Page 54 of Fated By Fire
“Names change over time. Especially when people are trying to hide their heritage.” I lean forward, studying her face. “It would explain how you got into the vault. Why the Heartstone reacted to you.”
“No.” She shakes her head violently. “No, that’s impossible. I’m not—I can’t be—”
“A descendant of the most powerful witch in dragon history?” I raise an eyebrow. “Why not? It would explain a lot about your… abilities.”
She stares at me, her eyes wide with shock and something else—recognition, maybe. Understanding.
“Youdohave abilities, don’t you, Elena?” I’m pushing her now.
She nods slowly. “The dreams,” she whispers. “The way I just know things sometimes. My mom used to say I had good instincts, but…”
“But they’re more than instincts, aren’t they?”
She doesn’t answer, but she doesn’t have to. I can see the truth of it in her face.
“Well,” she says finally, her voice shaky but determined. “I guess that explains why I’ve always been terrible at relationships. Hard to connect with someone when you’re apparently part-witch, part-whatever the hell this is.”
Despite everything, I find myself laughing. “That’s what you’re worried about?”
“Hey, a girl has priorities.” But there’s fear behind her attempt at humor. “So what happens now?”
I sober, knowing what I have to say next won’t be easy for either of us. “Now? Now we figure out what the Syndicate is planning. And we keep you alive long enough to do it.”
Chapter 20
Elena
“Keep me alive?” My throat tightens as I stare at him. Something is suddenly dawning on me.
Mom never had anyone to keep her alive.
“Oh, God!” I gasp.
The realization of what must have happened to my mother leaves my head spinning. All these years, I’ve been holding onto hope—hope that she’d just left, that she was living another life somewhere, that maybe she would come back one day. But now I know.
The Syndicate got to her, just like they tried to get to me.
“They killed her, didn’t they?” My voice cracks as I look up at Caleb. He’s moved to stand by the cabin’s window, his broad shoulders tense. “That’s why she never came back.”
He turns to face me, his deep eyes filled with something that looks like regret. With pity.
“I don’t know for certain,” he says carefully. “But if she knew about the Heartstone…”
“How did you know?” I ask, wrapping my arms around myself. “How did you know where to find me tonight?”
He frowns, running a hand through his hair. “I… felt it. Somehow. I can’t explain it.”
“You felt it?”
“Yes. Like a pull.” He looks as confused as I feel. “I knew you were in danger.”
“Danger—…” A sob escapes me before I can stop it. The horror of everything—Mom’s probable fate, my own near miss, the impossible reality of dragons and magic—it’s too much. Twenty years of hoping, of searching, of calling hospitals, and checking Jane Doe reports, all for nothing.
Caleb moves toward me, his expression uncertain. “Elena…”
I don’t think, I just act. I reach for him, needing something—anything—to anchor me to reality. His arms wrap around me instantly, and I press my face against his chest, breathing in his warm, masculine scent. The thump of his heartbeat against my cheek feels comforting… familiar. A rhythm that feels like I know it. Like my own.
“I’ve got you,” he murmurs, one hand stroking my hair.
