Ryatt
My mother blinks, then blinks again, that milky, whirling magic clearing from her eyes. Eyes the color of emeralds lock on mine, then slowly graze toward Westfall.
Her skin goes pale.
“No,” she says, so softly we all almost miss it. “Where–” She backs away from Isaac and Westfall, shaking her head.
“Cressie,” Westfall says, his voice trembling with emotion. “It’s okay.”
Her eyes dart to his, and her face crumbles. “Adrian?”
I watch my parents find each other after over two decades apart, and it breaks me.
She looks at me again, then at Ella, then down at the baby still in her arms. “Who is this? Whose baby is this?”
“She’s ours,” I say, loud enough that my voice echoes around the room. Her eyes meet mine, and she shakes her head.
I wait for her to ask me who I am. How do I explain that I’m her son? It’s been twenty years since she last saw me. I was just a child, and I was too young to hold onto the memory of her face, and now….
“Ryatt?” Her voice cracks as she looks back at Westfall for confirmation.
He nods, reaching for her with a shaking hand, but he can’t bring himself to touch her.
Ella shifts her weight nervously beside me, her eyes locked on Kenna, like she’s worried my mother will drop her.
Isaac grits his teeth and mumbles a brief apology while taking Kenna from my mother’s arms and backing away.
Silence settles–sharp and heavy.
Granger says in my mind, ‘She needs to see a healer immediately.’
‘I know,’ I reply. ‘Go call for one, please. Be discreet.’
Granger walks away without a passing glance in anyone’s direction while the silent room threatens to cave in on us all.
I watch him go then notice my mother is staring at Ella with an intensity that makes my stomach turn in on itself.
Ella holds her gaze, her chin slightly lifted. Isaac backs himself to the far wall and gently bounces Kenna, his eyes darting between me and Ella and my parents.
“I remember you,” my mother says, and then tears begin to stream down her cheeks.
Ella nods. I rest my hand on her lower back, noticing how rigid she is.
The touch is caught by my mother, and her eyes grow wide. “It’s true, then. She was meant to be your mate. I was right.”
“We shouldn’t be talking about this right now,” Westfall says, taking a step in her direction.
She looks at him and inhales sharply, like she just came to after years of being stuck in some in-between world. She brings her hands to her face, cupping her cheeks, then runs her fingers through her hair. She looks at my dad again, tears shining in her eyes. “You’re so old,” she chokes on what might be a laugh.
Westfall smiles through tears. “So are you.”
Ella takes a deep breath beside me as the tension eases itself from the room.
But then my mother’s laugh tapers off. She turns her attention back to us, back to me.
“I’m so sorry.”
I fight to swallow, finding it impossible. “There’s nothing to be sorry about.”
“I wasn’t–” she sucks in a breath as her face twists with the deepest kind of despair. “How old are you? How much have I missed?”
I know we can’t have this conversation. Not right now.
“Ryatt, I think–” Isaac tries to speak up, likely feeling the same way, but my mother suddenly falls to her knees, caught by Westfall before she hits the ground.
He swoops her into his arms. “A healer–”
“Granger is on it,” I cut in. He nods, and leaves the room, carrying my mother, without another word.
Ella lets out her breath and turns her sharp gaze to Isaac. “What were you thinking?”
“Did you all do that to her?” he snaps, walking toward us.
“Of course not, Isaac.” Ella takes a wriggling Kenna from his arms and settles her against her shoulder, gently patting her back. “But you just overstepped Westfall. He didn’t want her memories unlocked.”
“Why not? I could feel some kind of magic on her the second she walked into the room!”
“What kind of magic?” I ask hurriedly. I might have left out several parts of my conversation with Westfall, especially about how he believes she did this to herself.
“Some kind of binding magic,” Isaac says, waving a hand. “Ella, you know how the old chef used to try to lock us out of the cabinets to keep us from eating all the cakes and cookies he’d make for events? He thought a key would be enough to keep us out. I don’t need keys.”
“I know,” she says gruffly. “Get to the point!”
“It was similar. She was simply locked in her head like those cakes we used to steal from the cabinets. It wasn’t hard to break through whatever magic kept her stuck there.”
“So it was a curse or a spell?” I eye him skeptically.
“Yes,” Isaac confirms. “Definitely. You really couldn’t sense it? I can still taste it, Ryatt. That’s how strong it was.”
“Could she have done something like this to herself?” I ask, and Ella’s head whips in my direction.
“I highly doubt it,” Isaac says, looking confused. “Is that why Westfall didn’t want her to remember? Because he thought she willingly locked herself in her own mind?”
“Ryatt, is that true?”
I nod at them both.
Ella lets out her breath, but then her mouth quirks into a disbelieving smile. “So, she’s back?”
“She’s back,” Isaac says, but his voice is strained. He licks his lips, looking suddenly apologetic. “I’m sure this is going to be a shock. It could take some time for her to… get a grip on reality.”
“I understand.”
“I’m going to go make myself scarce, then, to avoid the wrath of your father,” my brother-in-law says.
“That’s probably for the best,” I tell him with a flat smile.
Isaac looks at Ella for a moment before turning on his heel and walking briskly out of the room.
Alone together in my office, I turn to my mate and motion for her to give me my daughter.
“Are you all right?” she asks as I take Kenna in my arms.
“I suddenly have both of my parents back after a lifetime of believing I was alone in the world, but I’m fine.”
“I’m serious Ryatt. Are you okay?”
“I’m okay.” I press a kiss to her forehead. “I’m just going to take a walk.”
“I could come with you.”
