Chapter 243

Tessa’s POV

Joseph looked just as confused as I was. His eyes never left my father’s, and my father was staring wide-eyed at Esmeralda, his mouth agape. She didn’t look as surprised to see him though. She stood off to the side of Joseph with her arms folded across her chest.

“We need to talk, Rick,” she said to him, her lips pressed in a thin line.

Before he could say anything in return, I stepped out of the car next, much to Joseph’s dismay. Joseph snapped me a look that told me he didn’t want me to leave the car, but this was too much for me to stay put. I had to know what was going on.

How did my father know Esmeralda? Or better yet, how did Esmeralda know my father?

My father’s eyes finally found mine and his entire face paled.

“Tessa?” He whispered, his eyes searching my face before he looked back at Esme. “What’s going on?”

Esme chanced a nervous glance over her shoulder and at me before turning her attention back to my father.

“Like I said, we need to talk,” she said, stepping toward him. “Can we come inside?”

After a breath, my father finally nodded and stepped aside his door so we could enter. Joseph took hold of my hand, and I stayed close to him as we walked into my father’s house. But Esme stood on the bottom of the steps, staring up at my father with dismay written all over her face.

“I need you to invite me inside,” she muttered, wrapping her arms around her body as if she were desperately trying to hold herself together. “Out loud.”

He looked at her for a long while before nodding.

“Esme, come inside,” he told her in a voice so firm that it brought shivers to my body.

Joseph noticed my tensed body and wrapped his arms around me; I melted into him and basked in the warmth he provided as I leaned my head against his chest. He kissed the top of my head gently as we watched Esme walk into the house.

“Is there anyone else here?” She asked, looking around my father’s large and seemingly quiet house.

“My wife is upstairs sleeping. I was getting a glass of water when I saw the headlights outside,” he told her, much to her surprise apparently because she was soon whipping around to face him with knitted-together brows.

“You remarried?”

His cheeks flushed and he nodded.

“Let’s go into the living room,” he said, motioning for us to follow behind him.

We followed and walked through the large kitchen and into the open living room. Joseph kept his arms around me as we made our way to the couch. Esme sat on the loveseat while my father sat on his recliner.

“What’s going on?” My father finally asked, breaking through the thick layer of silence that consumed us. “Why are you with my daughter, Esme…?”

“You might not remember everything that happened, Rick. But that coven you sent your daughter to isn’t a good place,” Esme finally said, narrowing her eyes at my father. “You can’t trust them.”

His brows furrowed together.

“What are you talking about? They told me they only wanted to help her with her powers and her control,” my father told her.

She shook her head.

“Alison never wanted her to be a part of that coven and neither did you. They were feeding you lies. The only one Lucias wants to help is himself,” Esmeralda spat with disgust all over her face.

Her words caused a shiver to course through my body, and I found myself leaning into Joseph for extra warmth and comfort.

“How do you two know each other?” Joseph asked the question that I desperately wanted to know myself but was unable to form the words.

As if she forgot we were sitting there, Esme jumped at the sound of Joseph’s voice before relaxing her body and peering over at us.

“We met a long time ago,” she said, meeting my eyes. “I am your mother’s best friend.”

My entire heart fell into my stomach, and I felt paralyzed by her words.

What did she just say?

This couldn’t be real. This had to be some cruel joke or something.

But as I stared around her face, I was starting to see that maybe this wasn’t a joke at all. She looked so serious and very sorrowful. My heart started to tug, and I soon understood the truth of her words.

I hardly knew this woman, but something inside of me believed her. I trusted that feeling; I think I trusted her.

“Your mother and I were part of the same coven, and it was run by an elder witch, Constance,” she explained. “Lucias was also a part of that coven along with the others I’m sure you have met while there… There were some new faces. But for the most part, I remembered most of them since my time there.”

Esmeralda visibly shuddered at the memory.

I looked at my father, tears brimming in the corner of my eyes.

“And you?”

My father stared at his hands.

“I met your mother in college,” he told me. “I met Esme through your mother. I’m just as lost as you are, Tess…I hadn’t seen her since your mother died. I’m not sure what she’s doing here or what’s going on. I honestly thought she was dead all this time.”

“I’m obviously not dead. I’m here because I had to get your daughter to safety. Alison would have been pissed if she knew you let them take her,” Esme scolded, her brows furrowed. “You promised her, Rick.”

His eyes widened as he looked like he was genuinely trying to remember.

Noticing this, Esme’s face softened, and she leaned back in the seat, seemingly defeated.

