Mark of Damon by Eva Chase Page 0,33

you than to request anything,” Northcott said. “I thought it’d be best if you heard this news and all its particulars directly from me. Based on cooperation in custody and confirmation of no lingering unearthly powers, the Assembly has deemed that your father may leave our direct supervision.”

“Oh.” The announcement hit me harder than I’d expected. I couldn’t summon a more articulate response than that one syllable.

I’d known they weren’t going to keep Dad cooped up in a cell needing every aspect of his life cared for in perpetuity, but still…

Northcott went on with a hint of sympathy in her tone. “We have been given to understand that you have relinquished any claim on the Hallowell family’s Portland residential property so that it may go to his use when necessary. He will continue to exist under house arrest there, enforced by spell, with highly restricted avenues of communication and only leaving the building with Assembly escort. You can rest assured that we will offer no possible opportunity for him to resume his illicit activities or cause you and your consorts any further harm.”

I believed that. Without the power the demons had lent him, there was nothing my father could do to combat the magic the Assembly would use to keep him in check anyway. Even if he somehow slipped past their wards, I could easily fend him off even with my shattered spark. All the same, knowing he’d have a little more freedom than before left my stomach unsettled.

“Thank you for letting me know, and for your care in monitoring him,” I said, because that was the right thing to say from a political perspective. I couldn’t ask anything more of them. I didn’t even know what I would have wanted to ask. “I assume he’ll be prevented from contacting this estate or any of us unless I give express permission.”

“That is correct. The approved contacts will be limited to essentials like food delivery and business associates we have thoroughly vetted.”

He did still need to be able to conduct some kind of business, considering I’d taken control of the Hallowell bank holdings. I’d left his most recent earnings in a new account I’d set up separately, but with his tastes, those funds wouldn’t last terribly long.

“That sounds acceptable,” I said.

“Along that line…” Northcott cleared her throat and continued in an apologetic tone. “He requested that certain physical records of his business dealings be shipped to Portland for his use. We would of course look them over first. If it wouldn’t be too much of an imposition for you to find them in his office at your current residence…?”

Ah. All this time, after everything I’d been through, he still needed something from me. Well, this might very well be the last thing, and then good riddance.

“That’s fine. Let me know what he’s asking for, and I’ll see it done.”

Once the conversation was over, I didn’t feel all that hungry anymore. Putting off breakfast for later, I headed up to Dad’s office to get this last task over with as quickly as possible.

Even after so many months, stepping into the space that had always been his domain sent a pang like homesickness through me. Homesickness for a sense of home that had always been somewhat false. All the times I’d come in here as a child to seek reassurance or guidance, all the comfort I’d taken from the shelves of books and the smell of aged leather, I’d been hearing lies.

However much my father had actually cared about me, he’d cared more about how he could use me to gain more power for himself and his faction. He’d hugged me and joked with me and praised me while seeing me as little more than a vessel for his ambition.

Even though I never intended to let him back onto the estate, I hadn’t touched his office. I hadn’t wanted to think about him and his work for the time it’d take to deal with the contents. It looked exactly the same as it had a year ago when I’d first stumbled onto his treachery.

The books Lady Northcott had mentioned I was familiar with. Not much with pages escaped my attention. I picked those off the shelves and set them on the broad desk. The file folders Dad had asked for would take a little more digging. I hesitated, debating between starting with the storage cabinet or the desk drawers.

Kyler poked his head past the door. “We missed you at breakfast. What are you