Chapter Two
CAIR
“T his wasn’t here before.” My mate’s brow furrowed as he stared at the sealed door now visible in the back of the restricted area in the library.
I hummed in agreement.
We had gained access to a classified area of the library months ago. It had been sealed with an enchantment that I had asked Rathe to investigate, and thankfully, he’d known a creature who could unlock it. It had taken several tries, and once we’d broken the charm, we’d expected to be met with even a hint to the whereabouts of Luca’s father, but nothing .
After spending so long sifting through every ledger and scroll, I could tell my mate was losing hope. His usual endearingly human enthusiasm for research was dwindling like a dying flame, and I felt hopeless. I wanted nothing more in this life than to always see him happy. To please him, to give him the answers to every question in the universe should he ask it, but I couldn’t even fulfill the simple task of locating his own flesh and blood. With the plentiful resources at my fingertips, I had expected results before now, but it was as if the Fae had disappeared without a single trace. It had the stench of my father’s scheming all over it, but I wasn’t yet sure why.
It had felt like a miracle cast down by the Creators when Rathe had approached me earlier that evening—just as my duties had begun to test my will to live—telling me of this new door that had seemingly appeared overnight. I had no way of knowing what lay behind it, or why it had decided to reveal itself now, but there was a feeling deep inside my gut telling me it was too important to ignore. That if records of Luca’s father were anywhere in the palace, they would be beyond that door.
I would have staked the entire kingdom on it.
“Where did it come from? Thin air?” Luca huffed a laugh. “Do you not find it suss that we’re only noticing this door now, after eight months ?”
“I learned at a young age not to question the appearance or disappearance of anything or anyone around the palace, but yes, I do.”
Luca chewed on his bottom lip, uncertainty coming off him in waves, but he seemed to dismiss it with a sigh. “How do we get inside?” he asked, twisting the handle for the third time to be sure it was still locked. “Don’t suppose a key has abracadabra’d its way into your pocket, has it?”
I rested my hand on his nape, playing with the curls there to soothe him. “I’m afraid not, pet, but we’ll find a way.”
The gears in my mate’s head had begun to turn—I could tell by the crease on his forehead and the twist of his mouth as he bit the inside of his cheek. He was a clever little thing, so I was hardly surprised when, less than a minute later, he said, “What about a portal?”
Of course.
Not long after our discovery of the restricted section, Luca had found a dust-covered grimoire hidden away on one of the many neglected shelves in the back. It was pages upon pages of handwritten data, detailing the intricacies of portal conjuring and temporary tears. There were even instructions, as if it were a recipe book intended to be handed down the family tree. Luca had studied it for days, hunched over his desk, barely eating or drinking unless I encouraged him to do so, and eventually—when he’d felt confident enough in his knowledge—he’d taught me all he’d learned, eager to test it out.
The tome had stated that only beings with magic in their blood could accomplish the spell. As a Fae, and a prince at that, I had a degree of magic running through my veins, though I was rarely given the chance to nurture the art. Father had wanted to keep that power to himself, and while he was no mage, he could perform certain spells that Luca hoped I could emulate with practice. I had less faith, but for him—for that sweet, sunshine smile and those gentle blue eyes—I would do anything, so I gave it a shot.
For weeks, it was a failure. There were moments when we believed we were close, only for me to lose all progress whenever I practiced alone. It was infuriating, but just as we had resigned ourselves to giving up, I’d managed to open a small tear that connected the library to our rooms in the palace. It was a short distance, but after breaking that seal, the distance kept stretching until one day, I’d sent us to the human realm—the living room at my penthouse, to be exact.
Knowing we had the spell in our arsenal, we’d agreed to use it sparingly, only in emergencies or when there were no other options, and only when we were certain no one was around to witness it. To pass through the Veil was to be directly on my father’s radar, but with this, we did not have to divulge our reason for crossing to the human realm, and that was often for the best. I was under no illusions that my father knew nothing of what happened within his walls, and since we had spent many weeks practicing with magic, he would have sensed the shift. However, he had not yet broached the subject with me, and I did not wish to tempt fate.
