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“An inheritance?” I ask. “Father never told me anything about an inheritance.”
“He couldn’t. Mother put it in her will that you weren’t to receive it until you turned twenty-five.”
My twenty-fifth birthday is only a few weeks away.
“These men don’t need money, Evan,” I tell him. “They’re richer than god. Why the hell do they need Mother’s inheritance?”
“Because she didn’t leave you money, Thalia,” he sighs. “She left you something far greater.”
“And what is that?”
“A family heirloom. A relic that’s rumored to have unbelievable magic. Magic that can kill vampires.”
Magic?
Someone is seriously off their rocker. I thought he would say the heirloom would be jewels or something. Maybe an old estate. But a magic relic? Is that how far my brother has sunk? That he would make up these fantasies and try to convince me that they’re true?
“If you think I’m going to buy that bullshit for one moment, then you don’t know me at all,” I hiss at him. “How dare you use our mother’s memory to try and pull me into some scheme and make me believe that everything you and Father did was justified.”
“That’s not what I’m doing, Thalia,” he implores. “Father never wanted you to find out about what Mom was. About what you are. But I think you deserve to know.”
“Deserve to know what?”
“That you’re a witch.”
Bomb dropped.
“Our mother came from a long line of witches. Powerful ones. And you’re set to inherit her abilities.”
My head is spinning like the little girl from The Exorcist. He can’t be serious.
“Why me? Why don’t you and Clio have abilities as well?”
He’s silent for a moment, and I can almost hear the cogs turning in his brain. Is he coming up with an excuse? Another lie that he can feed me?
“As far as I can tell, not everyone inherits the gene. It’s a lot like eye color or hair color. One kid may end up with blue eyes, but the other might end up with brown or something like that. Clio and I don’t have a disposition for magic, but when you were born, Father said you exhibited every sign pointing toward you being a witch. We believe that’s why the Kings want you. Only you can activate the power of the heirloom Mother left. That power will make them nearly invincible. With it, they don’t just rule vampires, they will rule every creature in the underground.”
“You know about the others?” The pinball in my mind is ricocheting again, bouncing off every corner of my brain, lighting up the nerve endings. The bombshell my brother just dropped seems like nothing but make believe. But then again, I live in a world of vampires and fae. Why would witches be much different to comprehend?
“You know our family has ties to vampire hunters,” he says. “But what you don’t know is that those ties aren’t cut. Father didn’t just rule a mafia family. He ran the underground eradication group. Our family founded the group decades ago, bringing together likeminded individuals who sought to eradicate the hold vampires have on the human world. Their immortality is a curse on mankind. They kill and rape at will. Take others into their den of shadows and sin. Now I’m the one who holds the power. Father was too weak-minded to go after the Kings, but with your help, I will wipe them and all who follow them off the board forever. You will be safe to come back home.”
Home…one word with more baggage than a 747.
“What do you want me to do?” I ask cautiously. “I mean, they’re vampires. They’ve probably heard this entire conversation.”
“This phone, when activated, emits a small frequency that blocks out sound within a certain radius,” he assures me. “They can’t hear anything you’re saying.”
“How do you even have something like this?”
“I told you,” he huffs impatiently. “Our family has been at this for a very long time. We’ve been developing technology that dampens their abilities. We’re even working on something that can kill them.”
Kill them? The thought of Weylen dying at the hands of one of my brother’s weapons causes a shiver of unease to race through me and dread to pool in my stomach.
“I need you to watch them,” he commands. “Listen. Find out who their allies are. Who they take meetings with. When their shipments are. Anything you can get your hands on.”
“How do you expect me to do that?”
“Make them trust you. Let them think you’re an ally and find out what you can. Mother died so you could be born to inherit what Clio and I couldn’t. She wouldn’t want it to fall into their hands. That heirloom will help us power the weapons that will be their demise. Don’t let them get a hold of it. They will destroy everything.”
