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"How do you know about her?"
"How can I not have heard about her? Oh, right. You forget that I am the King of Shadow World, and my reign covers Earth."
"Was," I corrected. "Did."
He laughed off my phrasing and dismissed it with a flick of his wrist. "Anyway, she used to be the mistress of the senator, but since his ex-wife died under very mysterious circumstances, she's gotten very cozy with him. I would say he's fucking her every chance he gets."
"Ugh." The thought of Magda getting cozy with someone she was planning to scam made me nauseous. I had missed so much here on Earth while enjoying my men and our victory in Shadow World.
"And I've seen his bodyguards follow her everywhere. She seems afraid for her life," Apollyn added.
My face twisted into a scowl. "She should be very afraid. She stood by while her son tortured me and she murdered my aunt."
He stood tall, folding his arms across his chest and leaning back slightly on the edge of his desk. "Do I detect a quest for revenge in your future?"
I took a deep breath, my agitation still present but slowly ebbing away. "Is this what you wanted to show me?"
Apollyn hastily took a step back, seeming to be unsure what to say. "No, but follow me."
He escorted me, with Loki skipping after us, to the secured evidence room, and I took a step back before entering. The tiny space was overwhelmed by towering shelves full of case files and crime evidence.
"We shouldn't be in here," I said.
"Don't become a do-gooder all of sudden," he said, and I rolled my eyes.
"We won't contaminate anything," he added. "I can't keep time suspended forever—I'm not a god. The more time I allow to pass, the more work I'll have to do in the aftermath to speedthings up, so if you want to see what I have to show you, we need to do it now."
I felt a cold sensation inches away from my skin, as if the walls were aware of our presence, and I had an uneasy feeling that we were walking into a setup. What did Apollyn want to show me? And why did I feel like I was being pulled into a trap?
"Okay, then...show me," I breathed, resigned to the fact that I would get what I needed in the form of hard evidence.
Apollyn shuffled down the long row of filing cabinets, his hands sliding along the metal surfaces. His heavy boots thudded against the hardwood floors, and his labored breathing echoed against the walls. In his human form, he was nearly as tall as Morpheus who was taller than his brothers. I had not forgotten he could shift into a ten foot tall shadow demon just like his sons, but after a while of being with his sons, I became accustomed to their extraordinary size and stature.
He rotated his wrist in a graceful motion, and a cardboard box whisked across the floor, skidding to a stop in front of him. He lifted the lid and extracted a manila folder with a bold label. My heart skipped as I read the familiar name: Mr. and Mrs. Carrier – my parents.
He handed me the file and I took it with trembling fingers. I sat down, my fingers trembling as I opened the folder. The paperwork inside revealed an investigation had been opened shortly after their deaths, but then closed without any explanation. I frantically shuffled through the documents, my mind racing as I tried to make sense of the information.
"This is what they told me. See? I know all of this already. It's all marked here." I pointed to the paper and then closed the file. "I'm not going any further. I don't want to see the pictures."
He narrowed his eyes and leaned in closer, his expression tightening with each word. "Right, that's what they told you,but that's not what you believe, is it?" His voice was heavy with suspicion as he searched my face for an answer.
"No, I don't believe it," I said, slowly shaking my head.
"What if I told you that your parents didn't die in a terrorist attack?"
My body went rigid. My mind struggled to comprehend what that could mean. What other explanation could there be for their death?
My head throbbed, and I met his gaze with a fiery intensity. "How are you sure?"
"As King of Shadow World, I knew them—your parents. I warned my subjects to avoid them. To keep out of any territories where your father was Regent. Some ignored my advice and discovered the consequences on their own."
"You knew them."
"I knew of them." He nodded. "Yes."
"Your sons...?"
"They did not, for they were preoccupied with other missions. I kept them on their toes, preoccupied with tasks in other realms for multiple reasons. Human temptations on Earth were too great for my sons so I steered them away. All matters related to Earth were my responsibility, while theirs was to attend to those of distant places I oversaw or wished to rule."
