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I nod. “Do you have a book that explains his role in bringing Mathias down?”
“Absolutely. I wasn’t alive when he and the original Brethren foiled D’Arc’s plan, but I remember your father’s name from school.”
“Is he remembered as a hero?” I hold my breath.
“To most. He’s definitely been written that way. I’ll show you.”
Sabelle pulls a few books free and hands them to me. I take them greedily and sink against the back of the buttery leather sofa.
Within a few minutes, I slap the book closed with a smile and pick up another. Then another. Each time, my grin widens.
“Well?” Sabelle asks. “Great rendition of ‘Old MacDonald,’ by the way.”
“Thank you. You didn’t hear my thoughts?”
“Snippets only. You sounded pleased.”
Nodding, I stand with nervous energy. “This book, like the others, says that when Mathias began abducting the children of Council members, my father secretly contacted their parents and promised the younglings’—that’s the term, right?—safety. The previous Brethren were gunning for Mathias, and my father gave them the location of Mathias’s hideaway, led them past the magical protections, pretending he had captured them. Then, together, the Brethren and my father ambushed Mathias and, after a brutal fight, vanquished him. The Brethren celebrated my father, the parents revered him…and the wizards of the Anarki hunted him. But many of the new friends he’d made concealed him, some for years. According to these sources, he came to the party late, but he was a hero.”
If these accounts are true, maybe Richard’s decision to keep distance during my childhood was the right one.
But if magickind is anything like mankind, history is always written by the victors. “Do you have more about him? Anything…not so flattering?”
“Yes, but most was written by Anarki-sympathizing trash grumbling that your father had cost them their leader. The versions you’ve read is what magickind teaches in school.”
So now I have a decent semblance of the truth. Maybe that will help Marrok trust my father, too. Maybe, together, we’ll get the book open faster.
If we do, what will happen when Marrok’s curse ends?
“What do you mean?” Sabelle frowns.
“He’s been immortal. If that’s no longer true, will he…” I can’t bring myself to say it, to even think about Marrok dying.
“I don’t know. Usually mate-bonds are stronger, since mating is the most powerful magic of all. But then, I’ve never seen a curse as potent as Morgana’s.”
So Marrok may not survive the end of his damnation. Even if he does…he wants to die.
My agony at the thought tells me how dangerously close I am to falling in love.
I want to call my father, talk, try to figure out who he really is, and see what he knows about Marrok’s curse. A restless urgency to hear his voice swells inside me.
“May I use your phone?”
Sabelle snaps her fingers and produces one, then hands it to me.
Richard answers on the third ring, sounding winded. “Who is this?”
Dad? Richard? “It’s me, Olivia. Are you all right?”
“I’ve been running from the Anarki since leaving your cottage. They were awaiting me when I returned home.”
My heart stops. “But you got away?”
“For now.”
“Do you have a safe place to go?”
He hesitates. “No.”
