Everything came back to me as I drew in a deep breath of sea air. Celeste—my mother—had cast some kind of sleep spell on me last night, even though I'd desperately wanted more answers. A surge of anger propelled me out of bed. I was going to stomp down there right this instant and demand she answer my questions immediately—no more excuses. She sure as hell wasn't casting any more spells on me either.
But when I stood, I stopped at the sight of the blood and dirt on my clothes. My head began to spin as some of the despair from last night returned. The sudden grief was so heavy it felt as if I had weights pressing down on my limbs, and I knew how easy it would be to simply wallow in it. Maybe it was better she'd knocked me out. At least I'd had a brief respite from this misery.
Then I remembered Celeste's words from last night. She'd said there was a chance for me to save Kaden, and even if it was the smallest bit of hope, I would cling onto it. I'd put all of my energy into training to become the best damn Moon Witch the Zodiac Wolves had ever seen.
I looked outside instead of dwelling on the pain of losing Kaden. It was dark out and still raining softly, droplets of water hitting the window in a soothing cadence. How long had I slept?
I went into the attached bathroom, surprised to see a set of towels and toiletries set out already next to the claw-foot tub. Celeste probably wanted to make a good impression on me, but she'd need to do a lot more than that to wipe away twenty-two years of abandonment. Not even a fancy little soap shaped like a seashell could put a dent on that pain.
The claw-foot tub had a shower attachment and I gave it a skeptical look as I turned it on, but the water instantly turned warm. Not as hot as I would have liked, but it was hard to complain when it was fueled by magic. I wondered if they'd teach me that sort of thing too.
I took my time in the shower, washing the blood from my skin and scrubbing dirt out from under my fingernails. When I finally emerged, ready to face whatever the Moon Witches threw at me, I spotted a set of clothes resting on the counter. I toweled off and unfolded the clothes, finding plain white cotton underwear plus a long, gray dress made of thicker fabric. I traced the crescent moons embroidered along the hem with one finger and wondered if it was handmade. I put it on, surprised to find it fit like a glove, as if it had been made for me.
After dragging a brush through my tangled hair—still red, thank you very much—I headed down to the kitchen and steeled myself to face my mother. I found her in the kitchen, frowning down at the stove as if it was giving her a hard time.
She turned and gave me a warm smile. “Good morning. I hope you slept well.”
My eyes narrowed. "Don't ever do that again."
"Do what?"
Her innocent question only brought the anger rushing back. "That sleep spell. You had no right to do that to me."
"I'm sorry. I only wanted you to rest. You had such a traumatic day..." She wiped her hands on her apron, her smile falling. "You're right, I was out of line. It's been a long time since I dealt with anyone outside of our little community here, and I guess I forgot my manners. I promise I won't use magic again on you without your permission."
I pressed my lips together to hold back a smart-ass response but decided to let it go. Instead, I stared out the big windows at the waves crashing under the moonlight. "It's still dark out. How long did I sleep?"
"You slept about nine hours. It's morning here now, or at least what we consider to be morning since it's always dark in Lunatera. During the day you'll notice the sky gets a bit brighter, almost like the sun is getting ready to crest the horizon, though it never does."
"Do you ever miss the sun?"
"Not especially. I suppose I'm used to it after all this time." Her smile returned, though it was more tentative now. "Would you like something to eat? I can make whatever you want for breakfast. Do you like eggs and bacon, or pancakes maybe?"
“I like all of them, and if you hadn't abandoned me as a baby you would know that," I muttered. I couldn't help myself.
Celeste's face fell and she turned away, toward the stove. After a moment I saw her shoulders lower in a sigh. “Yes, of course. Breakfast will be ready soon.”
I watched her light the stove with magic again and felt a little bad for being rude to her. She was going out of her way to be nice to me, to do as much as she could to make up for the time she'd been away, but twenty-two years of utter hell were not easily forgotten. Not to mention dragging me here against my will and casting a sleep spell on me.
I'd spent my entire life wanting my mother and wondering who she was and why she'd left me with my asshole father. And all that time she'd been here, alive and well in this hidden realm. She could have come back for me at any point in my life, but she hadn't.
So, yeah, I felt bad, but not bad enough to take it back. Celeste owed me a big, fat apology as far as I was concerned—along with the answers I needed to save Kaden.
Celeste moved around the kitchen, gathering ingredients and putting them into various bowls and pans. Once the eggs sizzled in a pan next to some bacon, and the pancake batter had been mixed up, Celeste poured me a cup of coffee from a French press.
As she handed me the coffee, I searched her face for any trace of hurt or anger, but it remained smooth and calm. Did anything ever rile her up? I was beginning to think I'd gotten my smart-ass attitude from my dad's side.
“The Moon Witches came to this dimension many decades ago when we were being hunted to extinction by the Sun Witches,” Celeste said, as she flipped pancakes. Maybe she sensed I was ready for those answers now. “I was the High Priestess then as well, and I decided it would be safer for us to disappear and make the Sun Witches think we were all dead."
"Wait. You've been High Priestess for decades?" I asked, blinking at her. No wonder I couldn't pinpoint her age.
"Yes. One of the benefits of living in a realm with no time is that we don't age. But you must understand there is a downside to such immortality—we cannot have children here. We have to return to your world for that, but when we do, we are often found and killed by the Sun Witches, who can sense our magic. As soon as they detect it, they hunt us down tirelessly.”
Celeste paused to serve up the eggs and bacon and slid two pancakes onto each plate as well. She took a seat across the table from me and the warm smell of the food made me suddenly ravenous.
“Is that what you did?” I asked, as I took a bite, which tasted as good as it smelled. “Went to Earth to have a baby?”
“Not exactly." She poked at her food, and her voice sounded distant as she continued. “I went with the intention of finding a place for us to live there. We can't stay isolated forever in this realm. Many of my people want to return to Earth, but it isn't safe as long as the Sun Witches are in control." She took a long sip of coffee. "I knew my best chance was to convince the Zodiac Wolves to help us, but they were all under the thrall of the Sun Witches—all but one.”
“The Ophiuchus pack,” I guessed.
“Yes. I met with the alphas of the Ophiuchus pack, and though they were sympathetic, they were unable to help us. They had a young son and a baby girl, and they wanted to protect them more than anything else."