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Would Ieverbe able to bring the guys into my home like full partners? It didn’t seem fair. To them more than anyone.
It wasn’t long before Dad knocked on my door. “Can I come in, lamb?”
“Of course,” I said, giving my eyes another swipe so they’d look reddened.
He eased open the door and crossed the room to stand by the bed. “Derek is leaving,” he said. “As quickly as he can get his things together. You won’t ever have to see him again.”
I let out my breath in a rush. “Good. Thank you.”
He raked his hand through his hair. “But of course now we have a difficult situation to face. Your twenty-fifth birthday is only six weeks off. I’ll have to start talking to other potential consorts… You won’t have as much time to get to know them beforehand as I’d have liked, but I’m sure I can find someone you’ll be happy with. Or at least content, while you settle in with your powers and decide what you want to do next. Once your spark is kindled…”
“I’ll be fine, even if I break the consort bond,” I said. “I know. And I know it’ll be okay. That’s actually— I wanted to talk to you about—”
He stared to pace from one end of the room to the other, barreling on. “You don’t need to worry about it at all, Rose. I should have seen the problem sooner. I take responsibility. I’ll fly out tonight—you know, I might know just the fellow. We never arranged a meeting because you seemed to hit it off with Derek well, but you share a fair few interests, and he’s made it known he’s interested in finding a good match. Killian Sorensen. Quite the name, too.” He chuckled.
I’d been about to interrupt Dad to tell him I didn’t need a consort at all. At that name, a finger of ice ran down my back. I knew it. I knew it because…
Celestine’s files on possible consorts. The ideal last-minute backup guy. Killian Sorensen.
No. Derek had said Dad had no idea. It had to be just a coincidence.
“Is that one of the possible guys Celestine picked out?” I said tentatively, watching Dad’s expression. “I can’t help feeling—she was the one who suggested meeting with Derek—after that, and with her disappearing so suddenly…”
“Of course, of course,” Dad said. His eyes were already distant, as if he were booking the plane tickets in his mind. “No, your stepmother has nothing to do with Killian at all. I’m not sure I even mentioned him to her, to be honest.”
“You didn’t discuss him as a possible match?”
He shook his head. “I met him in passing during some business function or another. Always thought he was a good sort, so I kept an eye on him. I can’t imagine how your stepmother would have met him. She certainly never spoke about him.”
My stomach twisted. He was lying, baldly. Celestine’s notes had mentioned a luncheon she and Dad had arranged with Killian, and that she knew of him through one of her family friends. But of course Dad didn’t have to worry about me finding that out now that Celestine was dead, did he?
He had to know about Celestine’s “accident.” The witching authorities would have contacted her husband as quickly as her daughters. Maybe, not realizing Evianna had harassed me about it, he wouldn’t have wanted to burden me with the unsettling news right now, but I didn’t see any sign that he was holding back his own grief. I couldn’t see any indication that he cared at all—about anything except getting me consorted to a man of his choice as quickly as possible.
I gripped the edge of my duvet. My head was starting to spin. “Dad,” I said, a little weakly, “why don’t we just wait on it a day or two? Just to give me time to come to grips with what’s happened. I’m not sure I want to jump right into a new engagement without a moment to breathe.”
“I know, lamb,” Dad said briskly. The echo of Celestine’s voice rang through my mind.He does love you, in his own way. You’re his little lamb, and he wants you on a leash.“I hate to leave you when we’re going through this. But we don’t have any time to spare. The last thing I want to see is you losing your magic over something like this.”
Because then you won’t be able to control it?I thought but couldn’t say. My throat had closed up. It was hard to breathe, watching him pace and make his plans, pretending he only wanted what was best for me.
He must have orchestrated everything, all along. Did that mean he was behind Celestine’s death too?
“Dad,” I said, not even really knowing what I was aiming for. Just wanting to see if I could sway him even a little. “Please, can you just stay home tonight? I don’t want to be alone.”
He stopped in front of me, with a look so fond I thought maybe I’d gotten through to him after all. But then his gaze twitched away. He touched my shoulder, but his thoughts were somewhere else. “I’m sorry, Rose. I promise this will be for the best. You want the worthiest consort I can find for you. I have to make arrangements now.”
He strode to the door. “Dad!” I called after him.
“It will all work out,” he said over his shoulder. “You don’t need to worry.”
The door clicked shut behind him, and I was left perched on the edge of my bed, with nothingbutworry clamped tight around my stomach.
I’d stumbled on the truth. I knew who my enemies were. It turned out they were all around me. Spark help me, where did I go from here?
Chapter Twenty-Three
Seth
“Icamesoclose to telling him,” Rose said, ducking her head. Under the stark lights of Jin’s gallery, she looked suddenly small. “I could have ruined everything.”
