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Chapter Five
Elias
The last place I wanted to be was stuck inside a small townhouse with David. There was far too much bad blood between us. While I’d been regent, he’d undermined me at every step, determined to bring me down. My father didn’t hide that he’d rather see David on the throne and sometimes it got to my brother’s head.
He had a dark streak. Thriving on the backroom deals and shady activities he was asked to do for our father. David might not have wanted me on the throne, but I didn’t think he wanted it for himself. He liked his freedom too much.
A candle flickered and I looked up to see Shelly walking into the room. I stood, rising from her well-worn couch. Her living room was like a shrine to a stereotypical mage. Stuffed crows sat on shelves next to bottles and jars holding who knew what. On the rickety side table, there was a stack of leather-bound books and a few glass instruments. Herbs hung from strands along the wall and half burned incense was scattered around the room.
Despite the overtly mage nature of her home, it was cozy and welcoming. Shelly had taken us in even though we put her at risk.
“No need to stand.” She sat down on the couch and patted the seat next to her.
I returned to my seat. “How is she?”
“Not awake yet, but the fever broke and she’s breathing easier. I think we’re out of the worst of it.”
“That’s some good news, at least,” I said.
Shelly lifted a vape pen to her lips and took a pull. My brow furrowed. With all the herbs and things, I half expected her to smoke from a pipe.
She blew the smoke out slowly and the scent of cherries momentarily hung in the air. “I’ve met your father.”
This was news to me. “You have?”
She blew out another cloud of cherry-scented smoke. “He grabbed my ass and asked me if I was into horns.”
I winced. “Sounds like him.”
“I was much younger then,” she said. “I wasn’t always so isolated from the rest of the magical community. And your father was a regular here.”
“That’s impossible,” I said. “Unless…”
“While you were running the show?” She nodded. “He visited our realm frequently. But we first met about eighty years ago. He was looking for something.”
“Eighty?” I tried to think about what was happening then. When you lived forever, the years blurred together.
“I know, I look damn good for my age.” She cackled.
I laughed, taken off guard by her. I had no idea she was a day over forty. Some mages could live very long lives. Often, they were gifted magic by other creatures. I wondered if she’d made a deal like that. “What was he looking for?”
“An oracle,” she said. “Found her too.”
“I thought the oracles were gone?”
“They are now. Well almost.” Shelly set the vape pen down on the spindly table next to the couch. “She’s the last one.”
“What happened?” I asked. “What did he find out?”
“I’m not sure, but after he met with her, he sent Skylar’s mother to our realm.” Shelly stood. “I didn’t understand it back then, but without your dad kicking that demon out of your realm, your mate wouldn’t be alive.”
That made no sense. I didn’t flinch as Shelly walked out of the room, leaving the new information swirling around my head. What did Skylar have to do with any of this? And how was my father connected? None of it made sense.
I stood and walked toward the kitchen where David was sitting on the chair previously occupied by Madison. He had his feet up on another chair and had his head back. His eyes were closed and his hands rested on his stomach.
“What do you want?” he asked, opening one eye.
“Do you know anything about what might have sent Dad to the human realm eighty years ago?” I asked.
