He picked up a spoon and took a bite of the hot stew. “Delicious,” he said politely. It probably was, but he couldn’t concentrate on the taste.
Beside him, Mika took a spoonful in her mouth. “Oh, wow. That’s like, the best thing I’ve ever tasted.” She ate a few more spoonfuls. “Oh God, that really did cure what ails me.”
The old woman laughed. “I like her, your mate.”
Mika swallowed the mouthful she had in her mouth. “Um, I was wondering, ma’am, how did you know?”
“That you are my grandson’s mate?” She looked at Mika’s stomach. “I suppose anyone could have guessed, but I have the sight, you know.”
“The sight?” she echoed. “As in, you can see the future?”
She clucked her tongue and eased herself onto a chair, Gabrielle assisting her. “Forgive me, I haven’t introduced myself. My name is Adelaide. Adelaide Beaumont. And this is my daughter, Gabrielle, and my granddaughter, Marina.”
“I’m Mika Westbrooke. And this is, er, Marc Delacroix.”
“Good, strong name. Taken from the god of war.” A warm smile touched her lips as she fixed her gaze on him, her expression wistful. “My elder daughter, Helene, was just like you. She too, had the power to go into the shadows. ‘Walk the dark trail’ as we call it. One day, about thirty-five years ago, she came to me and said she met someone special and wanted me to meet him. He came here to this house, and I knew it. I saw it.”
“Saw what?” he asked.
“My powers—the dark sight, we call it. No, it does not show me the future. It shows me magic. I can sense power in others, as well as residual power when someone touches an object with great magic. But what I saw with them … it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.” Her eyes shone with tears. “It looked like a golden thread, so delicate and shiny, linking him to Helene. They both shone like two bright stars who only orbited around each other.”
“I can see it too, Mémère,” Marina chirped and pointed to Mika and Delacroix. “I can see the dark glow around him, like you and Mama. But her … it’s magic, but different.” She gestured to the empty space between them. “And the string …”
Adelaide smiled warmly at the girl. “Oui, ma chevrette.”
“You could see their True Mate bond?” Mika’s eyes went wide.
“I can, just as I can see yours and my grandson’s. And it’s beautiful and pulses with life when you’re carrying. That’s how I knew Helene was pregnant with you,” she said to Delacroix. “She was so happy when I told her.”
“Then why did they abandon me?” Marc asked, his voice tight.
Adelaide pressed a hand to her chest. “Is that what you were told? Then you were lied to. We all were.” Her hand shook as she placed it over his. “He told us you died. I never believed it.”
The lump forming in his throat made it hard to breathe or speak.
“Who did?” Mika asked when he didn’t say anything.
“Remy Boudreaux, your father’s Alpha. He didn’t approve of the match. Hated what she was,” she said, gnashing her teeth. “But he allowed them to live on their territory, but forbade us to come visit. One day, he sent over one of his lackeys. Told us that Helene died in childbirth. Sent her ashes back to us. Hers and the child’s, they said, because you were stillborn.” She sobbed hard, and Gabrielle placed an arm around her as Marina wrapped her arms around her waist.
“And my father?” he managed to croak out.
“He said he was killed by a gang of Lone Wolves when they broke into their home. That’s what made her go into labor early and die.”
The information was still processing in his head. “What was my father’s name?” he asked.
“Armand Delacroix.”
“Delacroix?”
“Yes,” Adelaide said. “What’s wrong?”
“I was fostered with a couple named Delacroix, but they died a few years after they took me in. No one told me if I was related to them. Were they my grandparents?”
“I’m not sure, child.” She reached over and squeezed his hand. “I don’t even know why Boudreaux would lie to all of us.”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Gabrielle said bitterly. “Remy killed them. I know it.”
“How are you sure?” Mika asked.
“Armand loved her so much, and once the baby—Marc—was born, they were planning to leave the clan. He would go Lone Wolf and live here with us. Remy must have found out and killed them. Helene told me …” She took a deep breath. “Remy acted strange around her … she thinks while Remy hated what she was, he also wanted her for himself. I think he was in love with her.”
It was all starting to make sense. Why Remy hated him too, but yet kept him around. Why he arranged for him to be fostered with his family, but didn’t tell anyone who he really was.
“All this time … I knew in my heart there was something wrong with the story. My poor Helene,” Adelaide wailed.
“I’m so sorry,” Mika said. “And I hope you know, not all our kind hates witches. In fact, we have several witches and warlocks who found their True Mates with our clans. Their children are like your grandson—hybrids, we call them.”
“We know about them,” Gabrielle offered. “But do not lump us together with all witches.”
“Wait, you mean, you’re not witches?” Mika frowned. “But you have magic.”
“We do,” Gabrielle said. “But we are not like your nature witches. They call us swamp witches, at least they did when we still associated with them.” Her nose wrinkled. “We use dark magic, very different from their light magic.”
“Do not be afraid,” Adelaide said when Mika let out a horrified gasp. “Dark magic is not evil. It’s not bad, just another facet of magic. Even the moon must have a dark and light side, one bathed in nature’s light and the other in its shadow.”
“But what about blood magic?” Mika said.
Gabrielle recoiled. “Blood
