Ace of Hearts

Epilogue

One month later

The moment I saw Theo in Rousseau's my stomach dropped with the familiar dread that comes only with catastrophes. Kol's hand finds mine as we both approach, and I'm sure he can hear my heart frantically pounding in my chest. "What's wrong?" I question, ignoring my brother's offer to sit.

Maybe I was stupid to think that life could be normal. After all, it's only been a week here, and Kol's already growing antsy with the hiding he has to do until I can get far enough in Marcel's good graces for him to not be seen as a threat. Not to mention, the growing pressure of the impending harvest. Along with the knowledge that I could stop it or be killed to keep the ancestor's dirty secrets buried.

"It's Dad." Theo whispers as he looks between Kol and I. He still doesn't know the full truth about why I was sent away. "He went to intervene after—"

"After what?" I pressure him.

"Davina was chosen."

"Davina as in my cousin?" Theo nods in confirmation of my worst fears. My breath rattles as I release it in a harsh sigh. "Damn, I really was hoping I could be selfish this once."

"What are you talking about, Ace? What's going on?" Kol turns me to face him, clearly attuned to the fact that I'm about to do something dangerous.

"Kol, you're gonna need to sit down for a second." He reluctantly slides onto a bar stool, and I ring my hands together. "First, I need you to understand that this is something I have to do, but nothing bad will happen.

"I never told you the complete story of why I was given up for adoption. The truth is much more convoluted then you know. Judah did give me up for my own safety, and the main reason is finally rearing its ugly head. The New Orleans witches practice ancestral magic, which means they have to keep a direct tie to this land and their ancestors. To do that, about every century they perform—"

"A harvest. Yes, I'm familiar with them." Kol interrupts, and I can see the gears turning in his head. "What exactly do you have to do with a Harvest?"

"It's more like what I am that has to do with it." I pause and nonverbally ask my brother to give us some space as I take the seat across from Kol. "Judah explained to me that my great-aunt was like me—a siphon, who could also gift magic. She kept it a secret her whole life, and no one ever suspected anything of her. Until one day, she was chosen to be a harvest girl. It didn't seem like anything much at the time. Her worst fear was someone discovering her secret and killing or shunning her.

"Unfortunately, she was discovered, but it went much worse than anyone would have thought. As a Harvest girl, she was tethered with the coven's magic, and the ancestors soon realized what she was. They wanted to kill her, but with the link to their magic, they feared her death stealing it away far worse than she did alive. The ancestors and the coven came up with an alternative. In an attempt to back track, they tried to prepare another harvest girl, but there was no changing what had been done.

"At least, not with there already being four harvest girls already chosen and prepared. Everyone split into two factions. One half thought it would be best to simply go through with the harvest as planned. There was nothing that suggested my great-aunt wouldn't be able to release the magic back into the earth as the others would.

"The remaining fraction believed that she should be killed so that her link would be severed and the ancestors could do what they deemed necessary to her. Judah explained to me that if the ancestors ever—" I pause to clear my throat and bite back the fear clawing it's way up my throat. "—if they ever caught her in their domain, her soul would be shredded, and I, being the same way, would share the same fate if I'm ever consecrated."