Page 72 of The Aether

“Okay.”

“Why is it so important?” Mama’s hand had stilled as soon as she realized it was. “Sabrina?”

“He’ll find us there if he remembers.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

Sabrina shrugged and put the pencil back in the carousel before selecting another. “I think he will. Most of the visions are the same.”

“Most? You see alternate endings to Morcant’s plans?”

Nodding, she worked on the sign overhanging the warehouse door. Not as it currently was, but as it appeared in the past when her father had frequented the place.

“What are you truly drawing? And before you lie to me, you should know nothing is appearing where you’re coloring,” Vivian said dryly.

“Crud,” she muttered. Papa’s bark of laughter drifted to her from the doorway, and she looked up to meet his indulgent gaze.

How had she ever feared him?

He was the best father in the world. Sometimes, when she recalled how Aunt Josie had lied to break up her family, Sabrina got mad, and she was forced to remember it wasn’t Aunt Josie’s fault.

It was Morcant’s.

She desperately wanted Papa to kill him for good this time around.

“Let her keep her secrets, Viv.” Taking Nate from Mama, he breathed in the baby scent of him and brushed a finger across Nate’s chubby cheek. “She’ll tell us when she’s ready.”

“You do realize you’re giving her permission to lie to us, right?”

When Papa turned his considering expression on her, Sabrina shook her head. “I won’t lie.”

He raised a brow. “But you won’t always tell the truth, either, you miscreant.”

Because he was right, she gave him a sickly grin.

His mouth pressed tightly together like it always did when he tried not to laugh at her, and Sabrina smiled for real. It took a lot to make Papa angry, and he was never harsh when she crossed the line. He’d understand this time, too.

“What do you remember of your past, Damian?” Mama asked him with her hands on her hips.

“Every detail.”

“Good.” Taking Nate back, she kissed Papa on the mouth. “I think your fabulous photographic memory is going to come in handy when your daughter decides to share whatever she’s drawing.”

After he watched Mama walk away, Papa frowned down at the paper. “Why are you sketching an old warehouse?”

Crud.

CHAPTER25

Forty minutes later, Damian returned from conferring with Alex, Trevor, and Ronan to find Sabrina missing. With a sense of foreboding, he stalked to the desk and discovered her note.

Dear Papa,

Please don’t be mad. It is always this way in my head. I’ll stay positive. I promise.

Baby Nate needs Mama, so don’t tell her where I am.

Also, when I told Grandpa Nate that you needed to cloak and take the long sword from your special room, it was the wrong time. But you need them soon.

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