did Carrig find you?”
“So many questions.” Nana pursed her lips. “Firstly, only Arik and Asile’s high wizard, Merl, know the truth, and they will protect you. Your birth may have put the end in motion, but they believe you’re the key to stopping it, as well. The others are unaware of your parentage. You must never tell anyone who your birth father is. The wizards and the Mystiks believe the presage hasn’t been born yet, and we shall keep it that way for as long as possible. To answer your other question, Cleo is my spy, you might say. She informed me about your phone conversations with Nick and Afton—the ones where you rehashed the accidental jump to Paris and the narrow escape with a hunter on the subway. I figured you were in danger and your best protection was Carrig. I contacted him through an address your mother once gave me for emergencies. Thankfully, he received my note.”
“Cleo?” I said. “My cat?” My head started to pound. More lies. Branding spells. And furry spies. Can I trust anyone?
“I can talk to animals, especially cats. Most witches can. You’ve heard of familiars, right? Baron is mine. Cleo belongs to your aunt. We sent her to watch over you”—she rolled a teaspoon handle between her fingers—“to be my eyes, so to speak.”
“Gia, it’s a great honor to be a Sentinel,” Carrig said and puffed out his chest.
“I know something of Sentinels from video games,” Nick said. “They’re badass guards that protect things.”
“’Tis sort of the idea—” Carrig seemed irritated by Nick’s interruption. “They were created from knights, and have very little magic compared to wizards but are great fighters.”
“Wicked,” Nick muttered. “So it’s an actual word?”
“Duh, it’s in the dictionary.” Afton rolled her eyes. “It actually means guard. I mean, seriously, how do you get good grades?”
“For Jaysus sakes,” Carrig growled. “Will you stop your blathering and let a man think?”
We all nodded.
Nana took my hands. “Are you doing okay, dear?”
“How can I be fine? My whole world just… I don’t know.” I lowered my head, trying to garner the strength to be brave. “Can you tell me something? Did my mother ever love Pop?”
She squeezed my shaking hands. “Of course she did, sweetie. Your pop fell in love with her the moment I introduced them, and shortly after, he asked her to marry him. He was so delighted to be a father to her newborn daughter. You’re his entire world, Gia.”
“You said he loved her, but did she love him?”
Nana released my hands, lifted her cup to her lips, and put it down without taking a sip. “I believe she cared deeply for him, but it couldn’t replace the love she had for Carrig. It was that love that caused her death.”
Carrig choked on a mouthful of toast. “What?”
“We were out shopping, Marty, Gia, and I,” Nana said. “Little Gia had darted into the busy street. Marty caught her and handed her to me. Before Marty stepped up onto the curb, something across the street distracted her. Her face brightened, and she tried to cross traffic.” Her voice cracked. “That’s when a van struck her. The last thing she spoke was your name, Carrig. I believe she saw you.”
“It wasn’t me. I’ve never been here before today.” Tears tumbled from Carrig’s eyes. He lowered his head and wiped them away with his fists.
Not one of us moved or said a word. When it seemed he wouldn’t recover from the news, I placed my hand over his balled fist, and he looked at me with surprise. I knew how he felt.
I removed my hand and turned my attention to Nana. “I guess Pop doesn’t know about any of this, huh?”
“Marty never told him, figuring the fewer people who knew your true identity, the less likely you’d be found.” Nana lifted the teacup again, and again she placed it down without taking a sip. “She feared if the havens found you, they would train you to be the force the seer foretold.”
“’Tis not clear what be your abilities,” Carrig interrupted, fully recovered except for the red rimming his eyes. “No one has had two Sentinel parents before.”
“So I’m a freak, right?”
“Now then, don’t be flattering yourself. You’re merely special, is all.” A hint of a smile crept over Carrig’s lips. “Our professor of wizardry will determine just how special that be when he meets you.”
Nana removed a black travel case from her tote and then retrieved some sort of hand-held tool from