The Magic at the End of the World (Do You Remember, Book 5)

Interlude

"To be honest, though, I don't know whether I should call you a liar or accuse you of witchcraft," Kieran snapped as he glared at Joanna. "You say you know Jed is not dead, but why aren't you telling me where he is?"

"I am neither a liar nor a witch, but I know Jed well enough to know that he specifically told me to keep his whereabouts a mystery until you developed your powers," said Joanna. "Plus, I know that he believes it's possible that you could have powers; you don't know it yet."

"So am I really magic?" said Kieran.

"I believe so," said Joanna. "As you may have noticed, if someone in your immediate family happens to be magic, there's a 85% chance that you could be magic as well. Since Jed was raised as your brother and your sister Courtney came to stay with you, you were exposed to magic at a very young age."

"And what about us?" Samantha said as she and Jenna glared at Joanna. "Are we magic as well?"

"I'm not too sure about that, but I know that Allison and Tabitha are both magic, as they both had magical mothers," said Joanna. "Yet in spite of all the rules that the Supreme Council had set against magical people marrying nonmagical people over 80 years ago, there is a large population of people who have a magical mother and a nonmagical father, which is most of this new generation. Yet there are some people who have a magical father and a nonmagical mother, which is something that was largely unheard of in the last 449 years."

Allison then said, "So what about magical people breeding with vampires? What does the Supreme Council have to say about that?"

"Vampires were created using the foulest of magic, as well as the werewolves and orcs," said Joanna. "There's laws that forbid vampires and werewolves breeding with humans, but those laws are rarely enforced. Magorious Hoffelbax was the most infamous child of a coupling between a human woman and a werewolf; you know the story behind his wrath all too well."

To Allison, Joanna said, "As for your mother, she was a born vampire, which is extremely rare, yet she appeared to be more human than vampire. Your father, however, was a vampire. Yet you're half vampire and half witch, if the story about Petronella Goldstein is to be believed."

Joanna then said to the others, "I would suggest that you suspend your disbelief in the supernatural, as what you're about to hear will make you question everything that you think you know about this country's history..."

"But what about you?" said Kieran. "You've been a vampire longer than the United States has existed. Surely you know its history!"

"I do, and I don't," said Joanna. "Of course, my brothers and I have arrived here shortly before the 1900s began, and that meant something significant. The nation of Columbiana was slowly rising, yet the country of Amerianbourgh was quickly dying due to the lack of people living in it. My brothers Toby and Orlando eagerly mated with several women and created children, as did most of my original clan, but after Sansa's birth, I vowed to never have any more children. Adam, however, was still too young to create children as it were. But enough of that; we have more to learn about Jed and his legacy before you embrace your powers..."