AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Rose dipped down over me, her body shaking but soft and sated. She kissed me tenderly on the mouth. Then she eased back up, holding my gaze.
“I won’t let them hurt you,” she said fiercely. “Not now or ever.” And I swear I could see that spark dancing in the back of her eyes.
Chapter Sixteen
Rose
The power of my spark hummed through me as I walked up to my father’s office door. He’d gotten home while I’d been out at the towers with Jin. The protective weight of the pendant hung against my sternum under my shirt, and the fresh heat of that little interlude tingled under my skin.
I could do this. Get my answers, see this horrible situation through, even if Dad had betrayed me. Even if he still meant to.
I knocked on the door. “Dad?”
No answer. I was about to knock again, louder, when the hall floor creaked. When I looked up, my father was walking toward me. A faint smile touched his lips when he saw me, but his eyes stayed solemn.
“Looking for me?” he said.
“Yeah, I— Matilda said you’d gone up to your office.”
He nodded, reaching past me to open the door. “I was just putting Celestine’s things back in the magicking room,” he said as he ushered me in. “No need to have them cluttering my office now. She hasn’t given any indication she wants them returned… I suppose I should have Matilda send the family volumes to her daughters, and you can go through the rest of the supplies and see what you might want for your own use before we get rid of the rest.”
The finality in his voice made me pause. My pulse hiccupped. “Did you talk to Celestine then?”
She shouldn’t have been able to talk to Dad, not with the spell I’d put on her… But that had been the first magic I’d ever cast of that sort. Maybe I’d gotten it wrong somehow.
Dad was already shaking his head. Thank the Spark. “It’s… a very odd situation,” he said. “But I was able to gather that she has no intention of returning or remaining a part of the family.”
He sounded pained. My gut twisted in spite of how glad I was to have Celestine out of our lives.
“I’m sorry,” I said, and I meant it. I was sorry for his loss even if I knew it’d had to happen. If Dad hadn’t been a part of her schemes, Celestine had hurt him too. Had mademehurt him by acting suspicious, by hiding so much awful truth from him. A prickle of anger ran through me.
Then my gaze settled on Dad’s desk, which was much barer than the last time I’d been in here. He’d put away Celestine’s things—including the box of books I’d been planning to use to plant that bit of conjured evidence.
Shit. I couldn’t just conjure it right there on his desk—he wouldn’t believe he’d missed it.
“I know you are, lamb,” Dad said. “I suppose it’s a good thing I’ve got plenty to distract myself. The final details of that Cairo deal are coming into place. The witching families involved are wanting to celebrate, but I had to tell them I couldn’t be away again so close to your consorting. They even suggested we have a party here, as if you want to be dealing with that.” He chuckled.
“Oh,” I said, my stomach twisting for a totally different reason.
I meandered over to his bookshelves where the case with the Egyptian wand he’d brought back from his business trip was sitting. I flipped open the lid, looking at the gem-laid magical tool, as if it would give me some inspiration.
So much power it’d once held. So much power it must have been dangerous. That was how Celestine had talked about me, after I’d confronted her. The excuse she’d given for enslaving my magic. I’d be too powerful. I couldn’t be allowed to wield that power unrestrained.
But she and Derek could be trusted with it? Ha.
I turned the idea over in my head as I glanced back at Dad. She’d said that power was why he’d orchestrated the plot. Maybe there was a more direct way I could get at his feelings.
“Dad,” I said, tentatively. “When the advisers from the Assembly came to talk to Derek and me about our consorting… One of them mentioned to me that they expected my magic to be particularly strong. Because of your bloodline and Mom’s.”
Dad’s expression brightened with a more confident smile. “I’ve always told you you’ve got a lot of history to live up to, haven’t I?” he said lightly. “Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?”
“I guess I hadn’t really taken the idea that seriously before.” I drifted back to his desk so I could watch his expression closely. “It’s a little— I don’t know. A little scary? Thinking about going from having no magic to having so much.”
No, it wasn’t. It was fucking glorious. But if Dad had his own fears, I wanted to draw them out.
“Oh, lamb,” Dad said. He came around the desk and took my hand with a reassuring squeeze. “Why do you think I insisted on all those lessons while you were growing up? I found the best tutors I could for you. They’ll have given you all the groundwork you need to work with your spark. After all that practice, from what I’ve heard, you should find it as natural as breathing.”
“Oh,” I said with a little laugh, and my spark danced in my chest. Yes, that described it pretty well. I’d sooner give up breathing than that glow of magic inside me.
