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The redness drains away until Malachi’s face is ghostly white. “You mean to say you’ve sullied yourself with a demon? Performed an unsanctioned, unsanctified, demonic version of the Rites with one of them?”
Itchy, itchy. “One of them? Father, I’ve taken all of them to my bed.”
He grips his chest as if my actions have truly harmed him. “No, Dove. That cannot be. Tell me you’re lying. Tell me this is a stretch of the truth crafted to hurt me.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that. Now, I think it’s best you leave. The city is protected, and you’ve broken several of their laws by infiltrating it.”
Malachi stares at me for several moments, mouth slightly agape, eyes glazed over.
Shock.
“I warned you,” he mumbles, gaze fixed through me, not on me. “I told you they would steal your light. I said demons would be your downfall. They’d suck all the magic from you?—”
“Yes, you did. And do I look like I’m lacking magic, Father? If anything, I’m more powerful for meeting them.”
And the pieces finally click into place. Everything I’d avoided thinking about, all the doctrine that didn’t seem to be so accurate in practice…
I hadn’t fallen. Touching the heirs hadn’t been my downfall.
They were my resurrection. I’m certain that if my angel magic wasn’t locked away under a ward, I’d have felt the rest of my power come out of abeyance.
I had performed a demonic version of the Rites with demons.
And it worked.
I didn’t fall. My wings weren’t burned off.
And that knowledge gives me the courage to finally call him on what I’ve been too afraid to voice before. “Is that why you were so against Gael, Father? You wanted a say in who freed the last third of my power, so it suited your political agenda?”
He’s still looking through me, and the image of my mother lying on the war room floor flashes briefly in my mind.
And the rest of the story finally comes together for me.
“You need to leave. Now.” My voice and hands quake. Not with fear.
It takes him a bit to gather himself, but when Malachi finally looks at me, his gaze fills with flames. “I’ve broken no laws, Dove. I gained entry into Blackwood via the proper channels and even found myself gainful employment as per the guidelines of the Immigration and Asylum Request forms I filled out in triplicate.”
He doesn’t know I’ve figured it out. I finally know for certain what I saw that night. I’d always suspected, but now…
I’m sure of it.
I modulate my tone and bat his inane excuse back at him. “And what of the attacks on the wards? I hear you’ve been keeping the Lords of the city very busy.”
Malachi shrugs. “I did what I had to in order to make sure my only child and heir to my power is safe. Any parent would do the same.”
I clench my hands at my side and can’t help but scoff. “As you can see, I am safe. So please, leave this realm and go back to your own. Let me live my life, Malachi.”
He startles at the use of his first name but regains himself quickly.
“No, Dove, you must come home with me. I’ve given you enough leeway to chase after that stupid boy. Now you must accept your fate, your destiny, and come back home.”
“Hey, dipshit, she’s old enough to make her own decisions. By the laws of this realm, you can’t make her go with you,” Enzo says, and I really wish he hadn’t.
I shoot him a wide-eyed stare and shake my head at him.Please, don’t provoke him. It will only make this worse.
Enzo only smiles back, but before I turn to confront Malachi once again, that lovely, manic smile slowly turns to a grimace, then a heartrending scream as Malachi throws Enzo at the farthest wall.
He slides down it—a pile of broken bones and coffee mugs.
