Exaltation (Insight #11)(24)



“The opposite of Miss Emery.”

“Must be why it didn’t pan out,” she said with a wayward wink.

“Why do you say that?”

“Because Miss Emery fits you like a glove.”

“You’re changing the subject again.”

“No. I swear I’m not. You two do not crowd each other, but are there when it matters, or at least when we manage to get ourselves into a pickle. She’s stubborn in a sweet way, and you’re mysterious in a fun way.”

After an awkward silence Raven spoke and tried to change the subject back to the point he seemed determined for her to keep. “So my mom wasn’t stubborn, sweet, or mysterious.”

He let out a sigh. “Would it make you feel bad if I told you I really didn’t know her that well?”

“No, not really. I’m still me.” She smirked. “Good thing I kinda look like you right? That way you don’t get all bothered when you look at me.”

He laughed.

“So where is she?”

“Greater power had its say,” Jamison said quietly as he held her gaze. That’s how he had always explained fate to his girls.

“So was it my birth? Or something else?”

“Raven, the only reason I brought her up is because you’re getting older, more mature, and there may be a few of her traits that might emerge. I want you to be prepared for them. I want you to know that I can help you understand them.”

“Like what?” Raven asked, clearly not liking how dark the conversation seemed to be becoming.

“She was sensitive to the emotion of anger and wrath.”

“Everyone is though.”

“That’s true, but she was sensitive to the point where she wanted to take it away.”

“Oh! So she was like me—she wanted everyone to be mellow so she brought the party or downplayed the drama?”

“No,” he said in a near soundless tone. “In some way that trait of yours comes from me.”

“So, um, are you worried I might become like her?”

“No, not at all. I’m just worried some people may discover a part of your heritage and approach you about it.”

“My heritage? You mean the coven? Or the rumors you’re immortal and I’ll stop aging in the next decade or so?”

“The coven?” he said with a raised brow, wondering if Emery was right, if the girls were really aware.

Raven smiled. In her head she had already figured out her birth mother must be from some other dark coven. That had been a theory River ran by her before.

River liked to read the coven’s history, what she could find of it. She told Raven the coven wasn’t even from this dimension but another one, that it sounded like Jamison, Saige, and some woman named Reveca had moved not only a group of natural witches in the coven, but also an entire home here, forever ago. It sounded like fantasy when Raven heard it, but as mystical as her life was she was sure there was some haze of truth to it.

“Dad, seriously. I know you’re a witch. I know your ‘friends’ are, too. I bet Miss Emery even dabbles in it. I see the way people look at you, me, all of us. You lead them. I know you do.”

Jamison only vaguely smiled as he questioned how dormant her memories of her darkest days really were. “And you never thought to ask me about any of it?”

“A few times.”

“When?”

“I don’t know. When weird stuff happened. But for real it’s like the norm to me and the girls, Soren, too. Only Soren knows his parents are witches. They talk about it all the time. That’s how we figured out you were the boss man.”

Jamison playfully narrowed his stare on her. There was no doubt he had kept her around a small group of people her entire life, but he still assumed she would ask about the practice, the life he led.

“You don’t age either,” Raven said with a slight smile. “Am I going to be like you? Will I not age after I grow up?”

He nodded slightly.

The waitress delivered their food then, so the conversation halted for a few moments.

“Where were we?” Jamison asked, once they were alone again.

“I’m going to live forever and be awesome like you. My mom dug anger but she’s gone now.”

“Raven, I’m trying to have a serious conversation with you.”

“This is my serious. You’re making me think I should have asked more questions before.”

“Did I ever make you feel like you couldn’t?”

“No, but now I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to be like you—how you are like you are.”

His gaze shifted over hers. “It is a very long story, but the basic points are that I didn’t agree with the people I was raised with. I left and began another life. The Dominarum coven helped me have a normal life.”

“Normal,” she said under her breath with a sarcastic wink. Now she was sure that River was right. Raven’s mother was a dark witch or something crazy like that. Her dad was a good one who protected all of them.

He did his best not to grin at her as he went on. “Some of my heritage stayed with me, my knowledge did as well. So I was more so connected with nature as a whole. When this was discovered they asked me to lead the coven. Aunt Saige was the daughter of our past leader. He wanted me to always look after her.”

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