The last thing I wanted to do was practice magic right now. But Lord Lucien was right. I hadn’t conjured an Unseelie spell in weeks, and if I was going to improve, it wouldn’t happen with me sitting on my ass.
Or… talking about asses.
“Okay.” I gave a gentle wave to my girlfriends, and made a mental note to continue the conversation we were having later. I headed to my bedroom to grab the key before I returned downstairs.
Lord Lucien was in his study. It was quite the massive room, with enough space to practice magic in. I took the seat across from him, and he said, “Glad to see you moving about so well. We can use that energy for today’s lesson.”
“Before we start,” I began. “Do you know anything about this?”
I placed the key before Lord Lucien, and he observed it carefully. “It reacts to Kalina’s presence,” I said. “She touched it, and it lit right up.”
“Fascinating. I can’t sense any magical power,” Lucien said as he touched the key.
“Neither could I, until Kalina held it.”
“Hm.” Lord Lucien’s mouth downturned. “Very curious.”
“You must have some suspicions,” I insisted.
“Some, but nothing substantial. Where did you acquire it?”
“Professor Calliope gave it to me.”
“I see.” Lucien’s lips tightened. “She has a proclivity for collecting magical items, but this isn’t any like I’ve ever seen.”
“How can it seem unmagical to us, then display its powers when it’s near Kalina?” I questioned.
“It means the power within the key is beyond our own magic,” Lucien stated.
My mouth dropped open. “But I’m the Worldweaver. I’m supposed to be the most powerful sorceress there is.”
I wasn’t really living up to that name, at the moment.
“If this key is any indication, Kalina may have surpassed you,” Lucien replied.
“But how can that be?” I insisted. “She’d have to have exceptionally magical parents to inherit that kind of power. Arthur’s talented, but not stronger than I am, and Vara was—”
I hitched a breath. Lucien let out a musing sound and said, “Vara could be the missing link to this mystery.”
“She didn’t appear that strong when she was here with us,” I argued.
“Perhaps it was a ruse, and she was hiding something,” Lucien mused. “Either way, we cannot ask her now, and I don’t believe Arthur had any idea.”
I bit my lip. “If I’m the Worldweaver, and yet Kalina is stronger than I am, that must mean she’s—”
“A demigod. Yes.”
“If that’s true— and we don’t know that it is, we’re just guessing— people will come for her. They’ll want her for her magic.”
“Indeed, and that includes gods as well,” Lucien said. “Droga will be interested in capturing and raising a demigod child for his own, which means news must not get out about what she is. You can’t tell anyone about this, Emma. Not even Ethan.”
I nodded. Kalina’s safety came first. The fewer who knew about how strong she could be, the better.
“I will tell Arthur, but in time. I fear he wouldn’t be able to handle the news if we were to break it to him now,” Lucien said sadly. “That Vara kept secrets from him would tear him apart.”
“He’s doing horrible, Dad.” My heart broke for my twin.
“It appears the loss is driving him mad.” Lucien’s eyebrows knitted together.
