When I hear a voice calling my name, I’m sure I’m hallucinating. Not possible, I think groggily. I’m cracking up from the heat. I haven’t heard that voice in years. So long, now, in fact, that I had almost forgotten what it sounded like. And yet, my eyes go wide as a figure approaches us from further up the path, a person who might as well have stepped straight out of my past and into this new, crazy world. Disbelief filling me, I struggle to sit up. Peering at her with eyes that don’t buy what they’re seeing, I manage to utter one wonder struck word, the pendant in my boot rubbing insistently against the sole of my foot like the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle.
“Mollie?”
Chapter 7
I feel like I’m in a dream. One would think that by now I would have learned not to make any assumptions about the world around me. Yet I find myself at a loss for words as I watch a phantom from my childhood cross over the swathe of grass to come to a stop right in front of me. She’s close enough to touch, and almost everything about her is like I remembered: the crow’s feet at the corners of her eyes, which are a bright cornflower blue; her stout stature; the way that she smiles. Her mousy brown hair is shorter than it was when I was living with her, and she’s lost some weight, but there’s no doubt in my mind that it’s her. This is the one woman I could have seen myself living with until adulthood, and yet, like so many other things, she was snatched away from me without any consent on my part.
Beneath the layer of awestruck wonder are so many questions that I barely even know where to begin. Mollie is human -- at least, that’s what I assumed -- and nothing happened during the time she was fostering me to give me the impression that she knew about shifters. What is she doing in London? How did she get in contact with me in the first place? What is her connection to all this? There are too many loose ends to process, and I find myself standing and staring at her, mouth agape, as I try to make sense of what I’m seeing.
“You probably have questions,” she says after what feels like an eternity. Her expression is gentle, understanding, and even as I stand there, I can feel something coming apart inside of me. She shuffles her feet, looking a little uncomfortable, and starts again. “I know this probably wasn’t what you were expecting, but-”
I cut her off, shooting to my feet in a heartbeat, my exhaustion from the teleportation spell all but forgotten. I throw my arms around her before I can even think about it, squeezing her as tightly as I dare and burying my face in her shoulder. She chuckles ruefully, a sound I thought I would never hear again, and I realise that I’m crying, staining her jumper.
“I’m sorry,” I stammer, pulling back, still at a loss. “Your sweater…”
“Hey, hey,” Mollie says, putting an arm on my shoulder as she looks at me. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see the guys watching the display, looking curious and confused all at once. “Don’t worry about the sweater, Millie. To hell with the sweater.”
That gets a watery laugh from me, and I dab at my eyes self-consciously, in spite of the fact that I’m already dripping wet from the harbour. “I don’t even know where to start,” I say, shaking my head in disbelief. “Why are you here, Mollie? How do you even know about…”
“Shapeshifters? Human splinter groups? The Academy?” At this last word, her expression darkens for a split second. “Would you believe me if I told you I’ve always known?”
I open and close my mouth a couple times, still scrambling to make sense of the situation. “How…?”
“Why don’t we take a walk?” Mollie suggests. “You look like you could stand to dry off a little. You all do, actually,” she amends, taking a skeptical look around at my ragtag group.
“Hang on a second,” Silas pipes up, taking a wary step forward. “I’m sorry, Boots, but you’re going to have to catch me up, here.”
“He’s not the only one who’s confused,” gripes Hunter.
“‘Boots’?” asks Mollie, laughing. “That’s quite the nickname.”
“Who is this woman, Millie?” asks Hazel, coming to stand on my other side.
“She’s a friend,” I explain, putting a hand on Mollie’s arm. “She was my foster mother, once upon a time.”
“I sure was,” Mollie agrees. “I’d still be, if I had my way. You were the best kid I ever took in, Millie, and I’m not just saying that because you’re a shifter.” She frowns. “Too bad we humans can’t seem to leave well enough alone.”
“Humans?” My brow furrows. “Wait, are you saying you had something to do with the people who run the Academy?”
“Not exactly,” Mollie replies, “but that’s a long story. How about we get you kids somewhere safe? You look like you could use a change of clothes, too.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Shade pipes up. His grey eyes narrow as he sizes up my former caretaker. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, people. How do we know this lady is who she says she is?”
“I…” My voice trails off as I turn back to Mollie. He has a point.
“I mean, you have to admit, it’s awfully convenient that your mysterious contact just happens to be your old foster mum,” reasons the wolf shifter. I can feel him shift protectively next to me as he straightens up, his fingers brushing mine.
“I can understand your skepticism,” Mollie says, her expression kind. “I wouldn’t be so quick to trust me either if I were in your shoes. You folks have been through a lot these past few days, haven’t you?”
I swallow, unease settling into my stomach once more. I’m aware that highly trained witches have ways of changing their appearance, creating fetches and illusions of other people, but it’s not an easy skill to master. Still, if this was someone sent by the Academy… Squaring my shoulders, I cross my arms. “My… friends are right,” I say. “This is a hell of a coincidence, if you’re telling the truth.” Biting my lip, I think for a moment. What’s something only the real Mollie would know? “What made us friends in the first place?” I ask her, raising an eyebrow. “I mean, what specifically?”
“Our names,” Mollie replies without missing a beat. “One letter difference. I remember when I pointed that out, that was the first time I saw you smile.” As if to drive her point home, she nods down at me. “Do you still have that pendant I gave you?”
I can’t help but break out in a smile. “Of course,” I reply. “The cord broke, but I keep it in my shoe.”
“Hence the name,” Mollie says, nodding her approval. “It’s all starting to make sense.” She glances around at the others. “You keep handsome company too, I see.” I can feel the colour rising in my cheeks at that, and she laughs. “I’m just teasing you. Come on, we should get out of this park. People are starting to give you weird looks. What the hell happened to you guys, anyway?”
“It’s a long story,” I reply before turning to the others. “Guys, this is one of my foster parents. Mollie.”
“Pleasure,” she says, extending her hand to each of my friends in turn as they introduce themselves. “Are you all shifters, too?”