Page 68 of Dragon Fires Everywhere
“Do you still think the entire witching public should have access toeverything?” She nods over at my father, who’s greeting the tour group.
I’m glad for all the years I spent pretending I don’t know what anyone’s talking about. Because her purposefully pointingout my parentage hurts, and I don’t like it. I haven’t figured out how to deal with it yet, and she’s knownall along.
I’m a mix of furious and hurt and uncomfortable.
But my smile is sunshiny bright, because there’s a reason Carol has not used this secret against me—or Emerson, or Desmond,or whomever. I don’t know what it is yet, but I know it exists. “Yes, of course. Knowledgeispower, Carol.”
“Say the power hungry.” She snorts, as if she’s made somehilarious joke. “I can just picture Emerson charging into those archives thinking she’d be able to get all sorts of answers.”
“Maybe she did.”
“Don’tlie, Georgie. It makes you look dimmer than usual. I know how the archives work. Only the Historian...” She trails off. There’sa moment where Carol Simon looks thoroughly shocked. Then furious.
“Only the Historian can what?” I ask innocently enough, but I think I know.Only the Historian can wield what’s inside the archives, something in me asserts, as if I have always known. I think back to last night and how Azrael... touched nothing. OnlyI did. Only Icould.
That means Carol couldn’t either in all her long reign. And she didn’t want me to know that.
Which is maybe why I say the next thing, even though I know I shouldn’t poke a wounded animal. Because she might be losingher place as leader of the witching world, but I amnotdim, and I know that there’s something in Carol that’s still dangerous.
But I don’t stop myself. “Then why did you kill your Historian, Carol?”
Her eyes narrow. Magic snaps in the depths, but it feels... weird in the air between us. Staticky and garbled.
I want to believe she’s truly weakening. I want to be amused by this pathetic attempt at being intimidating.
But there’s an unhinged desperation in her eyes, deep, deep down, that still manages to scare me.
“No coven really needs their Historian, Georgie. Don’t you know that by now?” She shakes her head as if she pities me. “Whoneedsknowledgewhen you control everything either way?”
I’m not sure that tactic ever would have worked on me, but it’s interesting how she keeps trying to use it on the women inour coven. So sure that if she can make us feelless than, we’ll cower.
We haven’t yet.
“This coven does,” I tell her. “Because our history, our knowledge—it’s going to be foreveryone. And that is going to beourpower. Not control. Not fear. Notlies.”
Then she smiles at me—my own tactic used against me. She leans in close, pats my arm. “Ofcourseit will, Georgina. Of course.”
The way she drawls out my full name feels like a curse. Particularly when she walks away, whistling like something out ofan old horror movie.
Then she just straight up cackles and disappears.
For a moment, I’m frozen. But I’m not just stiff. I’mcold. I want to go inside and sit by the fire. Or my dragon. I turn, but glance once more in my father’s direction.
Except the porch is empty and the door is closed. He’s inside, giving his tour. And I...
I don’t know what to do, or how to feel. All the determination I felt this morning feels off-kilter now that I’ve had a Carolrun-in.
I walk back into Wilde House and still don’t feel any warmth. Even when I close the door behind me and lean against it.
Azrael swirls out of the newel post, this time with only a slight shaking.
He leaves it intact behind him, all that blue-and-green smoke pouring all around me, moving all over me like a caress.
Then he’s a man, rolling his shoulders and moving his neck from side to side, like being in the newel post was uncomfortable.He frowns down at me.
“You’re shaking.”
I hate that I am, but I like that he notices. That he notices everything. Though I can’t ignore the fact that Carolstilltrying to play her mind games really does make me feel a bitdimand slow, since we haven’t figured out what’s next. Sure, weak people use threats to feel powerful, but she stillfeelspowerful.Even though we won. We beat her and her cronies fair and square. So...
