Nancy and Helen laugh. My grandmothers. It’s still so weird to think this way.
“It’s just a story,” says Dad, his brows still furrowed. “We don’t know how much of that is true. And it’s not that simple to go to the palace. Get an audience with the Devil himself. Besides, what guarantees he would bow again?”
It dawns on me. “I don’t need his permission.” And I look up at Nancy. “The siren. How did she leave? Did the Devil snap his fingers, and she showed back up in her body?”
Nancy shakes her head. “She left the way she came. Through one of the many portals in the land.”
“They’re heavily guarded,” Dad cuts in, already shaking his head. Dad was raised a Shadow Mage, unlike me, and it’s clear how guarded he is. He was forced to be careful to stay alive.
“They are.” Nancy nods. “I never said it was easy. The whole thing is a myth, of course. But there’s truth to it. Every story has a grainof truth.”
My gaze lowers to my hands, curled around the cup. The coffee grows cold as I wonder, as I try to put together a plan. So,going back is possible. I remember the way I came well enough. If I’m smart and keep to the shadows, I can make my way back to the hurricane of fog. Would it be that simple? Cross the portal, back into my body? I mean, it would suck nottohave my hands, but better than nothing. At least I’d be with them. At least I’d be able to protect them.
I just need to cross the portal. Sounds doable.
“Okay.” I huff out a breath. “So,back the way I came, then through the fog back to the portal. I think I can do that.”
Dad squeezes my fingers. “Cassie. You don’t have to. It’s dangerous, it might give into nothing.”
“I know.” And I squeeze his fingers back. “But I can’t leave them alone. This whole thing with Kayn is happening because of me, and I’m sure he’ll be so mad I’m dead that he’ll take it out on my men.”
Helen slurps her coffee, making us all turn to her. “Who’s that Kayn fellow, anyway?”
“He’s a vampire lord,” I tell her, then look at my parents. The memory of our last night together is still ingrained in my brain, as if marked with fire. “His mother leads vampires in the Dark Realm, and he thinks she would kill his progeny if given the chance. Kayn has been hunting Shadow Mages for years. He wants our powers to manipulate the border into the Dark Realm and have an advantage on his mother.”
My mother’s face pales. “Is he the man who came after us?” I nod at her.
“No,” my father says, his voice strict for the first time. “You’re not going after that man.”
“But Dad...”
“I get that your... men, or mates, are in danger. I get that, Cassie. But if we’re talking about the same vampire, he’s old, and he’s deadly. And he won’t stop until he has what he wants.”
“Well, the problem is that he can’t have that. I’m already dead, and there are no other Shadow Mages alive. He might be so angry he will torture my men just because.”
“Then you’ll meet them here,” Dad says, staring straight at me. I wince. “I’m sorry it hurts, Cassie, but the afterlife isn’t so bad. Your mates can stay here. You will have them forever. If they truly love you, they will find you.”
I let my brows drop. “You’re telling me it’s okay if all of them die, as long as I don’t get hurt?”
“You’re my daughter, of course I’m telling you that.” And he grips my arm, bringing me closer. “Cassie, you’ve already been through too much. You grew up on yourown, not knowing about us. You had to go through the awakening of your powers without guidance. Enough is enough. You have us now. You can stay. You can finally rest, and you can have your family.”
My eyes sting. I swallow hard. The fight inside me is short-lived. “They’re my family, too, Dad. I wasn’t alone. They were with me.”
To this, he says nothing. He just stares at me in silence. Finally, Dad sighs, slipping his hand from my arm. “You’re headstrong like your mother.”
Mom scoffs. “You wish.”
“Okay.” Dad crosses his arms. “Since you’re so keen on trying that, you’ll have to sneak your way past the reapers to the portal. Then what? What’s the plan? Do you have control over your powers?”
“Some of it, yeah. I can heal myself by sucking the shadows in.” No idea if there are proper terms for what I do. I must sound so amateur right now. “I can suck the shadows then manipulate them into an area of darkness around me. And I can... Um...” How bad is it going to be to admit I killed people? I chew on my bottom lip for a moment, then decide the truth is best. “I can do this thing where I suck the life out of people. Sort of. I don’t understand it very well.”
They’re all gawking at me. I wait, with bated breath, for them to kick me out the door. Maybe that was taboo? How could I know? As Dad guessed, I had no guidance whatsoever.
“That’s...” He looks at the others, then back at me. “Very impressive. I never came around to that part of the power. But then again, I put little effort into it.”
“It’s hard to study it when you’re hiding,” offers Mom.
Helen, my dad’s mother, leans forward. “This vampire was definitely using a powerful magicdetectionspell. Since I was adopted into a powerful coven, I could work with my shadow powers while I was hidden away. His father,” and she juts her chin out in my father’s direction, “specialized in concealment spells to help me.”