The Blue Woods by Nicole Maggi Read Free Book Online

And she replied that the Benandanti would come back for you when you were old enough to make the decision for yourself. That night, I told your father that I wanted to move to America.”
    I pressed my hands to the sides of my head, trying to wrestle this knowledge in with all the other secrets I’d been keeping. “Did Dad know?” I asked, finally saying aloud the question that had haunted me for months. “Did he know about the Benandanti?”
    Lidia nodded. My chest squeezed tight, and I couldn’t say the thing I feared most. Had he been a Benandante too?
    â€œHe knew about them because both of his parents were Benandanti.”
    I came off my knees and eased away from her. I had no memory of my paternal grandparents; I had always been told that they died when I was a baby. That was why my dad had returned to Twin Willows with his new wife and child: to run the farm that they had left behind. “Did they . . . die in battle?”
    Lidia swallowed hard. Her eyes were shiny with tears threatening to spill over. “Yes. It happened about six months after we came to Twin Willows.”
    Six months. So I had met my grandparents. Or rather, they had met me. Try as I might, the only image of them I could conjure in my head was the picture of them, kind-faced and surrounded by goats, that we had on the mantel at home. My brain spun as all the pieces of the puzzle finally began clicking into place. That was why Nerina had built her lair on our farm, why she’d placed the amulet in the basement of the farmhouse. Bree didn’t know how right she’d been when she once called my home Benandanti Central.
    â€œBut Dad had to have known that they would find me here, too. The Waterfall in the woods behind our house—that’s the site of magic we’re protecting. He knew about it; he used to take me there. Why did you come back here to Twin Willows if you knew they were here, too?”
    Lidia closed her eyes. Now the tears did spill over, staining her cheeks. “Because he didn’t agree with me,” she said, so low that I had to lean in to hear her. “Because he knew that you would be a great Walker. That you would be a hero. He did not believe that you could escape that destiny, no matter where we were.”
    God, that word, destiny . I could never escape it, no matter how hard I tried. “So I’ve just been fulfilling some master plan all along?” I pushed myself up to my feet and paced the length of the couch. “You all knew that I was going to be a Benandante someday, didn’t you?”
    â€œAlessia, I never wanted this for you. I had hoped it would never come to this, or if it did, that you would make the same choice I did. That you would refuse.”
    I whirled to a stop in front of Lidia. “The coward’s choice?”
    She winced. A stab of guilt pierced my gut, but I was too angry to really feel its pain. “How long have you suspected that I was a Benandante?”
    â€œI . . . I don’t know . . . maybe a couple of months . . .”
    â€œA couple of months ?” I tore my hands through my hair. “And you didn’t say anything to me?”
    â€œI knew that you would not be allowed to talk—”
    â€œBut I could’ve talked to you!” I flung my arm in the direction of the living room. “Jenny’s known her dad was a Benandante since she was twelve. Barb knows. Dad obviously knew about his parents. It seems like I was the only one in the Clan following the rules, and I was the one who most needed to break them.” I couldn’t breathe; the anger and frustration were like bands across my ribs.
    â€œ Cara . . . ”
    â€œDon’t cara me! I needed you and I was so afraid to say anything, afraid for your safety. And now I find out you knew all along.” I was surprised to taste salted tears in my mouth; I hadn’t realized I’d started crying. “If you had come to me,