Strings of Fate

182- Mothers and meltdowns Megan does notice my suspicious glare at Darrien’s back. For a moment she’s confused and | can practically see her replaying the last several minutes in her head to see what bothered me. When she figures it out, she smiles at me.

“Did you know that Darrien is very close with his mother. They speak or the phone pretty much every night, even if it’s only for a few seconds. It's very sweet.” She confides. Oooohhhhh he was talking to his mum. That makes so much sense. | didn’t really think that he would be seeing someone else, but maybe that he had sclose female friends that he is kind to. Not that it would be a problem, as long as it was clear that’s all they are. Either way, it's far better.

“He’s never mentioned his mother to me.” | admit. Megan shrugs.

“He usually waits until he is alone to talk to her. But I've seen him texting her sometimes.” She says with a small smile.

“Does she live around her?” | ask and Megan shakes her head.

“Nah, Darrien moved down here a few years ago, but she was already well settled in her community and didn’t want to leave her home.” 4 “Oh, then why did he leave?” | think out loud with my head tilted. Darrien descends the stairs in that moment and | blush realising I've been talking about him behind his back.

“That's easy, | left because | needed a challenge. The town | grew up in is a tiny farm town. Not a lot of career opportunities outside of farming, and that never really appealed to me.” He answerscheerfully, apparently unoffended by my nosiness.

“Thats a good reason | guess, Do you miss her?” | ask. He gives a firm nod.

“Of course, but she knows I'm better off here. She might cand visitsometin the next few months.

She is due a holiday.” He explains. Megan instantly looks interested.

“That sounds awesome. We would all love to meet her.” She declares determinedly. She isn’t wrong. | never knew my parents and | find | am extraordinarily interested in meeting Darrien’s mother and seeing who raised him to be the person he is today.

During this conversation, something has been nagging at the back of my mind. All of a sudden it clicks.

“Tristain’s mother!” | announce, far too loudly. Megan flinches at my tone, or maybe at my actual words, It’s hard to say.

“Huh? What about Tristain’s mother?” Darrien asks curiously.

“I met her, she hated me.” | explain. He is briefly confused, then remembers the list we've been making.

“You... You met her?” Megan's voice is small. | mentally curse myself for speaking without thinking. | should have kept it to myself and just told Bellamy! Or at very least not yelled it out without thinking. Still, it’s too late now and Megan has askeda question.

1/3 182- Mothers and meltdowns “Oh, well... Yes | did. Briefly. It wasn’t a pleasant conversation.” | respond haltingly. | don’t want to hurt her.

Bellamy and | both tried to shield her from this. She had enough to deal with sorting through her own emotions without being attacked by Tristain’s mother too. Bellamy steps in to help, his arm slipping around my waist, his hand landing on my hip.

“Tristain’s mother cto seethe day after he passed. She was very angry and upset, she was definitely looking for someone to blame, refusing to believe her son might have done something wrong. It was... getting out of hand. Ryann cand intervened, managed the situation and sent her away.” He adds with a sigh.

“She was blaming Bellamy for everything that happened, insisting that he must have ordered you to end things with Tristain which would have “broken his heart’ and caused him to lose it and attack.” | explain. Bellamy’s face suddenly pales.

“You corrected her. You told her that | wasn't there and you were, you told her that you were the one who told Megan that Tristain wasn’t being faithful.” He looks like he’s been struck. Megan is crying and Darrien is already pulling her to his ch*st to comfort her.

“She... she said she would cback. She never did.” | whisper in horror. This is the first person we've listed that | actually believe might hateenough to want to hurt me. Or at very least, she’s related to Tristain who we already know was very unstable. But, her son was the one who tried to hurt US. Would she really go so far? Commit multiple murders, kidnap a child, just to get to me, someone she only met briefly? “It is strange that we didn’t hear from her again. You're right that she didn’t seem like she would be willing to drop. the matter. It just... escaped my mind with everything else that’s been going on.” He admits. | lean into his side.

“You're not the only one who forgot. Do you... do you think she would go this far? Try to hurt me?” | ask. Darrien is the one who responds this time.

“Never underestimate the lengths a mother will go to for the sake of her child.” He tellsgravely. | repress a sigh, | wouldn't know, | never knew my parents at all. It doesn’t make sense at all to me, but if all the others believe it could be true, then I trust them.

“If one of the Psychos is Tristain’s mother, who would the second one be? | asshis mother is there would need to be a magic user too, right?” | ask. Bellamy nods his agreement.

a shifter like him. So “Yes, and | have no idea who she might be working with. | would guess family, but all her family would be Shifters. | can’t think who else would go so far to avenge a criminal.” His tone is dark. He seems fairly convinced that Tristain’s mother is involved. | remember the prim blonde woman. Thinking back on it, | could definitely see her being cold enough to kill someone, or to hurt a child. She wants someone to blame, and | guess | might have unintentionally made myself that person. Although if | hadn't, she probably would have cafter Bellamy or Megan. | suspect the situation would have ended up similarly. Kiara might have avoided being involved though. | suspect she was taken mostly for her connection to me. If Tristain’s mother hatesfor breaking up Tristain and Megan, she could have found out about my magic. | don’t advertise it, but it’s not exactly a huge secret either.

“Do you think she could have found Kiara and assumed that she and | are related in sway? Her eyes are like mine and our marks are similar. If she hatesfor my magic, blamesfor her son. It would make a twisted kind of sense for her to go after someone she might interpret as being my family. A child that, at a glance, you could easily assis connected to me.” No one speaks, but only because they know that | am probably right.

The more | think about this, the more sense it makes. Tristain’s mother has to be involved somehow. Finally, FINALLY, we are making sprogress. It hurts to think about it, but hopefully this means we will find Kiara soon.