‘Let’s go,’ his father said.
They began weaving their way in the harp’s direction. They’d gone over the plan again and again when they’d arrived in Ireland and all got to their respective hotel rooms. Nicole, Kyan and Bells were currently across a grassy park, past the other university buildings and the museum, in case one part of the two almost-heists they were trying to pull off went wrong.
Xinyi had told them little. ‘Better for deniability,’ she’d purred. All they knew was she had planned for a thief to strike at twelve o’clock and to be ready to trip him and catch the harp so Remi could touch it.
When they reached it, Dylan scanned the antique instrument with suspicion.
‘It’s so beautiful,’ Remi breathed.
Made of dark shining wood, its elegant shape, curling edges, and intricate details lent it a mythical, Celtic feel. You had to look closely and move around it for the light to trace the thinly inscribed carvings. But they were there: stars, spirals, flowers.
‘Can you feel anything?’ Dylan asked at a near whisper.
Remi stared, her lips parted as she gazed at the harp. ‘Not really. The glass is blocking anything I might pick up.’
She’d have to hold it, then. Her bandaged fingers curled at her sides and Dylan wondered how desperate she was to play it regardless of whether it was the right harp.
He moved over to fake some fascination over a bored-looking bust, watching Remi out of the corner of his eye and one of the exits in case the thief decided they didn’t want to play along and took the instrument for themselves.
‘Are you sure you’re up for this?’ his father asked, coming to browse the books beside him. Surrounded by old-world elegance, it brought out his distinguished air. ‘You can rest at the hotel.’
‘I’m not missing such an amazing library,’ Dylan said, voice mildly sarcastic.
His father smiled. ‘That’s not the only thing I’m asking.’
On the ferry over, the family had discussed going back to the cottage where their mother was killed to try and get through Dylan’s mental block. He hadn’t remembered that it was here, in Ireland.
Was he okay with it?
No. No, he wasn’t.
But what other option did they have? The Wake were creating mindless killers. It shouldn’t be possible: an Empyreal’s power had an inbuilt morality. They were supposed to be bastions of trust in the supernatural community. Beings you could rely on to help you,saveyou. Making them stronger, faster, and incapable of being reasoned with … it would be the end of supernatural society.
‘We need the information,’ Dylan said quietly. ‘For the others.’
‘They can sort themselves out.’
Dylan frowned at the bust. ‘No, they can’t—’
‘Yes, they can.’ His father had turned to him, eyes as dangerous as the poisons and weapons in his special case. ‘You and your sisters are my priority, you always will be. Just because you’re the eldest, doesn’t mean you have to go through this, do you understand me?’ He placed his hand on Dylan’s shoulder to make sure he met his eyes. ‘If you don’t want to go there, we won’t. That’s the end of it.’
He stared into his father’s storm-blue eyes and wondered how he’d done it.
How he’dsurvivedafter loving and losing their mother the way he had.
If there was even a fraction of a chance this process would help them stop that from happening again …
‘I’ll try,’ Dylan said, throat tight. ‘I want to.’
Maybe it would rid him of the cold sweats when he thought of it, of the flashes that dogged him since the first time they’d tried the memory mining.
Or maybe instead of purging him, it would haunt him in worse ways than he could have imagined.
‘I don’t want you to hurt even more, going back there,’ Dylan said. ‘You’re the one out of us that can remember that night clearly.’
His father’s eyes shadowed and he was quiet for a long moment. ‘Sometimes, we find out that we can survive the worst days of our lives. I don’t know how I’ll feel when we go back, but I know that whatever we find, your mother will never be gone. Not to me. She lives with me every day in you three. In my memories. I will love her till … till the end of the world and beyond.’
A hot band of worry tightened around Dylan’s heart.
