Chapter Two #2
“This seal,” my mate said after a moment, pointing to the page in his hand. “It’s on a few of these documents. You don’t know who it belongs to?”
“I don’t recognize it. It’s definitely not my father’s. The emblem for the royal banner and seal is a three-headed hydra.”
“I’m going to look through a few more of those ledgers, see if they tell us anything.” Luca wandered over to the shelves, glancing around as if looking for a place to sit.
“Would you like me to go out and get you a chair?”
He smiled sweetly. “Would you mind?”
“Of course not.”
I slipped back through the portal to grab two chairs and a pitcher of water, and by the time I returned, Luca had his nose firmly in a book, a few pages deep already. I left the water on the table and only just managed to slot one of the chairs next to my mate, who thanked me without even looking up, before lowering himself onto the seat and continuing to read. I didn’t dare disturb him, just set the other chair down where it fit and picked up the first diary from the pile.
Judging by the determined set of Luca’s brow, we would be here most of the evening, so I might as well dive right in.
After three hours of unsuccessful searching, I was almost at the end of the second pile of journals, and my eyelids were getting heavy. My mate had gradually migrated from his chair to the floor, a natural progression whenever he was deep in a researching spree. The space was limited, but according to him, being able to spread out his material and study several texts at once made the process easier. I didn’t argue, only urged him to stand up and stretch every so often, giving his back a much-needed rest. He would appease me, though it was with a complaint and a grumble, eyes fixed on the page at his feet as he shook out his limbs before losing himself in his reading once again.
It occurred to me then how long he’d gone without water, and I felt guilt settle in my stomach at my carelessness. His cup sat untouched at his side, in danger of spilling due to his lack of spatial awareness. I was opening my mouth to remind him of its presence when he shifted from his place on the floor, twisting toward me.
He had a pensive look on his face, which suggested something was baffling him.
“There’s a guy who crops up in every ledger I’ve looked at,” he said, glancing over the four books strewn across the floor in front of him and the one in his hand. “It might be a coincidence, but I’ve never heard of him in the palace, and he’s the only one who doesn’t have his occupation or any other information listed. From what I’ve seen, he’s made over fifty trips back and forth through the Veil, and that’s in just the last hundred years or so.”
I placed the journal I’d been reading face down on the table before sinking to the floor to join my mate, easing gently into the narrow space behind him. My chest was plastered to his back and my arms were around his waist. I planted a soft kiss on the side of his head.
“That sounds like something we definitely shouldn’t ignore,” I said.
“Maybe.” He subconsciously melted against me. “The pattern just seems irregular. Typically, anyone who goes through the Veil either doesn’t return at all, or they come back after a while and stay in the Otherworld. They don’t really keep making the journey, so…” He leaned forward to snatch up the farthest open book before nestling back against me. “I checked the most recent ledger on the shelf, just to see how far the pattern continues, and he is the very last entry. The script is different, as if written by someone else, but it’s dated eight months before I was born.”
My brow furrowed, and I peered over his head at the book. “What was his name?”
“Zadok Velarde.”
Without warning, a gasp escaped my mouth and my entire body jerked forward, swaying as if hit by an invisible force. I squeezed Luca tightly for balance as a shooting pain pulsed from my nape to the middle of my forehead, my vision blurring as memories flooded me.
There was a Fae, tall and slim with twisting black horns and kind, familiar eyes. He threw his head back and laughed heartily as tendrils of magic flowed from his fingertips, bathing the palace in a violet hue.
I knew him.
Small hands cupped my cheeks, and once I blinked away the fog, I realized Luca was in my lap, staring up at me with concern etched on his face. “Are you okay? What was that?”
“I… I know him,” I said, voice slurred as if I were intoxicated. Luca dropped his hands to my chest. I mourned their loss on my overheated face. “He was my father’s adviser, and the main Fae representative in Edenglas.”
“What?”
I groaned in discomfort and pinched the bridge of my nose, the headache lifting the harder I rubbed. “He disappeared without a word after years of service to the king. In the back of my mind, I thought it was strange, but we learned not to question my father’s methods and, in truth, the details were always hazy.”
How did I forget him?
“If he was your father’s adviser, why is he in these books?” Luca chewed it over, biting his cheek and gazing off to the side. “Why was he a person of interest while still in your father’s service?”
“Perhaps because he was powerful.” I unbuttoned the top few buttons of my shirt to cool off. “And Father wanted to keep tabs on him, just in case.”
Luca’s eyes returned to mine. “Powerful?”
“Zadok opened the portal five hundred years ago.”
