Free The Willow by Stacey Kennedy Page B

or maybe it’s just two great minds think alike. The latter theory sat better.
     
    Zia quieted her laughs and took a deep breath before she said, “Your mother was a wonderful spirit. She had a fun sense of humor, a quick wit, and she was stubborn as a mule. But underneath all that was a deep and caring love for everyone around her.” Then, she grinned. “You are very much like her.”
     
    “I am?”
     
    “Very much so. In your looks alone, I see so much of her, but it’s your personality I notice most. The things you say, the way your voice sounds, it reminds me so much of her.”
     
    Her voice trembled slightly and her eyes were drowning with sadness. “Is that hard for you?” I asked, softly. Imagining that it would be, it’d be like staring into the face of a ghost.
     
    “It is, but it is also wonderful. Having you home is like having a piece of her back.” She sighed deeply and her bottom lip quivered. “When she was taken from us my heart broke. I am sure having Haven now you can understand how hard this would have been.”
     
    I understood perfectly. It would feel as if half of your soul was gone—a part that would always be in a constant state of mourning.
     
    “There has not been a day that I do not think of her and miss her terribly.”
     
    It was hard for me to miss her. Having your mother described with a few short sentences is just not enough to know her fully. She must have been an amazing woman, considering Drake and Zia still felt so much pain over her death. Only someone pretty incredible could have that kind of effect.
     
    If only…
     
    Before I could finish my thought, Zia touched my hand, instantly slamming me into vision after vision. It only took a moment to realize that I was seeing her memories. All the experiences she had with my mother. They came unbelievably quick, and it was hard to keep up. Hard to grasp every little detail that made her who she was, and all the characteristics that defined her as my mother.
     
    The last vision was one I wish I never saw, and one that would remain forever burned into my memory.
     
    Tyrianna was running through the woods, screaming for help while I cried loudly in her arms. She fell, tripping over stones and branches, but continued to get up, running away from the vampire stalking her.
     
    “You cannot run from me, witch. I could kill you at any time,” a vampire said with a composed tone.
     
    This was him, the vampire who altered the course of my life — Lazarus.
     
    She tripped again, falling to her knees. She lowered her lips to my crying face, tears pouring down her face. “Go, Nexi. Be safe, my love.”
     
    Suddenly, I vanished from her arms and she turned to face Lazarus. She looked drained, exhausted. He closed in on her. She tried to throw Magic at him, but she had nothing left. Her strength was gone from sending me away.
     
    Lazarus laughed cruelly. “Used all your strength, did you, to send the youngling away? This will be easier than I thought.” He lunged toward her and sank his fangs deep into her neck.
     
    Her eyes closed, her body tightened then she screamed.
     
    The visions abruptly stopped, but the sound of her horrific scream was still echoing in my mind. I opened my eyes, and as I did, my heart plummeted for so many reasons it was impossible to pinpoint them. For the horror of what I just witnessed, for the knowledge that she was as wonderful as I suspected, and this was as far as I was ever going to know her. I could only hear her voice, see her smile, feel her love only through someone else’s memories, and the pain of that sank in deep.
     
    I met Zia’s gaze, tears filling my eyes. My words caught in my throat.
     
    She cupped my cheek in her hand, a tear fell down her cheek. “I know, sweetie—it saddens me too.”
     

 

     
     

Chapter Five
     
     
    Another two weeks passed, and training was going—well, it was going. Kyden’s patience was hanging on by a thread—a very thin thread. My