Anya flashed back on top of the roof to stand by her twin, having felt the soul-searing pain Tia was suffering. “Jelissa, I know how you feel—”
Jelissa cut her new-found aunt off before she could go any further. “Oh really? Just how would you know how I feel?”
“Because I’m the one who grew up without a mother too. Only I never got the chance to forgive her and now I never will. Sure, you may think you don’t give a flying fuck right now, but don’t wait too long to at least give her a chance.” Anya gave that a second to sink in. “I know you’re not going to forgive her right now, this ain’t some Mary Poppins’ story.”
“I wanna go home right now. No offense, but I really don’t wanna even look at either of you right now. This is way too much to take in.” Jelissa directed the next at Grimm. “And as for you, I just need time to process everything.”
“You can stay at the castle if you want. There’s plenty of room for all of you,” Tia offered, desperate for a yes.
“Uh, no. The guys can stay there if they need to, because frankly, I’m not ready to deal with any of them either. Right now, the only ones I can stand to be around are these two right here.” Jelissa gestured to Deelah and Genie at that last. Before they flashed away to the portal, she said one last thing to Grimm, “So, if I listened to everything correctly, you’re not her mate, right? Just her husband?”
“Right,” was the only word Grimm said, ever the male of a thousand words.
“If I were you, and she kept all this from me? I’d divorce her ass.” And with that, Jelissa, Deelah, and Genie literally left the building.
At the look on Grimm’s face, a look that said he was actually contemplating what their daughter just said, Tia closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose before she said, “You have got to be fucking kidding me? You want a divorce?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know. You know what? Fuck you, Grimm. If I had never forgiven you for lying to me, we never would have been married in the first place. So let me decide for you.” Tia turned around and got straight up in his face. “You egotistical, arrogant son of a bitch, I should have let you rot for betraying my father, because in doing so you also betrayed me. I want a fucking divorce.” Before he had a chance to respond in any way, Tia backhanded him so hard he went flying off the roof. He’d survive the fall, but she hoped like Hel he’d have more than a few broken bones to heal from.
“Tia?”
“Anya, please get away from me, and get everyone away from this building, fast. I’ll meet you at home. ’Cause I’m about to literally explode.”
Tia dropped to her knees, everything coming to a head in her heart and brain. Every loss, every mistake felt as though it were going to eat her alive from the inside out. She had both found and lost her daughter, and now Grimm wanted a divorce even though he had lied to her almost her entire life about who he really was. She had no idea if she would be able to get her demon back, one she truly was bonded to. And if and when she did, she would have to decide if she even wanted to stop him and Chandler from killing Grimm for hurting her. The only reason they ever even put up with him was for her sake.
All of it was too much. Good thing she had planned on torching the building anyway. Unable to hold it in anymore Tia let her fire rip free from her body in an exploding rush as she let her head fall back and screamed. She let all the hurt and anger go out in a rush of flames that started from her spot on the roof and cascaded throughout the rest of the building.
When Tia realized the roof was getting ready to collapse beneath her, she somehow managed to regain some semblance of control. She flashed herself back to the portal on Belle Isle, to where Chandler and the others awaited her, and fell into his arms. She looked up at him and said the only words she could, “Let’s go home.”
22
What’s My Name?
Tia agreed with Elyssia; she should try from her castle, the House of Sekhmet, where she ruled the Witches of Underlayes, to summon Bran, since it was surrounded by more magick than the vampire castle. Tialanna might now be Queen of all Underlayes since she’d proven to be stronger physically, mentally, and strategically than all others, but true magick was Elyssia’s domain.
Tia didn’t have her own castle because she didn’t want one. She was perfectly happy within the walls of the vampire castle, mostly because she loved being so close to her family. Something she was certain Jelissa would find ironic.
But none of that magick was helping now. They were down in her former workout room; Tia, Elyssia, Anya, and Chandler, and had failed for the tenth time in a row.
Chandler placed his hand on Tia’s shoulder and said, “Are you sure you heard his full summoning name? Could you have perhaps heard wrong?”
“No, I didn’t hear him wrong!” Everybody else took a step back as it looked as if she might rip Chandler’s head clear off his shoulders.
“There was more than a tad going on at the time, love. Something might be amiss. Please try and keep a level head. We’ll sort this out.” Chandler attempted to reassure her, pulling her into his arms.
“Why isn’t this working? Why is everything just going to shit?” Tia sobbed into his shoulder. She tried her best to get a grip even as it felt as though everything was slipping away.
“Probably because you can’t
