Chapter 20
20
Sonny
I ’m absolutely exhausted after my second day, but I know that I can’t delay telling Poppy the truth about Ravenshurst any longer. Not after spending an entire day feeling like the impostor I am in classes that should only exist in fiction novels.
She picks up on the first ring, already expecting a summary of my day, so she could relay it to Divina in case she asks.
“I have something important to tell you, and I want you to keep an open mind and be honest with me when I say it.”
“Okay, go ahead.”
“I’m serious,” I insist, padding over to my door to twist the deadbolt in place, then head toward my room. I can’t risk anyone overhearing this conversation.
She giggles. “Just say it, Sonny. I’m listening.”
Inhaling a deep breath, I explain everything to her from the moment in Miss Mercer’s office to my first day in a Valeria course. How I’ve spent days researching these seven bloodlines, and how our mothers have seemingly lied to us all this time.
When she’s been silent for too long, I ask, “Are you there?”
“Are you trying to tell me there’s people with . . . magical powers at Ravenshurst?”
“Yes, Poppy. That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
There’s a beat of silence, and then she says, in the calmest tone, “I think I need to send you a plane ticket out of there tonight. Are you okay? Is someone threatening you? Click your tongue three times if you’re in trouble.”
With an exasperated huff, I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I told you to keep an open mind.”
“Yeah, I thought you were going to tell me something normal, like you have a crush on a professor, or you’ve run off to join a sex cult. Not that you’ve suddenly ended up in some fantasy world with magical powers. What’s next? Are you going to tell me you have a pet dragon?”
“So, Divina hasn’t said anything to you,” I surmise, my tone flat.
Poppy’s voice raises to a near-shriek in my ear. “Of course, she hasn’t. What the hell?”
“I need you to pretend for five minutes that you believe in all of this, because we have to discuss how drastically everything about our situation has changed.”
“How has it changed?”
I throw my phone onto the bed and begin to pace around it. “Because I’m not from the Valeria bloodline! I can’t read minds or manipulate feelings. What do you think is going to happen when I take these courses and can’t complete their evaluations? I can’t pretend to have those gifts.”
“Well, considering the fact that I also can’t pretend to have those gifts, I’d say you’re doing just as well as I would be,” Poppy’s voice fills the room through my speaker.
I still my feet. “Are you sure you’ve never experienced anything out of the ordinary?”
“Yes, I’m sure. Have you ?”
“I mean . . . ”
“Sonny!” she yells, so loud, I wince when it bounces off my walls and reverberates into my ears.
“I didn’t know it was tied to actual magic , but I’ve had some weird things happen to me that had no other explanation. I’m learning that now, they do.”
“This conversation is getting weirder and weirder,” she says in a sigh.
“One thing I can’t figure out is why Divina never mentioned anything to you about this. Especially after you agreed to come here.”
“She did say I’d regret not letting her get involved. I’m sure she’s cackling in her witch’s den right now,” she bitterly jokes.
I puff out my cheeks in exasperation. I can’t believe Divina would feed Poppy to the wolves like this. “I’m serious. Most of these books say that gifts begin materializing with puberty. I can confirm that weird things began happening to me around that time, too. If your mom and dad always planned for you to come to Ravenshurst, why wouldn’t they ever pull you aside and explain the true nature?”
“They probably realized that I don’t have any gifts. Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve failed them.”
“I’m certain you do. I’ll send you some of the things I’ve been reading. The Valeria bloodline is empathic, so the gifts would be more subtle than someone from, say the Primaris line, who can control nature. It would likely feel coincidental, like you know what someone is about to say before they say it, or you can read their expressions very well.”
“I have no idea what you just said.”
“Poppy,” I groan her name, falling into the bed beside my phone.
“Okay, okay. So, I can feel emotions better than most. That makes more sense. So, we’re not shooting magic out of wands and flying on broomsticks?”
“No, that’s what the dragons are for,” I deadpan, earning a howl from her end.
“All right, so this complicates things a little bit. We can get through it, though.” I hate the optimistic lift in her tone. She really believes we can still do this.
I’ve been spending the day mentally plotting where I’ll be buying a one-way plane ticket to disappear.
“It complicates things a-lot-a-bit. We can fake it for maybe a semester, but they’re going to start realizing I’m not one of them sooner rather than later.”
“Let’s worry about that when we get there. For now, try to learn as much as you can about these people and their supposed gifts. See if you can find anything about yourself. We’ll take this one step at a time.”
“You make that sound so easy.”
“It’s not, but we thrive in difficult times. This is no different.”
I blow out a breath. “I’m going to get some rest. Love you.”
“’Til the world ends.”
“And even then. Night.”