Page 35 of Dark Master's Redemption

Watching her, Adicus takes a long, slow breath now, as if stilling himself from a deep upwelling of emotion. I see it, however, as the most surprising rage and the hottest hatred sparks in his eyes.

The true Tempest returning.

“Because Archivolio Bellari was in league with that thing.” Adicus’ dire glance takes us all in, terrible, though it has nothing to do with us. “He knew what you were, Valerio and Lucca, right from the moment you were Made Dark Fae in your youth. And I could not stand by and let him destroy yet another noble Summer Fae line. All in service to the Gold Eyes’ unfathomable wrath.”

14

HISTORY

Istare at Adicus Briarwick as he tells us my father, the Summer Fae King, knew Quinn and I had been Made into Dark Fae by the Gold Eyes, right from the very beginning. My mouth has fallen open, but I can’t shut it; Quinn’s energy churns, dark and nasty now, as Ariana’s power echoes our shock.

As all our energies blossom in dark, bright, and fiery tones around us now, despite our promise to act like humans while we’re here, Ariana moves silently to the couch. She takes a seat beside me now with Quinn on her other side, and I wrap an arm around her. Her comforting hand on my knee does nothing, however, for the fury that burns inside me.

Knowing my father has kept this from me my entire life.

“My father knew. That bastard knew we’d been Made Dark Fae by the Gold Eyes. All this time.” A dark shock moves all through me. Something in my aura is cold now; I feel it devour me like a thousand screaming hells as I take in my entire youth and early centuries in a new light, ever since Quinn and I were parted.

And know my father has betrayed me—all this time.

“He thought neither of you was fit for the throne.” Adicus takes me in soberly. Just then, Illyria bustles in, wiping her hands on her filthy apron, then untying it and casting it aside as she joins us. She doesn’t invade the conversation, merely sits with her impeccable commander’s way as their house help bustles back in with another cup of coffee for her, plus a tray of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast with peach jam for us all. No one is eating now, however, as the servant departs.

Illyria silently pouring herself a coffee, which she sips black, as she takes in the dire air of the room.

“I was still Tempest of the Darkwatch back when Archivolio Bellari made his plan.” Adicus leans back on his couch, cradling his coffee, and watching Quinn and me. “He knew you and Lucca were curious about the Dark Fae, Valerio; from the moment he learned what you both were looking into, to aid us in the war, he had the Darkwatch follow you both and report on your whereabouts. And how far you had gotten, learning about the Dark Fae.”

I stare at Adicus, blinking hard now to understand how thoroughly Quinn and I failed at being secretive with our operations, way back when. Adicus doesn’t mention it, only continues his tale.

As we all listen, horrified.

“When you both hatched your plan to go find the Dark Fae and try to become such, Archivolio had you followed. I followed you, along with old Torino Fellaviri, who is long since deceased,” Adicus continues. “It wasn’t just us who followed you; the Gold Eyes did, as well. I didn’t know Archivolio’s exact relationship to the creature then, like I do now, but I knew it was often around him. It did his bidding, when it suited the creature to do so.”

“It came after us that night, didn’t it?” I ask now as darkness floods me, feeling like a living nightmare devours me within. Quinn reaches across Ariana to take my hand where we sit on the couch, as Ariana cuddles closer to me.

But even Quinn’s roaring Night can’t match the wrath I feel right now. Livid hate blazes through me like the darkest void in the cosmos, eating my bright heart as I understand my own father was in league with the creature that Made me.

That Made us all—yoking Quinn, Ariana, and me to its diabolical might.

“The Gold Eyes wanted you; both of you. For what reason, I know not.” Adicus takes in Quinn and me, dire. “But Archivolio knew, and he forbade Torino and myself from becoming involved that night. We were to tail you and observe, then report back on what happened. But then the Gold Eyes fed your contact false information, which led you right into that Revenant trap it had prepared. As those Revenants drained you, none drained you so hard or fast as the Gold Eyes itself. And when we saw it feed you its energy, to make you both Dark Fae with its own power, I had enough. I vaulted in and Torino did as well, battling the creature back. I suspect it went of its own accord, however, after it got what it wanted. It must be this way, it said in my mind, before it disappeared. Torino and I fought off the rest of the Revenants and hauled you and Lucca out… leaving you both where we did so you would be discovered.”

“By Alleno,” I say now, knowing who it was that found me and got me back to the Palace of Light to recover.

“By Emiliana DiClario,” Quinn says with a darker bite to his voice, as he stares Adicus down hard now.

“That, we did not intend.” Adicus has woe in his eyes as he speaks to Quinn. “A cadre of Dark Fae warriors from the Hidden City in Venice were due to come through that spot at any moment; the Darkwatch were tracking their movements as part of our operations against that Lineage. Torino and I intended for them to find you beneath the bridge that night, rather than a Vampire. But then the Mistress of Florence left a party nearby… and could not resist you in your vulnerable state. A situation we could not intervene with, lest we start a war with the Vampires all over again.”

“Making me believe I was Vampire for centuries.” Quinn is furious now as he stares our old Darkwatch commander down. I feel the same, though I know Adicus probably saved both of us from simply expiring to the Revenants in the pit that night. Part of me wonders if it wasn’t all just part of the Gold Eyes’ plan, however.

Even though I can tell Adicus believes he was saving us of his own free will.

“That night broke me.” Adicus gazes at Quinn and me, sad. “I knew I could no longer be a part of the Darkwatch under Archivolio Bellari; when you both were compromised, Prince Valerio gone and his father, the King, dead in the war, Lucca still too sick and weak to challenge Archivolio for the throne, Archivolio rallied his support among the Summer Fae and took the Kingship. I knew, however, that it was only because of his treachery, and his association with the Gold Eyes. A Kingmaker, or a King-taker… in Archivolio’s case, the former.”

“His pogroms against the Forbidden Lineages became brutal after he ascended the throne,” I say now, as darkness devours me. “Especially against the Dark Fae. He wanted to kill them all off so Quinn and I would never discover what we were, didn’t he? He wanted to keep us forever in the dark about our power… and how convincing it could be to regular Fae and Vampires. So Quinn would never take back his rightful throne. And I would never help him.”

“Or take the throne, either. Yes.” Illyria chimes in now as she watches us, her dark eyes flinty. “Your father kept you in manacles, Lucca, punished you and pushed you to take punishments for others for decades, all because it kept your Dark Fae power from becoming too awake. He had power-draining sigils cast into the bottom of your throne—the blue and white dragonfly one—to keep you from realizing your power and supplanting him. He swore the few of us who knew about it to terrible oaths, threatening to kill everyone we ever knew or loved if we spoke about it or tried to help you.”

“My gods.” Quinn says it for me as I sit silent now, seething with a bitter wrath. Darkness boils all through me now, with a void-like sensation that devours my heart. I can’t help the aura that spreads around me in the room, though it looks almost like Ariana’s power now as it surges with nasty, dark rainbows churning through my usual, far brighter ones.

“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” Ariana says as she cuddles to my side, her arm around my waist. “King Bellari saw Lucca as an enemy, rather than as his son, ever since he became Dark Fae.”

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