Midnight Shades

Chapter 22

"What?" I immediately panic. "What is it? Do you know him?" I question frantically.

She tugs at her hair as she closes her eyes and draws in a deep breath, trying to calm herself I suppose. She walks around the room once before stopping in front of me and Esme, and just before I question her strange behaviour, she speaks.

"You have to tell me the truth first." Her statement both confuses me and worries me. What does she mean by me telling her the truth?

"The truth about what?" Esme questions, as if reading my mind.

"I mean, are you hiding something, Tallulah?" Wren clarifies, staring right into my soul and causing me to swallow harshly.

Am I hiding something? No, I'm not. However, I did not exactly tell them about what happened with my mother and the fact that I do not have any powers, unlike them.

Anyway, I am not sure if I'm supposed to tell them or not. Yes, it is about me, and yes, they are my best friends but I cannot forget that this is a huge part of my mother's past and life. By telling them, I can be putting my mother to danger, and I certainly will not be tolerating doing that.

"No," I finally decide. "What would I hide? You know everything about me going to the city and meeting Louis." I lie, thanking Lyara in that moment that I can lie easily and be believable.

"Not about Louis, Tallulah," Wren shakes her head slightly, eyeing me sympathetically. "I mean about your mother or father?"

It is only then that Esme gasps and her hands fly to cover her wide open mouth, as if something has just hit her right now, as if she realised what Wren means, just like I did. Wren either knows or she heard about something before, and I don't know which so I still don't say anything about it.

"No," I blink heavily. "What do you mean by saying that?" I want to drag the truth out of her mouth without saying something that might reveal anything about my mother or me.

"Well, is there is something that they aren't telling you?" She stupidly asks.

"How would I know, Wren?" I laugh bitterly.

"Just tell her, for Lyara's sake!" Esme snaps at Wren who closes her eyes.

"His name is Conall. Artis' brother is Conall," she informs me. So, she does know him. "Three years ago there was a major problem in the village but they kept it as a secret."

"What problem?" I quietly ask. What have I missed?

"It was one of the men here involved with a woman outside. A human," the blood drains from my body as she continues, "the one who found out was Conall, Artis' brother and he demanded that that man must be executed..." She trails off, glancing at Esme as her hands starts shaking slightly.

"What?" I question the both of them.

"They executed him..." Again, she trails off before taking a deep breath and continuing, "along with the human woman, because she was pregnant. She was carrying his child."

The air vanishes from around me, and I start to feel like there is a tight grip around my neck, suffocating me and blocking all the air from my lungs. Can someone be so cruel and brutal? Do people truly think that wickedly? Do they not think about the soul of the people they are killing? The soul that was not even born yet?

As the tears start to burn my eyes and my heart starts functioning rapidly against my rip cage, I let out a small whimper as I ask, "What are you saying?"

"Baby, I'm so sorry," Wren chokes as she sits next to me on the bed and takes my hand between hers. "When we knew that you left early that day in the training, I knew something was up, especially when I knew from a girl called Donella that your Master said that you have no powers."