Chapter Twelve
They claimed it was a dinner, but I know better. It’s an interrogation. There are no better cross-examiners than my mom and Mémé. Them working as a team should be illegal, or a highly sought after and incredibly expensive service. Between working two jobs, and chasing down the witch I haven’t had time to be cornered. The minute I had a day off, they both pounced. I set the plates on the table as my mom places down napkins and silverware.
The silence is odd. I can feel her gearing up to speak.
“There have been rumors going around recently.”
“You’ll have to be more specific, Mom. Folks love to talk around here.”
She snickers. “Now that’s the truth. I’ve heard talk about you and Cristobal Cortez on more than a business level. I know you’re bonded, but you didn’t tell me you’d decided to enter into a relationship with him again.” Concern creeps into her voice.
“It’s not like the last time, Mom. I ran because I was scared of myself, this world full of magic, friends, and foes that are hard to tell apart, and the responsibility that comes with our family. He was only part of the problem.”
“Fear is our brain’s way of telling us what’s not healthy for us. Be it physically, mentally, or spiritually. In this case, I’d imagine it was all of the above. I understand you have history and you want to keep the peace, but what they told me sounded unnatural.”
I could downplay it—make her feel like she’s reading too far into thing—but after everything we’ve been through, I can’t bring myself to do it. The truth is going to come out regardless, delaying it won’t help anything in the long run. “To some, it may be.” The look of utter devastation on her face is a knife to my heart. “I know it’s not what every mother dreams of. I never could’ve imagined it. Even when he and I first date. But the type of bond we share in itself is of a romantic nature, Mom. Not being involved would be likened to stopping the sun from shining. Eventually, it’d be bound to happen. We just … progressed faster than I expected. I wasn’t trying to hide truths from you before.”
“What changed? What could he have promised you to make you go so far off the grid?”
“I told you, he’s my soulmate. It’s not a figure of speech.”
She spits on the ground. “He’s the undead. You let your emotions blind you. I know what blood bonds are.”
“For others, yes. This is what being bond mates means for us. It’s not like the traditional pairings you’ve heard of. If he’d been alive, we would be the traditional soul matched pair, meeting again and again over the ages. Our destiny was written when the creator made us and matched us.”
“No.” She clutches her throat.
“Take it from me. Denying it won’t change the reality. I think deep down, I always knew. It wasn’t like me to go against the grain and cause the family distress. Our relationship was taboo. It broke the rules. The whispers came behind me like a shadow I couldn’t shake. I lost friends and standing. Still, the thought of leaving him never crossed my mind.”
“How can you rule us and stand by his side?”
“Very carefully.”
“Oh, you are good,” she says. “Witch for Hire. The ultimate Switzerland. It’s a buffer between the two worlds you’re trying to live in? That’s why you pitched us the company.”
“I won’t deny that it’ll help me, but I pitched it because it was time. We needed that extra layer of protection. I was sincere about my proposal.”
“How many secrets are you keeping?”
“Only the ones that aren’t mine to tell,” I say honestly.
She shakes her head.
“Don’t ask if you don’t want to know, Mom.”
“Who are you? ’Cause I don’t recognize this woman standing in front of me.”
“I’m not the sweet kid who took everything you said and believed it as her own truth, or the awkward young woman who struggled to make everyone happy and follow the rules to the letter and lost herself in the process. I’m Louella Esçhete. Bondmate to Cristobal Cortez, and future ruler of this family. It’s my job to keep us safe, strong, and progressive. Clinging to old, outdated ways and belief systems lead to the death of a family. We’ve seen it time and time again.”
“Did you stop to think there might be a reason outside of ignorance and speciesism for keeping witches and vampires apart?”
Her words send chills down my spine. “What do you mean?”
“That’s enough.” We both jump as Mémé appears in the kitchen like a ghost. “You go cool off. I want a chance to talk to my grandbaby.”
“Nothing you say will help her now,” Mom whispers. She walks away shoulders slumped, and feet dragging.
“Come with me.” Mémé gestures for me to follow her out of the kitchen toward the porch. The cool night air tastes of freedom, moss, and damp earth as we leave the house. “We both know people fear what they can’t understand. They also fear power. You and your man were strong enough alone. Joined together, you’re an imposing force capable of bringing about great change. People will see that as a threat. They have a good reason. If you went dark, it would be devastating.”