the US so I could take that knowledge back to my clan and we could grow from it. We might be isolated for the most part, but we love knowledge.” Rory shrugged.
“It’s okay,” I said, butting in before Niklaus could get any more defensive. Was he picking up on the initial burst of concern I’d felt, or was this something he was just being weird about? “I’m just trying to figure out who would have bound my powers and why.”
“I mean, the obvious answer seems to be your father. Not that I know anything about your mother, but I know your dad was telling you not to work magic, so maybe it was his doing?” Seren asked gently.
“My mother died when I was little. She loved being a witch, I remember that much, but it was something my father always wanted to forget, so she wouldn’t have done this.”
“Any aunts or uncles that might have taken their duties a step too far?” Colden asked, leaning forward from where he was perched, and I was reminded again how close he was to being naked.
I shook my head. “My father is an island, even from me, but that also meant that my extended family gave up on trying to connect with me a long time ago.”
“I think you should talk to your father,” Seren suggested.
Dread coiled within me. Two phone calls in one day? He was not going to be happy, but I also needed answers. I needed to know if he’d done this to me.
21
Neve
I hit the green call button, and my stomach twisted into knots as I listened to the phone on the other end ring. Finally, just before it went to voicemail, the ringing stopped and background noise sounded.
“What did you do this time?” My father’s voice was irritated but distracted. Best I could hope for, I supposed.
“I wanted to ask if you knew anything about my magic being bound?”
“What?” Suddenly, I had his full attention, and having Nathan Astor’s full attention was not something I enjoyed.
“Someone suggested that my magic had been bound as a child, and I wanted to know if you knew anything about that.” I tried to keep myself calm and collected. Professional. Aloof. When I’d first come to Silver Springs, I’d been behaving like a brat, pleading and throwing a fit, but now I felt steadier than I had before.
“Had been bound?” A quiet rage filled my father’s voice.
“I felt a pain in my chest and then felt magic flowing through me,” I said, trying to say what happened without revealing too much of my recent activities.
My father knew my tricks though and demanded, “Tell me everything that happened.”
“Did you bind my magic, Daddy?” I asked, my voice coming out meeker than I’d intended.
“If you’re not doing magic, it shouldn’t matter whether or not your powers were bound. So, I ask again, Neve, and do not make me ask a third time, what happened?”
I knew if I dodged the question again, his anger would be a force to be reckoned with, so I said, “I found my mates. We were discussing magic, and they encouraged me to try something. When I did, it was successful, and then the pain in my chest happened. After that, I didn’t have to work so hard at magic, and one of them suggested that my magic had been bound when I was a child.”
“M-Mates?” my father spluttered.
“Yes, mates.”
“Witches don’t have mates, Neve. What is this nonsense?”
“Witches may not, but shifters do, among other supernaturals.” I looked over at Colden and mouthed, Sorry.
He just shrugged like he was used to people trying to ignore the fact that he was part demon, which made my heart ache for him.
“I sent you there to fix the paper, not whore yourself out to a bunch of animals,” my father spat, sounding disgusted.
“Shifters are not animals.” For the first time, I was actually feeling rage toward my father. I’d been angry at him before, possibly even furious, but I’d never felt rage like this before. As I looked at my mates though, I knew it wasn’t just my emotion I was feeling, but theirs as well.
“I told you not to use magic. Why didn’t you listen to me? Probably because you’ve got too much of your stupid mother in you. She never understood my vision either.”
I gasped. All my life, he’d refused to talk about my mother. Now when he did, it was to insult her memory?
“Enough with the dramatics, Neve. You’ve clearly