Magic Misled (Lizzie Grace #7) - Keri Arthur Page 0,91
getting your emotional needs met by me.”
I blinked. “What?”
Ava sighed. “She thanked me once—only once, I’ll admit—for providing you with a stable and happy environment when you were growing up.”
My mother? Thanking a Sarr for anything? But even as I thought that, I recognized the unfairness of it. While my mother had been as annoyed as my father when the familiar selection ceremony had given me Belle rather than the more acceptable spirit or animal, she’d never been rude or abrupt with her and had, in fact, welcomed her into the house on numerous occasions, even if that was only when no other family members were there.
“When was this?”
Ava wrinkled her nose and released my hand. “Not that long before the whole Clayton mess went down. And I sincerely believe she played no part in that.”
“She said she didn’t, and I do believe it. But I’ll never forgive her for not standing up to my father or for not breaking the marriage contract once she did know. She had to have realized I’d never willingly agree to such a thing.”
“Did you ever think that perhaps you were not the only one forced into compliance?”
I laughed. “My father wouldn’t dare to spell my mother. She’d kick his ass.”
“Undoubtedly, but there are other ways to force compliance.”
“You think a telepath messed with her head?” Belle said, surprised. “Have you been near enough to test that theory out?”
Ava smiled. “Eleanor walks in very different circles to me, so no.”
“What about when you were interviewed after our disappearance?” Belle asked.
“They were well aware of my gifts, so it happened in a telepathically null space. I could barely hear my own thoughts, let alone peer into anyone else’s.”
“Then why do you think someone’s gotten into her mind?”
She hesitated. “It came from her recent reaction when the news of Clayton and Lawrence’s actions broke.”
“She walked out on him.” But even then, that had only been after the Black Lantern Society had interviewed them both.
“Yes, but not only has she never confronted Lawrence over the mess, they haven’t even talked about it.”
“No one can really be sure what is said behind closed doors,” Belle said. “And I daresay that in this day and age, all royal houses are regularly swept for listening devices—both mechanical and spell.”
“Yes, but permanent staff always know the inner workings and dynamics of a house and they always talk.”
“They’re magically inhibited from speaking publicly to anyone without permission.” Or at least they had been when I’d been a kid, and I doubted that had changed.
“But not from talking to each other. It’s not hard to uncover exactly where certain members of the Marlowe household meet for coffee with those from other royal residences. It’s also not hard to be there at the right time and place to peruse the minds of said staff and uncover what they know. Unfortunately”—she touched Belle’s arm—“they had no knowledge of where you’d both been found, otherwise I would have been here long before Monty contacted me.”
Belle briefly slipped her hand over her mom’s. “I know.”
Ava nodded and returned her gaze to mine. “You do realize the ongoing case against your father will probably mean you’ll be called up to testify in person at some point.”
I nodded. “Samuel warned me.”
Ava raised an eyebrow. “Samuel?”
“Kang,” Belle said before I could. “Think a well-built and divinely handsome man who has a hard-on for Lizzie.”
I rolled my eyes. “Whose parents were approached by my father regarding a possible match between me and him.”
“Which means the old bastard has at least learnt one lesson—this time he sent someone worthy of your good self.” Ava paused, her expression speculative. “And were you interested?”
“The lust was definitely mutual,” Belle said.
I picked out a pea from my fried rice and tossed it at her. “I’m in a relationship, but even if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t consider anyone my father sends my way.”
“You could be biting your nose off to spite your face,” Ava mused. “That particular branch of the Kangs is well respected.”
“That still doesn’t alter the fact he carries my father’s recommendation. I have no intention of ever pleasing my father with an ‘appropriate’ marriage.”
Ava laughed and raised her whiskey glass. “Here’s to overcoming the hurdle of interfering parents and finding your happy ever after with an inappropriate man.”
Belle and I clinked our glasses against hers. The conversation moved on to reminiscing about the past, and we were on coffee and cake when Belle’s phone rang.