AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Can’t you simply confront him like you did your stepmother?” Philomena asked. “If he shows some maliciousness, you can treat him to the same response.”
“If he really has been acting against me, he could pretend to be horrified and then call in a witching friend to subdue me somehow,” I said. “And even if he wasn’t a good enough actor for that, it’s not going to escape the Assembly’s notice if he disappears from public life and work too. They’ll come investigate me. What I did to Celestine wasn’t legal. Without proof of Dad’s treachery… it could be me who ends up facing retribution. I need proof, and I need to get it without tipping my hand to him, unless I decide I can trust him.”
My pulse thumped faster as I came into view of the estate’s stone wall and caught sight of a car parked just beyond the tall wrought-iron gate. Porters were hustling from it to the big old manor house, one of them carrying Dad’s suitcase and another a large packing box. Dad had a habit of buying up local delicacies whenever he went on a business trip for our cooking staff to experiment with. “Bringing a little of the world back home to my family,” he liked to say.
When I pushed past the gate, my heart flipped right over. He was standing there by the other side of the car, bending over to retrieve something from the back seat. I took a couple steps toward him, and then my legs locked.
Dad straightened up and saw me immediately. His usual warm smile split his face. Nothing about him had changed. He had the same silver-flecked chestnut hair, the same gentle hazel eyes, the same square jaw as when he’d left.
But when he’d left I’d been sure of who he was, and now I didn’t know how to be sure of much of anything. Even if he hadn’t been a party to my stepmother’s scheming, he might not be enthusiastic about my choice in consorts. After all, he’d had some hand in dismissing their parents so callously. I had to tread carefully, for my guys’ sakes as much as mine.
I made myself walk forward to meet him. “Dad!”
“My lamb, there you are.” He opened his arms for a hug, and I had to return it. I wrapped my arms around him just for a second. The familiar, soothing smell of his lemony aftershave washed over me, and my throat choked up. Suddenly I felt very old and very young all at the same time.
The solid corner of something in his hand bumped my back. I glanced down as I pulled away. “What’s that?”
Dad held up the case, well-worn wood with tarnished silver sealing the edges. “An artifact I picked up in my touring around Cairo. More of a curiosity than anything practical, but valuable enough that I didn’t want to leave it to the staff to handle.”
He popped the clasp and opened the lid. Inside the case lay an object I could only describe as a wand, as long as my forearm and half as thick. It was made of a wood so dark I could barely make out the grain, polished to a soft shine. An intricate gold-plated design circled its body in rings all up its length, and gemstones gleamed where they were embedded in the spaces between: brilliant green emeralds and deep blue lapis lazuli.
Despite myself, my breath caught with awe. “Wow. That’s beautiful.” And it had at least once been very powerful. The gold designs included witching glyphs for strength, energy, amplification, and aim. I curled my fingers where Dad couldn’t see, sending a testing feeler of my own power toward the wand. No answering magic responded.
“Long since sapped of any spells it used to hold,” Dad said, confirming what I’d just sensed. “Too dangerous to keep in the house otherwise, I’d imagine. But it makes a remarkable souvenir as it is, don’t you think?”
“Definitely.”
He closed the case, tucked it under his arm, and glanced around. “Is your stepmother out?”
Right. He’d have expected her to come out to meet him if she’d been here. My chest clenched for a second before I recovered my tongue. “I’m not sure. I haven’t seen her since last night.”
“Lyle,” Dad called to the porter who’d just re-emerged from the house. “Is Lady Hallowell around?”
The scrawny guy halted. “I can go ask after her, sir.”
“Please do,” Dad said. He closed the car door, and one of our security guards crossed the yard to meet us.
“Lady Hallowell hasn’t been on the premises today, Mr. Hallowell,” he said. “I’m the one who checked the security cam over the gate this morning. Her Jag pulled out around one in the morning. I assumed she had a trip, an early morning flight to catch.”
Dad blinked, his forehead furrowing. He fished his phone out of his pocket, presumably to check to see if Celestine had left him any message about an unexpected trip. Of course, he didn’t find any. The spell I’d placed on her prevented her from communicating to or about him or me in any way.
He tapped to dial her number and raised the phone to his ear with a frown. I wavered, watching him. If what Celestine had said was true, he’d been counting on her to see through my consorting, with all the additional twists she’d added. But how could I tell the difference between distress over losing his accomplice and the distress any man would show on discovering his wife and consort had vanished?
She didn’t answer. He lowered his hand, his face so shadowed with confusion the sight sent an ache through my chest.
I hadn’t wanted to handle Celestine’s crimes this way. I’d wanted to bring her and Derek to Dad, to reveal everything to him. But that would only have worked if he wasn’t a party to those crimes.
“You didn’t expect her to leave?” I said, playing ignorant still. “She didn’t mention anything about catching a flight to me.”
Dad shook his head. He started toward the house. “It’s very strange. Perhaps Meredith will know? What’s she busy with today?”
The ache deepened. Spark help me, he didn’t even know that much. Normally our estate managerwouldhave been busy with more projects than I could count, but Celestine had fired Meredith, the low-standing witch who’d looked after our property and my family since my father was a child, practically the moment he’d left. Because she’d seen me turning to the other woman for support, I had to think.
I could tell Dad the truth about that. “She’s gone too. Celestine let her go the day after you left. She said Meredith wasn’t a good fit for the family anymore. I tried to talk to her, but it was already done—Meredith had left… Celestine didn’t want to discuss it further.”
Dad halted at the base of the broad front steps and stared at me. “Why on earth would she do that? Did Meredith overstep somehow?”
I clasped my hands in front of me. He did look honestly distressed about Meredith, at least. “I don’t know. Not that I saw. I mean, they never got alongthatwell, but it all seemed the same as usual.”