I shake my head. “Go hangout with Amanda. We’re going to the coven tomorrow morning at the latest, if not tonight. She’s going to be heartbroken.”
Ella nods, her beautiful eyes holding my gaze. “We’re bringing down the veil, then?”
“Yes.”
“So, that’s where the mask is, huh? At the coven?”
“They have a vault that’s more powerful than mine.”
She gives me a soft smile, but her eyes flash with guilt.
“I understand if you don’t agree–”
“I do agree. If anything, this will be better for our daughter. She’ll have more opportunities, more access to her family. Your parents, your brother, her cousins…”
Ella nods but looks conflicted. “Am I making the right choice?”
“You’ve always made the right choices, Princess. I trust you.”
Ella takes a breath and nods.
“I’ll be back,” I tell her and leave the room with Kenna. I think we could both use some fresh air.
* * *
Kenna whimpers as I pick her up out of the cot next to our bed. She grips my fingers as I quietly carry her out of our bedroom suite and into the quiet hallways of our mountainside home.
“I couldn’t sleep either,” I tell my daughter, resting her against my shoulder. She’s been inconsolable tonight, and Ella went to bed with tears in her eyes after I practically begged her to let me take over. For the past five hours, Kenna and I have been up and down, and up and down, walking here and there and trying to get a few minutes of sleep.
I don’t know much about babies, but I know that they’re complicated. Kenna seems happy to be out of our dark room and in the softly lit hallways, probably because the house makes the lanterns flicker in a way that makes the light they cast dance along the dark walls.
She tries to lift her head to look over my shoulder, but she’s not quite strong enough yet.
“Where should we go?” I stop near one of the balconies overlooking the great hall. Moonlight cloaks us in silver light, and I feel a pull toward the far end of the castle.
For whatever reason, I follow it, knowing exactly where it will lead.
I quietly open a door and step inside a small sitting room. Westfall is resting in a chair by a fireplace. The fire has burned down to embers, and his eyes flutter open to squint into the dark.
“Sorry to wake you,” I say, shutting the door behind me.
“I wasn’t asleep.”
“That seems to be the theme tonight.”
“Is Kenna not sleeping well?”
I shake my head and walk toward him. He opens his arms to Kenna, and I lay her in his lap. She gives him a sleepy smile before her eyes close.
“Hmm… maybe you should be our night nurse from now on,” I tease, but my dad only gives me a soft smile in reply as he adjusts her weight in his arms.
“You didn’t sleep for the first two years of your life.”
“Don’t tell Ella that,” I warn. “She was in tears tonight. Kenna has been crying nonstop.”
“We’re all going through an adjustment period.” He sighs, pulling a blanket over them both. “Kenna more than any of us, I assume. She’s only been alive for two weeks, I imagine that’s jarring.”
I chuckle, crossing my arms over my chest. I never would have thought Commander Westfall would have such a soft spot for infants. He’s amazing with Kenna. He has the touch, so to speak, which is insane, given the fact I’ve seen him kill full grown men and wolves with his bare hands.
“Your mother is through those doors.” He tilts his head to the far side of the room. “I doubt she’s asleep either.”
It’s an invitation I wasn’t sure I’d get tonight. I take it, leaving Dad and Kenna to rest, and softly knock before entering.
This bedroom is less luxurious than my suite upstairs but comfortable all the same. My mother is sitting on the edge of her bed, her back turned to me, her long silver-white hair twisted into a braid.
She turns her head slightly as I close the door behind me.
I’m not sure what to say.
“Your father tells me that you plan to bring down the veil.”
“Tomorrow.”
She nods and pats the bed.
I grind my teeth as I approach, but I don’t sit. “How are you?”
“I’ll be fine.”
“I’m sure this is… an adjustment.”
She nods, her eyes briefly meeting mine before looking away. “I can’t believe how big you are. I’m not sure I believe any of this is real.”
“It’s real.” Questions whirl through my head. “Did you do this to yourself?”
“Not entirely,” she admits. “I didn’t do the jump correctly when I tried to go to Crescent Falls to warn the royal family that Kane planned on invading. But I saw Ella and knew she was the witch from my vision. I lost my grip on my powers and was pulled back and… survived.” She swallows. “Your father got you out, but Kane knew he’d escaped. I caused a distraction that nearly cost me my life, and I wanted it to. I was ready to die knowing the two of you would be safe, but somehow I got out of Rifthold. I left with several other witches, but I wanted to die. I knew I could never go near either of you again without risking Kane finding you. He would have searched everywhere for me. So… I asked one of the witches to curse me, to force me to lose my memories, and she did. It was the greatest mercy anyone could have given me other than killing me outright.”
She turns to look up at me. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to do more for your mate right away, during your daughter's birth.”
“You saved their lives.”
“You did, Ryatt. The Goddess heard your pleas, heard you begging to be taken in their place. I did nothing but break the curse Kane put on her.”
I sit down next to her, my hand shaking as I slowly, carefully, take her hand in mine. We sit in silence for a long, long time.
“I’m happy you’re back,” I tell her. “Westfall–Dad, he… he wanted to keep your memories locked. He didn’t want you to suffer through them.”
“I know; he told me.” She smiles, squeezing my hand. “We have a second chance now, all of us. And… Ella is right about the veil. But what will come after… Ryatt, you need to be prepared.”
“For what?”
She turns to me, looking me in the eyes. Her smile is soft, full of some ancient knowledge I can’t begin to process. “The world your daughter will grow up in will be very different from ours.”
“Will it be better?”
“Only fate knows, and fate has brought us this far, so all we can do is trust in her. In Ella.”