Love, Lies & Blood Ties - Whitby Shadows Series Book 2

Chapter Fourteen

My jaw dropped. "What? How?"

Rubbing her hand over the frozen picture of my dad throwing balls of air at seagulls, Keres made the image disappear, plunging us back into nothing but moonlight.

"Power is something that is lusted after by everyone. It does not differentiate between humans, vampires, witches, or anything else that exists. When you were born, it became evident almost immediately you were, well, what you are. Your parents, instead of revelling in the joys of being new parents, found themselves backed into a corner, not knowing who to trust and viewing every single person as a potential threat. By the time you started school, things had progressed to a stage where they had to do something to protect you and themselves."

I frowned. "What did they do?"

"With the aid of a couple of Elders, they put a binding spell on you. It was designed to hide your magic. In the name of plausible deniability, they both asked to have their memories locked too."

"Locked?"

She nodded. "Memories can't be erased. They're an imprint on the brain. But what we can do is lock them away so deep, you never remember. We removed all elements of magic and witchcraft from their memories so they still had the years they'd spent together just minus a few truths."

"Mum's magic gems in her story of her and Dad turned into rocks...he threw rocks at the birds. Is that why?"

"Yes, it is."

"And when they split, why did they split?"

Keres looked at the ground and sighed. "Your father came to us on his own and asked for you and your mum to move away, somewhere far away where no one would likely find you. His main concern was keeping you and your mum safe. He asked to stay here in the hope that any interested parties would expect to find you close by."

"And now I'm back. With a vampire...man friend, or whatever the hell he is, and a witch for a friend and co-worker." I nodded. "Sounds like I'm back right in the thick of it to me."

"You've nothing to fear, Caitlyn. We're all here for you and we're behind you one hundred percent."

"I...this has been one hell of a day for me. I think I need to get some sleep."

"Of course. There is one other thing though."

"Dare I ask?"

She laughed. "Your father, before he dies, we need to release his memories or he will become a restless spirit."

"How do we do that?"

Keres held out her hand, a small vial in the palm of her hand. A rosy pink liquid filled it with tiny sparkles, like glitter, shining throughout it. "Just add this to his cup of tea. It'll bring everything back to him."

I couldn't help but look at it with suspicion.

"Take the lid off and smell it. It's quite alright."

I reached out and took it from her. Prising off the small cap, I found myself pleasantly overwhelmed with the scent of fresh air and roses. "That smells gorgeous."

Keres nodded. "It won't hurt him in the slightest. Hopefully it'll give you two some common ground to talk about before he passes."

I replaced the cap and sighed. "Thank you."

"I do need to explain your part as a doppelganger before you go though."

I'd completely forgotten about that. I wasn't sure I could even take on any more information today. "Ok, I'm listening. Can't promise I'll remember it though."