Especially as it could be useful if we ever found ourselves in need of escape.
“It is worth a try,” I said finally, smiling down at him. “Though, if it works, I will go through first in case there are any… unpleasant surprises on the other side.”
Luca scoffed. “As if I’m going to let you do that.”
“Pet, I am durable.” I squeezed his nape before dropping my hand. “I will pull you through if all’s clear.”
My mate hesitated, his gaze flicking to the door, then back again. He sighed when I didn’t offer an alternative plan of action. “Fine, but come straight back out if anything feels off. It could be spelled on the other side, for all we know. You could be locked in there forever and I wouldn’t have a clue how to rescue you.”
I leaned in to kiss him on the forehead. “You would find a way. I am sure of it.”
“Probably.”
I huffed a laugh before taking a step back, allowing enough space for a portal to appear on the ground between my feet and the door. Taking a deep breath, I extended my hands, familiarizing myself with the hand gestures that had been sketched in the journal before making a genuine attempt. Unlike with teleportation, where the conjurer could only send the traveler to a place they’d been to themselves, portals could connect to anywhere as long as the caster was able to envision the directions. I had to vividly imagine the tear opening in front of me and where I wanted the other end to appear.
Thankfully, ‘on the other side of that door’ would suffice.
Except… After several moments of silence, I scrunched my brow. There was no portal, no fizzle of magic in the air. Glancing to the side, I noted that Luca looked just as confused as I was by the results. Or lack thereof. Had I done it wrong? It was getting late, so perhaps I was too tired to focus on the picture in my head. Or had the door been sealed with a type of charm that repelled portals? If it was my father’s doing, it was likely that he’d taken every precaution in order to protect whatever was on the other side.
What is he hiding?
“Try again,” Luca said, his eyes fixed on me. I did as he asked; however, it yielded the same outcome.
I bared my fangs and growled in irritation, but before I could wallow in it, my mate made a triumphant sound.
“The last hand movement isn’t quite right.” He moved closer, holding both of his hands out straight. “Do it more like this…”
With an elegant flurry, he created the patterns in midair, and I spotted exactly where I’d gone wrong. I tried again, mirroring the movements as he did them once more beside me, concentrating with all my might, yet still wholly expecting nothing to happen…
Relief washed through me as the electric rush of static filled the room, that familiar prickle of goose bumps dancing over my skin as a river-like green tear materialized with a resounding whoosh .
Luca bounced on the balls of his feet, clapping his hands with glee. “You did it!”
“It may be a little early for celebration,” I said, though I was just satisfied it had worked at all. “It may not lead where we want it to.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” He shrugged casually, a smirk tugging at his lips. “You might drop in on Mrs. Loris using the privy. You know how she gets after Chef Milo’s meat pies.”
Against my will, a grimace hijacked my face, my nose wrinkling with the memory of a particularly offensive odor. “Pray that I don’t.”
Luca snorted at my reaction, though his gaze was rooted on the tear. “Y’know, I still find it odd that these portals show up green and not purple like the Veil,” he mused. “The book never touched on why that is.”
“Maybe because they are temporary? A way to differentiate the two.”
“Hm, maybe.”
No further questions or undesirable scenarios seemed forthcoming, so I squared my shoulders and stepped through the portal, closing my eyes instinctively. Magic enveloped me, the current wrapping around my back like a cloak, and between one heartbeat and the next, I no longer stood beside my mate.
The scent of old parchment and wood hit my nostrils first, a pleasant surprise— definitely not the privy then, thank the Creators —followed by the utter silence of an unoccupied room.
