FOR A MOMENT, THERE WAS NO SOUND ASNICOLE’S BRAINtried to work.
Tounderstand.
‘That’s not possible,’ she whispered.
‘Dad?’ Bells asked, her voice soft, uncertain. Nicole felt it echo through her like a death knell.
‘He’s a Seer,’ Dylan interrupted. ‘That’s how Bells is a Seer; how Nicole can See things. He’s a Seer and our mother was an Empyreal. What about that don’t you get?’
No, she wasn’tjustan Empyreal, Nicole thought.
‘What about them?’ Callum asked, nodding to Nicole and her siblings.
‘No,’ their father said.
‘Are yousure?’
Now, their father’s eyes flashed with anger. ‘Can’t you feel it?’
Callum looked like he’d strip her father of his skin if he was lying.
‘What the hell are you talking about?’ Dylan demanded.
‘How many others are there?’ Callum asked, his teeth near bared.
‘I couldn’t say.’
‘Liar.’
‘Why don’t we sit,’ their father said, fanning a hand to the couches and chairs.
Callum remained standing. They all did.
It gave her a real moment to look at him.
To search for what he’d disguised with his glasses and cardigans. The silver in his hair and softness in his eyes. Had she grown blind to it, or had he just hidden it so well? He’d always been capable. She knew he had killed to protect them. Knew the weapons in his case had beenused.
But looking at him, she sought some evidence, some sign of his divinity other than the appearance of the red veins in his eyes that had become more frequent, and the dark pulse of power from the night of her transformation. She couldn’t recall clues earlier than that, that …
He was a god.
ADemonGod.
And the others were currentlyrunning the Wake.
Suddenly she felt sick.
Kyan’s hand met her back gently. Warm, secure. Grounding. Part of her wanted to close her eyes and just stop listening. If she didn’t hear another word then her whole life wouldn’t change.
Nicole edged to the couch, holding the back of it as Kyan shadowed her, and she fought a heavy weariness. Bells came around reluctantly and sat, tucking her legs up under her. Dylan remained glaring between Callum and their father.
‘Did Freya know?’ Callum asked, then shook his head, as if realising that wasn’t a valid question. ‘She would have known.’
Nicole was struck by the familiarity with which he talked about her mother. As if he knew far more about her than he had let on in Estwood.
Their father gave a small smile, as if remembering. ‘She knew.’ He sighed and moved to right Bells’ overturned plate and the spilled hot chocolate. It was such a normal, fatherly thing to do it made Nicole’s throat tighten.
‘The first thing you need to know, I suppose,’ her father said, ‘is that I didn’t want to remain a part of what they were doing, even if I was a part of the Wake’s origins.’
