by Ivy Clyde
Once we had the money, Isla led the way through the streets of the bazaar until we reached the exit gate. It was already open as two Mauryan elves walked ahead of us. We followed them and came out into the dark alleyway behind the Purple Lotus nightclub.
At once, my senses were assaulted by the thudding sound of music, fumes of dust and gas, and the stench of urine.
“Ugh!” I gasped, bringing up my arm before my face.
“Stinks, right?” said Isla.
“Yeah.”
“Let’s go get a cab,” she said, walking down the alleyway.
“You seem familiar with the place.”
“I’ve been here before. It’s the same routine every time. Get a cab from the intersection up ahead and then go wherever you need to go.”
Since it wasn’t too late yet, the nightclub area seemed less crowded. However, music blasted from every corner and neon signs glowed blindingly in the night.
Isla hailed a cab and the two of us climbed into the back. I gave the address to my old home and leaned back against the seat.
The city streets passed by us. I observed my own relaxed state of mind. If this had been a month ago, I’d be freaking out about being in a car with a strange man. Now, I felt no fear. Even if Isla hadn’t been by my side, I knew I wouldn’t be afraid of a human who had no magic.
I’d certainly changed. Now, I wondered if my mom had changed too.
The cab stopped close to my old home. After paying the man, Isla and I climbed out.
“You lived in this neighborhood?” she asked, gazing around with an unimpressed look. “What a dump.”
I chuckled at her brutal honesty.
“Which one is your house?” she asked.
“Over there,” I pointed to my old home. Light shone through the closed curtains of the living room, telling me mom was home. Walking forward, I led the way.
Reaching the house, I rang the doorbell but there was no reply. After a few tries, an old suspicion rose inside me. Was mom passed out already?
Kneeling by the door, I looked for the key hidden under a few gnome statues. Isla muttered under her breath but I ignored her for now. Locating the key, I straightened up.
I opened the door and walked inside.
“What in the world…” Isla muttered from behind me.
My nose wrinkled at the smell too. The living room was a complete mess with empty pizza boxes and crushed cans of beer. Empty wine bottles rolled on the floor. Mom lay in a heap on the couch, passed out completely. Her dress was crumpled and her auburn hair a tangle of knots. It looked like she hadn’t bothered to clean up in a long time.
Leaving Isla in the living room, I hurried up the stairs to see my room. Reaching the upper landing, I stared into my old room through the open door. It was completely empty. None of my old things remained there anymore.
Pain lanced through my chest. Mom moved everything out of my room but didn’t bother cleaning up the living room. Was she that eager to get rid of me?
Feeling numb, I went downstairs. Isla looked up at me but didn’t say anything. I was sure the look on my face told her how I felt. A small beeping light captured my attention. There was a new message on the answering machine. Moving toward it, I pressed a button.
“Laura, it’s me again,” came Jennifer Hawk’s voice. “Have you heard from Moira yet? I know you told the cops she ran away but aren’t you worried where she might be? Call me if you get any news on the kid.” The answering machine went quiet.
Jennifer, my old neighbor and mentor, was the only person who seemed worried for me. She’d been the one to teach me to fight the monsters instead of hurting myself even more. Over the years, it was her kindness that kept me alive. Even though she was childless, she had more of a motherly instinct than my own mom.
But she was never your real mother, a voice spoke in my mind. The thought didn’t make me feel any better. I’d always loved and respected the drooling woman on the couch. I’d truly thought of her as my mother and accepted her daily beatings and verbal abuse without any protest. Did none of that matter to her in the end? She was just glad to be rid of me and my things?
“Are you okay, Moira?” asked Isla in a quiet voice.
I shook my head, breathing hard. Swallowing the choke in my throat, I said, “Will your mind-reading work while she is asleep?”
“Yeah. It will be even better when she is calm.”
“Do it, then. Look for her memories from nineteen to eighteen years ago. And also, check the memories from a few weeks ago. I want to know what the Order told her after I was sent away to Aelia.”
Isla gave a nod. “Have a seat somewhere,” she said. “This can take a while.” Removing empty packets of chips from the couch, she sat down next to my mom. Taking a deep breath, Isla placed her fingertips on both sides of mom’s head.
I moved away a heap of clothes from a nearby chair and sat down. Mom continued to sleep while Isla looked like she was in a deep meditative state. Everything in the house was still and silent.
It was at least half an hour before Isla moved her hands away. Opening her eyes, she glanced at me. The strangest expression came over her as she stared at me unblinkingly. A second later, her eyes filled up with tears.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, feeling a heaviness in my gut. “Did you find anything useful?”
She nodded but silent tears rolled down her eyes.
“Why are you crying?”
“I saw the way this woman treated you,” said Isla. “I’m so, so sorry.”
My throat felt choked from her sympathy but that wasn’t why we were here. “It’s all right,” I said. “Things are different now, but Isla…did you find anything about my real parents?”
Her expression changed immediately. She avoided meeting my gaze.
I walked over to her and squeezed onto the couch beside her. “What did you see?”
“Something I should have never seen,” she muttered, still not looking at me. “I could die for what I saw.”
