Page 65 of Enchanted Heir
“So it would seem.” Krew looked down at his whiskey glass as if he were wishing it was full again. “Owen, can we go to Nerede tomorrow if I clear my schedule? And we can see between Hattie and Jorah’s mother whom we can trust to run some tests?”
Owen gave him a nod. “Yeah. I can send word to her mother now if that is what you’d like to do.”
Krew stood and pressed his palms into the table. I could see his magic in the veins in his wrist as he moved to do it, his eyes going to Owen. “We go together. And we do not let this doctor out of our sight. We cannot wait until the Harvest Festival. We do this now. Tomorrow. And then we will already know more by the Harvest Festival next weekend.”
“That’s a wise plan, Krew,” Owen agreed. “We can know by this time tomorrow what’s going on with her blood and then can make a plan accordingly with how, or if, to tell your father about the forest.”
Krew looked back out the window. “Can you send word to Mrs. Demir? And also fill in Keir?”
Owen stood. “Do you have somewhere to be, or can you give me an hour?”
Krew shook his head. “No. Go ahead.”
Owen took a few steps for the door but then spun back. “And Krew?”
His eyes begrudgingly found Owen. “What?”
Owen gave his head a shake. “It’s not Jorah’s fault the game has changed a little. You know I was never a huge fan of the original plan anyway.”
With that, Owen left, and Krew put up a sound barrier of his own as he sat back down, eyes back to the window.
I stood and picked up the bag of ice.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to come to dinner soon,” Krew told me.
“All right,” I said lightly. “Just not tomorrow, I assume? Since we may be travelling.”
“Depends on how angry father is that we had a scuffle.”
“A scuffle?” I asked him. “That’s what you call that?”
He sucked in a breath as I put the cold ice to his eye. “Yes.”
“I’m sorry I’m making things more difficult for you,” I whispered. “That I changed your master plan.”
Krew slammed his eyes shut. “The plan remains the same. I just resent it more now.”
“You resent having to kill your father?” I asked, perplexed. Wasn’t that the master plan in play here?
“No,” he snapped and stood so fast the ice bag tumbled out of my hand and landed on the floor. He began pacing and pulling at his hair, his tailcoat long since forgotten on the back of his chair. “Not at all. That part I’ll relish.”
I turned to look at him, leaning against the edge of the table. “Krew? I don’t understand. What do you resent, then?”
He was getting angrier by the second and I realized maybe he hadn’t calmed down at all. His magic was growing hotter and brighter beneath his skin. “You! I resentyou.”
All the air left my lungs with his honesty. I’d wanted to reach out and calm his magic, but now I couldn’t move at all.
He took two strides toward me and stopped. “You can level me, Jorah. Destroy me with the briefest touch. I’m no longer indestructible. The goal hasn’t changed.” He paused. “I have. I now care more about what happens tome.”
“Why?” I whispered. Was he talking about the way I affected his magic, or something else entirely?
He tipped his head back at the ceiling before shaking his hands in front of him in my direction. “Dammit, because I want to still be here to allow you to torture me some more! For as long as you want. For as little as you want. I rage against time now. Because I want more of it tethered next to you. In whatever capacity you’ll have me.” He paused, lowering his voice slightly. “You have been the exception to every rule I’ve made for myself in this endeavor. I’ve broken all of them for you, and I’d break a thousand more. You changed the game, Jorah.Youdid.”
The tears burned the backs of my eyes.“What do you mean,still be here?”I took a step toward him, beginning to match him in his level of annoyance. “Am I hearing this right? The master plan here was for you to take down your fatherand yourselfin the process?”
“Yes!” he snapped. “That was always the plan. Yet another reason I found the Assemblages an utter waste of time.”
I shook my head, a tear falling down my cheek. “And what of Warrick, then? Was he to never have a father after all?”
