Dark Heart of Magic (Black Blade #2)(43)

“What are you doing here?” Deah demanded again. “You’re trespassing.”

I couldn’t exactly tell her that I’d been sneaking around her house and spying on her dad, so I went with the first lie that popped into my head. “I was looking for Felix.”

Deah crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. Felix sighed, then held out a hand. I reached down and helped him to his feet.

“Is this another one of your girlfriends?” she snapped.

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t be an idiot. I came over here to make sure that no one spotted your Romeo—like, say, Blake or your dad.”

“How did you even know I was coming over here?” Felix asked.

I snorted. “Please. You’re crazy about her. As soon as she stomped off at the tournament today, I knew you’d probably sneak over here tonight and make some grand romantic gesture to win her back. Am I wrong?”

Felix winced, but he didn’t deny my accusation.

“Don’t be so cross, darling,” another voice piped up. “It’s always nice to have visitors.”

The blond woman had finished arranging the roses on my father’s grave. She got to her feet, skipped back over, and stopped next to me.

“What are you doing out here?” Deah asked, concern creasing her face. “You know you’re not supposed to leave the house after dark. It’s not safe.”

The woman beamed at me. “Talking to Serena. What does it look like I’m doing, silly? And it’s perfectly safe. Serena knows all about the monsters and the best ways to handle them.”

Deah sighed. “Mom. . . .”

My eyebrows shot up in my face. “This is your mom?”

“Yes,” she snapped. “This is my mom. Seleste Draconi. Do you have a problem with that?”

Her eyes glittered with anger, and her hand dropped to her sword again in a clear challenge.

“Now, don’t be mad at Serena,” Seleste said. “We were just catching up. It’s been so terribly long since I’ve seen her. We’re family, you see.”

Seleste patted my shoulder, her touch light and soft. Us? Family? Why would she think that?

Deah frowned. “What’s she talking about? Why does she keep calling you Serena? Did you do something to her?”

I held up my hands. “I didn’t do anything to your mom. I was out here looking for Felix when she came skipping into the cemetery.”

“What did she say to you?”

I shrugged. “Nothing really. Just some weird, random stuff.”

Deah tensed, her jaw clenching. “She talked to you? Tell me what she said. Tell me the exact words.”

“Why? It was all just gibberish about bones and blades and stuff.”

She opened her mouth, probably to demand that I tell her what her mom had said, but another voice boomed through the night.

“Deah!” Blake shouted. “Where are you? Your crazy-ass mom got out of her room again!”

She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. Then she turned and yelled back to him. “I’m over here, Blake! I found her! We’ll be there in a minute!”

Blake didn’t respond, although a door slammed somewhere in the distance as though he’d gone back inside the castle.

“You two need to leave,” Deah hissed. “Now.”

Felix held out his hand. “But—”

“No buts. Just go.” Her face softened. “I’ll text you later. Okay?”

He nodded. Deah stepped up, put her arm around her mom’s shoulder, and gently steered her away from me. Still smiling, Seleste looked back over her shoulder and gave me a cheery wave.

“So nice to finally meet you, Lila. I’ll be seeing you again soon,” she called out in that eerie, singsong voice.

Deah tightened her grip on her mom, opened the cemetery gate, and hurried toward the castle. She never looked back.

I waited until they were out of earshot before I looked at Felix. “What was that about? Why does Deah’s mom act like that?”

He sighed and kicked at a tuft of overgrown grass. “Because she has a Talent for sight, specifically for seeing the future. She’s always been like that, for as long as I can remember.”

“Deah’s mom can see the future?” I’d heard of folks having that power, but it was a rare Talent, and I’d never met anyone before with it.

He nodded. “Yeah. She’s always saying strange stuff, calling people by other names, seeing monsters that aren’t there, things like that. And she’s always wandering off. Deah has to watch her all the time to make sure she doesn’t get too far from the house and accidentally hurt herself or get eaten by a monster. Once, Seleste managed to get all the way down to the lochness bridge in town before Deah and the guards caught up with her.”

I winced. That sounded like a rough life for Deah and her mom. “Is Seleste always so . . . out of it?”

Felix shrugged. “It comes and goes. Apparently, she’s pretty clear during the day, but the sight or visions or whatever get worse at night.” He looked at me. “What did she say to you? According to Deah, she’s pretty accurate. The rumor is that’s why Victor married her—for her visions.”

We have to warn the girls about the wolf.... The wolf wants to devour them both, gobble them up until there’s nothing left but bones and blades. . . . No blood, just bones and blades . . . bones and blades . . . bones and blades....