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“Off to confront the old man?” she said.
“Might as well get it over with. Either I find proof he’s guilty and turn him in, or I prove it to myself that he’s not and turntohim. Here’s hoping it’s the latter.”
I raised my hand and knocked.
“Come in,” Dad said right away, but he sounded a bit weary. I eased the door open and stepped inside, closing it behind me. Phil didn’t follow.
Spark take me, it was hard to keep caution at the front of my mind faced with a scene like this. Dad was sitting at his big mahogany desk in a familiar pose, his elbows propped on the gleaming surface. The mingled scents of polished wood and black licorice candy hung in the air. It could have been any night, any time in the past when I hadn’t had all these worries nagging at me, except for the graver than usual look on his face when he turned to me.
He had his jar of those licorice candies sitting on the corner of the desk next to him. He always liked to chew on them when he was thinking through a problem—and he'd had a lot to think about today. He’d come down for dinner a couple hours ago, but he’d eaten quickly without saying much.
“Hey,” I said. “Still no news?”
He shook his head. “I haven’t heard anything from Celestine. I checked in with your stepsisters and her parents, and she hasn’t been in touch with them either.”
Celestine would still have a reserve of magic from her time with Dad. They’d been consorted long enough that she could sever the bond with minimal discomfort if she needed to feed her spark through intimacy with other partners. She could hide for a long time. It would be better for her to hide while my magic prevented her from explaining anything about why she’d left Dad.
Especially if she really was as scared of him as she’d seemed to be last night.
“I’m sorry,” I said, but that last thought made my stomach clench. My gaze drifted to Dad’s printer with its sheaf of paper—the same paper the contract between Celestine and Derek had been written on. She’d claimed she and my former fiancé had agreed to manipulate my magic right here in this office. On Dad’s request.
I should search the office the next moment I had a chance. It didn’t seem likely Dad would have left evidence just lying around, but I had to try, at least.
“She was acting a little strangely after you left,” I ventured. “The way she fired Meredith so suddenly. She kept to herself almost the whole time—I thought maybe she was preparing something for the wedding or the ceremony…”
I kept my tone innocent, but I watched Dad’s expression carefully. If he knew what Celestine had been supposed to be preparing for my consort ceremony, he’d have to showsomereaction at the thought that I might suspect, wouldn’t he?
His eyebrows drew together. “Did she say anything that sounded strange?” he asked.
That was a perfectly reasonable question even if he was just trying to figure out what had happened to his wife. Could I push a little further?
“Well, the thing about Meredith not being a good fit for the household. That didn’t make much sense.” I paused as if trying to remember. There might be another way to prod without giving away anything I knew. “I saw her going in and out of her private magicking room a few times. Maybe she left something in there that would give you an idea where she went. We could open it up and look through her things.”
Which would be the last thing he’d want me to help with if he thought she might have left anything incriminating in there.
Dad just nodded as if he thought my suggestion was a good idea. A little of the tension in me relaxed.
“I talked to Meredith as well,” he said. “She couldn’t shed any light on the situation, but sadly she made it clear she didn’t feel comfortable returning, either. I don’t know…” He sighed. “I’ll have to bring in a new manager, someone who can manage the magical wards so we can get access. If your stepmother hasn’t returned by then.”
The small hopeful note in his voice made guilt pinch my stomach. But if hedidn’tknow what Celestine had been doing, he was so much better off without her. I just wished I could already be sure enough to tell him that.
Dad pushed back his leather chair and turned it to face me, his attention and his hazel eyes settling more completely on me. “You came to talk to me. Was there something else on your mind, Rose?”
Maybe this wasn’t the best time to bring up this subject. But it was both another test of sorts, and a necessary progression. Even in the best possible case, I was going to need to ease Dad into the idea of my unsparked childhood friends being back in my life.
“Nothing as serious as Celestine being missing,” I said. “I just… When I was in town today, I ran into Gabriel Lorde.”
The corner of Dad’s mouth twitched. “Yes? How is he these days?”
“Well… If you ask him he’ll say he’s fine, but—I know you, or Celestine, let go of his dad right after we left the estate. The gossip around town is that Mr. Lorde committed suicide.”
Dad’s mouth twitched again, this time definitely downward. I had the feeling he’d already known that—known it and had regrets.
“If that’s the case, it’s very unfortunate,” he said, his tone subdued.
“Yes. Especially—” I reined in my temper before it could slip out. Whatever else he had or hadn’t done since, I was still angry with Dad about how he’d treated my guys’ parents. Even if Celestine had orchestrated the firings, he could have made it up to them somehow. “He didn’t deserve to be fired. You always said how glad you were to have him on staff, how well he took care of the more temperamental cars… He didn’t do anything wrong. None of us, really, did anything wrong.”
I met Dad’s gaze steadily. He sighed again and rubbed his jaw. “No,” he said. “You didn’t. You know why we moved, and I still think that was for the best, but… Decisions were made back then that might have been too hasty and weren’t easily taken back. I can admit that.”
