Dark Realms (42 page)

“None of us,” I said, raising my chin. “It
was the wand.”

The older witch walked over to my wand,
which now lay on the floor, and her face turned pale. “I know this
wand. It used to be Adrianne’s. I’m surprised Vivian didn’t notice
that.”

The blonde reached for it.

“Don’t touch it!” hollered the older witch,
stepping back.

She pulled her hand away. “Why not,
Semora?”

“It’s dangerous, Bella,” she said, her eyes
wide. She pointed towards Vivian. “You see what it did to her.”

Bella stood up and backed away from the
wand. “So, it really was the wand that killed her?”

“I told you,” I said. “Only those who aren’t
out for personal gain can handle the wand. Obviously, Vivian was
only out for herself.”

Semora turned towards me. “You two,” she
said, glancing at Kala as well, “are Adrianne’s daughters, aren’t
you?”

“Yes,” we both replied.

Her lips thinned and she nodded. “Very well.
I, personally, never had anything against Adrianne. In fact, your
aunt probably had what was coming to her.”

“What?!” gasped Bella. “How can you say
that? She was the head of our coven!”

Semora sighed. “Oh, come on. We were just
talking about how unstable Vivian was getting.”

“No,” she snapped. “Vivian wasn’t just our
leader, she was my best friend.” She looked at me and scowled.
“Wand or not, I’m going to make sure all of you pay for her death.
Come on, Beldora, let’s go tell the others!”

Beldora nodded and then both witches
disappeared.

“You’d better leave,” said Semora. “They’ll
return with the others and you won’t have a chance against that
many wands.” She then disappeared.

“Grab yours,” said Rebecca, pointing towards
Chloe.

I stared at the wand in fear. “Uh, what
if...”

“What if what?”

“I wanted Vivian to die,” I said, looking
down in shame. “That means that my heart isn’t pure anymore. I
guess I’m just too frightened to touch the wand now.”

“Did you really want to destroy Vivian, or
did you just want your mother safe?” asked Rebecca.

I glanced over towards Vivian. “I guess I
would have rather had nobody die, and my mother safe.”

She touched my shoulder and smiled. “That’s
what I thought. You’re still a good person, Kendra, and in my heart
I know there’s nothing to worry about. Now, grab the wand. You’re
going to need it.”

I walked over to the wand and bent down.
Still struggling with uncertainty and fear, I took a deep breath
and picked it up.

“It’s okay, child,” said the wand as my hand
began to glow a warm yellow. “Don’t be frightened.”

I closed my eyes and released a sigh of
relief. “Thanks, Chloe.”

“You’re welcome.”

Tyler walked over to me and grinned. “You do
realize now that you’re claiming this wand as yours, you’re going
to need proper training?”

“Actually, I’m not claiming it as mine,” I
said. “It’s my mother’s and I’m going to make sure that she gets it
back.”

“No, it’s yours now.”

I gasped and turned towards the sound of her
voice. “Mom?”

She smiled and it seemed to light up the
room. “Surprise,” she said, opening up her arms.

“Mom!” gasped Kala, flinging herself at
her.

My eyes filled with tears as I rushed over
and joined them. “Thank God you’re okay.”

“I love you both, so much,” she murmured,
squeezing us tightly. She kissed the tops of each of our heads. “I…
I’m so relieved you’re both okay. I prayed she wouldn’t hurt
you.”

“We’re fine, but what about you? Are you
really okay?” I asked, pulling away to look into her face.

She nodded. “Yes, honey. I’m much better.
I’m not exactly sure what happened, but you removed the curse.”

“It was the wand,” said Kala as she mom
released us. “Your old wand, actually. It’s what killed
Vivian.”

“Of course. I can’t believe I hadn’t thought
about Isadora’s wand.” She turned towards her sister’s body and I
watched as her lower lip began to tremble. She closed her eyes and
then reopened them. “Believe it or not,” she said, her eyes glossy
with tears, “I really loved Vivian. As much hate as she had for me,
I still loved her.”

“But why did she hate you so much?” I asked.
“And what happened between her and our father?”

Her face paled. “She told you?”

