My Brother’s Mate
Chapter 20

Emily's POV

I wake up in a sweat and sit up. I look around my room. Was that a dream or a vision? What is so special about my blood? I need to ask Miranda about that. I check the time and it's not too early for breakfast, but I should shower first. After showering and drying my hair, I get dressed and head down stairs to eat. The whole morning my stomach has been aching for food. I get to the cafeteria and grab a coffee and a seat. As soon as my plate is in front of me, I stuff my face. It's crepes for breakfast today. My absolute favorite. They are filled with Nutella and topped with whipped cream and strawberries. Breakfast foods are the best foods. You can eat them any time of the day. Oh I need to tell my mom im coming over to practice magic today.

"Hey mom." I mind link her.

"Good morning dear."

"Can I come over today to practice magic?" I ask.

"Yes, your father will be out all day with the Alpha." She tells me.

"Ok, I'll be over after breakfast." I debate if I should get a second plate or not. I probably shouldn't, I'm not working out as much as I use to. Buuuuut One more plate won't kill me. I get a second plate of crepes. It was just as good as the first. No regrets! I finish up and head over to my parents. I walk through the front door to replace my mom in the living room.

"Hey mom."

"Hey Emily. How were the crepes?" She asks.

"How do you know I ate crepes?"

"You have some Nutella on your cheek." She licks her thumb and wipes the Nutella off my cheek.

"Thanks. Mom, I had a weird dream the other night."

"What was it about?"

"It first started out with me in a dark place and voices surrounding me."

"What where they saying?"

"All different things like, protect myself, my blood, I will end everything. But then I closed my eyes and screamed. Then I was in a forest and the wind talked to me."

"What did it say?" My mom was getting more intrigued as I went on.

"She told me I needed to pick between my heart or my head to follow. She said they will be there if I need them."

"If it's the wind, why are you saying she?"

"It was a woman's voice. She sounded.. mature."

"So, old?"

"Mature" I insist. "I had another dream last night."

"Go on."

"There was a man with icy blue eyes. He wanted my blood. The dream felt so real, like I was really in the forest with him."

"Anything else?"

"No, I woke up in a sweat though."

"Hmm bizarre dreams. We should talk to Miranda about them." My mom says grabbing the book Miranda gave to me. She places it down in front of me.

"So how do I do this?"

"Do what?" She asks.

"Magic." She smiles at me and opens the book.

"Well let's see what the book says."

"Within these pages you will replace valuable information regarding knowing where your power comes from, herbs, potions, talisman, and simple spells every young witch should know. These basics are the building blocks to greater magic."

This sounds like homework the more I read. The book talks about the source of each witches power. There is a test to replace out where my power lies.

"So I have to test to see where my power comes from." I tell my mom.

"What kind of test?"

"It says here I will need a pouch of herbs, there's a list, a talisman, and a pouch of dirt."

"Well let's see what I have. You can go get the dirt." I grab a small empty jam jar and go out back. I sit on the grass and dig up the grass to get to the dirt underneath. I fill the jar about half way and try to put the grass back. I hurry back inside to see how my mom is doing. I see she has found all the herbs asked for in the book.

"But what about the talisman? Do you have one?" I ask.

"Actually, your grandmother had one or two. I believe it's upstairs in the attic. We'll have to go look through some boxes." We go upstairs and into the attic.

"Where is the light switch?" I rub my hands on the wall looking.

"It's over there." My mom says.

"If I could see where you were pointing, I would go there." The light flips on.

"Over here." My mom says.

"Well good, now which box is it?"

"It's one of the ones up against this far wall."

"Ok, let's get looking. Wait, what am I looking for?" I ask.

"One is a necklace with a purple stone wrapped in bronze roses. The other one is a moon stone ring. All her jewelry should be together." I open one box and riffle through it. Nothing but photos and some papers. I open up the box next to it. I look over at my mom who is looking at photos from when she was a girl. I turn back to my new box and pull back the flaps. There are papers and another box inside. I pull the box out of the larger box to open it.

"Oh Emily, that's it." My mom says. I open the lid of the box and I see a few rings and ear rings, necklaces and bracelets. My mom crouches down next to me.

"That ring." She points to a ring with a white stone. I pick it up.

"What about the necklace?"

"We only need one, but I guess we can grab it if we need it for something else." She looks over the jewelry.

"That strange, I don't see it here." As I'm holding the box, my finger feels a cut on the bottom of the box. I lift the box over my head to see the bottom without dumping everything out. Under the box is a cut out. "What is that?" I ask. My mom looks. She touches the cut out and slides it out. Out falls a purple stone necklace.

"Why would she hide this?" I ask.

"I don't know. But if she did, maybe we should too." My mom says. She puts the necklace in her pocket and we go back down stairs and into the kitchen.

"I don't know. But if she did, maybe we should too." My mom says. She puts the necklace in her pocket and we go back down stairs and into the kitchen.

"Ok so we have the herbs." My mom hands me a pouch. For some reason I smell it, and it smells like rose, sage, and mint.

"We have the talisman." She hands me the ring. I put it on my finger.

"And we have the dirt." She hands me the jar.

"What's next?" My mom picks up the book and reads.

"It says you do a power lamination spell and it will reveal which one you pull your power from. Then it goes on to tell you about each type of witch. Here is the spell." My mom places the book on the table in front of me. "It's only three words." I look up at my mom.

"Are you upset you don't have to make a speech?" My mom teases.

"No I just thought there would be more to it."

"Go on then. Say your three words and let's replace out what you are." I take a deep breath and hope I say this correctly. I close my eyes and say the spell.

"fons virtutis illustra" I open my eyes to the talisman, dirt, and herbs all glowing yellow.

"Mom they're all glowing." I look at my mom and she has a look of shock on her face.

"Honey, you're glowing." I look down at the rest of me and to my surprise I am glowing. My mom hands me a small mirror from her purse. I am glowing yellows and whites, the others are just yellow. "What does it mean?" I ask. My mom looks through the book for an answer. She is silent for longer than I like.

"Well?" I ask in anticipation.

"It doesn't say anything."

"What?" I take the book from her and skim it. She's right, it just talks about when each one glows individually. The glow has worn off, thank goodness. "How am I suppose to know what kind of witch I am?" I ask.

"I don't know dear."

"Can we go see Miranda? She gave me this book maybe she knows."

"I suppose so. We will have to run some errands to cover our reason for leaving." She says, almost to herself.

"Let's go." My mom and I drive the two hours to Miranda's house. We pull up to her house and I rush out of the car, to her front door.

"Miranda! Miranda!" I knock on the door. She opens her door.

"What is it?" I rush past her and into her home.

"Everything glowed. What does it mean?" I hold open the book to the test.

"All of it glowed?" She hesitates.

"Yes, the talisman, the dirt, the herbs, me, it all glowed. What does it mean?" My mom finally enters the house. Miranda still looks shocked at my question.

"If they all glowed then I have a question for you, who is your father?" Miranda looks at my mother, and so do I.