Isla wasn’t someone who liked being dramatic. Her sudden nervousness was making me anxious too. “What did you see?” I repeated.
Looking back at me, she shook her head. “We shouldn’t even talk about it here.” Her gaze swung around every corner of the room. “Here, it is best if I show you.”
“Show me?”
“Close your eyes.”
I did as she instructed and felt the warm tips of her fingers on the sides of my forehead. My heart beat in an erratic rhythm. What did she see about my parents that scared her so much?
The darkness behind my closed eyelids lifted even though I kept my eyes closed. A scene came into my vision. It felt like I was in a dream but I was still acutely aware of Isla’s fingers on my skin.
I was standing in an alley that reminded me of the nightclub area outside the Troll Bazaar. It was nighttime, the place alight with flashing neon signs and thudding with beats of hip-hop music. Snow drifted down on me but I felt no cold.
The sound of pain-filled groans reached my ears. Looking to my right, I found a woman on the ground. She clutched her stomach and squirmed on the dirty asphalt. “Help,” she moaned. “Someone please help me.”
Moving closer, I saw it was my mom but from a long time ago. She looked a few decades younger than now. Even though I stood next to her, she didn’t seem to notice my presence. Realization dawned on me. I was looking into my mom’s old memories. Isla was showing me what she saw there.
I took a closer look at the woman before me. Thick streams of blood flowed down her legs as she clutched her stomach and cried. It left a small puddle at her feet and soaked the short dress she wore. There was no one in the dark alley. As such, no one came to rescue her.
The woman wept and groaned on the ground, too exhausted from the pain and blood loss to be able to stand up. Her young face was horribly pale. She looked close to death.
The sound of approaching footsteps made both her and me look up. Three dark figures approached us.
As they came nearer, I got a chance to look at their faces. My lips parted when I recognized one of them. “Lady Demitria,” I whispered, staring at the figure swathed in a red cloak. A man and a woman accompanied her but they were strangers. Even then, there was something hauntingly familiar about them, like I should know who they were but couldn’t remember a time when I met them.
“We don’t have to go too far,” said Demitria. “Fate has brought someone to help us.”
“What do you mean?” asked the man at her side. “The poor creature seems close to death.” I eyed the most beautiful man I’d ever laid eyes on. He was taller than the two women with flowing silver hair. His ivory-like skin seemed to shine even though there was no moon in the sky. He wore luxurious robes of navy, richly embroidered with silver threads. I’d never seen a man look as distinguishably royal as him.
“She won’t die,” said Demitria, breaking me out of my dazed state. I looked back at her. “This woman had a miscarriage. She just lost her unborn child.”
“How terrible,” gasped the other woman. I studied her closely now. Waves of golden-blond hair cascaded past her waist. Her deep blue eyes were contorted in concern for the bleeding human on the ground. There was something so familiar about her face but I couldn’t remember where I’d seen her. It was the most annoying feeling ever.
Demitria kneeled down by the woman and laid a hand on her. “Her fetus was as old was as your unborn child. She will be perfect for what we have in mind.”
“But, we don’t even know who she is or what kind of a person she is,” said the strange woman.
“It is best we don’t know,” said Demitria. “Remember what we discussed, Selene? We can’t know who the surrogate is or where she lives.”
“Arian,” moaned Selene, clutching at the man’s arm.
“Demitria is right,” he said. “No one can know where our baby is hidden. Even Demitria can’t know. We decided to leave everything to fate and that’s what we’ll do.”
Selene sobbed softly but neither Arian nor Demitria offered her any comfort. A night breeze blew by, shifting Selene’s long skirt. That was the moment I noticed her protruding belly. Selene was pregnant too. I looked back at the woman I would be calling “mom” for the rest of my life.
My eyes widened with realization. Could this couple be my real parents?
And that’s why I felt like I knew them from somewhere without having a memory of ever meeting them. I’d inherited their features. They resembled me in so many ways that looking at them made me think they were familiar.
“Are you sure my baby will be able to survive in the womb of a human?” asked Selene. “What if…”
“She is a high fae. Not only will she survive in her womb but she will also gain the ability to withstand the effects of iron and lead.” Demitria straightened up. “Besides, I will seal her powers. Without them, she will be like an ordinary human.”
Selene looked up at Arian’s face. His features were frozen in a strict expression. He didn’t say anything. Selene gave a nod and brushed away the tears from her eyes. “Give me a moment then,” she said. “I will transfer our combined magical cores inside her. You can seal away my baby’s magic after that.”
“Why do you want to give up your magical core, Selene?” asked Demitria. “What’s the point if you want to hide the baby and don’t want anyone knowing she is related to either of you?”
“One never knows what might happen,” said Arian. “I am close to death anyway, so it doesn’t matter if I let my child have it.”
“Coran is waiting to kill me too,” said Selene. “He already knows of my relationship with Arian. Vishen told him and he is ready to use it against me. He even suspects I might be pregnant. Neither of those two monsters will let us stay alive lest we bring an end to their powers.”
A shuddering breath left Demitria. “Your own brother, Selene,” she whispered in a sorrow-tinged voice. “I am so, so sorry.”