His eyes widened, and he scrambled over to the shelves, almost landing a stray foot on my balls in the process. He picked out a tome from the very bottom before knee-walking back to me and flicking it open to the first page. “Zadok Velarde,” he announced, pointing to the recorded entry. “The first name to appear. That makes so much sense. Your father’s not secretive about his hatred of the mixing of our kinds, so the guy who opened the Veil between our worlds, even as his closest confidant, would have been first on his radar. Keep your enemies close and all that, especially someone powerful who could be used to his advantage. What is he exactly? Some kind of enchanter?”
I nodded. “A mage, yes.”
“Do you think it’s possible that he made everyone forget about him? And now that you’re seeing his name, the enchantment is lifting somehow?”
“It’s possible.” I shrugged. “Though I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that my father had something to do with it. One of his ridiculous bargains or such.”
Luca made a sound of agreement, lips parting as if to add something more, but he must have clocked a fault with my expression. He frowned in worry and lifted his hand to my face again. “Are you alright? Be honest.”
“I am.” I covered his hand with mine, turning to kiss his palm. “My head felt like it would burst, but it’s much better now. I promise.”
“Good.”
I smiled at him, lacing our fingers together and bringing them to his lap. “Ask your questions, sweetheart.”
He huffed out a short laugh as if embarrassed that I’d read him entirely right. “Did you know him well?”
“Not particularly. I knew little of him growing up as he was already tied to his business in the human realm, only returning every year or so to report to my father. I was aware that he was the king’s right hand; his name would often crop up in meetings, and there were a few occasions where I noticed him casting wards around the palace. But even when I ventured through the Veil a hundred years ago, it was rare that we crossed paths for more than a polite greeting. When I arrived in Edenglas, I was so focused on building a life away from my father that I tried my best to avoid anyone close to him.”
“That’s understandable. You don’t know what happened to him?”
“No, that part hasn’t returned to me,” I admitted with a frown. “Whether there’s still a spell lingering or I never heard the specifics, I don’t know. The last I remember of him was at a meeting in the city hall. It was a debate about monsters and their right to purchase land over the barrier that Tee and I attended as figureheads. We saw Zadok outside, and he came over to us, thanking me for being present. He’d alluded to the possibility that he was courting someone, that he had an engagement elsewhere so he was in a rush, but after that day, I never heard from him again. He was just… gone.”
It was strange having memories slot back into place after so many years. Especially the events that had followed, which I’d also stored in the back of my mind. Around that time, Teighan and I were seventy or so years into our stint in Edenglas, and having the dates laid out made me realize their possible significance. It was almost a year—eight months to be exact—after Zadok’s disappearance that I’d felt a shift in my soul that I couldn’t explain. A stronger tether anchoring me to that realm. I’d brushed it off as a warning of some kind, the spite in me fighting against my father’s bargain, knowing I was near the end of my time there, but it all suddenly clicked.
What I’d actually felt was my soulmate coming into existence.
I’d felt Luca .
“A woman?”
I blinked from my thoughts. “Hm?”
“Was it a woman he was meeting? A human?” my mate asked, and I nodded.
“I believe so. Whoever it was, they were certainly a romantic attachment. I could tell by the way he smiled when he mentioned it.”
“So, he had someone to keep returning for,” he mumbled under his breath before adding, “Do you remember how long ago that meeting happened, by chance?”
I wrapped an arm around him, picking up the book he’d swapped out for the one lying across his knees. I tapped the last date entered. “Then.”
“Surprise, surprise.” He laughed, his sky-blue eyes glistening at the edges as he glanced up at me, his smile hopeful. “Could he be my dad?”
“It’s a possibility. He spent a lot of time in the human realm, and…” I trailed off, and Luca tilted his head, the look he gave me a reflection of one I’d seen before.
“What?”
I combed my fingers through his curls, smiling down at him. “You have his eyes. Not the color—yours are bluer, more ethereal than any I’ve ever seen—but the shape. The way they crease when you’re happy, the spark you get when you’re talking about something you love. If he’s not your father then it’s a phenomenal coincidence.”
Luca sniffled, a single tear tracking down his cheek. I sensed relief, wonder, elation, but no sadness, so I just held him, smoothing my hands over his back to keep him grounded.
“That’s something, I suppose?” he said after a moment, wiping at his face. “But there’s no other information recorded for him except his name and the crossing dates. I have no idea where he could be or if he’s even still alive.”
