Chapter 297

Tessa’s POV

Once we got to the house, I helped everyone bring their stuff inside, Joseph went to deal with the moving truck and the storage unit. Hannah’s mouth fell open when she saw the size of the house and then she looked at me.

“You live here?” She asked, surprised.

I nodded.

“I told Joseph it was too much. But I guess it worked out good now, right?”

“Can we pick our own rooms?” Amy asked as we walked inside.

“Sure, there’s plenty of them. Some of you might need to double up though. You can’t have my and Joseph’s room. That’s the first door to the right. Each room has its own bathroom. The attack is also finished if one of you wants to stay in there. There’s a staircase to it and everything. Same with the basement. The basement is kind of like its own apartment with a couple of rooms.”

“I’ll live in the basement,” Cole said and then he looked at Bennet. “Want to be my roommate down there?”

“Absolutely,” Bennet said.

“Remember, this is only temporary, you guys. We are going to be looking for a more permanent arrangement soon. But make yourselves comfortable,” I told everybody.

Everybody dispersed to find their rooms except for Derek, who was still a little sheepish, and Patty.

“I really appreciate all you are doing for us,” Patty said, giving me a gentle smile. “I know it’s probably not easy given all we have done to you. I mean… I hit you over the head and kidnapped you. I’m so sorry… I would have never—”

“I take it Esmeralda filled you in on most things?” I asked, a hint of a smile on my lips.

I made it a point to not talk too much about what had happened to me these last few weeks because I didn’t want them feeling any worse than they already did. Derek already knew that he shot Joseph and almost killed him, he’s still a mess over it. I didn’t want the rest of them feeling the same way.

Patty nodded sadly.

“And your father—”

“It’s okay, Patty. Neither of you was in the right headspace,” I assured her.

Then again, I’m not sure what came over my dad. I still couldn’t believe he would sell me out that easily. He couldn’t stand the idea of me practicing magic so I couldn’t imagine Lucias being that persuasive. Maybe it was true that he would do anything to keep me away from Joseph, even if it meant sending me to the coven. My mother knew they weren’t safe and for a long time, so did my father. But he somehow forgot that fact and sent me there anyway.

I couldn’t seem to wrap my head around it.

“He would have never agreed to it unless he was under some kind of spell,” Patty told me as if she could read my thoughts. “Your house had always been a safe haven thanks to your mother. Witches outside of her bloodline can’t get inside the house without the homeowner’s permission. It was also supposed to protect your father from the curse so that he would remember what had happened that night. That way he could protect you and keep you safe. That was the main reason it was so important for him to remain in the house. You two were the only ones in the house. Of course, you were too young to remember anything… but your father…”

Her words trailed off.

My brows crinkled and pinched together.

“Are you saying my father should have remembered everything?” I asked, confused. I was under the impression that he couldn’t remember because of my mother’s curse. I didn’t know that he was protected from it.

She nodded slowly.

“I’m not sure how or why he forgot about the curse, but it had nothing to do with your mother’s curse. He had called me later in the night after the war was settled to make sure the rest of the coven made it back okay and to inform me that you were safe. He remembered everything after the curse. That was the last I remember speaking to him before everything went black.”

A tight knot formed in the pit of my stomach. Now, I had even more questions.

She put a hand on my shoulder.

“Lucias shouldn’t have known about you. He wasn’t part of the circle. I’m not sure how he was immune to the curse, but it must have been early on because everything went black the next morning. He did something too and for that…I could never forgive him. Even after death.”

Tears filled my eyes; I couldn’t imagine what they had gone through. They lost almost two decades of their lives. I hugged her tightly; she returned the hug.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered. “I wish I had known.”

“It was impossible for you to know. I’m assuming I still acted like myself?”

I smiled and pulled back.

“You were the best baker in the town,” I told her.

Her eyes widened.

“A baker?” She asked. “Oh, I loved baking growing up. Did I bake often?”

I couldn’t believe she couldn’t remember any of this stuff.

“You own a bakery,” I told her. “Patty’s Bakery to be exactly.”

Her mouth fell open.

“I ran my own business?” She asked in shock.

I nodded.

“Yes, you did. You loved working there. For a long time, I had no idea you were part of a coven. You seemed normal. You also had a huge crush on my father, despite his new wife.”

Her brows raised.

“He remarried?”

I nodded.

“Yeah. A few years ago,” I told her.

She went quiet for a moment while she allowed that to process.

“What is it?” I asked, worry filling my chest.

“It’s nothing. It’s just that he made a vow to your mother that he would never remarry,” Patty said softly. “He said even if he ended up finding new love, there would always only be one wife for him and he wasn’t going to change that for anything or anyone. It’s just funny how he went back on his word.”

“It was sudden,” I admitted. “I wasn’t even invited to the wedding. He came home with her just as I was getting ready to leave for college. I was pissed honestly because he was always against marriage. Up until that point, we used to visit my mother’s grave and he would still tell her that he loved her and cry over her death. So, when he brought Penny home… it was just weird.”

Patty went quiet again as she allowed that to sink in.

“Have I met this Penny?”

I nodded.

“On my many occasions,” I told her. “She’s young which is mainly why I don’t like her. She’s supposed to be in her 40s, but she looks like she’s in her 20s. She acts like it too. I can’t remember a time she ever lifted a finger to help my father around the farm. She’s quite annoying but lately started to grow on me a little.”

“That’s odd…” She said, still deep in thought.

“What is?” I asked, worry starting to consume me.

She shook her head like she was erasing the thought from her mind.

“I would just be careful. I’m not sure how Penny came into the picture or why your father suddenly forgot about you being the Heavenly Heart and protecting you from all including the coven, but I’m getting a bad feeling.”

Now that she mentioned it, I was having a bad feeling too.

“You don’t think Penny is somehow involved, do you?”

The thought weighed heavily on my mind as I sat there and processed our conversation. Patty had gone quiet and I could tell she was thinking the same exact thing. I didn’t like thinking that my father could be in danger because of his wife. I couldn’t even imagine Penny pulling something like that off. I mean, she was nothing more than a human woman.

Wasn’t she?

“I think maybe for right now, we should just be wary. We can’t risk anything anymore. I lost two decades of my life because of someone I underestimated. I’m not sure how he managed to pull all of this off… but I’m certain he wasn’t acting alone. He couldn’t have been acting alone. It’s not possible for his level of power. He had to have had help…”

I nodded thoughfully as I chewed on my bottom lip.

“I’m going to find my room now,” she said, squeezing my shoulder gently.

She turned and walked toward the stairs. That was when I noticed Derek sitting on the couch still; he was looking at me and he looked nervous about something.

“Are you going to find a room?” I asked him.

“I was waiting until everyone else found theirs. Then, I’ll find one. After all, I had done, I don’t deserve to choose one first.”

I smiled down at him.

“Derek, they all did terrible things. Some two decades of their lives. You have to stop being so hard on yourself,” I told him.

“I know… but it’ll take some time,” he told me as he stood. Then he gave me a small smile. “I’ll go upstairs now.”

He started to walk away, but then he paused and looked at me.

“I wasn’t trying to listen to your conversation, but I couldn’t help it,” he murmured. “You talked about your father’s wife… Penny. Is she blonde and pretty?”

I frowned.

“Yes, she is. How did you know that?” I asked.

He met my eyes.

“Because I remember her,” he said softly. “She helped Lucias recruit me. I haven’t seen her since that night, but she was there.”

And just like that, my whole world fell down around me.