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I keep saying it in my head, waiting for it to feel true. It still doesn’t.

The fire Cora lit is crackling somewhere behind us, casting flickering shadows across her face. Our mother is watching us with that same calm smile she wore when she first appeared. She’s composed, despite all the chaos. Raya has become mute, not having uttered a word for what feels like hours.

We are back at Kian’s estate now, where the woman who raised Raya and Cora has been moved to, since she was residing in one of Cas’s houses previously. Maree, our mother’s biological sister, had her memories wiped. She has no recollection of her real sister and didn’t know that Raya and Cora weren’t hers. The poor woman’s brain has been tampered with so much, she doesn’t understand what is real or fake anymore.

Our mother’s name is Nyra. Looking at her is like looking into a mirror. She looks so similar to me. To us. Older, sure, but not by much. Pink strands curl through her hair, making her look even more similar to us, since we all have colour in ours.

She hasn’t stopped looking at us, as though she’s trying to memorise our faces.

‘Start talking,’ Cora says, looking guarded and confused.

‘Of course,’ Nyra murmurs, eyes lingering on me for a beat longer before she begins. ‘It started a long time ago. Long before any of you were born.’ She leans back slightly, her hands folded neatly in her lap. Her mannerisms are so similar to my own.

‘I was raised by the witches,’ she says. ‘My mother was a witch, but somehow, I was born with no magic in my blood. She was so ashamed of me. She disowned me. Everyone in the coven knew she did, but they still kept me around. Tried to make use of me. I was strong and gifted with fighting. They saw that.’ Her face is unchanging as she talks, as if whatever happened between her and our grandmother didn’t mean much to her anymore, even though I’m sure there is a lot of trauma there. ‘But then I met him.’ There’s a stretch of silence as a soft smile plays around her lips. ‘I was young. Stupid, maybe. He was charming, dark, dangerous in the way people always warn you about. I fell in love with him instantly.’

I feel something twist in my chest. She’s talking about our father. The man none of us ever knew.

‘I left everything behind to be with him,’ she says quietly. ‘We moved deep into vampire territory. At first, it was perfect. He was different with me. He loved me. We were mad for each other. He wanted a family. So we made one. Cora first, then Raya, then you, Tara,’ she murmurs. A flicker of something sad flashes behind her eyes. ‘Then he turned. Said he needed more power to protect us. Said it was for our family. But once he turned, everything changed.’

A coldness settles over her expression. ‘His family came for him. They treated me like property. I didn’t feel safe, especially with the three of you under my care. It was always his plan. He wanted a family, and then to turn us all.’

My stomach churns. I glance at Cora and Raya, both of them frozen beside me, silent.

‘I knew I had to get you away,’ Nyra continues. ‘So I ran. Took you and fled back to the witches. I thought … I thought they’d help.’ Her jaw tightens and her eyes swirl into an inky darkness. ‘But the coven saw me as tainted. I had consorted with vampires. Brought them into our world, when there already was a war between witches and vampires. When his family came hunting us, I begged the coven to hide you all, but it was too late. They came for me in the night. They lit the house on fire. I ran for you girls. Raya and Cora, you were right where I left you.’ She pauses, eyes flicking to me. ‘But you, my little sleepwalker, were not there.’

An iron fist curls around my heart. This is why we were separated. Why the other two grew up together, and why I was isolated.

‘The witches hid you, and I left Cora and Raya with another witch I trusted. But he found me. He dragged me back. The witch I trusted fled, and she never returned. She decided your fate. She found my sister and wanted you raised with humans. She wanted you far away from the vampires and the witches.’

The room is silent, crackling with tension as we stare at her, the boys silent and behind us somewhere.

‘He forced me to turn and kept me close. The witches banished me from Red Thorne. There was a protection charm on all of you that kept all vampires away. Once you hit eighteen or so, the spell lifted, and your blood attracted attention.’ Her eyes shift behind us. ‘So you were brought back into the vampire world regardless.’

‘Why come back now?’ Cora whispers.

‘Your protection spell from other vampires may have lifted, but the one keeping you from me only lifted once Velistra was dead. My banishment from Red Thorne was also revoked.’

‘Where’s our father?’ I ask, leaning forward and running a hand down my jaw as I watch her, still entranced by this beautiful woman.

‘The coven got to him,’ she says eventually, swallowing and shifting back in her chair. ‘We had a very tumultuous relationship, Viktor and I.’

Viktor. That’s the name of our father.

I have a mother. I had a father who chose power over family. I have two sisters.

A family. An unconventional one, but a family.

‘I know it’s a lot,’ Nyra says finally, her gaze drifting across the room – first to me, then to Cora and Raya. ‘I’ve waited a long time to meet you all. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get the chance.’

Her voice is steady, but there’s something behind it. Something worn down. Like she has been running for a long time and can finally stop. Like being in the same room as us for the first time in a lifetime has brought her the kind of peace she needed. I relate to that in a way, since I have felt as though I didn’t have a family or connection my whole life.

‘I wish you could have come sooner,’ Raya says quietly.

‘I tried,’ Nyra replies, those stunning cat-like eyes, so similar to our own, levelling us each with a firm look. ‘You best believe I tried.’

A silence settles over the room again. Cora is the first to break it.

‘So, what?’ she asks, tilting her head slightly. ‘You’re back now? What do you want from us?’