slowly disappears beneath the duvet, trailing soft kisses down my body as he goes. As he reaches my belly and his hands clench under my ass, there’s a light knock on the bedroom door and it slowly opens.
‘Mummy?’ Callie yawns, rubbing her eyes as she stands sleepily in the doorway.
Gabriel throws back the duvet and we both sit, covering ourselves.
‘What’s the matter, baby?’ I ask, trying to keep my composure.
‘I had a bad dream,’ she grumbles.
‘You did?’ I soothe, reaching over and grabbing one of Gabriel’s shirts to throw on. Dressed, I step out and head over to her, picking her up and letting her slump in my arms, already half falling back asleep. ‘It was just a bad dream. It’s over now.’
‘And Finley is making too much noise. He keeps waking me up.’
‘Is that so?’
She nods and yawns again.
‘Well, you know Finley is at his house. He’s not here.’
‘He’s shouting though. I can hear him.’
‘How about you stay with us tonight, huh?’
‘Ahhh, man…’ Gabriel groans, looking sadly at his crotch.
I carry her to the bed and settle her in, tucking her down tightly and kissing her head as she already starts to return to sleep.
‘Don’t worry, husband. We always have tomorrow.’
‘I’ll be holding you to that.’
‘I’ll be holding something alright,’ I smirk.
There’s a loud bang on the front door.
‘What now?’ Gabriel groans.
‘I’ll go see.’
‘I’ll go.’
‘You stay with Callie. It’s Amara.’
‘How do you know that?’
‘I can sense her magic. Calm down. I’ll be right back.’
I throw on a dressing gown and head downstairs.
When I reach the front door, I open it up.
Amara stands there looking as pale as I’ve ever seen her.
‘Hey. What’s the matter?’
‘We need your help. Right now, we need your help.’ She takes my hand and starts pulling me out of the house.
‘What’s happened?’ I ask, trying to get her to calm down and stop.
‘It’s difficult to explain, but I really need you to come.’
‘Is everything okay?’ Gabriel asks as he descends the stairs, pulling on a shirt. He sees Amara’s state and rushes closer. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘I erm…’ She looks at me pleadingly. ‘I had a bad nightmare. I’m feeling a bit spooked. Lilly said she’ll have a hot drink with me back at mine.’ She forces a smile at Gabriel, hopefully reassuring him that all is well. ‘I’ll have her back to you in a bit. I promise.’
He glances at me, narrowing his eyes a little.
‘I’ll be back in a while,’ I tell him. ‘Everything is fine.’ I have no idea what’s going on, but Amara obviously doesn’t want him to know about it.
‘Well… okay. Be safe,’ he says. ‘If you need anything, I’m right here.’
Amara takes my hand and drags me out into the night, almost running down the path leading back to her cottage.
As soon as we enter her house, she seals the door shut and slumps her back against it. She just stares at me with tears streaming one after the other down her cheek.
‘What’s happened?’ I ask, taking her hand in mine. ‘Honey, please, you’re scaring me.’
She takes a deep breath.
‘Finley was asleep in bed,’ she says, her words straining. ‘I went to check on him and…’
My stomach drops.
‘I can fix him if he’s hurt. Take me to him.’ I turn to run up the stairs. She tightens her grip on my hand and pulls me back
‘He’s healthy. He’s… he’s okay.’
‘Then what is it?’
‘He’s… he’s erm…’ She clears her throat. ‘He’s manifested his magic,’ she tells me. ‘In his sleep.’
‘But that’s good, right?’ I ask.
Her lip trembles and she shakes her head before walking down the hall and up the stairs.
She stops outside his bedroom door and opens it slowly.
Inside, Finley slumbers peacefully. At the end of his bed, Collins sits with his head in his hands. He looks up as the door creaks and gets to his feet quickly.
He looks just as devastated as his wife.
All seems well, except for the toys gently hovering in the corner of the room a few inches from the floor. They move as if they’re being played with. Finley must be dreaming about playing with them.