“Hold on…” Another realization was suddenly rushing at me. Keeping my mate steady in my lap, I reached back to collect the book I’d left open on the table. I’d dismissed the text earlier as it felt insignificant. There was no author attached, only that same seal I hadn’t recognized, but now that I knew it belonged to Zadok…
“These journals contain a mixture of spells and diary entries.” I flipped through several pages until I found the one I needed. “ Here . This is dated a few months before Zadok’s disappearance. It’s a little vague, but there are mentions of a farmstead in the Outerlands. Rosewood Creek. It’s worded as nothing more than a fancy, says he’d learned of its existence and dreams of one day taking his mate there and raising a family together, but I wonder if he went by himself?”
“I mean, it’s a longshot, but… Rose wood.” Luca released an incredulous laugh. “It surely can’t be a coincidence that this guy’s fantasy home is named after my mom, can it?”
Rosemary . Of course.
“There has to be a catch,” he carried on, flailing his arms as his agitation rose. “Or it’s all a trick of some sort. How can we have gone from nearly a year without finding a crumb to a secret door appearing that can only be accessed by portal—which we just so happened to find a book about months prior, by the way —then to all of this? It feels too good to be true.”
“I agree.” I kept my tone gentle. “But it’s the only lead we have, pet.”
“I know.” He sagged. “I suppose he organizes shelves the same as me, so it’s pretty much a sure thing, right?”
Humor was a positive sign, but my mate often used it as deflection, so I tipped his chin up with my finger, coaxing him to meet my gaze. “If you do not wish to go any further than this, I understand. You have his name, and a possible location. If that is enough, we don’t have to pursue it.”
Luca snorted, and I already anticipated his response. “You know who you’re talking to, yeah?”
“The boy who would never dream of giving up until his curiosity was sated,” I said, amused. “Yes, I am aware.”
His lips curved at the corners, but the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes, which were focused on his fidgeting fingers. I searched deeper and noted the slight tinge of distress in his scent. It was barely there, but enough that I knew something was bothering him, making him hesitate.
“What’s wrong, little one?”
“I don’t know.” He slumped forward, his head connecting with my shoulder as his worry heightened. “I’m happy that we’ve found something, but I’m nervous. What if he doesn’t want to know me? What if he’s no longer alive? What if we’re being sent on a wild goose chase, and he’s nothing like the vision I’ve built up in my head?” A sharp exhale fanned my collarbone. “I’m overthinking, I know that, but I’m feeling too many feelings right now to be rational.”
“You’re allowed to be overwhelmed,” I reassured him, burying my fingers in his silken mane, earning a satisfied hum. “Your whole life, you’ve had to endure the mystery of who your father might be. Yes, you swept it to the back of your mind for a lot of years, but it’s still an answer you’ve always sought, however subconsciously. It’s natural curiosity, wanting to know where you come from, who you are, and finally being close to having those explanations is terrifying and exciting all in one.”
Luca nodded against me. “Yeah, it is.”
“If your father does not wish to know you, then he is a fool,” I said firmly, struggling to imagine anyone rejecting the sweet little creature. The thought almost had me baring my fangs and snarling, but I clenched my jaw instead. My duty was to calm him, not to give his wayward emotions any more reason to spike. “And if he has passed on, then we can deal with that outcome, but for now all you can do is follow the trail and take each day as it comes. I will be beside you every step of the way, and no matter what happens, I’ll be there to comfort and protect you whenever you need me.”
Luca raised his head, his eyes sparkling. “Why are you so perfect?”
“I have to be,” I said, kissing the tip of his adorable button nose, letting his sweet chuckle seep into my bones. “To have even a single hope of holding a candle to you.”
A rosy hue spread over my mate’s skin, and his answering smile was sheepish, but I could feel his heart skip against my chest and his pleasure surge.
“Then… I guess we’re going to Rosewood Creek?” he said.
I nodded. “We’ll leave in a few days. I have one or two matters to tie up here, but we should head over to Edenglas first, to give my brother the news of his mother.”
“Yeah, he deserves to know.” Luca stretched like a cat in my lap, letting his joints pop as a yawn overtook him. “It’s late, but we could open a portal into the penthouse and ask them to meet us there in an hour or so? No point waiting around.”
I shook my head. “We will go to Edenglas tonight, but you will sleep first, and we will meet them at the club in the morning.” On cue, Luca opened his mouth to argue, but I sent him a pointed look. “One more night will not do any harm, my heart. You are exhausted, and I will not accept any protests to the contrary.”
For a beat, he stared at me, pouting, but when he realized I wasn’t willing to budge, he yielded with a petulant huff. “Fine, but I’m only doing what I’m told because I love you.”
I snorted lightly. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”