The Elite had dropped the rank of all the Houses that had helped Mason and was lodging paperwork that barred them from serving on the Wizard Council for the next decade. I had formally broken off all alliances with the traitorous—but for the moment, I was most concerned with the mental/emotional wellbeing of my family, and House Medeis itself.

It seemed that even though Mason had the paperwork proclaiming him Adept, he hadn’t been able to do anything to House Medeis.

Since I had the key to both the lockbox at Tutu’s and the House vault that contained things like the family’s social security cards, birth certificates, etc, he hadn’t been able to force the family to officially ratify his position. And without the ring, he couldn’t Ascend.

Which meant as a whole very little had changed for our House. Structurally, anyway.

My family was a lot quieter, and I noticed wrinkles and silver hair that hadn’t been there before my parents died, as well as the occasional haunted expression.

House Medeis itself was silent. I felt its magic stir, but it didn’t even cut me off from hot water.

No one seemed worried about this except me. I was pretty concerned this didn’t mean the House was satisfied, but incredibly weak.

The House had essentially been without an Adept for months. Adepts were necessary to keep a House functioning because of the flow of magic, and House Medeis had been cut off since my parents had died.

Which was why, four days after I had won my House back, I was trying to draw all the necessary paperwork together to file for my Ascension.

I didn’t have the ring, so it wouldn’t be a real Ascension, but it would hopefully open the flow at least a little between the House and me so I could stir up some of its magic.

I chewed on my lip as I turned the two keys required to open the House safe, grinning when it swung open. “Here we go—the necessary forms of ID and registration.” I triumphantly swiped a stack of papers from the small safe and brandished my prize in the air. “And you can bet I’m going to take at least five years before I ‘remember’ to go re-register and get my magic tested,” I grumbled. “Or at the very least I should wait one year for every month the Wizard Council sat on their dusseldorfs and refused to help me.”

I carried the papers back to my dad’s desk—now my desk—and started sifting through them.

My parents had organized them so each household in the family had their own folder—the Clarks had one, the Barees another, and so on.

The Medeis folder was the thickest—which was kind of funny because we were the smallest household in the family since it had just been me and my parents.

But when I flipped our manila folder open, I discovered it was all because of a thick envelope pressed just in the cover.

Curious, I flipped it over, my heart stopping.

Hazel

I recognized the writing as Mom’s. But what did they have in here that hadn’t been left with the lawyers, or the lockbox in Tutu’s?

Was it paperwork for when they had me sealed? But I’d gone through the safe with my parents just last year and never saw this stuffed envelope.

I paused, then grabbed my dad’s old-fashioned letter opener, savagely ripping it open.

Inside were a couple sheets of white printer paper. I plucked them out and unfolded them to read, and they almost immediately fell from my numb fingers.

Dear Hazel,

If you’re reading this it means the worst has happened, and both of us are dead.

It was my dad’s handwriting this time—another slug to the gut.

I really didn’t want to read it. I didn’t even know what to think of my parents anymore after everything I’d been through. I couldn’t tell where the lies ended and the truth began.

I wracked my brain, trying to recall if the lawyers had ever shown me a letter like this—I didn’t think so. Everything had been squared away with the will.

A good five minutes passed before I gave in to my twisted sense of hope and dread, and started reading again.

Which means we have so much to tell you—things that will hurt you, and things that might make you hate us.

To begin, your magic abilities were partially sealed by the fae Paragon as a baby.

While we have raised you and registered you as having very little magic talent, in reality you are a rarity in your generation, for you have about as much magic power as I do.

But you were sealed for several reasons. First, we wanted to shield you. Given that magic has lessened with each generation, it’s shocking you were born with as much talent as you have.

Secondly…your mother and I wanted you to experience life with little to no magic, so you would know and understand how others have suffered.

We didn’t do this out of a misguided effort to have you experience suffering at a young age, but rather because in the last decade, there’s been a distinct shift to wizard politics.

I had to read the line twice—I almost couldn’t believe my eyes.

Being sealed…it wasn’t about me personally?