“It was her spell…” she whispered, shaking her head. “It made you forget your promise.”

“He made a promise to my mother?” I asked, raising my brows and looking between the two of them. “Is that why you kept what I am a secret from me? Because Mom didn’t want me to know? Was that the promise?”

He opened his mouth to speak but Esmeralda cut him off.

“Now, that’s interesting,” she said, looking at my father. “You kept your daughter’s abilities a secret from her? This whole time?”

“I promised Alison I would keep her safe no matter what,” my father finally said. “I didn’t know how else to do that. That’s the only promise I remember.”

Esme sighed and shook her head at him; there was sadness in her eyes, and it tugged at my heart. Then she looked at me.

“Do you know the story of how your parents met?” She asked.

I raised my brows.

I didn’t know what this had to do with anything. But I recalled the story my father had once told me about him meeting my mom. They had the same economics class; he fell in love with her brains before her beauty. They went on several dates on the down-low because my mother had told him that her family didn’t approve of her dating anyone. So, their relationship was in secret until she got pregnant with me.

After I recalled the story out loud, my father nodded and said, “And that’s a true story. Our relationship was a secret for a while. But it wasn’t really her family we were worried about… it was the coven. Apparently, they had rules about dating mortals. When she got pregnant with you, your mother left the coven.”

“She left?” I gasped, staring between them.

“That was part of it,” Esmeralda said, nodding. “But there’s more to the story that she didn’t want you to remember. The real reason why she left the coven.”

“When I was at the coven, I got a strange vibe from almost everyone there,” I admitted, recalling the last couple of weeks. “I couldn’t explain it… but it was a nagging feeling in my gut. Something was wrong and I couldn’t figure out what it was…”

“You are a powerful being, Tessa. Your intuition is your guide, and you should always listen to it. You have the ability to know when someone is being truthful or not. You can also tell if you are in danger or heading towards danger. You know who you can trust and who you can’t. Always listen to what your body is telling you,” Esmeralda said earnestly. “Powerful witches always know.”

“Do all witches have that power?” I found myself asking.

She shook her head.

“Not all witches have a power as accurate as that,” she told me. “Only the most powerful. But Tessa, you are a rare gem.”

“What makes me so rare?”

She looked at my father and then back at me; she leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees and holding onto her hands as she spoke this next question for me.

“Has anyone ever mentioned something called the Heavenly Heart?”

“What do you know about the Heavenly Heart?” Joseph was quick to ask, drawing our attention to him.

Esmeralda raised her brows at him.

“What do you know about the Heavenly Heart?” She asked in return, sounding as confused as I felt.

Noticing that all our eyes were on him, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He swiped the screen a few times before he came across something and then he showed it to Esmeralda.

She took the phone and brought it closer to her eyes, her brows furrowing together as she looked at whatever it was.

“Where did you find this?” She asked, her voice dropping to a whisper like she was afraid someone might overhear her.

“When I went into Lucias’ office to look for Tessa’s ring, I found those papers in one of his drawers,” Joseph explained. “They seemed important, so I took some pictures. If you keep swiping, you’ll see more. There’s a lot of information about Tessa and photos of her.”

“What?” I gasped, staring at Joseph with large eyes. “Are you serious? Pictures?”

He wrapped a protective arm around me, pulling me to his side as he nodded.

Esme’s breath grew heavy as she scanned the contents on his phone before she handed him the phone back, her eyes clouded like she was in a daze.

“The Heavenly Heart…” my father whispered. “Why does that sound so familiar?”

“Because you heard of it before,” Esme said to him in return. “The problem is, nobody should remember it, not even Lucias. The fact that he does is an issue, and it means we were correct to get Tessa out of there.”

My father looked at her and then he looked at me, meeting my eyes.

“I…I can’t remember…” my father murmured, sounding defeating.

I wasn’t sure if he was putting on a show or if he really couldn’t remember. Esme said that no one should remember and that only made me more frustrated. After a beat of silence, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I was angry, I was hurt, and I was so very confused. I wanted… no… I needed answers.

“Dad…” I said, leaning forward and toward him, keeping my eyes on him and refusing to break our contact. “If you remember anything about the Heavenly Heart, please… tell me… no more keeping things from me. No more lies. Tell me the truth for once. I need you to remember.”

I was pleading, and it might have been irrational, but I didn’t care. I needed to know the truth.

His eyes grew wide and then recognition flashed through them. He gasped and just as he was about to speak, the sound of a car door slamming shut drew away our attention.