Haunting Shadows (Book 2)

Chapter 29

I awoke in a start, temporarily disoriented, at a loss for where I was. Panic seized me as I took in my unfamiliar surroundings. But then my eyes caught the dirty boots in the corner and I remember where I was. I slipped out of the bed and pulled the robe on before leaving the room.

The door led to a long, narrow hallway. I only saw about three doors as I went down it, my room being at the end of it. I stated waling past the other rooms, but I heard no sounds. If it wasn’t the middle of the night, then I guessed they’d be downstairs in either the dining or living rooms.

As I descended the stairs, I started to make out voices coming from another room. I snuck toward it, deciding to eavesdrop to hear what they might be saying about me when they thought I couldn’t hear.

“So you just make a habit out of screwing random women you don’t even like? Tell me, are there any other brothers and sisters out there I should know about?”

“I was lonely, she was there. How was I supposed to know she’d get pregnant?”

“Well, you could’ve kept it in you pants and avoided this all together. My mother had to have just died. Did you even care about her?” Natalia accused. Damn, she sounded pissed.

“No. I know you don’t like to hear this and invent your own little story about who your mother was, Natalia, but she was a whore, and nothing more. I found her in a brothel! She died because she got sick, not because she was a witch. She couldn’t wield magic even if her life depended on it. But you are not your mother, and while I couldn’t care less about her, I do love you. Do not doubt me.”

“You are an ass,” Natalia said.

“I love you too, darling.”

She sighed. “What are we going to do about your child? She’s obviously very weak… she has some bite, but other than that she is just dead weight. She almost drowned in the tub today.”

“Natalia, be nice, she is your sister after all.”

“Just because we share your blood, does not make her my sister.”

I was shocked by her cold tone. She had acted so nice to me only to hate me when I wasn’t around? Why was I even surprised? I was suddenly very glad I decided to eavesdrop.

“She has magic, we could train her.”

“So she can move a couple of objects around? So helpful.”

They underestimated me. I smirked. I may not have had a lot of control of my magic, but I knew I was capable of much more than that. She didn’t know I had cause the storm before she found me and that was the actual reason I was so weak and drained.

“Honey, if she has even a fragment of my blood, she’s going to be capable of much more than that.”

So James was defending me? Have they done a role reversal or something?

I kept standing where I was. “How long until she’ll be awake?” James asked.

“I gave her a sleeping potion. At least twenty four hours.”

“How long ago did you give it to her?”

I moved closer to hear them better. “Three hours. There’s a lot of time. And until then, she’s out of the way.”

“I really didn’t peg you for the jealous type,” James said.

I heard something crash onto the floor. “Can she do that?” Again, the corners of my mouth twitched up at her ignorance.

“We don’t know what she can do, and that has you one edge, my dear daughter. That, and she had the attention of that boy that was in here.”

“You think so little of me, father.”

“That’s because I know you.”

I decided to stop listening at that point and went back up to my room and climbed into the bed. It seemed that peace was something still far from my reach.