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"Who told you that nonsense?" I asked, already having an idea who it was.
"Me!" confirmed the person behind me at the exact moment. Tanael! "I had to take away their memories of what happened."
I turned to him in disbelief.
Tanael scratched the back of his head a little awkwardly. His previous self-assurance wavered.
"Myrina, I saved them all, but I couldn't risk them asking too many questions about me, this magically protected estate, and the situation on the pier," he defended himself.
Sighing, I looked back at my father, who was standing frozen in the doorway, apparently unable to see or hear us.
"It all had to happen quickly, and it seemed like the right thing to do at the time," Tanael tried again to justify his decision. "But now that I see your face, I doubt it was my best idea."
"Undo it!" I demanded quietly yet firmly. "All of them."
Without contradicting me, Tanael just nodded, and I heard a confused groan from my father.
"Dad, are you okay?" I asked worriedly, walking towards him. He put his hand on his forehead and closed his eyes.
"Myrina?" He opened it again in a panic, and his eyes traveled up and down my body to see if it was really me. Then he looked around in confusion. "What are we doing here? Is this Mr. Baldur's house?" At the exact moment, he caught sight of the landlord and hastily pushed me behind him.
"What do you want from us? Why have you kidnapped us?" He stared at the angel with clenched fists.
"Dad, it's all right," I reassured him, slowly standing in front of him. "Mr. Baldur saved us all. He brought us to safety." There was no point in telling him that I didn't trust the angel. For one thing, I was going to keep Dad out of everything as much as possible anyway, and for another, my plan was to let Tanael fight the final battle with Nash. It would only work if I didn't let anyone in on it.
"What?" Confused, Dad grabbed his head again. The strength with which he had tried to defend me was gone. "Why can't I remember how I got here?"
Before I hugged my father, I gave Tanael a dirty look. He raised his hands defensively. The subject wasn't over yet.
"It's all right, Dad. You don't remember because Mr. Baldur..." Is an idiot, I was going to say. "... because he put you into a kind of trance." I couldn't think of anything better to say, and now I understood why the angel had chosen the path of oblivion. It was much easier than explaining to a human that there was more than just his world.
"To protect you," I quickly added.
"From what?" Dad wanted to know, but before I could answer, my brothers stormed into the room, followed by Sam.
"Hello, beauty," Tanael's assistant calmly greeted me, then turned to his boss. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't hold them back any longer."
"That's all right, Sam. Then you can be present when all the secrets are revealed," the landlord replied calmly and turned towards me. "The honor is yours, Myrina. After all, it was your idea." I answered his shrewd grin with a growl.
"What's going on here?" asked Chris, whose usually level-headed manner had given way to a rage I didn't recognize from the priest. Rick also approached Tanael with a threatening gesture, but he wasn't impressed. Only Jordy stayed in the background. His eyes were still filled with guilt about Anne's abduction.
"May I introduce Mr. Satanael Lucifer Baldur?" I pointed to the wingless angel with a sweeping gesture.
"Heh," Sam said. "That's what I call a sensitive method."
But it had precisely the effect on Chris I had hoped for. He paused. The anger gave way to confusion, which ultimately gave way to understanding.
He stared wide-eyed at Tanael.
"Satanael or Lucifer? Like the fallen angel?"
"Exactly this one," I tried to confirm as casually as possible as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Too bad we hadn't taken Hckate's drink with us. We didn't need to mention that Tanael was also a god; that would have been too confusing.
"Dad, are you okay?" I asked my father, who was now also looking at Tanael with alternating disbelief and fascination in his eyes.
"Yes, I think so," he whispered. "But that can't be true." He pointed uncertainly at Tanael.
It seemed to take more than just my words. Hopefully, the shock wouldn't be too great, but it was absolutely vital that they knew, believed, and understood.
