The Legend of the Eight: The Charmed (Book 4)

10: Veil Matter

TEN: VEIL MATTER
SEPTEMBER 22
NICOLE BRADLEY

AT PRECISELY SIX IN THE morning, Nicole Bradley's alarm began to chirp, waking her from a deep sleep. The early alarm was due to a series of Enchantments vocabulary terms in need of completing before class that day so Nicole sat up in her bed and reached for her schoolbag. As she did, she was surprised to see Kate already awake in her own bed—though from the looks of it, she may have never fallen asleep. Her blue eyes sported two even bluer bags and her fingers were quick on the keyboard of her laptop which was burning from overuse.

"Hey," Nicole said softly, yawning halfway through the word. "What are you doing up?"

Over the last few days, Kate's behavior had been nothing short of unpredictable. She was incredibly antisocial and if Nicole didn't know any better, she would've suspected something crazy like drugs or mind control.

Kate checked the time before rubbing under her eyes. "Oh, I didn't realize it was so late."

"It's not late. It's morning. What's going on?"

Kate stared at her computer screen and drummed her fingers on the keys but she didn't type anything.

"I overheard my parents talking."

Nicole set her notes aside, deciding this was much more important. "Okay... Kate, whatever you heard, we've dealt with worse. Haven't we?"

Kate shook her head.

"Not this time. It's bad, Nic. My dad had an affair—I don't know when exactly but it sounded like it was a long time ago. And even worse than that, he had a baby with this girl and he's been hiding this secret daughter. And my mom says that this girl's mom is going to come looking for her."

"Come looking for her? What?"

"My dad took her away," Kate replied. "I don't know where he put her but he took this girl away when she was just a baby and now her mother is looking for her. They said her name was Bernadette—the mother. My mom wrote about a Bernadette in her journals. They went to the Academy together and it seems like she and my dad were pretty close then too That's why I've been up all night. I found this woman, Bernadette Chamberlain, and she was expelled from the Academy during her senior year which also happened to be my parents' senior years. After she was expelled, she was Banished for magical manipulation and suspected Dark allegiance. She's been in the Shadow Lands ever since."

"That's a good thing," Nicole tried to assure her. "Not that she's a dangerous, vengeful Dark but that she's Banished. She can't get out."

"I don't think it's that simple," Kate sounded uncertain. "The way my mom talked about Bernadette was unlike anything I've heard. She sounded scared. Terrified, even. We may have stopped Reagan but what if we missed something? What if Bartemius had a Plan B? It's not like we can keep going back and fixing things. The timeline would crumble. We were lucky to go back once. So Bernadette is going to come for my dad and my secret half-sister."

Kate stopped rambling long enough to look up, her eyes glassy with tears.

"Oh my God, Nic. I have a secret half-sister."

Nicole was at a loss. She'd only just gotten her sister back. She couldn't imagine learning she had another out there.

"You have to tell Wil," she said after letting the shock wear off. "Forget Bernadette. If Wil finds out you know about this and didn't tell her, she'll kill you."

Kate shut her laptop and sighed out of frustration.

"I know I have to tell her but how? I can't just walk up and say, Hey Wil, turns out Dad's a cheater and we have a secret sister wandering around the Three Realms. That's not exactly the kind of thing you spit out over breakfast."