She leaned forward slightly. “Layla, you can’t blame yourself. You also can’t rely on dreams. I’m not saying don’t pay them any mind but just to take them with a grain of salt. In our world, they’re windows into the future. But they don’t reveal every detail. For example, the seer who envisioned the prophecy only saw an inhuman child born to a Monroe witch turn the Monroe coven into vampires. Nothing further in that vision was revealed. So we still don’t know if it includes all witches or if we will lose our powers or when that would happen. We assume and speculate, and we run scared or act like Maeve and other witches, wanting to kill so that the prophecy doesn’t come true.”
“I understand. I’m just looking back at the signs. The little boy in my dream looks like Sam. Is he Orion? If so, is my son trying to warn me about something in the distant future? He’d said I had to help his sister.”
She crossed one leg over the other. “Maybe. Maybe not. Layla, your children are safe now. Take a breath. I’m here to help and guide you. I know you probably have lots of questions about witchcraft, and we’ll get to them.”
We certainly had many things to discuss, and right now we had plenty of time since we were on a plane.
“We don’t land for another hour,” I said. “Maybe we can talk now.”
“Sure. Where do you want to start?” she asked.
I bit my lower lip. “While we’re on the topic of dreams, will I be able to dream walk like you?”
I recalled Sheriff Stan’s administrative assistant, Grace, explaining the difference between a dream walker and a shared dream.“Dream walkers make deliberate efforts to walk into a person’s consciousness and gain control over their space, and the powerful ones can control your actions, whereas a shared dream is done without control.”
“Possibly,” Agnes said. “But that feat takes years of practice, and first you need to understand the basics. For example, the difference between a blood spell, a nonblood spell, and your natural witch ability.”
I could feel my eyebrows drawing down. “When you say natural, you mean my mind control? I had that ability when I was pregnant. It wasn’t my strongest, but I assumed my children gave me magical powers.”
She shrugged. “In a way, they did. But they couldn’t have unlocked your true potential. If you hadn’t drunk my blood, then whatever powers you had while pregnant probably would’ve died off.”
“So why do some spells need blood and others don’t?”
“Ah, yes. The Monroes are blood witches. We activate our powers by the blood of an older Monroe witch. As you have done by drinking mine. So some of our spells will require blood to work. Whereas the nonblood witches can’t perform the spells we do, like the one you used on Maeve. And the one she’d been about to cast on you would’ve boiled you from the inside out if she’d given you her blood.”
I shivered at the thought, then something occurred to me. “Abbey is a Monroe. But her mom is dead. So how does she have magic?”
She bobbed her head. “I’ve been thinking about that. The only way is that Rachel had to have given Abbey her blood at some point before Rachel died. She probably wanted to make sure Abbey had her powers. After all, Rachel was in hiding, and she probably feared for Abbey’s life, and she wanted to be sure Abbey had a way to protect herself.”
That certainly made sense. I couldn’t help but think, what if my mom had accepted who she truly was? Then she could’ve used her powers to help my dad kill vampires. But I couldn’t change the past. I was just grateful that I had Agnes’s help.
“Thank you for saving me and Sam,” I said.
She pinned her brown gaze on me. “I’m happy I had the chance. And I will do whatever is necessary to help in any way I can, Layla.” Her tone was heartfelt.
I leaned into the space between us and held out my hands. “I would like that very much.” As much as I needed her so I could grasp my newfound powers, I also would like to build a relationship with her.
She held my hands, her eyes brimming with tears. No words needed to be spoken. It was a quiet exchange of feelings between two relative strangers bound by a shared bond of blood.
Letting go of her, I sat back. “Agnes, I know life might be awkward for you around vampires. But everyone in my extended family are the best creatures you’ll ever meet. I also haven’t thought about where you’ll stay. But rest assured we’ll figure something out.”
While I hadn’t been a good reader of people in the past, especially with those I trusted, Agnes deserved a chance. Not to mention, she’d proven herself so far. Plus, she was Abbey’s great-grandmother, and Jo would want a chance for her adoptive daughter to meet someone who shared the same bloodline.
“I’m not worried,” she said. “I’m just grateful. I want to get to know you, Jordyn, and Abbey.”
Turbulence rocked the plane.
“Fuck,” Sam growled.
My strong and powerful husband hated flying. He’d claimed it could be a death sentence for a vampire. It could for humans as well.
Agnes gripped the arms of the chair. Seemed she didn’t like flying either.
“Sam, are the babies okay?” I peeked around my seat at him.
He was across the aisle and behind but facing me. His handsome features were tight. “They’re doing better than me.”
“Bloodsucker is afraid to fly?” Dane chided. “Well, now.”
