"Stop you!" Melissa didn't know what her tone meant. It was incredulous, it was angry, it was afraid. Would she have tried to stop Stephanie? She didn't know. She just knew that for three years Stephanie had been part of this amazing and frightening world and they'd never known. What if she'd gotten hurt? What if she'd gotten sick?

She opened her mouth to say something else, though she had no idea what, but Stephanie went on before she could. Melissa's mouth closed and she went grey.

No. This was worse, much worse, than merely their honest daughter lying to them for three years. This was their daughter not even being there. This was their daughter giving them a copy of herself. As if it was enough. As if that was all they needed. As if they could be fooled.

Her Stephanie wasn't even real. Not anymore.

Without her being aware of it Melissa was on her feet. She reached out for Stephanie, cupping her face and looking into her eyes with shaking hands, as if she could peer into Stephanie's eyes and see the true her. But she couldn't. Three years. Stephanie had been lying to them for three years. Not just lying. She hadn't even been there. Her life of magic had been more important.

"Who are you?" she whispered, and there were tears in her eyes, on her cheeks. "Do I know who you are anymore?"