper that this had to be done, and though they were sorrowful, they agreed it was best. I took you away, but when I came back to Vakeeli, both Xinthia and Tepper were dead. Decius came looking for you and Warren. When he found out where you’d been taken, he killed them out of rage.”
“Oh, Korah,” I breathe, pressing my fingers to my lips.
“I watched you and Warren on Earth often,” she goes on. “Always from a distance. But I stopped eventually because I was an easy trace for Selah. Like I told you, she worked through Decius as well. Some of the things she was aware of, he was too. I knew if she found me, she’d find you. I didn’t want to leave you alone on Earth though. I wanted to stay there, make sure your life remained steady, even if it weakened me.
“I found my way to New Orleans. It was the only place I could think of where doing just a little bit of magic would be normal to mortals. They’d easily be fooled, or think it was a trick up my sleeve. Plus it was nice being normal for once. To blend in and have physical struggles. Being there allowed me to understand mortals and commoners a lot more. It made me realize just how privileged I was to live such a long life and to use magic to solve all of my problems. Oddly enough, Vakeeli never really felt like home. But when I went there, it was just…I don’t know.” She smiles a bit. “It felt like I belonged . No one expected much from me and I preferred it that way.
“Eventually, I left you and Warren to your own devices. It was best for it to happen this way because I knew what came next. No matter how long we postponed it, mating with Caspian was in the plans for you.”
A thick silence settles between us. Then Korah sighs and turns her head a fraction, glancing at the tips of the manor in the distance.
“People think Hassha and I were afraid and that we gave up. The truth is we were just tired . Why continue fighting for something that would happen anyway? It felt like there was no winning, no matter how long Selah had been put to rest. Sometimes it felt easier to just get rid of everyone ourselves, but I never allowed my thoughts to drift that far. Genocide. Destruction. Chaos. Those are only the works of Selah. So instead of being in my world where I was hunted, I stayed where no one knew me.
“And Yuri…he made a sacrifice for us so we could thrive for many more years. The least I could do was stay alive for him so that when the time came for me to act, I could do my part.” She takes my hands in hers. “That time is now , Willow. You may not trust me, but you have to believe that I have your best interest at heart. I dedicated a lot of time and energy to you and Warren just to keep you alive and to fulfill Yuri’s prophecy for Caspian.”
“Wow. This is a lot to take in.” I look over her shoulder at the water foaming on the shore.
“I held you and Warren often. You felt like my children too. Though you were Selah’s creations, I shared a bond with you two that I’d never felt before. Hassha believes the energy I put into protecting you two still lingers inside you.” Korah shrugs, smiling. “She could be right. I’ll never know. All I know is I’ve already lost one of the children I was meant to protect. I refuse to lose the other.”
“I just don’t understand,” I murmur, fighting tears. “Why not tell us this before? Why wait until now ?”
“I’d planned on telling you and Warren eventually, but now that he’s gone, I feel you should know everything.” Her lips twist as she ponders something. “It…is not like me to reveal so much of myself to people, Willow. So forgive me for the secrets I’ve carried. Forgive me if my stubbornness has hurt you. I’m realizing that Caspian was right. Commoners aren’t like what they used to be. There is some good now.”
She gives me a warm smile, and I can’t help returning one.
“I forgive you,” I say after a few quiet seconds. “But we have to at least save Danica.”
“We will. She’ll come to her senses. For now, we have to let her grieve. And when she’s ready to fight, I’m sure she’ll be on the frontlines. Kessel warriors do not quit, and she has their blood running through her veins.”
I smile, thinking of Danica and her katana sword.
Then a thought strikes me. “So when we found you in New Orleans, you knew exactly who I was?”
“Yes.”
“So why did you try to kill us?”
“I was never going to kill you. I just wanted to put a little scare into Caspian,” she says, chuckling. “See if he was worth being the Seed of Yuri.”
“And? Did he live up to your expectations?”
“Though he’s a sad, grumpy little boy, yes.” She cracks a smile. “He did. The fact that he risked his own life to save mine when that Garrett person attacked proved it for me.” She releases my hand and steps back. “Speaking of, Garrett is dead now. Hassha killed him once he’d turned into one of Selah’s creatures.”
“Oh.” I look away from her, surprised that I feel nothing at all at the admission.
Truthfully, I wasn’t sure he’d have survived much longer anyway. He was in a cave, and it was either stay there for the rest of his life or be killed. Becoming a creature forced Hassha’s hand.
And, hey, at least he wasn’t turned into a spider.
Now that I think about it, I find relief in knowing he’s gone. That’s one less negative thing to deal with.
Korah stretches her arm out, and the handle of a sword appears in her hand. A blade forms, sparking with lavender rays. When the color settles, she offers it to me.
I take it. It’s light, the handle made of gold with purple swirls.
“Now that you know the truth of your past, are you ready to fight for your future?” She eyes my belly as I grip the handle of the sword with both hands.
“I am,” I breathe, shaking a loc away from my face. “But you’ll likely regret having to train me. I wasn’t born a fighter like my mate.”
“Oh, Willow.” Korah chuckles. “You were born to be that and so much more.”