by Kelly Oram
Dad could have tried to use magic on me to get free, but instead he stared at me with fascination. “You’ve learned more than just magic.”
I hated the pride in his voice. As if he’d had anything to do with it? “You have no idea,” I muttered darkly.
Dad stared at me with wide eyes. “You’re right. I don’t.”
I was surprised by his surprise. I thought for sure he’d know that I’d been training with Michael all these months, but it was clear he didn’t have a clue. Maybe the tracking spell he had on me was limited to my location and he didn’t know anything I was up to. Unlikely, but I hoped that was the case.
He tried to read the answers in my face. “I knew you’d made friends with a nephilim, but I never dreamed he would teach you his ways. I hope you understand what a rare honor that is. Your friend must care very much about you.”
The statement was a loaded one. He couldn’t hide his curiosity. It made me wonder how much he knew about who Ethan really was. I couldn’t tell. He’d met both Ethan and Grace the one time he’d tried to contact me after I bailed on him. Considering the resemblance between Grace and Dani, I was sure he’d spied on me enough to know a few things, but how much was the real question. He was fishing for answers. He wasn’t going to get them, if I could help it.
“Actually, he—”
“Clara! Shut it!” My blade pressed further into my father’s skin, nearly drawing blood. He stood calmly in place, eyes never wavering from mine. His composure infuriated me. “I’m the one asking questions now, Dad. Tell me what’s going on with me. Why can I use demon magic, and why did you never tell me?”
He sighed. “I never said anything about it because I didn’t know you possessed the ability. To be honest, I have no idea what kind of power you have, or will come into.”
Whatever answer I’d been hoping for, that wasn’t it. With one last glare, I put my knife away and plopped down at the kitchen table, feeling like my hope had just been extinguished. Dad sat down across from me. “I’m sorry I don’t have all the answers for you.”
That wasn’t good enough. “You have to know something. Otherwise, you wouldn’t know it was demon magic. You’re not supposed to be able to feel it.”
“I can’t. I had no idea that house was warded against demons.”
I felt sick to my stomach.
“So it’s true? He’s a demon?”
Clara fell into the seat next to me, looking as disturbed by this news as I was. My dad watched us for a minute, not giving anything away on his face. Eventually, he shook his head. “The truth is, I don’t know exactly what you are. You’re my son, Russ—the strongest Devereaux warlock in generations, and your mother was human—I have not lied to you there—but you’re also more than that. You’ve been marked by the angel Beelzebub.”
Clara gasped, horrified, and my entire body froze. We both knew that name. “I’m marked by the devil?”
Dad relaxed in his chair. “Forget what you know about religion, kids. Christianity doesn’t have it all right. Beelzebub is not the devil.”
“Of course he is.” My knowledge wasn’t coming from some stupid church. When you spend as many hours training with the angel Michael as I have, you hear a few stories about his archenemy. “He was the first to oppose the Creator. He led the fallen in the battle for Earth and was banished to the underworld by Michael.”
“True, but—”
“He’s the ruler of the demons, Dad. He’s evil. Why the heck do I have anything to do with him?”
Dad opened his mouth to explain, but then sighed again.
“Is it a Devereaux thing?” I asked, managing a cool, indifferent voice even though I was wild with panic on the inside. “Are you marked, too? Is that what happened to you? Am I going to go evil like you and hurt the people I care about?”
I’d chosen words that would sting on purpose, but it didn’t make me feel any better when he flinched as if I’d punched him right in the gut.
“Is that what you really think? That I’ve turned evil?”
I felt Clara’s eyes on me, but was too ashamed to meet her gaze. That answer should have been easier than it was. I didn’t really think he was evil. Not entirely. But I did think it at the same time. “You tried to kill Gabe. I’m not a big fan of the guy myself, but I would never slit his throat and offer him to the Angel of Death.”
“One life to stop a war—to restore balance.”
“And Dani?” I asked. “What was she? Collateral damage? So insignificant in the grand scheme of things that you had no problems doing what you did to her?”
