Rafe looked to me and then back to Rowle. “I don’t understand how that’s possible.”
“Neither do I, Raphael. Neither do I. I had hoped that you might tell me what you did to this thing so that I’d have a chance of removing it once and for all. It is quite disappointing that you don’t know.”
“Have you thought of just having it cut out?” Cris asked.
Rowle turned to her. His eyes were soft, as though he were talking to a child. “I’ve considered it, Cris, however, a Wanderer resorting to a man with a knife to fix what’s wrong? It wouldn’t be seemly.”
“That’s an odd attitude to take, considering you’ve already tried everything you can think of. Cris is right, you should see a surgeon,” Rafe said.
Rowle shook his head. “No, if I’m going to have someone slice into my chest, it’ll have to be someone I trust.” He smiled ruefully at Rafe. “Like what your dear Laura did to you.”
“What?” Alex exclaimed.
We all turned to look at Alex. I had forgotten that no one had told him about the shade who possessed Laura stabbing Rafe with his own knife. I knew Rafe had told Cris and I guessed Rowle would find out about such things, but he hadn’t told Alex. Was it to keep him from having more sympathy toward his father?
“Yes, Alex,” Rowle said. “I hadn’t really planned on telling you this soon, but while the shade had possession of your mother, it used Rafe’s trust of her to stab him with his own knife. If it hadn’t been for the heroic efforts of his apprentice, he never could have slain your mother because he would have been dead.”
Alex looked from Rowle to me; he studied my face for a few seconds, and then turned his gaze on Rafe. “Is that true, Mom tried to kill you?”
“Not tried and it wasn’t your mother. It was the shade that had taken her.”
“What do you mean not tried?” Alex asked.
“The shade did a thorough job of killing me, but it left without making sure I stayed dead. Tess and Beast got to me in time. They restarted my heart and got a healing spell on me to bring me back.” As Rafe finished, he looked toward me and even across the room, I could feel the wave of emotion coming from him. I gave him a half smile and felt moisture welling up in my eyes as I remembered how close I’d come to losing him before we’d really gotten to know each other.
“I…I didn’t know,” Alex said.
Cris put her arm around Rafe’s shoulder and held him tightly.
“It wasn’t your mother, Alex. It was the thing that took her. Laura would never have hurt me anymore than I would have hurt her,” Rafe said.
“And yet you killed her,” Alex said with much less of the anger he’d displayed earlier.
“That wasn’t her. The malicious thing inside her had her trapped. She would have stayed that way, watching it use her body for despicable evil until her body died and the shade went back to its dimension. It’s the nature of a shade. My killing it kept it from hurting anyone else.”
“I don’t remember anything of what happened while I was possessed,” Alex said.
“I know, Alex. That night, while you and Tess slept, I cast a compulsion on you to make you forget everything about the shade. I thought it was the best thing for you.”
“You screwed with my mind?” Alex said.
“Only a little. I remembered how upset it had made Laura when I did it to protect her, but having the memories of that creature inside you would not have been pleasant. I thought I owed it to Laura to protect her son.”
“The son of both of you,” Alex corrected.
Rafe nodded. “That was only hours after I realized you were mine. I’m sorry, but I never knew.”
My hand found Alex’s and our fingers interlaced.
I tried to push a meshing on him, but he was too distracted to even notice my attempt.
Rowle cleared his throat and rose to his feet. “Raphael, I fear that I tire more easily with Tess’s bolt in my chest.” He gave me a smile that was sad. “You should be proud of taking down a Wanderer. So many others tried and failed. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to retire for the evening.”
Rafe and Cris stood and the two Wanderers briefly shook hands. I was surprised that Rafe would even consider shaking hands with him. I couldn’t get it out of my head that Rowle was the enemy the one who’d tried so hard to instigate Ragnarök. It amazed me that Rafe seemed to be willing to accept Rowle’s claim to have changed.
They released hands and Rowle nodded to Cris and then to me. “Goodnight, ladies, I hope you have a pleasant rest. Alex will show you to your rooms.”
“Thank you, goodnight, Rowle,” Cris said.
I merely returned the old Wanderer’s nod and tried to keep the disgust I felt from showing on my face.
Rowle walked out of the great room toward a wide hallway that disappeared in darkness into the back of the house. A few seconds later, I saw a light come on and then a door shut, cutting it off as quickly as it had appeared.
The four of us stood still, gazing at one another. Finally, Cris broke the tension that had filled the room with Rowle’s departure. “I’m not really sleepy, but I would like to freshen up. Alex can you show me where I can?”
“Certainly,” Alex said with a nod as a smile crept back to his face. “You know, I am really pleased to meet you, Cris. I was
