squeeze and couldn’t meet Wesley’s eyes, though I felt them burning into me. “You go ahead and play with your toys, and I’ll talk to Daddy.” I set her back down.
“You’re all right?” Wesley asked softly.
“I’m all right. With Cyrus’s help, I escaped from those cultists with just a few cuts and bruises. I had to lock up my pocket universe, though, which is why I couldn’t get word back to you guys.”
He nodded at that, but didn’t say anything.
“I don’t know where to expect the next attack from. Well, other than from Dylan, but I was led to believe some other power player wants me more.”
“So Mindy said. I’ve been trying to find anything out about this Dylan character, but nothing’s coming up no matter where I look. Someone’s cast a very powerful concealment spell around him.”
“You probably wouldn’t have found out much anyway. He wasn’t a force to reckon with before all of this began. At least, he hadn’t lived up to his potential. Now, with all the extra magic they’ve given him . . .”
“I suppose the Dragon’s people wanted him to recognize his potential,” Wesley reflected.
“But”—I shook my head—“if someone had all this power to give, why give it to some pimple-faced kid? Why find an underachiever? Why not just use whatever magic you’ve collected to break the Dragon out yourself?”
“That’s a major question I’ve been asking myself,” Wesley said.
“Any theories?”
“The most likely answer is that this person can’t cast his spell directly, like the Dragon having that restraint on himself. But theories are useless. We won’t know the truth until we get our hands on this Dylan kid, on a major associate of the Dragon’s or the caster himself.”
I nodded. “Any other questions we should be asking ourselves?”
Wesley eyed me. “How does this mystery person benefit? What do they get from helping the Dragon escape?”
“World domination?” I suggested.
“They’re just as insane as the Dragon if they think the Ancient Ones are going to share the world with them. Once the Dragon lets them loose, then . . .” He shook his head and trailed off, his eyes getting a faraway look. After a moment he said, “Emily’s not the only person in the world that I’m concerned about, Fantazia.”
My nerves were immediately on edge. “I know. You have Lainey, too, and every member of the Elite Hands of Justice. And, of course, you have that whole I’ve-got-to-take-care-of-the-world complex.”
He frowned. “That’s not what I meant and you know it.”
“No, I don’t know it.” I shook my head. “The only thing I know is something we both do: that you ceased being my father sometime before Christ. We both know that.”
“I know that in every single life I’ve led since you told me who you are I’ve tried to make amends. And every time you’ll have none of it.”
“It figures you’d write that down,” I grumbled.
“I’ll admit that this time around I’ve been a bit more distracted. I’ll admit that this time around we seemed to rub each other wrong right away. But I’ll admit something else: when Mindy couldn’t get hold of you after you willingly walked into that trap, some half-remembered fatherly instinct kicked in. I wanted to find those cultists, the Dragon, anyone involved in this, and I wanted put a stop to them permanently. No longer just because of Emily, but because of you.
“I know I change looks with every life, Fantazia, and I lose memories with every life, especially the most personal ones. I even change superficial likes and dislikes. But there is something deep down, something essential inside of me that never changes. It’s what makes me, me. Call it a soul, call it whatever you want, but it exists.” His gaze bored into mine and I shivered, almost able to see my father again, the father who used to hold my hand as we’d walk together and would cuddle me on his lap before I would go to bed. “It’s that part of me that will always love you, Daughter, even if I don’t recognize you without help from a book. It’s the father who would have recognized you years ago if you hadn’t run and hid from me.”
I yanked my gaze free, closing my eyes and turning away. “Don’t,” I said. The emotional walls I’d carefully constructed felt like they were crumbling, and I could feel tears start to burn in my eyes. “Just don’t.”
“I’ll always care what happens to you,” he continued. “Just like I did for Ben