Origin of Magic (Dragon's Gift: The Protector #3)(15)

Voices sounded from below. Eerily familiar ones.

I ran to the window, shoving it open and leaning out. Below, two figures in their fifties were dismounting from enormous horses. They were both dressed in the same leather armor as Orion had been. A man and a woman.

My mother and father.

A gasp strangled in my throat and my head swam. My mother and father. Mum and Da!





Chapter Five





They were real. They were alive. And I recognized them. Even from up here, I could see my mother’s brown hair and green eyes. My father’s dark hair and tall build. I was about to wave when they raced inside.

Holy fates! Excitements and nerves collided inside me. I didn’t know how to process this. They were here!

Would they like me?

Oh, shit, this was bad.

I had no more time to worry. My mother burst through the door, her brown hair flying behind her.

Shock and joy stole my breath as she collided with me, throwing her arms around me. “Phoenix!”

Her voice was so familiar. Even though I hadn’t remembered it until now, it was familiar. Tears burned my eyes. I clutched her to me, amazed that I was finally with my mother again. This was real.

My father joined us, wrapping his arms around the two of us. Joy like I’d never known filled my body.

My parents.

I’d wanted them for so long. Wanted answers. And here they were.

My mother pulled back, tears sparkling in her green eyes. “Let me look at you.”

I smiled, tears pouring down my face.

“You’re so beautiful. And so big.” She looked at my father. “We’ve lost so many years.”

“But we’ve found her.” His gray gaze met mine. “We’ve found you.”

“How?”

“Come.” My mother held my hand, gesturing toward the door. “We’ll go to the sitting room.”

I collected the beaker and followed them to a room with two couches and a fireplace. Finally, a memory rushed to the surface. Me, playing here as a child.

We sat on the couches, my mother next to me and my father on the other couch. There was a massive window in front of me showing a beautiful view of the city and mountains. I turned toward my mother.

“How did the portal finally appear to me after so long?”

She reached for my hand. Only then did I realize that not only was she dressed like a warrior, she looked like one. Her arms were strong and lean, daggers sheathed at her hips.

“We’ve been searching ever since you were captured on one of our trading expeditions to the outside world,” my mother said. “He took us as well, but we escaped within the first day. We tried to find you, but they’d taken you elsewhere. We’ve searched ever since, but you were well hidden.”

Tears pricked my eyes. At least they’d searched for me. And I wasn’t responsible for my father’s death—he wasn’t even dead. The Monster’s threat had been empty, the vision of my father being run through by a sword was an illusion. My shoulders relaxed, as if for the first time in my life. Like I’d been carrying that tension and that fear for a decade.

“It’s taken ten years.” My father frowned. “Too long.”

“Why now?” I asked.

“In the last week, your unique magical signature has grown. Our tracker could sense that. Finally, we had a way to find you, and our strongest wizard sent a portal to you. It was drawn to you by your unique magic.”

“My unique magic? You mean my FireSoul nature?”

“No.” My mother shook her head. “I mean your gift over life. Over plants.”

So I wasn’t crazy.

“You would have learned your magic sooner if you’d been here,” my mother said. “But the magic waited, bursting free when it couldn’t wait any longer.”

“I wouldn’t call it bursting,” I said. “Some strange stuff has happened with plants. But no bursting.”

Should there have been bursting?

My mother laughed. “It will come.”

“Why do I have such great plant magic if this place has no plants at all?” Despite my parents’ arrival, it still felt strange here. Wrong, somehow.

My mother and father shared a look, indecision and worry.

“What is it?” I demanded.

“We must tell her,” my father said.

“Not yet.” My mother whispered, worry in her gaze.

“Tell me what?” The hair on my arms stood on end.

“It’s nothing,” my mother said. “It can wait until—”

“Tell me.” I gripped her hands. “Please.”

Resignation shined in her eyes, and that scared me more than anything.

“Fine.” She swallowed hard, then gestured to the huge glass window that gave a fabulous view of the city climbing up the valley and the mountains towering overhead. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

“It is.”

“It was once covered in greenery. Plants and trees and crops in the lower valley beyond.”

“What happened?”

“You were born.”

Uh, that sounded bad.

“But it was a good thing,” she rushed to say. “A good thing. Though this place began to die. The plants and trees slowly withering away, giving their life and their magic to you.”