Chapter : 840
Judy’s POV
Tears filled Cora’s eyes, which surprised me. I looked at Gavin, who gave me the same look in return, both of us confused by Cora’s sudden mood shift and teary eyes. I thought about reaching out and comforting her because that was in my natural instinct.
“I have never told this story to another living soul,” Cora admitted as she wiped away a fallen tear on her cheek. “But looking at you… seeing how much you look like her… I know you are the person I need to tell this story to, or you’ll never know who you truly are.”
“What story?” I asked, my voice coming out barely above a whisper; I feared what I was going to learn today.
“The story about what I had done…” she said softly, her eyes shifting to her hands, which were folded on her lap. She was nervous, that much was clear, and I found my heart beating faster than normal.
I was nervous too.
“Okay…” I said, cautiously. “What exactly did you do?”
She sniffled and remained silent for a while; I didn’t think she was going to talk again, but she took a deep breath and lifted her gaze to meet mine.
“When I was a little girl, I was in the car with my parents and my best friend, Ivy,” she said, stuttering on Ivy’s name as it pained her to speak out loud. “Ivy and I were in the backseat, goofing around. My powers had just started to come through, and Ivy thought it was the coolest thing; she’s never met anyone with powers before, and she wanted to see how they worked. I knew I shouldn’t have been playing around with something I barely understood… I was old enough to know better… but I didn’t listen to my intuition, and I started to show off some of the powers I discovered I had.”
My heart thudded rapidly against my chest as nerves fluttered in my belly.
“I knew better…” Cora whispered, more tears filling her eyes. “I lost control of my powers that night, and I couldn’t reel them back in… they were too powerful, and I was too new and afraid. By the time my parents realized what was happening… it was too late. The car crashed over the side of the bridge we were driving on and went straight into the ocean…”
My heart stopped in my chest.
“Oh no…” I whispered.
She sniffled and wiped at her eyes, her hands trembling.
I managed to get out as the car was sinking, and Ivy also got out… though she was
pretty badly banged up. My magic seemed to have protected me from serious
injuries, so I got out without any issues. Ivy struggled through and had to be hospitalized…”
“And your parents?” I found myself asking.
She let out a shuddering breath.
“My parents didn’t make it out of the car. They were later found decomposed…” she whispered.
“Oh, Cora… I’m so sorry,” I whispered, tears filling my own eyes.
Gavin wrapped an arm around me as if to anchor me, and I was grateful for his presence as I leaned into him.
“Ivy lost her memories,” Cora whispered. “She woke up in the hospital not knowing who she was or where she was. She had an injury so bad that it ruined her dance career, and her vocal cords were all messed up, so she could no longer sing. She used to have such a beautiful voice and wanted to attend Juilliard after we graduated high school… but that dream never became a reality. I never told her about my part in her injuries. I tried to be her friend even though she didn’t remember me or anyone in her life. Her boyfriend ended up leaving her, not able to take the stress of having her in his life any longer, and her family pretty much disowned her for not being their perfect little girl anymore… I pretty much destroyed her life.”
“And she never knew about it?” I asked.
She let out a breath.
“One evening, was speaking with my grandmother, Esme…” she said softly. “And Èsme told me that one day, my brother and his girlfriend at the time would get married and have a baby. This baby was going to take after me… she was going to be extremely powerful… even more so than me. This power would someday change the world. She was going to be the perfect hybrid between a wolf and a
a wolf and a witch. She told me this information because she knew how badly I struggled with my powers, and she couldn’t imagine what it would do to this newborn baby… not to mention Selene. So, I told her that I would be there to help my brother and his future wife, and I won’t let anything happen to this baby.”
She paused for another moment as she gathered her thoughts.
“I then confessed to my grandmother what had happened and that didn’t want something like that happening again… I couldn’t bear it if it were to happen again and I could prevent it,” she said softly.
“We were at the hospital when confessed this to my grandmother, and I didn’t know that Ivy was also there at the time. She overheard the confession and the prophecy, and to say she was furious and hurt… is an understatement.”