to get there from his research, but he doesn’t know exactly what we need, nor did he realize only Graykeys and their mates can go travel through the portal. He calls the earthlings who come here, trading places with us Replacements.”
“Replacements?” Sniffing, Melaina rolled her eyes. “What a stupid term to use.”
Indigo wasn’t paying any attention to her, though. He was too busy thinking again, because he suddenly said, “I’m still confused about how only Graykeys can travel to the other dimension. There was an elderly nanny in Donnelly who went to Earth for a few moon cycles. I’m sure of it.”
“Then she was a Graykey,” Melaina said simply, shrugging him off.
He frowned. “But she…” His eyes widened. Reopening the book he was still holding, he ran his fingers over the page until he stopped. “There,” he murmured. “Janicka of House Godone and claimed mate of Percy of House Graykey. Born in two-fifty-two, she’d be seventy-six now, which would match Nanny Wynter’s approximate age.”
“What in the world are you babbling on about?” Melaina wondered irritably.
But I remembered reading what he’d written about Janicka Godone. “She’s the one who somehow managed to break her bond with her Graykey mate,” I said. “She ran off and was never heard from again.”
Indigo nodded, glancing my way. “Right after her mother-in-law died in two-seventy-eight when she stole two of Janicka and Percy’s infant children and made them disappear. I thought she’d just gone to Earth to be with the kids, because that had to have been where they disappeared to, right? But what if she didn’t have whatever it is you need to stay, so she had to remain in the Outer Realms? It would make sense for her to change her identity and go to Donnelly to become a nanny. Shit.” He shook his head. “No wonder why she always avoided me whenever I tried to interview her about her trip. I was a High Cliff knight. If her true identity was ever discovered, of course, she’d think I’d turn her in to King Ignatius to be tortured and questioned about the whereabouts of all the other remaining Graykeys.”
“So, you’re saying you know where the mate of Percy Graykey is? Right now?” Melaina asked with interest.
He widened his eyes, then he straightened. “No,” he said, the lie pathetically obvious.
“I mean her no harm, silly boy,” Melaina waved a distracted hand. “Just intrigued by her. Janicka was before my time, you see, but I heard the stories. Percy considered it a great conquest when he caught her and claimed her as his. She was a pure mage with multiple gifts. She could produce force fields around entire villages and read a person’s character, as well as bits of their future by simply touching them. Plus, I guess she also figured out how to break the bond to her fucking Graykey mate. The lucky bitch.”
When Indigo simply stared at her, she cleared her throat and lifted her chin. “As you can tell, I’m a fan of her work. I was not able to break the bond with my mate. Once Quilla and I returned from Earth the first time, I was compelled against my will back to my husband’s side. Things had calmed down after the reaping by then, thank God, but I had to disguise her as one of my maids until Qualmer—who shares my gift with disguises—ran across her and was able to look past the glamour to see her true image. And the idiot tried to diddle her, of all things, so I was forced to send her off to boarding school in—”
“He did what?” Indigo roared, looking ready to commit murder with his bare hands.
But Melaina waved his fury aside. “Yes, yes. He’s as wicked as his father, I know. But luckily, I was able to go off on my own when my husband, Pallo, was blessedly executed near the beginning of the Great Lowden War. By the way, thank your countrymen for me someday, will you, sweets? Life’s been infinitely better since they executed him. I found my way back to Quilla, and together, we’ve been searching for a pair of amulets ever since.”
“Amulets?” Indigo repeated, immediately latching on to the word.
Melaina cringed and cursed fluidly. “Dammit. Forget you heard that.”
And just like that, the secret was out of the bag.
Chapter 16
Quilla
“Shit, shit, shit.” Melaina closed her eyes and shook her head, before opening her lashes and frowning at me of all people. “How could you let me tell him