Chapter 17: Chapter 17

Fallon POV

The older woman pulls me to her, squeezing me as she embraces me. She is much stronger than she looks. I hesitate at first. She does look like me, but there is so much danger for me and every single moment of my life is crazy right now.

She releases me and looks at me for a moment. There are tears running down her face. "You look so much like your mother," she says.

I look back at Libby. Libby must see the panic on my face or hear it in my mind. "This is your grandmother. We all call her Mother Agnes," Libby says.

I look into Mother Agnes's eyes. I am not sure what I am looking for, just something that tells me she is family and means no harm to me. "I would never hurt you, my child," Mother Agnes says.

Great, she can read my mind too. Can everyone read minds? "Not the wolves or Lycans, but some of the vamps can and a few of the shifters," Libby answers my question that I did not speak. I have to be mindful of my thoughts.

"Thanks," I say. Not sure if that is the appropriate response, but it is all I have right now.

I return my attention to Mother Agnes. "Did you bring the book?" Mother Agnes asks.

I reach for my purse and then pause for a moment. Should I pull out the book and the map here? I look at Libby and Mother Agnes and decide this is probably the best place to finally learn about my family. I shake my head and pull the book out of my bag. I hand it to Mother Agnes. Then I pull out the map.

"I have no idea where the map leads. The ancestors told me my uncles would help me with it, but they said I had to read the book before they would help me," I say. I had the map to Libby.

Libby looks over the map. "It is blank," Libby says.

I take the map back from here. "No, it is not. See," I hold the map up to her.

"I cannot see anything but a blank brown piece of paper," Libby says.

Mother Agnes laughs. "It is because you are not from the same bloodline as Fallon. Only the Devour Family can see the map." Mother Agnes says.

"My last name is Devour?" I ask.

Mother Agnes hands the book to Libby and puts her arm around me in a loving way. "Come, my child. We should go through the book together and then the map. In the morning, I will send someone to fetch Bruce, and the two of you can follow the map," Mother Agnes says.

"Okay," I say. I follow Mother Agnes to another room. Libby follows up, bringing the book. There is a table with candles and a black and purple cloth resting neatly on it. The three of us sit at the table. Libby scoots the book to Mother Agnes for her to open.

Mother Agnes says something over the book in almost a whisper. The book opens. The book seems to take on a life of its own. The page race from the beginning to the end and then settle on the first page.

"I couldn't open the book without the password, so how did the uncles expect me to read it," I say.

Mother Agnes chuckles. "They knew you would come here," she says.

I think for a moment. I feel like the last few days have been an endless maze of puzzles. Why can't they just tell me what the hell is going on and who I am? Maybe sit me down and say hey, this is what we need from you. I guess that would be too simple, or maybe they are taking precautions.

"Are you ready?" Mother Agnes asks me.

I nod my head yes and then answer her. "Yes, I am as ready as I will ever be for this."

She moves the book over to me. There is a picture of Mother Agnes with her husband. Underneath, it says Charlie. "This is my grandfather?" I ask, pointing at him. Obviously, it has to be.

"Yes, he was a hunter, and I am a witch," Mother Agnes says.

There seems to be a pattern here. Witches and Hunters must go together. My suspicions are confirmed when I look at the family tree on the next page. There are generations going back hundreds of years, and all of the marriages are hunters and witches.

"It just happens that way. It has nothing to do with arranged marriage. We meet and fall in love. Those men just happen to be hunters, except for you. The man who loves you is a watcher, but he could be a hunter," Mother Agnes says.

I look over at Libby. "My father was a watcher, and all the men in my family have always been watchers or some sort of protector of the supernatural, but never hunters," Libby says.

I look over the first two pages. I observe the names and dates. I come to my name. Fallon Devour was born to Lilian and Micheal Devour. My parents are Lilian and Michael. I try to think if that lady at the gas station said her name, but I don't think she did. I don't think anyone has spoken her name to me.

"She was beautiful, your mother. Lilian was a sweet soul. Michael was crazy about her. He died with her. They were inseparable in life and in death," Libby says.

I flip the page and there she is, Lilian Devour. She looks like a badass. I bet she kicked some supernatural ass in her day. The next page is my father, Michael. He looks like a warrior. The next pages are filled with my family history, and then I come to a blank page.

Mother Agnes reaches over and touches the page. She says something in another language, and then all of these words race on and off the page. The words race toward me and seem to go into my mouth. "What is happening?" I ask.

Libby and Mother Agnes are quiet for a moment. They wait for me to listen to what the words are trying to tell me. I feel different as the words race back out of my mouth and back to the page in the book. I look to Mother Agnes.

"Umbra needs to die," I say angrily.

I stand up from the table and close the book. "You must read the entire book and then follow the map. After that, you can go after Umbra, but you are not ready. You need your magic, and you need what the map has to offer," Mother Agnes says.

I sit back down, angry. Tears are streaming down my face. "Why did she kill both of my parents? She took my adoptive parents and my birth parents. WHY?" I ask.

Libby and Mother Agnes sit silently for a moment. I hit the table, angry and confused. The two of them reach for me, each taking one of my hands. "She needed you to come back so she could enslave you. You are the key to her controlling heaven and hell. She wants all the supernatural beings under her, and as long as you were out there in the world, she was missing one," Libby says.

Mother Agnes opens the book. "Why did Umbra tell me to read the book alone?" I ask.

"She needed you to be alone so she could take you while you had the book," Libby answers. The answer still doesn't make sense, but I will take it. I have a feeling I will not solve any of this overnight.

"Will someone please go get Bruce?" I ask.

Mother Agnes squeezes my hand. She looks at Libby. "Send Ryan, but tell him to behave, or he will have to deal with me," Mother Agnes says.

Libby gets up from the table. Mother Agnes flips the pages to the blank page again. This time no words leap off the page. As I turn the page to continue reading my family history book, I look over at Mother Agnes.

"I will kill her. Umbra will be the first person I kill when I become a reaper," I say. Tears are falling down my cheeks. There was no reason for my parents to die. Umbra has to pay.