I nodded. “Yes, but –”

“Sorry to interrupt, but we have to leave,”
said Clarice, materializing next to mom. “Vivian’s coven is coming,
and they’re not happy.”

My mother grabbed both of our hands.

“Meet us at Secrets,” said Rebecca. “You’ll
be safe there.”

Chapter Thirty-One

After we arrived at the shop, Bailey and
Trixie were given some kind of potion to help them recover fully,
Tyler went in search of food, and my mother stepped in the back
warehouse to talk with Rebecca and Clarice.

“He’s so cute,” whispered my sister, staring
at Bailey as he stood up and stretched. “I wonder if he has a
girlfriend?”

I chuckled. “Probably a ton.”

She sighed. “Yeah, I’m sure you’re
right.”

“Girls,” motioned mom from the back of the
shop. “It’s time we had that talk.”

“Do you think?” muttered Kala under her
breath as we started towards the back of the store. “It would have
saved us a lot of trouble if she would have given us this talk a
month ago.”

“She was just trying to protect us,” I
reminded her.

“Which almost got all of us killed.”

“Hey, I know.”

When we stepped into the backroom, I stopped
dead in my tracks – it looked like an entirely different place.

“What happened?” I asked Rebecca, who was
sitting next to a large fireplace, drinking a cup of coffee with
Clarice.

She smiled sheepishly. “Oh, well now that we
don’t have to hide our magic, I spruced up the place.”

“I’ll say,” I said, looking around. Instead
of a storage warehouse, it looked more like some kind of lodge,
with two large oversized brown leather sofas, two recliners, a
bearskin rug and even a stocked bar – except this one appeared to
be supplied with bottles of different potions instead of booze.

Mom motioned us towards one of the sofas.
“Please, sit down.”

Kala and I sat down and then looked at her
expectantly. She’d changed into jeans and a green wool sweater, her
hair now a vibrant red.

“So that’s your normal hair color?” asked
Kala.

She nodded. “Yes. I hope you don’t mind that
I’ve changed it back. It’s nice not having to hide anymore from
Vivian.”

“It’s just weird,” I said. “You look so much
like Vivian.”

“On the outside we’re identical, but on the
inside, we were never similar,” she replied, her face
melancholy.

“It’s okay, mom,” I said. “You shouldn’t
have to hide anymore. Besides, you look beautiful as a
redhead.”

She smiled. “Thanks. Well, I suppose I
should start. Don’t mind Clarice or Rebecca,” she said, sitting
down across from us in the other sofa. “I want them here, in case
you have a question that I might not be able to answer.”

I licked my lips. “Okay.”

“Now,” she sighed and sat back against the
seat cushion. “I’m sure you’re both pretty angry with me for
keeping all of this from you.”

“A little,” I said. “But, we kind of
understand.”

She nodded and smiled
sadly. “I, uh, I have something else to tell you that…” her eyes
filled with tears. “Something I never
wanted
to tell you, but I know that I
must. You have the right to know.”

I leaned forward. “What?”

She burst out crying.

“Oh, my God, are you okay, mom?” asked Kala,
moving next to her on the sofa. She took her hand. “Maybe we should
wait until you feel better?”

She shook her head and then snapped her
fingers. A box of tissues appeared. “Oh, God,” she sobbed. “I hope
you’re not going to hate me for this.”

“What is it?” I whispered, my stomach
clenching in fear. Something told me that whatever she had to tell
us was going to be far more substantial than anything I’d heard in
the last twenty-four hours.

She wiped her face with a tissue and let out
a ragged sigh. “Okay, I’m just going to have to start from the
beginning.”

I went and sat down on the other side of
her. She grabbed my hand.

She took a deep breath. “My father murdered
my mother and my sister murdered him.”

“What?” I gasped.

She smiled grimly. “Talk about a
dysfunctional family, huh?”

“What happened?” I asked, still in
shock.

“Well, as you’re aware of now, Vivian and I
come from a long line of witches. Powerful witches. Well,” she
sighed, “my father was a preacher and he had no clue of who he’d
actually married. In fact, when he found out that my mother was
practicing witchcraft, he went after her in a blind rage and ended
up shooting her. In turn, Vivian killed him.”