“Dani is fine. I don’t see what you’re still so angry about.”
My blood boiled in my veins. “You stabbed her. You tried to kill her!”
My dad actually rolled his eyes. “You know I wasn’t trying to kill her. I just had to slow her down.”
I was out of my chair so fast that I practically flew across the table. I pushed my father’s chair backward with him in it until he was flat on his back and my knife was pushed against his stomach. “Maybe I should stab you. There’re a lot of people out there who’d love to slow you down for a while.”
“She was with the Supreme High Councilor, Russ. She’d been completely turned.” His eyes flicked to Clara, as if he needed to justify his actions to her as much as me. “She would have killed me.”
Clara said nothing. She looked really uncomfortable to be caught in the middle of our drama. Maybe I should have felt bad for her, or given her some sort of chance to leave, but I didn’t. I didn’t care if she was there. She’s the one who insisted on coming. And to be honest, a part of me, a very tiny part, buried deep inside, didn’t want to find out this secret by myself. Learning that you’re connected to the devil isn’t really as cool as it sounds. It was terrifying, and selfish as it might be, I was glad Clara was there, learning the truth with me.
Dad was desperate for us to understand, and it wasn’t because I was holding him at knifepoint. His voice dropped to a pained whisper, and his eyes pleaded for forgiveness. “I wanted to help her. I wanted to fix her and bring her home, but she was too powerful.”
I couldn’t stand that my dad felt Dani’s loss as much as I did—that he loved us both so much. It drove me crazy because I wanted to hate him, and I couldn’t. Not completely. How can you hate someone that you know loves you? It’s why I couldn’t hate Dani, either.
Doesn’t mean I didn’t try.
My hand tightened around my knife. I’d never been so tempted to run someone through before. My fingers were itching to do it. I quickly pulled back and got to my feet before I found my darkness again and murdered my own father. “That’s it. I’m out of here. I can’t be around you.”
“Please don’t leave, Russ.”
It was the emotion in his voice that made me stop. “Give me one good reason not to.”
Raw pain flickered across his face and then, in a strangled voice, he said, “I miss you.”
Yeah right, he missed me. I could totally tell from all the phone calls and visits over the last five months. When he lost Dani, he lost his precious power source. His stupid plans were ruined, and suddenly I didn’t matter anymore.
Dad shook his head as if he could read my thoughts. “You’re the one who walked out on me. I didn’t abandon you. The last time I talked to you, you made it clear that you weren’t ready to see me. I was giving you space. I made a mistake. I lost your trust. I didn’t want to make things worse so I gave you time, but I want you back. You’re my son, Russ. I—” His voice faltered, and he had to clear his throat before he could speak again. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I never wanted to do that. Forgive me. Please. I want to be a family again.”
My first instinct was to tell him to go screw himself, that we’d never be a family again and that I’d found a new one, but I couldn’t do it. Call me sentimental, but he was my father. The man I’d looked up to my entire life—worshipped like a hero until five months ago.
I threw myself back
down at our small kitchen table and rubbed my hands over my face. After a long, wary sigh, I looked around the house. “And if I did, then what? We’d just be home again? You return to your Internet business and I go back to school with the idiots who accused me of murder? We start doing Sunday dinners with the Webbers again, too, all the while knowing exactly where Dani is and not telling them?”
“Russ, you can’t do that,” Clara whispered. “D.C. is your home now. Ethan and Grace need you. Leslie would be devastated. They’re your family.”
I scoffed. “Aren’t you the one who tells me all the time that they aren’t my real family? If I’m some kind of devil spawn, maybe I deserve to be stuck with him.” I glared at my father again. I couldn’t help it.
Dad’s face dropped. “You aren’t the spawn of Satan, Russ. I’m sorry you’re so upset about this, but it’s really not as big of a deal as you think it is. It’s actually a good thing. You have so much power. Stay with me, and I can teach you all about it. I can help you get the answers you need. We could be a family again. And if you wanted to stay here in Carmine, then we could do that. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you in my life.”
