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“Trillian, forgive my blindness. You have treated my daughter with the love and kindness that I should have given her. You are the better man. I was wrong about you. And, if you’ll allow, I would like to formally welcome you into our family.” Sephreh broke down then, tears trickling down his face. “My Maria, she would have handled this so much better. She would have kept me true to myself rather than letting me get mired in politics.”
It was then that we all realized how much he still missed our mother. He’d never let go of her, never been able to say good-bye.
Camille slowly stepped forward, one hand still holding Trillian’s. “Do you mean what you say?”
Father nodded. “With all my heart. You, my daughter, have withstood my tirades and demands that you take over for your mother, that you be perfect. And no one, not even my beloved Maria, could have filled the shoes I tried to make you wear. Even my beloved wife could not have competed with the ghost of her memory.”
Camille cocked her head, looking unsure. But then, her face clear of tears, she placed one hand on his heart. “I hold you to your oath. I hold you to your words. I will give you a second chance, but only one. Break my heart once more, and you will never hear from me or see me again.”
Trillian pulled her back, gently. “Lord Sephreh, don’t take her threat lightly. As for me, I will abide by my wife’s wishes. I will eat at your table, treat you with respect, as long as it cuts both ways. But know this: I will not stay where I am not welcome, nor suffer my wife to do the same.”
And with that, a truce was born. I watched, silently standing by Delilah. We couldn’t just forgive and forget. Too much water had passed, too many land mines had gone off. But maybe, perhaps…just perhaps…we could move forward from here and find some common ground.
After tentative hugs and kisses, we gathered around a central table. I was beginning to feel tired, and I seldom felt tired. But the emotional war with our father and the stress of coping with Quall and his cronies had set me on edge. Give me a rumble with a gang like Crimsy’s men any day over the drama-queen flurry we’d been through.
Father called for food—including a goblet of blood for me. The blood was fresh and sweet, Fae blood…not human. I didn’t ask where he’d gotten it.
“We have a serious problem, and Tanaquar instructed me to approach you. She thought I’d be the best intermediary. First, we’re prepared to offer you all your jobs back. Full reinstatement with back pay.”
Bomb number one. None of us had seen that coming, that was for sure. I glanced at the others, who looked just as confused as I felt.
“Based on what Queen Asteria has discussed with Tanaquar, we think it in everyone’s best interests to have you girls working for both sides. Queen Asteria is aware of our offer.” He stopped, giving us time to think.
“If we were to entertain such a thought, what conditions might we expect to be working under and to whom would we report?” If they wanted us this badly, they could jolly well ante up for us. The OIA had been our home for many years, but it had also tossed me into a vampire’s nest and kicked our butts Earthside when we didn’t perform as expected.
“And what about the fact that I’m pledged to Aeval’s Court? That’s suddenly okay?” Camille still sounded bitter.
Sephreh rubbed his temples. “It would seem that Tanaquar is no longer concerned about that.”
“What about you?” She leaned forward, waiting for an answer. “How do you feel about me working with the Earthside Fae Queens?”
Leaning back in his chair, still rubbing his forehead, he glanced across the table at her. “I admit, I’m not entirely thrilled with the idea, but I won’t stand in your way. Nor will it be a problem with us working together.”
“Us working together?” I saw where this was going.
“Since I am the liaison between the OIA and the Guard Des’Estar, and in charge of covert operations…and since you are my daughters, Tanaquar decided that—should you decide to work with us again—you will be reporting directly to me. I will be your superior.”
Vanzir, who had managed to keep his mouth shut all this time, let out a snicker. “Oh, that’s lovely. The family that slays together plays together?”
“Shut up, demon.” Contrite or not, Sephreh was still our father. “Please, take the assignment. We need you. We have trouble and have pulled back all other OIA operatives, so we need you Earthside, especially now.”
“What trouble?” Delilah pulled out her notebook. She was so used to taking notes that she acted as our secretary without being asked.
“Your friend, Andrees? He was sent Earthside on a mission to discover what you are up to. But he’s vanished. We have no clue of what happened to him, no idea of where he might be. We need you to find him.”
Andrees. He’d been in the OIA training class that the three of us had taken. We’d studied together, and he’d never treated us with anything but respect. Delilah had developed a crush on him, but he’d never known. He’d trained as a scout, and the OIA had originally planned for him to spy on Dredge, but he came down with a fever and had been laid out for a good month. So they’d pawned the assignment off onto me. He’d avoided me ever after that, and I could see the guilt in his eyes. I’d always wanted to tell him that it wasn’t his fault, but never had the chance. Maybe now, I would.
“We’ll deal with the fact that the OIA was spying on us later.” Camille straightened her shoulders. “Where did they send him?”
Sephreh thumbed through a folder of papers. “Somewhere in…West Seattle. White Center area. We had a small store there, a massage parlor on Roxbury Street, owned by Iyor, one of our operatives. We sent Andrees there to connect with Iyor, and from there, he was supposed to work his way over to see what you were doing. We haven’t heard from him since he crossed over.”
“You sent Andrees to White Center? To a massage parlor? You know that’s a brothel?”
“A brothel? No—a massage parlor.” Father looked confused.
“Trust me, in that area? Doesn’t mean what you think it means.”
Sephreh blinked. “Well, our mistake again. But the massage parlor has closed and we can’t find our agent Iyor, either.”