“Well, that’s not entirely surprising,” said
Kala. “I’m sure she was upset knowing that he killed your mother
and did it out of blind rage.”

“Yes but the thing was, Vivian enjoyed
it.”

“After meeting her, that doesn’t surprise me
one bit,” I said.

“Mom, you never really mentioned your
parents, did they love each other?” asked Kala.

She paused. “I know that my mother loved my
father and that’s why she didn’t reveal what she really was. In
fact, she stopped practicing witchcraft for many years, until we
moved back to Salem, where she’d lived as a young girl. You see, my
father was transferred to Salem by his church, to help crucify
women who were charged with performing witchcraft. How ironic,
huh?”

“So, that’s when she started practicing it
herself again?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yes, she was horrified at what
my father was trying to do and started attending the ceremonies in
the middle of the night. Eventually, my mother told Vivian and me
about our heritage and we wanted to learn more. In fact, it was
supposed to be our induction into the coven on the night they were
both killed.”

“Did your mother practice Black magic or
White magic?” I asked.

“She never really said, but I believe she
practiced White.”

“So, what happened after your parents were
killed?” asked Kala.

She smiled and turned towards Rebecca, who
was listening in. “I moved in with Rebecca and her mother. They
basically saved my life by taking me in.”

Rebecca smiled warmly. “My mother loved you
as if you were part of the family.”

“What about Vivian?” I asked. “What happened
to her?”

She turned back to me and her face became
grave. “Vivian left that night and I didn’t see her for seven
years. She just… disappeared off the face of the Earth. But when
she returned…”

“What?” I asked.

She looked down at her hands. “At first,
Vivian seemed like her old self. She was bubbly, excited about
life, and… in love.”

“She was in love?” I asked, afraid of what
she was going to say next.

She nodded and looked up at me. “Yes, she
was in love with Michael, your father.”

“Oh, my God,” I sighed. “Did he love
her?”

“He thought he did, but then things
changed.”

“What happened?” whispered Kala.

She closed her eyes and let out a ragged
breath. “She became pregnant.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

“What?” I gasped. “Was the baby his?”

She stared at both of us and then her lower
lip began to tremble. “Yes. They both were. Twin girls.”

The blood rushed to my ears. “No,” I said,
standing up. “I don’t want to hear any more of this.”

Tears rolled down her cheeks. “He had the
babies and Michael stood by her side, he even proposed to her
but…”

“What?” whispered Kala.

“She never wanted the babies. She’d actually
planned on giving them up and telling Michael that they’d both died
during childbirth, but he’d found out beforehand and talked her
into keeping them.”

“Us, you mean?” I said. “He talked her into
keeping us.”

She started sobbing. “Yes,
honey, I’m sorry. You and Kala are Vivian’s biological daughters,
but…
I
raised
you.
I
did. And
I’ve loved you more than that woman could have ever loved you, I
swear to God!”

Kala and I stared at each other in
shock.

Rebecca walked up behind Adrianne and put a
hand on her shoulder. “Honey, do you want me to finish the
story?”

She shook her head and dabbed at her tears
with a tissue. “No, I need to finish this myself.”

“What happened?” I asked, my voice
hoarse.

“Please, sit back down,” she pleaded,
patting the seat cushion beside her. “Please.”

I sat back down and she took my hand.

“What happened next?” asked Kala, her eyes
also filled with tears.

She took a deep breath. “Michael bought them
a home and they were going to be married after the two of you were
born. Well, the night she went into labor, Vivian disappeared.”

“What?” I gasped.

“Yes. From what I’d found out later, she’d
went to a midwife and paid her a large sum of money to keep you.
When she returned to Michael two days later, she claimed she’d lost
the both of you in childbirth.”

“Oh, my God,” mumbled Kala. “She paid
someone to keep us? Who does that?”

“Apparently our real
biological-slash-psychotic mother,” I said dryly.

“Anyway, Michael didn’t believe it,
especially because she was so happy. In fact, at first, he thought
maybe she’d just had a nervous breakdown and would eventually pull
out of it and share in the sorrow of losing their children – but it
never happened. She never mourned your loss, and that’s when he
started drifting away from her.”