Page 104 of Magic of the Damned

“You want to imprison me in the Perils,” she whispered, pain and disbelief heavy in her accusation.

“No. I said once this is over, you will be held accountable for all that you’ve done. The Conventicle will be given a say in what they feel are appropriate consequences for your acts. To keep it unbiased. After all, you are my sister. I have done a lot to protect you.”

Disgust at the suggestion she’d be judged by lesser beings curled her lip. She needed to bottle this confidence because it was second-level arrogance.

“Would you have them judge you?” she countered with a sneer.

“If I’d done a fraction of what you have, then yes. You know I don’t shy away from violence or doing what would be viewed as reprehensible, when necessary. Far too often, it has been your first choice. Your only choice. It has to stop.”

Her accusing glare slipped in my direction as if I was the facilitator of this and not her bad behavior and clawing his face. As if this wasn’t a response to her extrajudicial killings, violent tantrums, unstable and poorly thought-out reactions—or rather, overreactions—to anything.

“You know they’ll want me imprisoned.”

“No, they’d want you sentenced to death. I will persuade them to sentence you to prison.”

“Or we do as we’ve done in the past, ignore their desires?”

“No, that’s what you have done. Until…” His indecipherable expression broke, his brow cocked, a gentle reminder of why they had to surrender their judicial position to the Conventicle. Her violent rampage.

There was a long contemplative silence. “You’ve shown weakness too often. Father has noticed as well. I’ll leave him to handle things.” Her disappointment showed when she didn’t get any other response than his stoicism. Helena’s departure was just as quick and unobtrusive as her arrival.

“I have to worry about her, don’t I?”

He shook his head, although I had no idea where that confidence came from. “My sister is a lot of things. Even at her most impulsive and cruel, she still manages to be as calculating and tactical as she’s accused me of being. We aren’t very different. She’s trying to determine the manner in which I’ll take the throne. If Areleus relinquishes it to me on amicable terms, then with respect for his previous rule and gift, I’ll take his counsel into consideration. She’ll remain loyal to my father, because he can be of use. If I take the throne forcibly, she’ll snatch her loyalty from him. Because I will be making all the decisions of the underworld. All. Ultimately be the sole decider of her fate.” He sighed. “She’s my sister.”

He loved her, but I remained unconvinced he liked her.

“Do you think you’ll obtain the throne amicably?” Nothing about his interaction with his father showed amicability was an option.

“I love my father.”

His shifty response only left me with more questions. Did he really love his father? I saw hints of his struggle dealing with his sister. Compassion fatigue, frustration, and disappointment. None of those emotions were present when he dealt with his father. Was it comparable to the way we’re instructed to love that odd cousin who shows up for the family reunion every five years? You love them because of the familial link and societal indoctrination. Love your family, your entire family. They’re blood. Even if you have no more connection or knowledge of them than of a stranger sitting near you in a restaurant.

“If it can’t be handled amicably?”

“Then I have to kill my father,” he tossed out before returning to the bathroom.

After we’d both showered and dressed, I expected to have a new perspective and not be bothered by Dominic’s admission of possible patricide. In need of something to take my mind off that, I was more than happy when Dominic said he had to study the spellbooks without distraction. Since I couldn’t read the language of any of them to be of any help, I gladly accepted his suggestion to call for Anand. So much so that it didn’t bother me that he showed up in front of Dominic’s office door just moments after I called him.

Moving in double-time to keep in step with him as he headed for the gym, I asked, “So you live in the west wing of the house?” Anand’s secretive nature made me want to know things about him that I’d never care about with anyone else.

“Yes.” He smirked at my frustration.

“You and Dominic are friends, so why do you stay so far from him?”

“How close do you live to your friends?”

“A twenty-minute drive.”

He grunted.

“That has to do with finances. I’d love to live closer but there wasn’t anything in my price range when I was looking.”

A look passed over his face. Obviously, they never experienced any limitations due to money. What a peculiar way to live.

“I like my privacy,” he said.

“Really, you mean the man who answers questions like he’s protecting government secrets likes privacy. I never would have suspected it,” I teased.

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