A huge part of me did want that. Carmine was my home. Rachel and John were as much my family as Dad was. But it just wasn’t the same without Dani. I thought long and hard for a minute, but eventually shook my head. “I couldn’t. Not after everything that’s happened. Besides, wouldn’t the council find us here? I mean, aren’t you, like, on the run from them? They have to be pretty ticked off about what you did.”
Dad sighed. “We have another option.”
Dad’s face went neutral again, his voice careful. I raised my brow, waiting for him to explain.
“We could leave everything behind. Start over completely. We have a family estate in the south of France.”
My eyes bulged.
Dad waited for me to freak out over the news—one more thing he’d kept secret from me my entire life—but I was done hounding him about the lies. Now I just wanted answers, and as long as he was giving them to me I wasn’t going to interrupt him.
He took a breath of relief at my calmness and continued his explanation. “The Château Devereaux sits on a small island off the coast of France just south of Marseille. It’s beautiful. We could go there and have peace. I could teach you everything I know about magic.”
It took me a minute to recover from shock before I could respond to this. “We have a castle? A family castle?”
Clara and I blinked at one another, neither of us believing the news. Dad nodded. “That’s where I’ve been for the past five months.”
“Do we have family in this family castle? Do I have grandparents and cousins I’ve never heard of?”
Dad’s face fell as he shook his head. “No. Most of the Devereaux line was killed in the first Great War, and we never really recovered the devastating losses. Sadly, being the most powerful line of warlocks makes us targets to other supernaturals. You and I are all that remain.”
“What about your parents? What happened to them? How’d you end up in America when you had a castle in France?”
“That’s just as I’ve always told you. I came to America to attend university. I stayed when I was offered a seat on the council.”
“And my grandparents?”
Dad’s jaw clenched, as if he didn’t want to tell this part of the story. After everything he’d done, I braced myself for the news that he’d killed them, too. It was nothing so dramatic. “Your grandmother died in childbirth with me, and your grandfather passed about two years ago of cancer.”
I couldn’t believe it. I’d had a grandfather my whole life that I never knew about. Never got to meet. And now that I was finally aware of him, I learned that he died just two years ago, of a mundane human illness. “Cancer? Why didn’t you help him? You’re the strongest warlock alive. Couldn’t you have cured his cancer?”
“I would have tried, if I’d known. My father disowned me when I married your mother. I hadn’t spoken to him since before you were born. That’s why I always told you we didn’t have any family. In his eyes I was dead. I wrote him once when you were born, letting him know that there was a new generation of Devereauxes, but he never responded.”
“How did you know he died?”
My dad went to a drawer in the kitchen and pulled out an old envelope. “It’s from Madame Belcourt. My au pair. She raised me like her own and sent word after my father passed. Apparently, he disowned me but never disinherited me. I guess he’d rather have the place go to me than end up in the hands of humans. Madame Belcourt has been running the estate for me. I’d have taken you there the minute she wrote, but I didn’t want to separate you and Dani.”
“Well, that’s not a problem anymore, is it?” I gritted my teeth. Dani was going to be a sore subject between my father and me for a long time. It was best to not bring her up.
My dad’s eyes brightened. “Would you like to go back to France with me?” His voice oozed with so much hope it was pathetic.
“Russ, you can’t. You can’t trust him. Think of Grace and Ethan. Don’t skip out on them.”
I didn’t understand where Clara’s desperation was coming from. I would think she’d be cheering me on and helping me pack my bags at the thought of an entire ocean between us. But Clara’s opinion didn’t really matter. I didn’t trust my dad, and I didn’t want to skip out on my new life in D.C., but I was dangerous and I needed answers. Dad was most likely my key to both the information I needed and learning how to control whatever this darkness inside of me was. He obviously controlled his dark side pretty well. Most of the time, anyway.
