Page 46 of Wicked Little Tricks

I opened my mouth to call him a liar, but then remembered our bargain. He was telling the truth. “Are you part of the game then? Are you wanting to collect the bounty on her?”

His gray eyes met mine steadily. “I would like to collect the bounty, but I’m not looking for your mother. I’m looking for the person who listed the bounty to begin with.”

I buried my face in my palms. This was all so insane. “Sebastian thinks I can be used to find her, and so do the vampires now that they know I’m her daughter. That’s why they’re all after me. It’s all because of my mom, screwing me after all these years.”

He placed his hands on my knees. “Do you truly not know what she has done to earn her bounty?”

I lifted my face from my palms to glare at him. “Itrulydo not. I barely know a thing about her. That’s why I’ve been trying to find her, to get back whatshe took.”

He stared into my eyes. Gods, he was handsome. Even now in my current state, my body warmed at his nearness. It feltgoodhaving his hands on me.

Ringo shifted slightly on the floor beside us, reminding me of his presence. “What did she take?”

I looked back and forth between the two of them. Braxton was the only other person who knew. And I knew I couldn’t trust Mistral—he had already played me—but I needed help, and he felt like a better option than Sebastian or the angelics.

I lowered my eyes. “My mother took all my memories. I’m not sure why. I think something happened, something big, and then she stole everything and left. I had nearly three years with my dad after that. I remember those years, but almost everything before then is gone.” My expression soured. “And now all of these idiots want to find her. They have no idea what they’ll be dealing with once they do.” And neither did I. All I knew was that a mother who could and would steal all her child’s memories was not a person to be trifled with.

“You remember nothing?” Mistral asked, his tone gone even lower.

I hunched my shoulders. I couldn’t believe I’d actually told him. I had been keeping my secret for a long time, knowing it could make me vulnerable. “I remember bits and pieces. I remember what my mother looked like. At first I didn’t. When she left, that last time I saw her, I thought she was a stranger. But little piecescame back over time.” I shrugged. “Apparently she looks different now. I met another celestial tonight who seemed to know me.”

“If she looks different now, could it have been your mother?” Mistral asked.

I shook my head. “No, it wasn’t her. I would have known. I sensed her once in the city, long after she left, and it was like every scrap of magic within me lit up at once. I knew it was her, and I knew exactly where she was, but then she was gone. She must have left the realm at that point.”

“So you really could find her then, if you could reach whatever realm she’s in now.”

I nodded. “But what no one seems to get, is that I can’tgoto other realms.” I met his gray eyes. “What is this thing that everyone wants? What bounty could be so important?”

His face shut down, and anger flared within me. Was he really not going to tell me after all I had just admitted?

He studied my face, then sighed. “It is an item that enables anyone with magic to travel to the far realms. It is both a map, and a means of creating new pathways. If I had it, I could go home again.”

I blinked at him. And here I’d thought it was going to be something evil, a blind quest for power. But— “You’re not talking about the Realm Breaker.”

Still closely watching my expression, he nodded.

“But it’s a myth. Everyone wanted to blame thecelestials for destroying the pathways, so someone made up a rumor that they had used a sword. But it doesn’t actually exist. Everyone knows that.”

“I believe it does exist, Eva. And you know I speak only the truth.”

I leaned back against my seat. It was utterly ridiculous. The older beings had gotten trapped here because there wasn’t enough magic for them to return to their realms, not because a celestial destroyed the pathways.

“Okay, say it hypothetically exists. Then why do the vampires want it? They originated here. And their particular form of power probably isn’t enough to work with such an item.”

He gave me a humoring smile. “Yes, but imagine how much such an item would be worth to the right buyer. There are other players in the game, though I do not know them. I imagine many are seeking a more monetary end.”

He was right. If the Realm Breaker actually existed, it could make the vampires or anyone else rich beyond their wildest dreams. “Why did Sebastian send me here to ask you about Celeste? About mymother.”

He lowered his head, draping his white hair across his shoulders. “Because I had contact with her more recently than most. I gave her sanctuary here until she was ready to escape to another realm.” He quickly met my eyes. “But I did not know she had a daughter until I heard about your connection to the bounty. When we first met, I only suspected you wereconnected to her. I truly wasn’t sure, and I knew nothing about what she did to you.”

I relaxed. He couldn’t have said that if it wasn’t the truth, and just the fact that he cared for me to have the information made me trust him more. “But how did anyone find out that I was her daughter? Sebastian recognized me because he knew her before.”

“I noticed the resemblance as well,” he admitted. “It was the source of my suspicions, along with Sebastian’s interest in you. If both of us made the connection, others probably did too. Others who knew her before. She probably changed her appearance shortly after I helped her escape.”

It made sense. Anyone who might have recognized me could have made the connection. Once they knew who I was, they could have paid off any of the investigators I’d hired for more information.

“But what was she running from?” I asked, desperate for more answers.

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