Chapter 21
1132 Words
Chapter 21
I don’t want to go to my room, not with Tina waiting to avenge Jenn’s death, so I make my way back down to the archives. Merilee smiles at me.
“Cassie saw that you’d be back without her. She asked me to help you. You’ve been such a good friend to her. She’s never really fit in, despite being raised here. I’m grateful to you.”
“Then you’ll help me?” I ask, relieved.
“If I can. I keep the official records of the Academy. I’m not privy to everything, though. The gods like to have their secrets.”
“At this point, I’ll take what I can get.” I sit down, unsure how honest to be. “You said Cassie has a hard time fitting in. Well, I’m the same way. I don’t know how to fly, or how to shift, or even what I should be shifting into!”
I try not to notice that Merilee has covered her mouth, obviously still amused at the fact that I thought I could be a dragon.
“I’m so far behind everyone else, I don’t belong here. But I don’t belong back home, either.” Merilee reaches out and touches my arm lightly, the way she touched Cassie the other night, like a mother. It brings tears to my eyes. “My dad is gone, and he took a lot of secrets with him—secrets about my past. The other night I wasn’t working on an assignment—please don’t be mad.”
Merilee’s mouth goes into a thin line but she nods at me to continue.
“Cassie was trying to help me find out more about my father…Daniel Evans.”
Her eyes go wide when I say his name, linking it with my own. “Oh…” She pushes some hair out of her face, her hand shaking a little. “I didn’t realize.”
“Merilee, I need you to tell me everything you know about my father,” I say.
She looks around, as if afraid there might be someone in the archives with us. Finally, when she is satisfied we are alone, her eyes roll back in her head. “Daniel Evans. Parentage unknown. Was found in the marsh by the school as an infant. Raised by Themis. Was on the magical track when he absconded with a student, Layla Larchmere.”
“Wait, my parents met here?” I interrupt. “My mom was a…?”
“Witch,” Merilee comes back to herself. “A talented one, one of our best healers. When they left, it was a scandal.”
“But there’s some secret that they took with them. The other night in the archives I found a reference to him leaving with secrets—two of them…” I stop, thinking hard. “Wait, if Dad ran off with Mom the same year I was born, and if the two little secrets were me and my sister, she couldn’t have given birth to us because she wouldn’t have been allowed to be pregnant on campus…
“Oh my gods,” I mutter. “My mom’s not my mom, either, is she?”
Merilee sighs. “There is something…this is not in the records. I came back from my own sabbatical, just having had Cassandra, when I received a delivery of baby clothes. But I hadn’t ordered them. They were brought to me because I had Cassie but the name on the box was…they were for Themis.”
I shake my head. “My sister and I were raised in secret by Themis? Is she my mother?” My head is spinning.
“I don’t think you can assume that,” Merilee says. “After all, Themis raised your father from an infant, and he’s certainly not her child. Themis just has a soft spot for unwanted children. Oops.” She claps her hand over her mouth, eyes wide and guilty.
“Unwanted?” I repeat, tears brewing.
“I wish I could help you more,” Merilee tells me. “But at least I think you figured out the two secrets your dad escaped with.”
“Yeah.” I have to agree, but it doesn’t feel like a victory. Far from it. Especially when the answers only lead to more questions.
Why did Mom and Dad take us? Were we in danger? Was Themis trying to harm us? Or were we just not safe here?
And the biggest question of all…who the Hades are my real parents?
My excuse to see Themis is that I want a room change. I can’t sleep in the same room with Tina, and who knows whatever vamps may try to kill me in my sleep. While I’m waiting in the hall, I hear crying in her office. After a few minutes two people leave; both look to be in their twenties and like they could be models if it weren’t for their stricken expressions.
“Ms. Evans.” Themis motions me inside.
“Were those Jenn’s parents?” I ask.
“They were.” She sits, cradles a cup of tea with her hands.
“That’s so sad. How does that work…with vampires?” I ask.
Themis looks at me. “I forget how little you know. Vampires are ageless, yes, and can be turned from humans, but they can also be born. They grow as normal humans do until they reach maturity. Usually around their twenty-fifth year or so.” She takes a sip of tea.
“Oh. That makes sense.” We stare at each other for a moment longer before I ask, “So…are you my birth mother?”
Themis spits out her tea. “I…no…who told you that?”
“No one. But I know there is something you’re not telling me. About my past.”
Themis stands, but she seems shaky. I definitely flustered her.
“Ms. Evans, I know you’ve had a hard day but I do not have time for this insanity. And I advise you not to go around asking every instructor on campus if they are your mother. That could be…dangerous.”
“I just want to know the truth,” I protest.
“Yes, I understand. But sneaking around the archives with Cassandra may not be the best way to achieve your objectives.” I open my mouth to argue again, but she holds up a single finger, letting me know she’s not done. “A large part of who you are lives inside you, but your professors tell me you’re no closer to shifting than you were on day one. In fact, they believe you’re holding back.”
The finger falls, but I have nothing to say in my defense.
Themis nods. “I know you will not be happy to hear this, but it has been decided that if you have not shifted by the weekend of the Persephone’s Spring Fling, you will be moved to another discipline effective immediately.”
“But that’s two weeks away!” I stand and my wings billow out behind me.
“A shift takes mere seconds. And you’ve had more than enough time.”
With a hand on my back, she ushers me toward the door. “You may want to take some time over these next few weeks and think about which other discipline might be a better fit for you.”
“I don’t want another discipline,” I say as she shuts the door in my face.
“Thanks. Great talk,” I tell the thick door.
- Writer
