A Clash of Storms (A Shade of Vampire #50)(70)

“Will someone please tell me what is going on here?” Harper burst out, unable to keep track of our rapid and puzzling conversation.

“Sorry, honey.” I sighed. “It’s… It’s complicated, and we’re trying to find the right way to tell you without you thinking that we’re horrible parents…”

“Harper, listen.” Tejus steered us back on topic. “You have an older brother and sister we never told you about.”

“What?!”

Her eyes nearly popped out of their orbits, her lips parting as she was left speechless and gaping at us.

“We never told you about them because… we couldn’t remember them up until a few minutes ago,” I added. “We’d been feeling like there was something missing from our lives, but we couldn’t really explain what it was because we couldn’t remember.”

“There’s some foul play involved, Harper,” Tejus continued. “Last time we saw Phoenix and Serena, we were at Sherus and Nuriya’s ball, at their palace on the fire-fae star in the In-Between. Then, the next day… it was like our children never existed. The same happened to the others. There are Jovi and Aida, Victoria and Bastien’s kids. Vita, Grace and Lawrence’s daughter. And Field, the fifth of the Hawk brothers. Nobody could remember them anymore…”

It took Harper a couple of minutes to process the information, pacing around the kitchen and running her fingers through her hair. She took deep breaths before she stopped in front of us, while Tejus and I waited quietly for a reaction—I dreaded a possible rejection, although, technically speaking, my husband was right. We were not to blame. I would’ve never forgotten about my own children, willingly, and the hole that I’d been living with for so many years was clear proof that whatever magic had been used to wipe my memory clean of Phoenix and Serena, it could not delete my love for them.

I’d been longing for them for two decades.

“Okay.” Harper finally spoke. “You guys are amazing, so please, don’t think for a second that I would ever blame you for this. It’s not in your nature to be such forgetful jerks, for sure. And the same goes for River and Ben, the Hawks, Uncle Lawrence and Aunt Grace, or Victoria and Bastien. There’s clearly something weird going on here. How did you remember, though?”

Relief washed over me, and I couldn’t help but smile and be thankful that Harper had a clear head and immediately went into her investigative mode. Her training at GASP had definitely left its mark on her.

“I don’t know,” I replied. “It’s like something broke, all of a sudden. Tejus and I were talking about it, and then poof, it all came back. Twenty years we thought we’d lived differently.”

“This was powerful magic for sure, Mom.” Harper frowned. “Think about it. Not a single person in The Shade remembers Phoenix and Serena… Cool names, by the way. Not to mention the others. This was deliberate.”

I took a moment to look at Harper, holding on to the calm and composure that she’d so carefully built over the years. This gorgeous young creature was my rock, my beacon of light, and the source of my strength. Tejus worshipped her, and he had every reason to. We’d raised a true fighter.

Tejus took his cell phone out, looking in the address book.

“What are you doing?” I asked, my voice nearly gone.

“Calling the others,” he replied as he selected a number and put the phone to his ear. “We can’t be the only two remembering.”

“Dad’s right,” Harper said. “You’re not the only ones missing children and siblings in your lives right now.”

“Gah! This is so weird…” I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose. Harper moved closer and hugged me, and I welcomed her warmth and affection. I needed her energy now, more than ever.

Harper listened quietly as Tejus caught up with Lawrence and Bastien. I called my mother and realized we were both raw and emotional about this. She and Dad had started to remember, and they were just as shell-shocked as we were. We asked them all to meet at the Great Hall, urging them to call in the others, too, including the Hawk brothers, Derek and Sofia, and the rest of the councilmembers.

We rushed out of our treehouse with Harper and followed the path through the dark forest, heading toward the Great Hall. Birds trilled in the foliage above, and the wind brushed against my skin, calming me a little.

We reached the clearing in a matter of minutes, the Great Dome rising proudly in the middle. The lights had been turned on. I rushed inside, followed by Tejus and Harper, and found that my parents had been the first to arrive. I burst into tears and found comfort in my mother’s arms for a couple of minutes as the rest of our council members poured in.

We joined our circle of family and friends in the meeting space. Sofia and Derek sat at the head of the massive table, Aiden, Lucas, Vivienne, and Xavier on either immediate side of them, while Victoria, Bastien, Grace, and Lawrence paced around nervously. The Hawk brothers sat in chairs, arms crossed and sullen, while Corrine and Ibrahim talked animatedly with Mona, Shayla, and several other witches. Rose and Caleb stood by one of the large windows facing east, while Caia and Dmitri leaned against the western windows, watching their parents with genuine concern. I stayed with Tejus, Harper, and my parents.

None of us had seen this coming.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but we’ll get to the bottom of it.” My grandfather Derek came to us and laid a hand on Tejus’s shoulder, while Sofia moved around and hugged me tightly.