Chapter 4 The Talk

“Mum, look out…!”

The words tore out of my throat just as the creature’s dark spear came down. Something hot and bright shot from my hand without me even thinking about it. A beam of red fire slammed into the creature’s side and knocked it sideways, but not before the tip of that spear scratched across Mum’s hand. She hissed in pain and stumbled back a step.

The two boys moved fast after that. The taller one with the sharp strikes and the one with the silver strand in his hair finished off the last of the creatures until the living room finally went quiet. Broken furniture and deep marks on the walls were everywhere, but at least nothing was still trying to kill us.

I ran straight to Mum. “Are you okay? Does it hurt a lot?”

She gave me a weak smile and held up her hand so I could see the long red scratch. “I’m fine, sweetheart. It’s just a scratch. Nothing serious.”

I looked around the wrecked room, my heart still racing, and the questions came spilling out all at once. “What is going on? Why are these things showing up here? What’s wrong with me? And why are you two so calm about all of this like you’ve seen it before?”

Mum and Dad exchanged a long look. They both sighed at the same time, and that single shared breath told me they were hiding something big. Before I could demand answers right then and there, the taller boy stepped forward and gave a small nod.

“I’m Maurice,” he said.

The other boy, the handsome one with the silver strand, nodded as well. “And I’m Alvin.”

Gianna finally seemed to remember they were standing there. “Oh, I almost forgot about you two. I’m so very thankful for your help. You answered really fast.”

Maurice gave a short laugh. “With all your bugging through the call, why wouldn’t we answer? You were practically shouting in our heads.”

Alvin looked at Gianna and smiled. “You did well holding them off until we got here. That wand work was clean.” Then his eyes shifted to me and stayed there a second longer. “And you… you’ve got a pretty face and that cool red strand in your hair. It suits you perfectly.”

Heat rushed straight to my cheeks. I looked down at the floor for a moment, trying to pretend my face wasn’t turning red, then forced myself to stand up straight again and act normal.

Maurice glanced at the broken windows and then at Alvin. “We should go. We’re already behind schedule back at school. The instructors are going to notice if we stay any longer.”

Alvin gave one last nod toward us. “Stay safe.” Then the two of them disappeared the same way they had arrived, in a quick flash of light and air.

The second they were gone I turned to face my parents. “We need to talk. Right now. No more pretending nothing happened.”

Mum looked at Dad, then back at me, and finally nodded. “You’re right. It’s time for the talk.”

We all moved into what was left of the sitting room. Gianna started to stand like she planned to leave us alone, but Mum stopped her with a gentle hand.

“You should stay,” Mum said. “You’re a magical creature too, and you’ve already been pulled into this. It’s better if you hear it with her.”

Gianna sat back down without arguing.

Mum took a deep breath and looked straight at me. “Nimona… you have magic. Real magic. Your powers are awakening because you turned sixteen today. That’s why the fire came out of your hand, and that’s why those creatures found you. We are so sorry we never told you any of this before. We kept it secret because we wanted to keep you safe for as long as we possibly could.”

Dad nodded slowly. “She’s telling the truth. We never wanted you to find out this way, but the time came whether we were ready or not.”

For a second I just sat there staring at them. Then the anger hit me hard and fast. Sixteen years. Sixteen whole years of thinking I was just an ordinary girl who liked books about wolves and fantasy worlds, and they had known the entire time that I was something else.

“You lied to me,” I said, my voice rising. “You both lied to me for my entire life. You let me believe I was normal when you knew I wasn’t. I loved those wolf stories and all those fantasy books, and you just sat there watching me, knowing it meant something more, and you never said a single word. How could you do that?”

Mum’s eyes filled with tears, but I didn’t want to hear soft answers right then. I stood up so fast the chair scraped across the floor.

“I can’t stay here and listen to this right now.”

I ran up the stairs, went straight into my room, and slammed the door hard behind me. I dropped onto the edge of the bed and stared at the floor, still furious. After everything, the birthday, the amulet, the way they had always been so careful with me, they had been hiding the biggest truth of all. I was something special, and they had kept it from me on purpose.

My eyes drifted over to the shelf where all my wolf books sat in a neat row. I reached out, picked one up, and held it in my lap. The cover showed a pack running under a full moon. For a moment a small smile tugged at my mouth. I had brought fire out of my own hands today. That was actually pretty cool. Maybe being something more than ordinary wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

Then the anger came back just as strong. Cool or not, they had still lied. I had every right to be upset about that.

A soft knock sounded at the door.

“Nimona?” Mum’s voice was quiet. “Can you come out, please? We’re sorry. We never wanted to hurt you.”

Gianna’s voice joined hers. “She’s right. And at least now you know you’re something cool and really strong. That part isn’t so bad, is it?”

I sat there for another long minute, then finally stood up and opened the door. Mum looked tired and sad. Gianna gave me a small, hopeful smile. I followed them back downstairs to the living room without saying much.

Once we were sitting again I looked at Mum and tried to keep my voice steady. “I need more answers. You can’t just tell me I have magic and then stop. What else is there? What am I exactly? Why did those creatures come after me?”

Mum shook her head slowly. “That’s all I can tell you for now, sweetheart. You’re still too young to know everything, and some of it isn’t safe to talk about here. If you really want the full answers… there’s somewhere you need to go.”

She turned to look at Dad, her face serious and qui

et. “Gregor…… I think it’s high time you take her to…… Crimson Academy.”