For now, I didn’t see any other option. “Fine. I’ll go.” I put as much ice into the answer as I could. I was still incredibly pissed off at my dad and liked having the leverage over him. I planned on making him sweat it out for a long, long time. I was going to use this wedge between us to get every secret he ever kept from me. “But no more secrets. No more lies.”
My dad shook his head. “I’ll swear you a blood oath on pain of death, if you want.”
That was tempting. “And you’ll teach me everything you know? I’ve learned a lot in the last few months, and I’m not going to stop now.”
“Everything I know, Russ, I swear.”
“Even if it makes me more powerful than you?”
My dad’s face turned prideful again. “You’ve always been more powerful than me. You’re most likely the most powerful warlock alive. I would be honored to mentor you in the art of magic. I always intended to teach you. I just wanted to wait until I knew more about Dani. I was afraid we’d lose her. That’s the only reason I ever held back with you. Now, with everything that’s happened, it’s vital we get you as strong as possible. I have a feeling you’re going to need all of your strength and then some.”
I raised my brow at that. “Still planning to start a war?”
“War is inevitable. I just always thought we’d have Dani on our side when the time came.”
That wasn’t exactly an answer to my question. If my instincts served me correctly, I’d say my father had a new plan. I wanted to call him on it right then and there, but figured I’d have more success if I played nice for a while and let him believe he was earning back my trust.
“And what about this demon business? I want to know everything you know, and I want you to help me find the answers to everything you don’t know.”
My dad’s face lit up with excitement. “That I would love to do. I even know exactly where to start, but you must never say a word about this to anyone. Ever. The council can never find out that you’ve been marked. No one can. If the council knew you had the power of demon magic, Dani’s torture would seem like a vacation compared to what they’d put you through.”
That reminded me… “Um, yeah, about that…” I grimaced. “Maybe we should leave sooner than later, then.”
I’d said it jokingly, but my dad didn’t appreciate the humor. He went instantly rigid
. “Why?” He actually snapped. Not that he was angry—he was just that worried.
“Well, I sort of…accidentally…dissolved all the wards on the consulate in front of the council.”
“What do you mean, you dissolved the wards?”
“My friend Ethan and I were arrested for killing a bunch of stupid vampires, and then our friend Grace came to the consulate to try and defend us since we’d only been trying to save her life. Well, you’ve seen what she looks like—the resemblance to Dani. When she showed up, the council, awesome people that they are, decided they wanted to keep us all hostage the way they kidnapped Dani. So I got a little mad…”
Clara snorted at the understatement, and I couldn’t help smirking, too. “I lost control of whatever is going on with me, and suddenly all the magic on the whole building was gone. Protection wards, locks, misdirection spells…everything. Completely dissolved.”
My dad looked like he was going to pass out. His face was whiter than I’d ever seen it. “Do they know it was you?”
“They tried to kill him right then and there,” Clara piped in. “If Dani hadn’t taken control of the situation, they’d have sent him to the angels faster than you could say possessed.”
Dad was rightfully appalled. “It gets worse,” I admitted. “Dani and Gabe were pretty pissed at the council for trying to murder me when I hadn’t done anything wrong or broken any law. They didn’t even want to ask questions or try to find answers; they just wanted to roast me. Well, I guess that goes against Goody-Two-Shoes Gabe’s moral code of honor, and he and Dani jumped ship.”
“They what?” Dad gasped.
“We fought our way out of the consulate, and Dani and Gabe came with us. They’ve gone rogue.”
It took dad a full minute before he could speak again. “What happened? Where are they now?”
Clara and I looked at one another, thinking the same thing. It was best that Dad didn’t know that information. “They’re somewhere safe,” I told him, praying that was actually true. “I left because I’m unstable. I hurt Dani somehow with this demon magic. She was okay—this time—but I don’t have control of it. I couldn’t stay there and risk hurting everyone I care about. That’s when I figured I’d call you. Demon magic…evil…secrets…lies…it seemed like your kind of thing.”