Since the 1900s, wizard Houses have banded together—first to stay strong against the other supernatural races, and then to stay strong when our presence was revealed to humans.

In general, Houses have been friendly. Records of fighting between Houses have been extremely rare—only a few cases in the century.

However, as magic has continued to die, desperation has begun pressing in on us.

Before you were born your mother and I could see it. The stronger Houses began banding together to vote on what would suit their Houses best, instead of what was best for the wizard community as a whole. And it’s only gotten worse.

I snorted. “That’s for sure.”

The incident with Mason proved it.

The other Houses had allowed Mason to go as far as he did because they didn’t want me as Adept when they thought I was weak. By the time I had unlocked my powers it was too late. And even though Killian had been cruel in his delivery, he was right. The wizarding community would be eternally wary of me due to my connection with the Drakes if they were even half as concerned about preserving wizards as Dad thought they were.

If this continues, the strong Houses will begin to prey upon the weak.

That cannot happen. It’s not right, and I believe if it does get to be that bad, magic may collapse entirely.

Why would he think that? I read on, but he skipped answering it, unfortunately.

Which is why we sealed you. With so little magic you will understand what the less powerful Houses have experienced, and you will fight for them.

Fight for them? That was another line I had to re-read twice.

Fighting is not a part of House Medeis. It is so counter to what we have taught—even your mother and I have had it engrained in our hearts since we first learned magic.

You, however, have not.

I blinked in surprise.

He was right, in a way.

My parents hadn’t done a lot to help me when I got picked on, but even though we were a House full of pacifists, they never lectured me for the fights I got in. Not even the time I broke Gideon’s nose and chipped one of his teeth.

Having so little magic backed you into a corner. You had no other option except to fight. And that is why you can change House Medeis—it’s why you are the only one who can change it. We have tried, but it seems like we can only prepare the way for you.

I won’t lie, sweetheart, it’s going to be difficult.

The other Houses won’t want you to protect the others, and they won’t like the change to Medeis. Some might try to harm you.

A few other Adepts in Magiford may suspect what we mean for you to do. We haven’t been outright threatened yet, but I think it’s coming. But it doesn’t matter. As Adepts of House Medeis, it is our duty to protect our family, and to achieve that means we must also do what we can for the wizarding community.

You, Hazel, are the greatest gift we can give, because you can change things for the better.

We’re so sorry for the pain you’ve gone through because of us, for the fights you got into, and for the merciless teasing of others. But you are strong and powerful, and you are what we need more than anything right now.

As your parents, we know this is an unfair burden. Hopefully this letter will be unnecessary, and when you turn twenty-five we’ll tell you about your seal and pass the House off to you—though if things continue as they have, we will try to tell you sooner.

The key to undoing your seal is to have the willpower to end another’s life to protect someone.

It may appear to be an ugly, brutal key, particularly given our House’s historical stance on violence. But I hope after reading this far you’ll recognize the wisdom to it.

Hazel, there is no greater strength than defending another, but the cost for such strength is great. You must be prepared to fight—and indeed kill—for others. You will shed blood, receive injuries, and possibly be criticized for protecting those in need. But magic is no good to us if we do not use it to do what is right and to protect others.

That is the real purpose of House Medeis—of all wizard Houses—to protect. It’s something we have forgotten in our fight for survival, but I hope it is a stance you will take, and teach to all of House Medeis.

Your mother and I love you so much, my darling daughter. You have made us so proud, and we believe that you are the only one who could shake off centuries of tradition. And after seeing what you have endured, I don’t think anyone of House Medeis will reject the idea of protection.

With all our love,

Mom & Dad

I sat at the desk with tears dribbling from my eyes.

This was why…

It hadn’t been out of malice, or for any real political motives. I really wished they had re-thought their plan—or told me about it. But all of this meant my parents were the good people I had believed them to be.

Perhaps even better.

Relief flooded me like my magic. It was all I could do to sit in my chair and let the tears come.

Finally. I was finally free of all those nagging fears and doubts. And it only bolstered my resolve to change things within House Medeis.