I look over at Amir and try to read the annoyance in his eyes. He’s probably rolling them, but I can’t tell. They’re straightgold—no pupils, just that unbroken amber that never tells you a damn thing.
When Tiana meets my eyes, she looks away fast. I’m going to have to talk to her. The apology I gave at the clinic wasn’t enough. Not even close.
Mara is behind me, her tail swaying while she grips the back of my shirt. It’s silly, but it gives me pride that my mate reaches for me when she’s uncomfortable.
Damon holds up a small device in his palm. It hums once and expands. Blue light spills outward until a projection fills the space between the pillars. The image sharpens and my stomach drops.
Eric. Walking through a street I don’t recognize, approaching a building with boarded-up windows and chains on the front doors. The sign above it is faded but I can still read it.
Brookstone and Blackburn.
“Looks like Brookstone and Blackburn is gone.” I tilt my head at the projection. “He’s gonna need more time to?—“
A portal opens on the projection.
My mother groans. “Goddamn Henry.” She presses her fingers to her temple. “He just keeps popping up when we least expect it.”
Damon looks at her. “We knew he’d surface eventually.”
I lean in at the figure in the projection. The hologram isn’t sharp enough to catch every detail, but I can make out deep mahogany skin, sculpted features, and what looks like a fitted jacket. “Who the hell is Henry?”
Amir grins, his hands still clasped behind his back. “You have not told your children of Henry?”
Tiana studies the hologram with a frown, but my mother doesn’t give her time to ask.
“What I tell and don’t tell my children is none of your business,” she snaps at Amir.
Tiana steps forward, glaring at the projection. Nobody can hear what Eric and Henry are saying to each other, but he shakes this man’s hand and walks through the portal with him. Just like that, the projection goes dark and Damon lowers the device.
“Brookstone and Blackburn Enterprises has been out of the public eye for years,” Damon explains. “But they aren’t completely dismantled.”
Amir picks up where Damon leaves off. “They’ve broken into many divisions spread across the seas, different names and different fronts, but the same agenda.”
Mara hooks her head around me and looks up. I turn and pull her into my arms, pressing a kiss to her forehead. She settles against me and I look over her head at Tiana, who’s glaring at our mother.
“What’s going on, Mom?” Tiana asks.
My mother flickers her fingers and her magic spills out of her, blue-gold light spreading across the floor. Everyone steps back, giving the spell room. The light rises and a new hologram opens, this one larger.
A man appears in the light. Dark mahogany skin, sculpted features. The hologram shifts and the same face appears again, older, standing beside figures in crowns and armor.
“His name is Ibrahim al-Qurtubi,” my mother explains. “Born in Córdoba. Moorish. He was captured during a Norman raid on Sicily and converted to Christianity. Became Abraham of Winchester.” The hologram shifts again, showing the man at the side of a king, parchment and gold coins spread across a table. “He served King Henry the First as a financial advisor. Built the structure that became England’s treasury.”
“How long ago was this?” Kiara asks, stepping closer to the hologram.
“Almost a thousand years.” Her chin lifts. “Our ancestors approached him because he had a natural affinity fornumbers and magic. The original Blackwood coven offered him immortality and a portion of our family magic in exchange for protecting our assets through time.”
She flickers her fingers again and the hologram shifts. Ibrahim standing before a group of witches, their hands raised, blue-gold light pouring into him.
“He was supposed to stay hidden until Aya Bailey was defeated, or until a Blackwood witch relieved him of duty.” My mother pauses. “He was never supposed to keep our power. Just hold it.”
“So what happened?”
“He and his brother Nathaniel happened.” My mother’s face goes hard. The hologram flickers and a second man appears beside Ibrahim. Similar features, sharper. “The Blackwoods came to Nathaniel first, before his brother. Both of them betrayed our family once the Blackwoods fell. Nathaniel first.” Her face tightens. “Giving them our magic corrupted their minds. They wanted more power, so they started siding with Aya Bailey, helping hunt down and kill the remaining Blackwoods in exchange for more.”
Tiana’s eyes narrow. “Nathaniel.” She steps forward. “You mean the ghost that tried to take over the Academy when we were kids. The one who possessed Torin and other students.” Her voice rises. “The same Nathaniel who tried to kill Solomon and steal his magic.”
My mother rolls her eyes. “I get it, Tiana. I should’ve told you.”
