Chapter 191 The Reason 2

Chapter 191: Chapter 191 The Reason 2

Talia’s POV

My hands were shaking, and I pressed them flat against my thighs to steady them. Whatever he was about to say, I knew it would change everything.

He looked at me, and his gray eyes were soft. "Talia, your mother is not dead."

My heart stopped. I stared at him, and I could not breathe.

The words echoed in my mind, but they did not make sense. My mother is not dead? How could that be? I had seen her go into the fire, and I had watched her disappear.

I had carried that grief with me for so long.

The weight of fifteen years of grief, of believing she had willingly walked into those flames and left me behind, suddenly lifted from my chest, and replaced by a fierce, burning hope that made my hands shake even more.

Because the image of my mother that I had carried for so long; the one of her disappearing into the smoke, was now being replaced by a new, terrifying, and wonderful one of her waiting somewhere for me to find her.

"What?" I whispered.

"She is alive," Grandfather Aldric said.

The words hung in the air between us, heavy and impossible. I wanted to believe them, but I was afraid. Afraid that it was too good to be true, and afraid that I would wake up and find that it was all a dream.

"She has been alive all this time." I asked in a low voice, as if I was speaking to myself.

I shook my head, in a bid to try to clear it.

My mind was racing, and trying to make sense of what he was telling me. It did not fit with what I had always believed, and it did not fit with what I had seen.

"That is not possible. I saw her go into the fire, and I saw her disappear." I said again.

I could still remember that day so clearly. I remember the flames, the smoke, and the sound of her voice telling me to run. I had carried that memory with me for fifteen years, and now it was being rewritten.

"She did not die in the fire," Grandfather Aldric said. "She was taken, and captured by enemies of the Silvertongues."

I had mourned my mother, missed her, and wished for her every single day. And now, I was being told that she had never died, but she had been taken? My mother had been a prisoner?

I could not believe that she had been alone, afraid, and helpless for all those years. While I had been hiding in Cresswood, she had been trapped somewhere far away, waiting for someone to find her.

And as I sat there, with Kaelen’s warmth grounding me, and Grandfather Aldric’s gray eyes holding mine, I realized that my mother had not only prepared for Vivienne’s evil, and signed a contract to save my life, but she had also survived the fire that I had seen consume her.

Meaning that, every single tear I had shed for her, and every single moment of anger and loneliness I had felt, had been built on a lie.

And now, that lie was crumbling away, leaving only the desperate need to get her back.

"They have been holding her all these years." Grandfather Aldric said.

I felt the world spin around me.

I reached out and gripped Kaelen’s hand tighter, needing something solid to hold onto. The room felt like it was tilting, and I was not sure I could stay upright on my own.

My mother was alive, and she was out there somewhere. She had actually not abandoned me.

I had spent so long believing that she had chosen to leave me, that she had walked into that fire and never looked back. But now I knew the truth that she had not left me, but she had been taken from me.

I looked at Kaelen, and I saw the shock on his face.

His gray eyes were wide, and I could see the gears turning in his mind. He was processing everything just as I was, trying to make sense of this new reality.

He was just as stunned as I was.

"She is alive," I repeated, and the words felt strange on my tongue.

Grandfather Aldric nodded. "Yes. And I know where she is being held."

The words sent another shock through me. My mother was out there somewhere, and Grandfather Aldric knew exactly where. I had a chance to find her, and I had a chance to bring her home.

My heart pounded. "Where?"

He looked at me, and his eyes were serious. "I will tell you. But first, I need you to understand. This is not going to be easy, and the place where she is being held is dangerous, and the wolves who took her are powerful."

"I do not care," I said firmly. "I will find her, and I will bring her home."

My voice was shaking, but it was filled with a determination I had not felt in a long time. I had come too far to give up now, and I had survived too much to let fear stop me.

Kaelen squeezed my hand. "Talia, you have to calm down, and let us process things first."

I looked at him, and I felt the tears streaming down my face. I had Lyra, I had my strength, and I was not the scared girl from Cresswood anymore.

I had faced rogues, I had faced Alpha Stone, I had faced Vivienne, and Serena, and Viktor. So I had faced my own fears and overcome them, and I knew that I could face this too.

I wiped my tears and looked at Grandfather Aldric. I had so many questions running in my head at the same time. But the most important one was this.

"Where is my mother now?”