A Clash of Storms (A Shade of Vampire #50)(73)

I ran toward them, unable to think of anything other than the urgent need to feel them in my arms, to hold them tight and to never let them go. They beamed at me and darted in my direction.

We met halfway in an embrace, laughing and crying at the same time as Tejus came from behind and joined us. We kissed and hugged and held each other, twenty years of absence making their presence felt.

“I missed you so much,” Serena sobbed as she hid her face in my hair.

I couldn’t stop kissing her cheek and temple, wrapping my arms around her while Tejus kissed the top of her head and Phoenix kissed my forehead. We were an emotional jumble of bodies and arms, a family reunited.

I heard the others crying as they hugged their loved ones.

I could breathe again.





Vita





I crumbled the moment I saw Mom and Dad come through the portal. They shot across the throne room so fast, I barely had time to blink. They both hugged me at once, holding me tight and dropping kisses on my face and on the top of my head, and I cried with joy and relief. I felt their warmth and welcomed their kindness and love after weeks of fearing I’d never see them again.

“Oh, Vita, my sweet, sweet baby!” Mom sobbed, hugging me.

Her tears trickled down her cheeks, smudging against mine as Dad held us both.

“How are you, sweetheart?” he asked, his voice thick with emotion, his eyes searching my face. His brows furrowed as he took in all the visible changes, the scratches and dirt smears from my earlier tumble with Azazel.

“I’m okay. I’m much better, now that you’re both here,” I replied gently.

“We didn’t know.” Mom sniffed and wiped her eyes. “We… We had no idea…”

“I know, Mom, it wasn’t your fault. Please don’t blame yourselves,” I said, looking at both of them. “The Daughters shrouded Eritopia for everyone’s safety, both ours and yours, until we could fix the problem.”

“What… What problem did you fix?” Dad asked.

“Well…” I sighed, trying to find the right words to summarize the insanity of the weeks since I’d last seen them. “Um, in short, there was an evil overlord here, conquering the galaxy. And it turns out he really, and I mean really, wanted Aida, Phoenix, and me because guess what, Mom? When the Nevertide Oracle touched your bellies, she passed her powers on to us. We’re Oracles, and that night at the fae ball our powers awakened and we were brought here, for our own protection… and yours.”

That was a lot to unpack, I could tell. Mom and Dad stared at one another, then looked over their shoulders for a brief moment. Serena and Phoenix were briefing their parents, and so were Aida, Jovi, and Field. The same expressions were present on their side, too—a combination of befuddlement and consternation that would take a while to get over.

“What… What do you mean you’re an Oracle, sweetie?” Mom finally found her voice again.

“I’m not the typical kind of Oracle, from what we’ve been able to ascertain.” I tried to comfort her, as I could already see her visualizing a blind daughter with black runes flitting across her skin and no genitalia. “I won’t change, physically speaking. I mean, I haven’t so far, and I’ve been learning to control my visions. I can only see the future, though. The Nevertide Oracle, whose name is Abrille, by the way, split her powers in three when she touched you, Hazel, and Victoria. Phoenix can only see the past, and Aida can only see the present.”

“How did you learn all this?” Dad asked, his eyes darting around the room and settling on Bijarki, who stood a couple of feet away, watching and waiting patiently.

I told them about how we had been brought here and how Azazel had abducted Abrille already, about our connection and how we developed our Oracle abilities. But it was so much to take in, and I was too happy to see them to waste any more time talking about Azazel and the horrors we’d lived through.

“I’ll tell you all about what happened, from day one until you showed up, I promise,” I said gently. “What matters is that we made it… And I’m sorry you had to go on for twenty years without me…”

“We’ve lived with an emptiness inside ourselves for so long.” Mom exhaled sharply, as if a weight had been lifted from her heart and she could breathe again. “We didn’t know we’d had a daughter, and when it all came back, I nearly broke down from the guilt. I mean, what mother doesn’t remember her children, huh? Meanwhile, you’ve been here, fighting for your life and dealing with these new abilities, and… I’ve missed you so much, baby!”

She hugged me again, kissing my forehead, while Dad ran his fingers through my messy hair.

“You couldn’t have known because the Daughters’ magic is powerful. They’re like demi-goddesses or something. To be honest, it’s better that you didn’t know. It would’ve made everything much, much worse. At least we handled it and won, and now we’re back together. That’s really all that matters.”

“You’re right, sweetheart,” Dad replied, then squinted his tawny brown eyes at me, the corner of his mouth twitching. He looked like he’d noticed something else about me that was different. “Something else happened with you... Something good. I sense a difference in your demeanor…”