A jolt went through me. Coran was Selene’s brother? Which made him my uncle and Deirdre my cousin. I tried to stay focused on the conversation but my mind was already spinning with the revelations.
“Greed corrupts all ties,” said Arian. He exhaled a long breath and wrapped an arm around Selene. “I only wish I’d been aware of it a little earlier. That way, I could protect my beloved mate and the child in her womb. Not being able to protect them is the greatest failure of my life.”
“Don’t say that, Arian,” said Selene, leaning against him. “How could you know that your own trusted advisor would turn against you? How would you know that he spent the past five centuries slowly poisoning you? None of this is your fault.”
Arian leaned down and kissed the top of her head.
Demitria knelt by the woman on the ground. Ignoring her weak protests, the powerful mage worked her healing magic. My “mom” relaxed and finally closed her eyes.
“It’s time,” said Demitria, looking up at the couple. My parents were kissing each other fiercely while silent tears dampened the front of their robes. They parted, their faces pale but determined.
I watched as Demitria extracted two glowing spheres from the centers of their chests, one as bright as the sun and the other as bright as a full moon. The process was gentle, unlike the violent one which involved me and the three young women. My parents’ faces turned white but they didn’t utter a sound of pain. The two balls of light descended inside Selene’s belly and were absorbed by her flesh.
“Hold me, Arian,” whispered Selene. They both looked significantly weakened even though they weren’t in any pain. Their faces looked as delicate as a dried petal. It had only been a second but the loss of their magical cores was having a marked difference in their physical strengths.
Demitria kneeled onto the ground before Selene. Closing her eyes, she cast more magic, her hands making graceful, yet complicated gestures, her lips moving silently as she chanted secret spells.
A gasp escaped Selene as a larger sphere of light came out of her belly. Unlike the magical cores, this orb was pulsing with light. Demitria guided it toward the unconscious woman. A moment later, the glowing ball was absorbed in her body.
Selene started weeping as she clutched at her belly. The sound of her sobs struck me hard, my own chest contracting painfully. I didn’t know this woman but could acutely feel her pain. She’d just lost both her precious baby and magic.
“We did the best we could, love,” said Arian in a steady voice but his colorless lips were trembling. “She will be safe here. If fate ever draws her back to Aelia or Amaris, she will have our combined powers protecting her. No one will be able to hurt her.”
Selene’s whole body seemed to shrink against Arian.
“Will the woman remember anything?” asked Arian, focusing his attention on Demitria who was also weeping silently.
She shook her head and cleared her throat. “I have made her forget. Unless someone is specifically looking for the memories of this night, the incident will be buried forever.”
“That is good,” said Arian. “Give her this.” He handed thick wads of dollar bills to Demitria.
Demitria hesitated for a moment but stuffed the bills in the unconscious woman’s handbag. “She will wake up in a few minutes. We should all leave.”
Before I could have a single second more, my vision was filled with black smoke. My hands clutched at the wisps, unable to bring back the memory for a replay. Before I could succumb to the grief of my own loss, another scene visualized before me.
My mom was in her living room. The silver in her auburn hair and the wrinkles around her eyes told me this was a recent memory. She sat in the living room with two men in black suits.
“You’re saying she will never come back here,” said my mom.
“Yes,” said the taller man. “Your daughter will not come back. The institute will train her and keep her there for future jobs. She will be looked after well, so you don’t have to worry about a thing, ma’am.”
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��She won’t come back in the future?” My mom frowned and narrowed her gaze like she didn’t believe what these strangers were telling her. “You will keep that troublemaking bitch in your facility or whatever?”
“Yes,” said the same man. “If she ever appears before you or tries to harm you, feel free to get in touch with us.” He gestured at a small card on the table before them.
Mom’s face brightened with a cheerful smile. “This is the best thing to happen to me in a long time.”
My teeth sank into my bottom lip as another stab of pain went through me. This woman didn’t care about me at all. She was happy to get rid of me. Was I that much of a burden to her? You were, a voice told me. Your presence ruined her life.
I swallowed against the tight, painful choke in my neck.
Blackness settled before my eyes.
“Open your eyes, Moira,” said Isla’s voice from beside me.
I opened my eyes and stared at the anxious look on my friend’s face, finally understanding why she was so nervous before. My parents tried their best to hide my existence from the fae world. They even left their magical cores inside me so they could protect me if I ever went back there again.
“We need to go,” said Isla.
My insides felt numb and frozen. There was too much to sort through in my head. Isla tugged on my hand and pulled me to my feet.
“Come on, Moira,” said Isla with a frustrated hiss. “We can’t linger here anymore. The Order could be watching this house right this second. They could arrest us for trespassing inside a human’s home.”
“One moment,” I said, trying to grasp at the last straws of sensibility remaining in me. Snatching my hand away from her hold, I went to the corner and picked up the phone.
I pressed a button so that the phone would dial the last number that called the house. After a few rings, a familiar voice spoke. “Hello, Laura?”
“It’s Moira,” I said. “I called to let you know I’m fine. This might be the last time I get in touch but I wanted you to know how grateful I am to you for everything. Thank you for saving my life when I didn’t think it was worth anything. Thank you so much for keeping me alive.”
