Page 25 of Miles's Pact
Thank you, I said after a long moment of silence, because they were the only words I could formulate. It didn't feel quite real, though I knew Miles wouldn't lie to me.
"There's more," Miles murmured, and Mateo got off the armchair he'd been sitting in and perched himself on the coffee table, bringing him closer to me. He didn't often look so serious, and I wondered what could be bad enough to put that look on his face.
What is it?I urged when neither of them spoke, and Miles leaned forward to peer at me.
"Duckie... your mom's alive."
I stared at him, uncomprehending, as his words circled around in my head. Alive? How could my mom be alive? I'd seen her body, hadn't I?
While those men had carried me out of the house, I'd seen my parents lying in a pool of blood, seen the bullet holes in their bodies.
And if shewasalive, that meant... that meant she'd been on her own all these years. Did she think I was dead? Or had she been waiting for me while I was too much of a coward to go back home?
Fuck, I... I needed to get out of here. I needed tobreathe.
Instead of saying anything to the two men watching me with concern, I took off, glad they always left the windows open as I flew out into the sky, not caring about the still-pouring rain as I tried to breathe.
Mom was alive. She wasalive.She was out there somewhere. Somewhere I could go see her. What would she think of me? Of the way I'd lived my life these past years? Would she be sad, or disappointed that I'd let fear control my life?
Mom and Dad had been fated mates, and I couldn't even imagine what it was like for her to lose Dad. I'd only known Mateo and Miles for a few weeks, and I already couldn't bear to think about losing them.
As if thinking of them had summoned them, I sensed them behind me, though they kept their distance. They didn't tryto talk to me, or get me to come back, only flew behind me, watching out for me as I dealt with the sickening mix of feelings inside me.
I wasn't sure how long I flew, but the rain had stopped at some point, and my feathers were almost dry by the time I returned to the house, my body starting to ache from the unusual amount of exertion.
Hopping up onto the couch, I settled in the middle, feeling a smidge calmer when Miles and Mateo huddled into me from both sides, still in their owl forms. Their clothes lay in a crumpled heap on the floor at the foot of the couch, abandoned when they'd chased after me.
We were quiet for a while, and I loved how neither of them said anything. They let me think, let mebe.
Can we go see her? My mom?I asked after what felt like hours, and Miles rubbed his head against my neck.
Of course. It's not a long drive, but if you want to get there faster, I can ask Rhiannon if she's free to portal us. She's a warlock, and she can get us there in seconds,Miles promised, making it more real.
Whatever you want,Mateo repeated, and I nodded. I wanted to see my mother. I had no idea what I would say to her, or if I'd even be able to talk to her with me in this form.
The men who'd scared me into hiding were gone, though. Could I get past my fear, now that I knew they would never be able to hurt me?
