Chapter 233

Tessa’s POV

I stared at this man, Lucias, with disbelief.

“Coven leader?” I whispered.

I was in a coven?

Was this the coven my mother was a part of? The Coven my father desperately wanted to keep me from? My mind was whirling with this information, and I wasn’t sure how much more of it I was going to be able to take.

“Yes,” Lucias said with a bright smile. “This is the Coven you have always belonged to. I’m sorry it took us so long to get you here. Your father wouldn’t allow us to bring you here and we couldn’t exactly go against him. But since he permitted us, I’m pleased to invite you to our family where you will learn everything you need to learn about what you are.”

I shook my head, still unable to wrap my mind around everything.

“I don’t want any of this. I want to go home. I need to see Joseph,” I said breathlessly, tears springing from my eyes still.

Lucias frowned.

“You’ll get over your little crush on that monster soon enough,” he stated his voice hardening.

“It’s not a crush. I love him,” I said through my teeth. “I’m marrying him.”

I went to motion for my hand to show him my ring; the ring that proved just how serious I was about Joseph. The ring he had given me when he proposed marriage to me just the other day. But when I looked at my hand, my heart shattered once again when I realized the ring was no longer on my finger.

“Where is it?” I asked, my voice raspy.

Lucias glanced at my hand and recognition flashed through his eyes.

“That ring you wore? I’m keeping it safe for right now,” he said, shaking his head at me. “I wasn’t sure what it was for. But now I do. I’ll dispose of it properly.”

“Please, don’t,” I said, meeting his eyes. “I’ll do whatever you want, just don’t get rid of the ring.”

I hated how desperate and needy I sounded, but I needed that ring. I needed Joseph. Despite the photo, I was refusing to believe that he was actually gone. He couldn’t have died so easily; not from a simple gunshot wound.

Please, God. Tell me it isn’t true. Tell me he hasn’t been taken from me.

“I do apologize that you are in so much pain right now,” Lucias said, and I could see that he truly meant it, but that didn’t make me feel any better. “But I promise you, Tessa, it won’t last long. You’ll see all you are capable of, and all those nasty vampires did to deserve the fate they will soon get.”

I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“I’d like to uncuff you and show you around the coven house. But I’m worried you’ll try to escape if I do,” Lucias said, eyeing me carefully and completely ignoring my question.

“Joseph didn’t do anything to you,” I said through my teeth, ignoring him in return.

“That’s where you are wrong,” he said, shaking his head with dismay all over his face. “I can see he has you brainwashed. Just like your father said. It’s much worse than I thought though.”

“Joseph has never brainwashed me. You are the ones who are brainwashed. You have no idea what you are talking about and—”

“Those monsters are the reasons why your mother is dead!” Lucias hissed, his eyes glowing red with fury as he spoke those words.

I was stunned, silent, staring up at him with fear probably evident on my face. My body trembled from the force of his words, and I could feel so much power leaking out of him that I could hardly move. All I could do was stare at him silently as he glared back at me.

“They killed her, and our coven has never been the same,” Lucias continued through his teeth. “They are monsters and the sooner you realize that, the better.”

I fought the urge to look around the room again, a familiar sense washing over me.

I’ve been here before.

“This was her room…” I whispered, my voice coming out hoarse.

Lucias’s eyes returned to their normal deep blues as he brushed his fingers through his dark hair. He sighed and then he nodded as he glanced around the room. His eyes landed on the vanity, and he walked toward it, taking a picture off the mirror and returning to me to show me.

I gasped when I saw the familiar face of my mother smiling down at a small baby. The baby was wrapped in a pink blanket and my father was sitting next to them. They were lying in this bed, and they looked incredibly happy.

My heart sank into my stomach even further if that was possible as I continued to look at the image.

“That’s me…” I whispered, staring at the baby wrapped in the pink blanket.

“Lucias nodded and pulled the picture away from my view so he could look at it as well. He ran his finger down the picture, and I could see the sorrowful look in his eyes. But it was gone in an instant as he blinked a few times and then brought the picture back to the mirror.

“Why did my father keep me away from here?” I found myself asking.

Lucias scoffed as he turned back to face me.

“Since the war between vampires and witches, he didn’t want you getting mixed up with our kind or their kind. He spent a long time trying to find a way to get rid of your powers. Or at the very least hiding them,” Lucias explained, shaking his head. “I told him countless times that it wasn’t possible, but he wouldn’t listen.”

“Joseph isn’t the enemy…” I said in a whisper. “He didn’t kill my mother.”

“He was there that night,” Lucias said, shaking his head and looking at me with such pity that it tore me apart from the inside. “He was after what they were all after.”

“He doesn’t even remember what happened,” I said, desperately trying to get through to him. “He has no memory of that night other than being there. He doesn’t think he would hurt anyone on purpose though… I have no reason to not believe him. I trust Joseph.”

“You are a naive girl, Tessa. Soon, you will understand the truth about what happened all those years ago. But for right now, I need you to trust us. We are your coven, and we only want what’s best for you. Despite what you might think, you are not a prisoner here. I’m sorry about how things had to happen in order to get you here, but it was for your own good. You are already 23 years old and in a couple years, your powers will be at full strength. You won’t be able to control them unless you train. That’s what we are here for. We only want to help you.”

He said I wasn’t a prisoner, but the cuffs around my wrists said otherwise. The only thing I truly wanted was to see Joseph and to make sure he was okay. But I knew that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. I needed to have some faith that he was okay and that Lucias was bluffing about his death. I had to hold onto the faith that the picture I was shown was fake and that Joseph was alive and looking for me.

But I also knew that he was right; I had to learn how to control my powers before I reached the age of 25. There was no avoiding what I was despite how hard my father tried to avoid it.

Also, I could finally learn the truth about my mother and what happened all those years ago. This could be my ticket to finding out everything that’s been kept from me.

“You’ll train me?” I asked, peering up at him.

He nodded his head once.

“You have my word,” he answered. “This is your home, Tessa. We are your family. Your mother trusted us… you can trust us too.”

I didn’t trust him. I didn’t trust him because they might have hurt Joseph. But I wasn’t going to argue with him. I needed to be trained and I needed to find out the truth.

Then, I needed to get the hell out of here.

So I calmly nodded, willing my body to relax.

“Okay…” I finally said after a short pause.

Lucias looked pleased.

“I’m going to uncuff you now,” Lucias finally said after a beat of silence. “Will you stay with us?”

“Yes,” I whispered. “I’ll stay.”

His smile only grew wider. He reached into his pocket and took out a small key.

He unlatched one handcuff and my arm fell to the side while he undid the other handcuff. I felt better with my hands free.

I rubbed my aching wrists and saw small red rings around them where the cuffs were tightened.

“Now, come with me. I’ll show you around the coven house and introduce you to your family,” Lucias said, motioning for me to follow him.

I slid out of bed hesitantly, keeping my arms wrapped around my body like I was trying to keep myself together. He gave me a fond smile as he looked me over. He stepped beside me and draped a protective arm around his shoulders, making me grimace from the unwanted touch. With me tucked in his arm, he turned and walked with me out of the room.

We walked for a moment longer until we reached a set of stairs.

I could hear talking on the floor below.

It looked like a basic two-story house and when we got to the bottom floor we were in a cozy-looking living room which was mainly lit by candles.

I saw Patty sitting on the couch with a few others and I don’t think any of them had noticed us yet because their conversations continued.

“I think this girl is going to cause us some problems,” I heard Patty saying to the others in a hushed whisper. “We need to be wary of her. I’m not sure why Lucias was so persistent on having her here…”

Were they talking about me?