Chapter 6 The Memory I Left Behind

Theo’s POV

The door slammed behind me hard enough to make the windows of the Memory Shop tremble.

I stopped on the pavement as Ana’s voice carried clearly through the door. “Arrogant, intrusive, impossible, and still extremely annoying!”

I stared at the door and almost smiled.

That was definitely not the Ana Moonvale I remembered. The Ana I knew at the University of Magic barely looked me in the eye whenever we spoke. She usually clutched a book against her chest while pretending whatever I said didn’t bother her.

Apparently, five years away had given her a temper and a mouth to go with it.

I started down the quiet street. Most of the shops had already closed, and only a few witches and mages remained outside.

I hadn’t come here to think about Ana, though. I had come for the memory I had left with Dorothy Moonvale seven years ago.

My mother had just died when I first walked into the Memory Shop. I remembered being there when it happened and knowing that despite all the magic I possessed, I hadn’t been able to save her. What I no longer remembered clearly were her final moments.

Dorothy had taken the worst of those moments from me.

For weeks after my mother’s death, I had barely slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I relived those final minutes until I eventually went to Dorothy and asked for help. She extracted the worst part of the memory and sealed it inside one of her bottles.

At nineteen, I had been grateful to be free of it.

For seven years, I left it exactly where it was.

Then this morning, I learned Dorothy was dead.

I could have asked her to destroy the memory at any point over the years, but I never had. However painful those final moments were, they still belonged to my mother. Knowing that the woman who had safeguarded them was gone had finally made me want them back.

I hadn’t expected to arrive in Moonhaven on the day of Dorothy’s funeral. By the time I reached town, half the residents seemed to be gathered at the cemetery, and the Memory Shop was closed.

I should have waited until morning. Instead, I had magically opened the lock and found Dorothy’s granddaughter inside.

Seeing Ana again had been surprising enough, but what I had seen on the counter behind her had been even more unexpected.

Dorothy’s glasses had been glowing with memory magic.

At university, Ana had been brilliant at anything involving theory. Ancient Spells, Magical History, Magical Theory, Magical Languages. She could memorize complicated incantations after reading them once and explain magical principles better than some professors.

Practical magic had been another matter entirely.

I still remembered Professor Eldrin standing beside a bright blue teacup that Ana had been instructed to transform into a bird. The teacup hadn’t become a bird. It had simply become bluer.

Several students had laughed.

So had I.

Ana had lowered her gaze to her desk and pretended not to hear us.

The recollection was more uncomfortable now than it had been then.

She eventually failed her second year for the third time and disappeared from the university. Yet the woman who had just thrown me out of the Memory Shop had apparently awakened magic inside Dorothy’s glasses.

Not ordinary magic either.

The Moonvale gift.

I glanced back toward the distant shop before continuing toward the inn. Whatever had happened inside those glasses was interesting, but I had no reason to involve myself. If everything went according to plan, I would retrieve my memory tomorrow and return to the capital.

The innkeeper recognized me the moment I stepped inside.

“Mr. Silvershade.”

“Yes?”

The older witch immediately straightened behind the desk. “We weren’t expecting someone from your family in Moonhaven.”

“I’m here on personal business.”

“Of course.”

Her eyes flickered toward the silver crest on my coat before she handed me a key. Being a Silvershade had that effect on people. Sometimes it was useful. Other times, exhausting.

“Second floor. Last room on the right.”

“Thank you.”

I headed upstairs and entered a room overlooking Moonhaven’s main street. From the window, I could just make out the distant glow of the Memory Shop.

Tomorrow at ten.

Ana had specifically told me not to come at ten, which made no difference because I was going anyway. She would probably complain and insult me again, but eventually she would have to help me locate what belonged to me.

I removed my coat and tossed it over a chair.

A soft chiming sound immediately came from the inside pocket.

The whisper stone was glowing.

I considered ignoring it until it chimed a second time, then a third. I reached into the pocket and pulled out the smooth silver stone. A familiar magical signature shimmered across its surface.

Celestine.

I ran my thumb over the stone, and warmth spread across my palm.

“Theo?” Celestine Evercrest’s voice came through clearly.

“Yes.”

“Where are you?”

“No greeting?”

“I’ve been trying to reach you for the past hour.”

“I was busy.”

“You were supposed to be home for dinner.”

I glanced toward the window. “I forgot.”

“You forgot?”

“I had something to take care of.”

There was a brief silence before she asked, “Where are you?”

“Moonhaven.”

“Moonhaven? Why are you in Moonhaven?”

“Personal business.”

“You could have told me you were leaving the capital.”

