Page 34 of My Haven
“Left to go where exactly? I looked for them without success,” Mikel asked.
Karl shook his head. “I didn’t ask. Your mother was in tears, nerves frayed, following a fire Zoe set. Both of your parents came to ask us to watch over Zoe and the temple in their absence.”
“Bullshit! They could have come to me,” Mikel refuted.
“Mikel, you were already serving as a unit leader, your attention would have been split,” Karl pointed out.
“So, they just left?”
Karl nodded, looking sad. “They said they needed a break.”
Mikel straightened. “I would appreciate it if all Academy and Council personnel leave the premises. I will resume temple management whist I wait for Morigan to return.”
Karl’s eyebrows rose. “I thought I heard that you are the newly appointed Elder in Éire Danu.”
Mikel nodded looking distracted. “The queen and other council members have given me leave to get things sorted,” he rolled his eyes. “You and I both know that it doesn’t take much to act as an Elder in Éire Danu.”
Caiden’s eyes cut to Bryok at that statement, but the man simply watched with a bored expression.
Karl nodded knowingly. “I’ll see to it that our personnel are recalled and your home assets returned this evening,” he promised.
“Thank you,” Mikel said.
“Good to have you home, Mikel,” Karl said, warmly.
“Sir! My arm!” Andrei yelled, holding up a mangled forearm.
Mikel glared at him. “You know why you deserve that.”
Karl gave a short nod and steered the protesting Andrei away. Once the men left, Mikel shut the gates and nodded toward the building.
Once inside, he cast a soundproofing spell.
Aiden exhaled. “He was lying and telling the truth, wasn’t he?”
Mikel simply nodded. “He lied about my parents taking most of the money, but he didn’t lie about them wanting to leave.”
Caiden had forgotten about Mikel’s ability to tell if someone was lying.
Aiden rubbed his chin. “You’ve gotten better, there was no glow that I could see.”
“I perfected the spell so that there’s no outward indicator that it’s running. It became increasingly annoying when people knew the spell was active. It became mental gymnastics with them wording things in a specific way to avoid lying,” Mikel explained.
“You fudged the truth a bit yourself when he asked about your Elder duties,” Caiden pointed out.
“And he relaxed when he believed I was simply angry about the furnishings. I was a good witch son, returning home and taking care of business. My flippant care over my Elder duties might be enough to make him careless, but I won’t bet on it,” Mikel said, looking tired.
“Your parents?” Caiden guessed.
“We butted heads constantly when it came to Zoe. Morigan and I hated how she was treated but could do nothing about it. It made us see them in a different light.”
“Do you really think they abandoned Zoe?” Aiden asked.
Mikel hesitated, then nodded slowly. “They never knew what to do with her. Their own insecurities had them relying on theWitches’ Council at every turn in regard to Zoe’s upbringing. Each accident eroded a bit more of their confidence, until they simply didn’t know what to do. I could see them wanting to get away, but for them to leave and not tell either me or Morigan where they were going hurts.”
“What do you want to do?” Caiden asked.
“I want to be here when the estate’s things are returned,” he looked over to Caiden. “Then I want to eat a steak and drink a few beers.”
