Genie was the first to speak. “We both did. We were down here making plans for, well, for tonight. You know, to celebrate her birthday. Where we were going to go, what we were going to wear. Normal shi—stuff.”
“Yeah,” Deelah chimed in, her leg shaking so badly from her nerves Genie put a hand on her knee, trying to stop it. Too bad that as strong as Deelah was, she didn’t even notice, and the shaking continued. “We were keeping her distracted, really. See, we both had gotten her gifts, and you know how hard it is to keep something hidden from Jelissa. Oh, wait, you wouldn’t know. No offense or nothing. I mean I know she’s your daughter, but you don’t know her. Sorry, I just keep putting my foot in my mouth.”
“It’s okay.” Tialanna said, looking as though she were choosing her next words carefully. “Just keep going. At this point the only thing that matters is finding her.”
“So.” Genie took over again as Deelah sent her a silent plea from out of the corner of her eye. See, it wasn’t that she was too nervous to speak, she was already past the shell shock of who they were speaking to. No, there was more to it; her wolf was inside clawing to get free. Desperate to not only find their best friend, but to demand to know why she had been abandoned by none other than the royal family.
“Like D said, we were keeping her distracted. The two of us had bribed Speedy, a kid panther shifter, to place her presents in her room. Jelissa didn’t want a big fuss over her birthday since she thought it was jinxed. She seemed to always have bad luck on her birthdays. One year she tried some perm from the human realm and her hair fell out. Another year she jumped off the roof after seeing this human movie, thinking she’d be able to float down like the witches in the movie did, and broke her leg, and when we were little she bit into an apple and her two front teeth came out like a couple of Chiclets. Every year something went wrong. The only thing she was looking forward to was doing a couple adult things. And finally learning what the Hel she was, besides being a witch. Guess we know now why the ‘seers’ never saw anything.” Genie said the last more to herself than to anyone else. While she had more control over her temper than Deelah did, she too was conflicted by the reality of the situation.
“You’re right, Genie. But there’s a reason, more than one actually, we didn’t tell her what, or who, she was.” This came from Elyssia’s sweet, innocent-sounding voice from the doorway. She had been there for a few moments, quietly listening to the children whom she had helped to raise. Children who were now young women and discovering a whole lot of truths about the beings they thought they knew. “The irony of it all? I planned on telling her everything today.”
“You were what?” Tia jumped straight out of her seat on that note. “What the fuck do you mean you were ‘about to tell her today’? Are you out of your rabid-ass mind?” Her tone continued to escalate with each word. She took a few steps towards her sister but Grimm blocked her way, keeping her legs between himself and the couch.
“You heard me perfectly well, Tia. How much longer could we let this go on? Her entire life? She’s a grown woman now. Letting it go on this long was more than enough,” Elyssia defended her decision.
Anya glanced away, obviously attempting not to give off any type of reaction, and Tia practically squealed, “You were in on this too?”
“Oh, get your panties out of your ass. I know for a fact you were getting ready too. I could feel it.” Anya sighed. “We never had a chance to talk to each other before everything went straight to Hel.” Sitting back farther onto the couch, Anya ran her fingers through her hair then scrubbed them down her face. “Maybe we should have told her a long time ago. And we definitely shouldn’t have bound her powers for this long. Now there’s no telling what could happen.”
Genie gave a sigh of relief when Chandler’s shoulders sloped as he sighed, sulking for a second before walking over to the back of the couch. He gently pulled at the queen, urging her back into her seat, then proceeded to stoop down and place his head between the two who, the girls suspected, were more alike than either would ever admit, and not just in the looks department either.
He spoke softly in a thick British accent, saying, “Before the two of you continue on with this conversation, may I be so bold as to remind you of the two young ladies sitting here directly in front of you, absorbing every word coming out of your mouths.”
“Chandler’s right,” Elyssia chimed in, coming farther into the room to stand behind the two in discussion, placing a hand on each of their chairs. “But I think these two deserve to know the truth, all of it. They’re her family just as much as we are. If we’re all honest about it, we’d admit to the fact Genie and Deelah here are the only family she really knows. We of all people know blood ties aren’t what necessarily makes a family.”
“Oh, how kind of you, Seer.” Deelah’s voice took on a sultry tone, her eyes no longer her own; they had become the iridescent yellow of her wolf. “Your generosity knows no bounds, does it?”
“Dammit.” This sentiment came from Genie, recognizing the wolf taking over. Deelah being part-sorceress, she didn’t have to fully shift for her wolf to take complete control and become the deadly beast