“I didn’t realize I needed permission.”

“That isn’t what I meant, Theo.”

I rubbed my forehead. “I’ll return tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? You said whatever you needed to do would only take a few hours.”

“It took longer than expected.”

“Why?”

Because Dorothy Moonvale had died before I could retrieve the memory I had left with her, and because her granddaughter had apparently transformed from the quiet witch I remembered into someone who enjoyed throwing people out of buildings.

Neither explanation seemed necessary.

“The shop was closed.”

“What shop?”

“Does it matter?”

“It matters when my fiancé disappears without telling me where he’s going.”

I should have been accustomed to the word by now, but for some reason, fiancé sounded heavier tonight.

“I didn’t disappear. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Celestine sighed. “All right. Just contact me when you’re leaving.”

“I will.”

“And Theo, try not to forget we have dinner with my parents tomorrow night.”

“I remember.”

“You forgot our dinner tonight.”

“That was different.”

“Of course it was.”

Despite her words, she sounded more amused than angry.

“Good night, Theo.”

“Good night, Celestine.”

The warmth disappeared from the stone, and the glow faded.

I placed it on the bedside table.

Celestine and I had been engaged for almost a year. Our families had known each other for generations, and the Silvershades and Evercrests moved in the same circles, attended the same gatherings, and shared the same expectations about old magical bloodlines.

Our engagement had surprised no one.

Celestine was intelligent, accomplished, and came from one of the most respected magical families in the capital. Everything about our engagement made sense.

Tomorrow, I would retrieve my memory and return to the capital in time for dinner.

I turned away from the window, but my gaze landed on the coat I had tossed over the chair.

The silver token was still inside it.

I reached into the pocket and pulled it out.

A crescent moon was engraved on one side, while the other bore a sequence of symbols identifying the memory Dorothy had preserved for me.

I hadn’t held it in years.

The last time had been the night Dorothy pressed it into my hand after extracting the memory.

“Keep this somewhere safe,” she had told me. “When you’re ready to carry those moments again, bring it back to me.”

At nineteen, I hadn’t believed that day would ever come. All I had wanted was to stop seeing my mother’s final moments whenever I closed my eyes.

Dorothy had given me that relief without taking everything away.

I still remembered my mother’s face, her voice, the way she laughed, and the countless ordinary moments that had made her my mother. I remembered losing her too. Dorothy had only taken the part I hadn’t been strong enough to carry.

Now she was gone.

I turned the token between my fingers.

Perhaps that was why I had come so quickly after hearing about her death. For years, I had known exactly where that piece of my mother was and who was protecting it. As long as Dorothy had it, there had been no urgency.

Now there was.

Somewhere inside the Memory Shop was one of the last pieces of my mother I had deliberately left behind.

I wanted it home.

I placed the token beside the whisper stone and walked back toward the window.

The Memory Shop was still visible from here, its windows glowing softly against the dark street. Ana was probably still inside, sorting through Dorothy’s belongings or attempting whatever spell had made those glasses glow.

I thought again about the way she had looked at me when I asked if she had been casting.

Her expression had changed instantly.

I hadn’t intended it as an insult, but I understood why she had heard one. At university, I had known exactly how talented she was academically and exactly how badly she struggled whenever she actually tried to use magic.

I hadn’t been kind about it.

Neither had most of us.

Back then, I hadn’t given much thought to what happened after she disappeared. There had been rumors for a while. Some students thought she would return and attempt second year again, while others assumed she had finally given up on magic altogether.

Eventually, everyone stopped talking about Ana Moonvale.

Apparently, she hadn’t returned to Moonhaven either. From what she had said tonight, she had only recently come back.

I found myself wondering where she had spent the last five years before deciding it was irrelevant.

Whatever Ana had done after leaving the university was her business. I was far more curious about what had happened to her magic.

If Dorothy’s records were as organized as I remembered, the silver token should lead us directly to my memory. I would retrieve it, leave Moonhaven, and return to the life waiting for me in the capital.

Simple enough.

Still, I couldn’t help remembering Ana standing behind the counter in her black dress with her arms folded, ordering me out of a shop I had magically unlocked without permission.

Five years ago, she could barely argue with me for thirty seconds.

Tonight, she had thrown me out of a building.

I still wasn’t sure whether I found that irritating or entertaining, but I suspected tomorrow morning would answer the question.

I closed the curtains and turned off the lamp.

At ten, whether Ana liked it or not, I was going back to the Memory Shop to retrieve what Dorothy had kept safe for seven years.

And while I was there, I intended to find out exactly what Ana Moonvale had done to those glasses.