Page 48 of Shadow Running
“Solimentary is a library of arcane knowledge.Some of the oldest Elven families are dedicated to its upkeep.Since I grew up among the Elves, in one of those families, I was given the opportunity to take my place with them.Most people see the Elves as elitists, but they aren’t.They’re just…their age makes them stand outside of the world.Just like full-blooded Fae.”
Penn scooted forward in her seat.“You’re part Fae.So am I.Do you feel the same sense of rejection that I do?”
He shook his head.“No, because I grew up with a family who accepted me for who I am—all of me.If Nimah would have kept me, it would probably have been different.But she couldn’t bring herself to be the object of scorn, even though she was a queen.”
“My mother’s dying,” Penn said.
“I’m so sorry,” Seton said.“Tell you what, you can come over and talk any time you want to about what it means to be part Fae.”
“Thanks,” she said, her voice low.“You were saying about Solimentary?”
“Oh, yes.Solimentary.We have tens of thousands worth of records.On all Supe groups.On Demonkin.On humankind.On…beings that you’ve never heard of—and should hope you never hear of.We curate all the information, file it, keep it safe and protected.We’ve buried stories that would change the history books if anybody knew about them, but it would change the world in ways that are too terrible to imagine.”Seton stopped, then shrugged.
“How old are you?”I asked.
Seton let out a long breath.“Being half-demon, half Fae?I’m over five thousand years old.Give or take a few hundred.”
I blinked.The man sitting in front of me, the man who was helping me navigate learning to deal with my powers, was older than the pyramids.He was older than Stonehenge.The thought of living that long stupefied me.How much had he seen over the eons?And yet, he seemed so young, and so…fresh.Wisdom?Yes, but he didn’t seem world-worn, andthat, made me like him even that much better.
* * *
“So, what do I do?”I asked.
“We know that Ezerian is going to contact you—that’s a given.I suggest you move first.Contact Vaurice and be blunt.Ask for a meeting.Tell him what you know about him being your brother.When he asks how you found out, just tell him you’re a PI and you find out secrets for a living.”Seton glanced down at his phone.“Meanwhile, I want to double your appointments with Devon.You need to gain control of your powers as soon as you can.Of course, new ones will emerge as you go along, but you have to feel more secure about the ones you’re now experiencing.”
“All right.I’ll call him tomorrow.Seton, what should I tell him?”
“Don’t tell him about your father?—”
“Hold on,” I said.“I feel terribly uncomfortable using that word.Yes, technically he may be my father.But I’m not going to be calling him daddy any time soon.”
“All right.”Seton hesitated, then added, “I know you.You’ll tell Sophia, Dante, and Carson even if I tell you not to.But you must extract a binding promise from them to keep their mouths shut.I can’t allow this to get around.”
I held up my hand.“I promise.I vouch for my crew.”I turned to Penn and Orik.
“No way am I going to tell my wife,” Orik said.“And if I don’t tellher, I’m not telling anybody else.”
“I give you my word,” Penn said.
“All right, so I’ll call Vaurice tomorrow and get myself invited to meet Ezerian.”I stiffened.“What if…what if he’s looking to kill me?To eliminate an unplanned accident?”
“He won’t be,” Seton said.“Ezerian has a lot of children.I don’t think he’s going to freak out over having a half-human daughter.”
I let out a long breath and counted to ten.“All right.I trust you.I’ll see if I can get in to talk to him and if I can find out anything.Meanwhile, Penn, can you tell Seton about my uncle’s house?”I turned to Seton.“We need to figure out what to do to cleanse this house.Maybe you can help.”
I wanted nothing more than to get out of here, to go somewhere and let everything sink in.My mind was whirling and I felt so overwhelmed I wanted to just shut down.While Penn and Seton discussed the house, I walked over to the window in his office and stared out as the evening lights began to twinkle.
The city would be ablaze in a shimmer of light within another hour, and traffic would speed along in a blur, people on their way home, on their way to dinner, to a movie, to the theatre.And Seattle would never know that, beneath the surface, my father was waiting to reach out and grab control over as much as he could.
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
It wassix-thirty by the time we left.Traffic was in full rush-hour swing.I was grateful that Orik was driving.I could barely hear myself think.I’d totally missed everything Seton told Penn about exorcising the house and, right now, I really couldn’t invest one more brain cell in thinking about it.I leaned back in my seat and stared out at the brilliant lights against the evening sky.It wouldn’t be dark until around eight-thirty, but the evening light was different than afternoon, and you could feel the release of the day as it slid into night.
“Where do you want to go?”Orik said.
“Back to the office.We’ll see if anybody’s still there.At least we’ve taken care of Rowan—one problem off our list.”I paused, then asked, “Did Seton have any good ideas about Konstantine’s house?I kind of tuned out.”
Penn nodded.“Yeah, primarily to tear it down and salt the earth.”
