Chapter Eighteen #2
He got quiet then and started flipping through one of the books on the table mindlessly. Ena could tell he wasn’t actually reading, just deflecting.
“Ty,” she said gently. “It’s okay to be upset about that.”
“About what?” he said testily. “About the fact that my mother abandoned me and my father told me almost nothing about her? That her people loathe me just because of what I am?” He shook his head.
“I don’t want to dwell on any of that. I can’t change it, so it makes no difference.
I’d rather focus on the things I can change.
” He started flipping vigorously through the book again.
“Okay,” Ena said. “But you know…we’re going to need one witch from each Coven again to recreate the spell, since the amulet draws on the magic of the three Covens. That means…” She trailed off, wondering if he’d realized that yet.
“We’ll have to return to Occidens to get one,” he said. “I figured that. But does it have to be matriarchs, just like before? Because if so, that will be tough.”
“No,” Ena said, allowing the change of topic. “I don’t think it has to be matriarchs. Matriarchs are chosen for their rare Gifts and leadership abilities, but it doesn’t make them more suited for the spell necessarily.”
“Okay…that’s still going to be a tough ask for a witch from Occidens after everything that went down, though.”
“I know. I’m worried about that too, unless…”
“Unless what?”
“Unless you do have any idea where your mother is?” she asked innocently.
“Ena,” he said, giving her a side-eye coupled with a half-smile. “I really don’t. And even if I did, what makes you think it would be any easier to get her to help than any other Occidens witch?”
“Well, I’ve been thinking…” Ena said, wondering how to explain her next theory. It was something she’d been pondering in the back of her mind on and off for days, but hadn’t yet given voice to.
“I love it when you think,” Ty said, tucking a strand of hair that had fallen out of her braid behind her ear. “Tell me.”
Ena could tell he was flirting to pivot them away from his confused emotions, but she didn’t call him out on it. Besides, she couldn’t help the blush that rose to her face at his touch.
“How is it that Petyr was able to figure everything out about the amulet from these books?” she asked, gesturing at where they lay strewn across the table.
“Because there’s really not much in them, just a few hints as to its existence and some clues that the history of witches and daemons is not as we’ve been told, but no details.
Did he ever say exactly how he knew about the binding spell? ”
Ty shook his head. “No, he told me his theory about the amulet and the binding spell, and implied that he’d learned it from these books, but I see what you’re saying. How do you think he learned about it then, if it wasn’t from these books?”
“I think the books may have helped, but where did he get them? The Evolution of Magic is a witch’s book. The journals are from an Occidens witch. I know you said he was industrious, but it would have been ballsy as fuck for a mortal to steal them.”
“How else would he have gotten them?” Ty asked.
“I think he may have been given them.”
“Given them? By a witch?” Ty asked, his brows shooting up in disbelief.
“Yes, by an Occidens witch who somehow knew about the amulet, and took them from her Coven, and told him about it. Maybe someone with a soft spot for daemons who wasn’t on good terms with the rest of the Occidens witches,” Ena said, hoping he would catch on to her hinting.
“Hold on… You think my mother gave Petyr the books when she was banished?” Ty asked in shock.
“I don’t know… It’s just a theory,” Ena said, shrugging. “But it would make sense.”
“Yeah, it would,” Ty said. He seemed to agree, but he clenched his jaw as he looked away, as if that knowledge only made his feelings of resentment towards her worse.
Ena reached out to grab his hand. “Look, I’m angry, too, Ty.
There’s so much I wasn’t told. So much that was hidden from me, just like you.
Would it have been nice to be trusted with all the complexities of our world?
Yes. Does it infuriate me that others have decided for me that I didn’t have a right to know about these things?
That daemons didn’t have a right to choose who they served, and witches didn’t have a right to socialize with them?
Absolutely fucking yes. But Ty, you can’t let your anger guide you. ”
Ty sighed, rubbing his brow and releasing some of his tension, but she could tell it was hard for him to let go of it completely. “And what do you think should guide me instead? Because anger sure as shit comes easiest,” he said bitterly.
“Hope,” she replied.
Ty looked up, seeming surprised by that answer. “Hope?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said. “Hope for a different future, like you described to me the other day. Hope that we can forge a new path where witches and daemons are free to worship Gaia and Iblis as they please and are able to live together once more.”
Ty smiled then, a small one, before reaching out to cup the side of her face with his hand. She brought her hand up too and placed it atop his. It was large, and warm, and she could feel all his strength and passion right there where they touched.
“You give me hope,” he said simply.
“Good,” she replied, a soft smile spreading across her face. “You give me hope too.”
Ty removed his hand somewhat reluctantly and closed the book in front of him. “Come on, I think we both could use a break from research and revelations, don’t you agree?” he asked.
“Gaia, yes,” she said, rubbing at her tired eyes.
“Good, then come with me,” he said, one side of his mouth tipping up in a sly smile. “There’s something you might like to try.”