“There were rumors that the Council had once again invoked the prophecy, that they’d decreed a new elemental to fulfill it. I heard stories of battles between the prophecy and a powerful dark elemental I knew all too well.” She finally lifted her head and looked at me. “That same dark elemental was the one I let the Council believe had killed me.”
Holy cheese sneeze. That bomb shot me off the bed. “It was Alec von Leer?”
How many times was that guy going to intersect with my life?
“That’s when I knew the Council had gone back on their word and come for you. After everything I’d done to protect you, they still painted that target on your back, and the one person I wanted to hide you from was the first dark elemental to find you.” She joined me on the bed and patted my knee. Her touch was warm, soothing, and something I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed. Despite the turmoil coiling inside me, I leaned my head on her shoulder.
She leaned her head on mine. “I’m sorry you’ve had to go through this alone, Katybug. I’m sorry I left without saying good-bye. But most of all, I’m sorry what I did made you feel like you need four men in your life to make you whole.”
Where the hell did that come from? I pushed off the bed and took several steps away. “That’s not why I’m with them.” How could she say something like that? If she truly believed that, she didn’t know me at all.
“Why are you with them? Why not just one? Leo seems nice.”
“What is your fixation with him? You practically ignored the others.”
“That’s not true. I paid a great deal of attention to Bryan.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m talking about Clay and Rob.”
“Were those their names?”
“Mom!”
She brought up her hands. “Sorry. As with any elemental with the power to cast spells, I’m drawn to magic. Leo and Bryan both have magic in them, so I’m naturally drawn to them.”
“Eww, Mom. Gross.”
“Not like that,” she corrected and thinned her lips, giving me a mom look. “It’s not the man I’m drawn to, it’s the magic inside him. I’m sorry if I made it awkward.”
“You definitely made it awkward.”
“I’ll apologize the next time I see him.”
“And to Clay and Rob.”
She hesitated before nodding reluctantly. “Fine.”
“And you won’t be all weird the next time you see the five of us together?”
“Don’t push your luck, young lady.”
I accepted her answer, not wanting to do anything to change her mind or possibly upset her. My mom…ran hot and cold. There was no in between. She was either loving and nurturing and everything you’d ever want in a mom, or she was batshit crazy and doing terrible things to everyone around her. Interesting how I’d forgotten that about her until now, until she studied me with a look in her eyes I didn’t know whether to trust or not.
She stood and opened her arms. “Should we hug it out?”
Like she had to tell me twice. I ran into her embrace. Mom hugs had magical properties.
I returned to the bed once we ended our hug. “Now that you’re back and the Council knows you’re not dead and all that, are you planning on going back to Montana? Back to Dad?”
“No. There’s no life for me there.”
“Meaning?”
“I should have never married a Nelem, should have never left this world. I was naïve to believe I could lead a normal life and raise kids on a ranch in Montana.”
Jebus, woman. Her bluntness killed me. Did she just admit to regretting having me?
“Okay. Well, now that we’ve cleared that up.” I stood and went to the door to let her out. If she didn’t leave, I would. I couldn’t go through her disappearing again. It had left me broken for years. Going through it again… I’d never recover. “If having me was such a mistake, maybe it’s time you go back into hiding.”
“You’ve completely missed the point. My mistake was going into hiding in the first place. That’s why I returned. I’m here to challenge the Council.”
Her declaration stopped me in my tracks. I whipped around and studied her with eyes so wide, they hurt. I didn’t think anyone would admit to that out loud. I’d wanted to challenge the Council since the first day I’d arrived in this world. “Challenge them how?”
“By insisting they make me the prophecy again.”
As much as I didn’t want to be the prophecy and have to constantly look over my shoulder, I wanted her to be the prophecy even less. I was young. Quick on my feet. Had a wicked snark spark. And I had four powerful elementals by my side. “Stace said the prophecy had been fulfilled.”
She waved off the comment. “What does she know? She’s just a teacher.”
I clenched my jaw. The way she said it, like being a teacher was an insult, was an insult in itself. The need to defend Professor Stacey Layden—both for her chosen profession and the fact she’d been my mentor since I’d arrived at the academy—overwhelmed me. “For your information, she knows a hell of a lot. She practically runs this school.”
“Maybe it’s time for new leadership.”
“Mom!”
She brought up her hands, conceding. “Forget I said anything.”
I’d like nothing more. Bringing the subject back to her challenging the Council, I said, “You were saying about the prophecy?”
“I’m saying it never ends. The Council claims the prophecy has been fulfilled until the next dark elemental comes along.”
Good point, and the reason I never let down my guard when the Council declared the prophecy fulfilled. “Then why would you want to be the prophecy again knowing all that?”
“So you won’t have to be.”
That wasn’t
