Chapter 58: Imminent

The shower had been getting dirtier much faster and more often than usual. Maybe I was feeling the side effects of having no genies in the house to magically clean everything. I decided to take things into my own hands and upgrade the bathroom to all self-cleaning appliances. The toilet was done already last night, and now it was the shower's turn.

The possibility that I might have another sibling was still in the back of my mind ever since I'd had that dream about my mother finding out she was pregnant while I was still a baby. I wasn't sure about it though, considering my mother's violent reaction to the news. I didn't know yet if she had decided to keep the baby. Speaking of babies, I had been feeling nauseous since my night out with Gavin and I think another baby might be on the way.

"Sicily Zenteri? No way! You shop at this grocery store too? I'm so excited to see you!"

A sort of attractive looking guy stopped me outside the grocery store and gushed over me. I was less annoyed with him since he was at least nice about seeing me. I did find it cute that he was starstruck.

"Hello. Yes, I do shop here."

"Sorry, forgive me for being so ecstatic, you probably deal with this all the time."

"Oh, it's okay. I actually find what you said kind of refreshing. There are so many people who heckle me that it's nice to meet someone who isn't just out to make me feel bad."

"Wow, I would never heckle you. People are too quick to judge."

I was taken aback by his words. He was very nice, like a little ray of sunshine in my otherwise depressing life.

"Aww, thank you."

"My name's Bob. Call me sometime."

Bob put a piece of paper in my hand and then he left. I found it funny how guys just gave me their phone number, probably because of my sexual reputation. It was hard to keep that a secret anymore because of my celebrity status. I went along with it because I knew it was helping with my stupid mysterious task. Tennan was away and I hoped he was having more luck finding information than I was. Thoughts of France and Gustave kept popping into my head because it was a nice escape from my problems. Our night at the nectary was amazing and I wanted more. We had been faithfully keeping in touch with each other. I kept my most recent note short and sweet.

Gustave,
I am thinking of visiting France again. Perhaps we can stay at the hotel together?
Sicily

Helena was the newest addition to my family. She had my skin tone, and I think she had Gavin's eyes, but I wouldn't be able to tell for sure until she grew a little bigger. Kensington loved Helena a lot, and he helped me take care of her.

"Hello, little lady! You're all clean now. Does that feel better, sweetheart?"

Witches and vampires have always had bad blood between them. Both of their species are very strong-willed, causing them to exert their power over each other. They've always considered the other a mortal enemy. People were shocked when a witch dared to even consider being in the same room as a vampire, not to mention falling for a vampire. It just wasn't possible because witches were taught that vampires were scum and vice versa. Heavy segregation existed in society until Alexandra and Vincent's story caught the attention of the media. It was the start of a revolution. Witches and vampires on both sides of the debate fought for their respective causes. It was a tumultuous time, and lots of young witches and vampires tried becoming friends to see if the other species was really as bad as they were taught to believe. Not everyone was open minded, though, as some groups of witches and vampires picked on and beat up those who were mixing the species.

I am so lucky to live in the time that I do, where people aren't hated because of what they are. Sometimes reading about history made me feel better about my life, despite the problems I faced. I loved that Christian sent me copies of his books so I could keep up with what he was researching. His newest book was particularly interesting to me. It intrigued me that I was a descendant of witches, even if one of them was a crazy bitch.

---

I came home to get refreshed. I've seen many things in Sicily's history that are disturbing and depressing. She is certainly a strong woman, though, to keep going despite all of it. I go into the room where Austin is resting. His vitals are good and he's sleeping soundly.

"Tennan? Hello."

"Hello, Father."

"It's good to see you. Tennan, are you in love with Sicily? You know that would pretty much make this mission futile. You would have saved Austin for no reason if Sicily were to become yours. For Austin, no time will have passed when he wakes up, so he will still be in love with Sicily. We cannot wake him up and then break his heart because that would be cruel. I would prefer it if we didn't have to wipe his memory of Sicily."

I'm not surprised by my father's direct way of asking me questions as he is very blunt. He does tend to ramble a lot, however, so I think I get my calmness from my mother's side of the family.

"No, Father. I may have had a small infatuation with her early on, but I don't want to steal her from Austin. They were very much in love."

"Very good, Tennan."

"What is our next move here? I had a conversation with Vincent the other night and he thinks that Sicily may have another sibling that she doesn't know exists. When I saw Albany last, she had taken the pregnancy test and she was not happy about it. Then everything got cloudy and I was unable to continue."

My father paces the room. He seems to be thinking really hard. This is by far the most difficult case we've ever had to deal with.

"Cloudy? Was it just the typical cloudiness you encounter when traveling, or was it more intense than that?"

"It seemed more intense."

"That's not good. It could mean someone with magic is meddling with our cause."

"Who could it be? All the magic was removed from the Zenteri's bloodline."

"Eleanor... although that is a stretch."

"Eleanor is dead, Father. She's not immortal like us."

"Yes, I know, and that is why I said it was a stretch. She was a very powerful sorceress, however, so we shouldn't rule out the possibility that she may have found a way to extend her lifespan. We need to search for anyone in the Zenteri's family tree that may have residual magic, or anyone who may have tried to learn Eleanor's dark ways."

"Can there be residual magic? I'm fairly certain Eleanor wiped the bloodline clean when she took Alexandra's powers away. She would have made sure there wasn't a trace of it left."

"We need to consider the possibility of residual magic because it would be better than the other option, which is that Eleanor is still alive. She was more powerful than us back then, and since she weakened our bloodline as well, we may not have the resources to fight her."

I think about my father's words carefully. If Eleanor is alive, that does not bode well for us because if Sicily is not led to commit suicide by her own will, Eleanor may try to murder her. We may be up against something very powerful, more powerful than we can handle.