I blinked, taking in the place I had transported to. It was… small, only slightly larger than a walk-in closet, and I was glad my wings were glamored or they’d have scraped the walls. Thankfully, the ceiling had clearly been built with Fae height in mind, which meant my horns were safe… unless I needed to bend down to tie my shoes. Despite the discomfort, I turned in place to assess the space properly, knowing my mate waited anxiously for my go-ahead.
I sensed no negative magic and, though oddly lacking in dust, nothing to suggest the room had been touched by another creature in several years, at least. No scents, no energy trails, just shelves of more books and a square table in the corner with piles of scrolls, tomes, and parchment on top.
It was almost as if it had stayed in the exact same state as whoever had used it last left it in.Whenever that may have been.
I stepped forward lightly, aiming for the table as a sheet of paper caught my eye. There was a seal at the bottom that I didn’t recognize—a wyvern soaring toward three stars. I began to read the script, but before I could even reach the second line, my mate’s anxiety spiked through our bond. I abandoned the documents in an instant, returning to the tear and crouching down. I dipped my hand into the iridescent water, waiting for Luca’s fingers to grip mine.
I hauled him through.
“I was starting to worry,” he said once he appeared, climbing out of the portal. I couldn’t help but smile.
“I know. I wanted to make sure it was secure.”
He brushed off his trousers, though there was not a speck on them—a nervous gesture. “Wow, this is… tight .”
Being a smaller creature, Luca had an easier time pacing the room, scanning every square inch. It didn’t take long. He trailed his fingertips over the books on the middle shelf, even picked one up to flick through. “This looks like a ledger of some kind…” He tapped his way down the page. “It’s a similar format to the ones Rathe got his hands on. Names, occupations, and info on all the creatures who’ve ever passed through the Veil…” He replaced the book in his hands with another. “Yeah, this one is the same. They have dates, too. A few only had an outward journey. The rest of them returned.”
I hummed. “I wonder what sets these records apart from the ones on the other side of the door. They were obviously hidden for a reason. Creatures of interest, perhaps?”
“Criminals, you mean?”
I nodded. “I mean no offense with these words, pet, but it might be worth checking for any crossings around your birth date. Anything that sticks out from the pattern for you. It may be the only clue we have to finding your father.”
Luca let out a slow breath. “It’s gonna take weeks to look through all these.”
“You’re excited about that, aren’t you?”
He sent me an embarrassed smile. “Kinda, yeah.” I laughed, and he set down the book he’d been holding and began rolling up the sleeves of his linen shirt. “Thankfully, whoever was in charge of the ledgers seemed to appreciate some type of order, so the ones on the upper shelves should be more recent. Any other structure is frankly wrong.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” I said. No response came. Luca was already focused on his task, so I stepped back over to the table to finish skimming the document from earlier.
A quill lay beside it, separated from the inkwell as if this had been the last page written before the author left and never returned. It was a letter addressed to my father—nothing of interest to me, but that seal made me curious. I felt like I’d seen it before, but I couldn’t place it.
I glanced over the six stacks of leather-bound journals. All of them appeared unassuming and had no labels or titles. There were rolled-up scrolls littering every available space, and two piles of used parchment—more letters—but what held my attention was the note sticking out from one of the books at the back. I slid it free from the pile and parted the pages of the loose parchment, realizing with a quick scan that it was a contract.
It stated that the agreement itself, along with the contents of the accompanying journal were to be magically protected, never to be modified, forged, or destroyed. My gaze dropped to the seal at the bottom, the same one that seemed to appear on many of the documents here, but it was the name beside it that had my eyes widening.
Eleri Malyn.
Teighan’s mother.
“Luca…” I murmured, too distracted by my findings to look up.
“Yeah?”
I switched over to the journal—diary would have been more accurate—to read through the page already open. It was a raw and emotional documentation of the tail end of her pregnancy with Teighan. It described how dejected she felt, how scared she was for her unborn youngling, and how my father had left her with little choice, so she…
“They were bonded,” I muttered aloud.
Luca had already drifted to my side, so I knew he’d heard. “What? Who?”
