Devotion

The corners of her mouth turned up in a slight smile. 'It is the secret of the Sacred Archives, but I imagine the Angels write them.'

'Oh.' I said no more. She didn't believe me earlier, so I definitely didn't mention what I'd been thinking.

'I am sure you are hungry, no? I will have food brought to you here.' She disappeared before I could say anything.

I gnawed on my bottom lip as I walked the perimeter of the sitting room. Like the rest of the mansion, the walls were made of stone; only a single, narrow window interrupted it, showing the darkened sky and grounds. A blazing fire in the hearth produced the only light, casting dancing shadows on the walls from the antique furniture and filling the room with a relaxing, woody scent. Besides the family vine hanging, which covered the entire wall it hung on, other tapestries decorated the remaining walls. They appeared to be old, yet well kept, each depicting a glimpse into ancient battles between angels and demons.

When I turned around from one, I sucked in a breath. The coffee table displayed a spread of food. I'd never heard anyone bring it and Rina had only been gone a few minutes.

'Ophelia?' I asked–she couldn't have been far already. The old witch popped right in front of me.

'Yes, Ms. Alexis?'

I'd expected her to come through the door, and she surprised me with her sudden appearance. 'Um … where does all this food come from? I mean, is it brought in by boat every day or what?'

She nodded her gray head. 'We grow some on the island, but most of it is brought in as regular deliveries.'

'Who knows the island is here?'

'Only the Amadis. The Daemoni have an inkling of its location, but cannot see it for themselves.'

'Because of the shield?'

'Shields protect. Cloaks make the item or area invisible,' she clarified.

'Right. Must be a powerful shield and cloak,' I said, thinking of the size of the island.

'Oh, yes. Mr. Martin is more powerful than any of us.'

'Owen's dad? He powers the shield?'

'Yes, Ms. Alexis. He is our strongest mage by far and no one but himself can break his shields. Not even the Daemoni. The rest of us mages keep it reinforced, especially when he is off-island.'

The tight belt of stress constricting my chest loosened a notch. Knowing Martin's shield protected us and kept the Daemoni out–kept them from taking my son–was a bit of a relief. I gave Ophelia a small smile.

'Thank you, Ophelia.'

She curtsied. 'Certainly, Ms. Alexis. Is there anything else?'

'No–wait. Do you know where Tristan and Dorian are?'

'They finished their evening meal a few minutes ago. I believe Mr. Tristan took Mr. Dorian upstairs for a bath.'

I thought about joining them, but the spread of food beckoned me. Father and son needed their time together anyway, and I'd see Dorian before bed. So I sat on one of the old couches, its leather soft and supple from age, and began loading a plate with sausage, cheese, grapes, apple slices and bread that was crusty on the outside and soft and warm in its center. Except for the couple bites of croissant and strawberry at breakfast, I couldn't remember the last time I'd eaten, and I devoured two plates full, along with two glasses of red wine. Then I lay on the couch, closed my eyes and perused the mental pages of my book.

I found no mention of my daughter or of a girl. Not that I'd expected to–I'd studied the book for hours last night. I would have remembered anything about a daughter, but the book only mentioned the lack of one. If it had been written by the Angels, messengers of God, the story surely would have mentioned my daughter if she truly existed. Right? Why wouldn't they include her in the book or on the vine?

Which meant I either misheard at today's meeting or I didn't get the full story. Perhaps Mom and Rina were right. And even if they weren't, even if I really did hear Tristan and I already had a daughter, we had no information to use to search for her. If I wanted answers–

'I've been looking for you.' Tristan's lovely voice broke into my thoughts. I opened my eyes as he lifted my legs to sit on the couch with me and then dropped them to drape over his lap.

I sat halfway up. 'Is Dorian with you?'

'He's in bed.'

'So early?'

'It's not that early. It's nearly ten.'

I hadn't realized I'd been lying on the couch, lost in my own mind, for so long. My heart sank as I sagged back against the cushions. 'I miss him so much and I've barely spent any time with him since we've been here.'

'I think I wiped him out. He crashed pretty quickly.'

'I'm glad you at least got to spend time with him. He's great, isn't he?'

'The best.' Tristan smiled proudly. 'He loves me.'

'Of course he does. What'd you expect?'

'We're practically strangers. I suppose I thought he'd be more leery or shy.'

'Hmph. Dorian is afraid of nothing. Besides, I've been telling him stories about you since he was born. He's missed you, too.'

'Thank you,' Tristan murmured. He bent over and brushed his lips across mine. 'So what were you thinking so hard about?'

I didn't answer him at first, still sorting out my thoughts, and when I did, it wasn't exactly what I'd been thinking. 'You flashed with me again. At the council meeting. You're getting pretty good at that.'

Leading in a flash and following someone's flash trail were fairly common, but flashing with someone else was supposed to be impossible. Tristan had done it with me four times in the last week.

He shrugged. 'You obviously needed help. Why didn't you flash yourself?'

I sighed and dropped my face into my hands.

'I … forgot … that I could,' I mumbled, feeling like an idiot. I waited for his chuckle, but it never came. I looked up at him expectantly.

'I think you had your mind on something else,' he said and I nodded. 'But you do need a lot of training. You can't forget things like that. Flashing is paramount to your survival.'

'I know, but …' I didn't finish, not able to excuse my own failure.

'That's what you were thinking about when I came in?'

I sighed again. 'Sort of. I was thinking about how much I don't know. How much I have to learn. Including how to use this damn power I've been given.'

'So you'll work with Rina after all?'

'I haven't decided yet. I'm still pretty mad at her.'

'Mmm.' His hand brushed tingles along my shin and calf and his jaw muscle twitched as he seemed to be lost in thought for a minute. 'You don't really have much choice.'

'What do you mean?'

'We're not leaving this island until you're trained, and Rina's the only one who can help you with this particular power.'

I opened my mouth but he cut me off.

'And we need you to listen to the council again if we want the information we need to find this girl.'

I shut my mouth. He knew how to get to me.

He took me to bed, and I lay in his arms, unable to sleep after putting the brakes on sex. Although Rina said my shield was nice and tight, I wasn't about to risk that humiliation again. Another reason to learn control.

I groaned internally and rolled over on my side. Why me? Of all the powers a daughter can be given, why did I get this one?

I wanted to ignore this gift. To squash it. To pretend it didn't exist until it disintegrated into nothing from lack of use. It caused way too many problems and was completely worthless since I couldn't use it properly. Which, of course, was exactly the problem.

Tristan was right. I had no choice. I couldn't return or exchange the power or re-gift it to someone else. The Angels had given it to me for a reason and my job was to make the most of it. As much I hated it, I'd better learn