After my tussle with Thomas in The Forest, I’d been left with some burning questions. Gus and Ranger X didn’t seem particularly chatty when I brought them up, and Poppy and Zin were either clueless, or they were great at pretending to know nothing.
“What are you doing? Knocking?” The door swung open, and Hettie’s eyes danced across the lawn. “What didn’t you understand when I told you to be discreet?”
“There was someone here before me—” I stopped abruptly at Hettie’s obvious stare. “Oh, you were expecting someone else, too.”
“Yes,” she grumped. “Come in now before the entire world sees you.”
“Nobody can get through The Twist unless you ring them in,” I said, stepping into the echoing hall that looked out of place from the cottage-esque exterior. I lowered my hood. “Well, and West Isle Witches, but nobody followed me.”
“I’m glad to see you can obey some instructions.” Hettie closed the door firmly behind me, and I scanned the hallway, looking for a tiger. I was pretty sure it didn’t exist, but I’d gotten into the habit of checking, just in case. Better safe than sorry, especially when it came to Hettie’s tricks. “Come out to the porch. It’s charmed to keep all sound inside so we won’t be overheard.”
I followed Hettie to the rear of the house where a full-sized wraparound porch spanned the length of the back wall. “Who else are we waiting for?”
“You’re both here.” Hettie gestured to the porch.
“Gus?” I moved forward as he pulled his hood back from his face. “What are you doing here?”
“This is my meeting, not his.” Hettie clapped her hands. “Attention on me, por favor.”
Feeling more confused than ever, I took a seat in a rickety old rocking chair and gave Gus a curious side-eye as I waited for Hettie to clear her throat.
“Lily, I asked you here tonight because I think it’s time you learned a few answers to those questions you’ve been annoying everyone with lately,” Hettie said. “You know, the ones about your history, and all of that jazz.”
“Annoying everyone?” I said faintly.
Gus gave a subtle roll of his eyes and a shake of his head. If I read his look right, he was telling me not to argue.
“Wonderful,” I said instead. “Answers?”
“When we brought you back to The Isle a few months ago,” Hettie said, “we wanted you to learn and grow and adjust organically to the culture. We knew it’d be a shock after spending most of your life in the human realm. We would have brought you over sooner, but unfortunately due to the curse, that wasn’t possible. We couldn’t find you. It took years and years to crack that curse.”
“Mimsey and Trinket have mentioned that before,” I said. “Who cursed me?”
“Your own mother cursed you,” Hettie said. “She made it impossible for us to find you for twenty-five years.”
“What?” I cleared my throat. “Why would she do that?”
“She wanted you to live to see your twenty-sixth birthday.” Hettie’s pace slowed, her eyes darkening as she remembered. “I can’t say that I blame her.”
I shook my head, still not understanding.
“She knew you had the Mixology gene, or suspected it, at least. I think we all did on some level when you were born. There’s something about you, Lily. A power that seeps from your pores. Even as a baby…”
She trailed off, and then cleared her throat. “I’m sorry. Your mother is my daughter, and sometimes…” Hettie stopped to gather her breath. “She was my daughter, I should say. Almost a year after you were born, your mother slipped into the dark of night and brought you to the mainland. You see, The Faction realized you had been born. The next Mixologist had arrived, and for them, that was dangerous.”
I looked over at Gus, but he was too busy staring at his hands, listening, to look back.
“If your mother had stayed on The Isle with you, we would have trained you from birth. You would have worked hard, you would have been pushed to learn and understand and do great things, even as a child. And, most importantly, you would’ve had a target on your back.”
“Your mother came to me,” Gus interrupted. “The night she left for the mainland, she came to me with you as a babe, cradled in her arms. I’ll never forget it.” He shook his head. “Her eyes…they were on fire. I’ve never seen such a look before. She loved you, Lily, a lot.”
“Why did she take me away?” I asked. “I like it here. I would’ve liked it here, even if it was dangerous.”