“My father and Teighan’s mother,” I said before reading further. “She knew she would die, so to keep her unborn babe safe, she agreed to bond with our father. This is…” I looked up, a sense of relief welling in my chest. “This changes everything.”
“How so?”
“He is the son of a king and his mate . That holds more weight than noble blood.”
Luca’s brow furrowed. “So, is Teighan in line for the throne?”
“No. His mother was not crowned, and there is nothing here to suggest Father recognized him as such, but it gives him the same protection.”
“The ward… His bargain…” My clever mate caught on, his eyes growing wide. “The king cannot kill or banish those of the royal blood, right?”
“Precisely.” If these records were legitimate, my brother was free to travel between the realms as he saw fit. My father had lied. He’d made Tee believe he held that power over him, but he never had.
Teighan had a choice, he just didn’t know it.
“So, Tee knew his parents were soulmates?”
“Yes,” I said. “He was told that she had rejected him, but made a bargain to prevent the king from hurting the child or ordering the deed done. It was Tee’s governess who gave him the information. She’d watched him being punished for asking Father about her, and felt pity for him. He wouldn’t even know her name if she hadn’t.”
“But she lied too.”
“No, sweet boy, she told him what she could.” I smiled sadly down at him. “The very day his mother passed, apparently the king fell into a rage, burning everything mentioning her name and forbidding anyone from speaking of her. She risked her life to tell Teighan vague truths, and probably hoped he’d figure it out himself in time.”
My mate made an acknowledging sound. “She was brave, then.” I nodded, and after a moment’s pause, his mouth twisted with contemplation and he carried on. “She said your father burned everything, but I guess that diary is the exception?”
“This contract says that it , and the journal, cannot be destroyed. It’s warded, and when Father realized, he must have hidden it in here so no one would ever find it.”
“He’s a bastard,” Luca bit out, and I did not disagree. “I’m glad Tee’s mom got one final ‘fuck you’ in before she died. It would have killed your father knowing she hadn’t actually given in. That she was besting him.”
“After everything he put her through, I commend her strength. Despite the pain she suffered, she resisted him until the very last moment, and that would have taken incredible courage.”
I gently closed the book and returned it to the top of the stack. Luca was scouring the loose pages on the table. “Is that why he’s so bitter, then?”he mused aloud.
“Hm?”
“The king, I mean.” He picked up the same letter I’d read earlier. “You guys go through the wringer when you lose your mates, right?”
“If a Fae doesn’t die from heartache, they’re never the same again. It changes you, losing one half of your soul.” Father would have gone through the bonding sickness as most Fae did with the passing of their mates, but I doubted, even though they’d been fated, that he’d felt pure love for Eleri. Not the kind I felt for Luca, or Teighan for Alex—that intense, unconditional love that consumed every inch of our entire being. No, Father would have twisted its purity somehow. He would have snatched the gift from fate’s hands and warped it for his own selfish gain. He was heartless, and the thread between their souls wouldn’t have endured long enough for it to quell the hate inside him. He wouldn’t have allowed it.
It was about ownership for him, conquering what he was denied, and by the time he finally had it, it would have been too late for even a glimmer of fondness to present itself. Or for him to realize what he’d lost.
Ultimately, it would have made the anguish easier to bear.
“I’ll bet.” Luca released a slow breath. “He must have suffered a lot. Not condoning it, or sympathizing, just trying to work it all out.”
“Father has been cruel and indifferent for as long as I can remember, but it is possible that he grew even more so after her death. I was barely twenty when Teighan was born, a youngling, but I still never understood why my father treated him so poorly. He was never the type to lend pity to creatures lesser than himself, but with Tee it felt more personal. If that was all because of what happened with his mother, it would explain so much.”
Luca nodded.
It didn’t justify his behavior, and there was no forgiving him for all that he’d done to my brother, but it at least gave us a little clarity on why .That was often all we could hope for. Answers.