‘He’s manifested your Telekinesis, Amara,’ I whisper, looking and feeling completely lost at their reaction. ‘Why are you so freaked out?’
‘He has.’ She swallows painfully. ‘But that’s not all he’s manifested.’
As she looks into my eyes, I hear a slight crackle. Her gaze falls to the floor as mine slowly goes to her son.
‘What the…’ I step a little closer, bewildered at what I’m seeing.
On his hands, blue lightning sparks between his fingers. I stop at his bedside and stare at it, watching as it slowly snakes along his little fingers.
‘How… I don’t understand. This shouldn’t be possible.’ I look between Amara, who chews her lower lip, and Collins, who watches her with a pained expression.
‘How does he have that power?’ I ask them both. ‘Children inherit their realm from their parents.’
‘I hoped I was wrong. I pleaded with the universe not to let it happen.’ Amara’s lip trembles.
‘You remember when we were separated after you were branded?’ Collins says quietly. ‘Grayson sent us away to Scotland and used us as leverage against you.’
All I can do is nod very slowly as my insides become lead. I think I know where this is going.
‘Well…’ Amara whimpers. ‘He used Collins and me as leverage against each other too. One night, we tried to send you a message with a plan for our escape. We were caught. As punishment… Grayson… he… he erm…’
‘He hurt Amara,’ Collins says in barely a whisper. ‘He hurt her to punish me.’
‘We both chose to risk it,’ Amara insists, stepping inside with us and going to Collins. ‘What happened was not your fault. It was his fault. His cruelty.’
Collins pulls her into his chest, encasing her in his arms and holding her tight.
‘I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.’ It’s all I can think to say as I watch the two.
We both look at the lightning still sparking on her son’s fingers.
‘Lilly, he has the same power as the person you saw in your vision.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ I snap at Amara, perhaps a little too harshly considering the raw admission she’s just made. ‘There is no way that he would ever hurt Callie. He loves her to pieces. He’s good. Hundreds of witches have that realm of power and there are hundreds yet to be born who will too.’
‘I just…’ Amara looks over at Finley with such love. ‘I never want him to know who his biological father is, Lilly. Collins is his dad. He will always be his dad. I never want him to know what that monster did to me. To you. To us all. I never want him to think he is anything like that man. I know what my father did to my mother and my little sister, and I loathe that I have his blood in my veins. It disgusts me. I don’t want Finley to ever feel that he has anything to fear from who he is.’ She faces me. They both do. ‘Can you help us?’
‘Help you how?’
‘Can you hide that he has that realm of power?’ Collins asks. ‘You took Callie’s memories of what happened. You took the knowledge of the Brand from the minds of The Stolen. Can you do that here? Hide it so deep, it can never be found?’
‘I…’ I take another look at Finley, who smiles in his sleep, the two dolls hovering in the air dancing with each other. ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea.’
‘Grayson’s name is dirt here, Lilly. He is beyond hated. If people learn that his son is here, they might come for him. No good will come from anyone learning the truth about this. Please!’ Collins presses his hands together as if in prayer. ‘He has Telekinesis. He won’t be without magic!’ He gestures to the toys in the corner. ‘Only pain will come from him knowing about Grayson. Please?’
I look at them in turn. Each one is as desperate as the other to make this disappear.
I think of all the damage that has been done to those who know the truth about where they come from. Ash was obsessed with becoming a Hooper Arcane. So obsessed that it drove him mad. His hatred for our mother spilled out as hatred at the world. She hurt him. He wanted to hurt everyone.
I think of the fear I have of following in her footsteps too. I said it to Dad only a few weeks ago, how I dread hurting Callie as my mother hurt me.
And yes. I saw the very same lightning on the hand of the man who will attack my daughter.
I nod. And I sit by his bedside. I rest my hands on Finley’s head and I close my eyes, channelling my powers into his very core.
And I bury deep the power he has manifested tonight. I bury it deep, and I lock it away.
And I pray that this is the right thing to do.
