Page 97 of A Trial By Blood

“Are your wings translucent?” I asked.

His chin jerked back. “No.”

“You said yours are black?”

“Yes.”

“Mine are white.”

He stilled completely, his dark eyes locked on my face for several moments, then he shook himself. “Your wings are white?”

“Yes, and shimmery.”

He sipped his drink, and I could tell he was using it to gather himself.

“Is there something wrong?” I asked, watching him closely.

“No, nothing’s wrong. But this is…it’s a lot to take in, for both of us.” He shook his head and put down his mug. “We have black wings, all of us. You’re unique in so many ways, Rose.” He was silent for several seconds, taking me in again, then his eyes lit up. “I’d love to introduce you to your family.”

“She has a family,” Mags said.

“Her other family. Rose has cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents. I know they’d love to meet her. Some of our elders are extremely knowledgeable. They might be able to help you navigate this whole thing better than I can.”

“Thanks, but I don’t think that’s necessary,” I said and stood.

His hand darted out and wrapped around my wrist. I paused, looking down at it, and he quickly let me go.

“I’m sorry, I know you don’t owe me anything, Rose. Not one thing. My only excuse for leaving was that I was young and stupid. I realized how impossible a relationship between me and your mother was. She didn’t know what I was, and I really didn’t think her coven would want me around once they knew. So I left before it became a problem. I was a coward, and you and Daisy suffered for it. But I would love to do this for you. For you to meet your family, your colony. Even if you don’t want anything more from me, meet them. They’re far better than I am. They could help you. Your wings work differently than ours, who knows what else might come up?”

Again, the sincerity was impossible to miss. He wanted this, badly. I still wasn’t sure. “I need to think about it.”

“Of course. If you decide you want to meet with me again, or you’re up for meeting my side of the family, just call, whenever you want, okay?”

I nodded, and then Mags and I walked out.

“Okay?” Mags asked as we hit the street and headed back to the car.

“Yeah, I guess.” I turned to her. “What did you think of him?”

She pursed her lips. “I’m not sure, honestly. I didn’t have the urge to tear his arms off, well, not the whole time. He kind of seemed sincere.”

“He did, right?” Maybe it would be a good idea to meet with his colony. It couldn’t hurt, could it? He was right, maybe someone there would have more answers for me. My magic had morphed with that part of me, in a way my father had never seen. Maybe some of the elders in the colony had seen something like this before, or maybe it was just my curiosity getting to me.

We reached the car and got in, and I quickly pulled out my phone and sent a text to Ronan like I’d promised, then shoved my phone in my pocket.

“I’m supposed to be meeting Bram at home. You want to go there, or somewhere else?” Mags asked, glancing in the rearview mirror.

“Can we swing by the council? I want to borrow some books.” I was hoping to find some information on the stolen effigies, or their uses, anything. I was getting desperate.

The world suddenly spun, and I grabbed the door handle as a vision rushed me out of nowhere.

The museum. I was in the museum. Dark. It was nighttime. Something moved in the shadows, almost gliding as they headed down the hall. I was with them, as if I were hovering behind, like a balloon attached by a string.

We turned the corner.

The guard was there. He was on his phone, arguing with someone.

The dark figure moved out into the middle of the hall, a male. The guard spun to the intruder, dropping his phone in surprise.