over at William, whose face wore the grim mask of someone who had inadvertently gotten trapped in the middle of a major betrayal.
“You knew?” I asked, quietly.
“I suspected,” he said.
“Mom?”
“I didn’t want him to take you away,” she said, “His family wouldn’t let him marry a human. So I never told him that I was pregnant.”
“Are you telling me that you knew he was a witch?” I asked. “You must have known I would have some of his traits. Were you ever going to tell me?”
“I didn’t think that far ahead,” she answered. “I wanted to keep you with me, with your grandmother. I knew one day I would have to tell you, but then you refused to use your powers, and I thought maybe it wouldn’t matter. Then your grandmother died and I didn’t know what to do.”
“Grandmother,” I repeated. “She’s the one who caused all of this. She is the one who summoned Elsa.”
“Who is Elsa?” my mother asked, confused.
“I’m not really sure,” I said under my breath.
“Elsa didn’t realize who you were at first,” Gabriel said. “I was the one who figured it out. She wanted to tell you. She wanted me to tell you.”
“She didn’t though. And you didn’t,” I said. “All of you knew, but you didn’t tell me. How dare you play with my life like that? How dare you lie to me?”
“Olivia,” Gabriel pleaded. “You must listen. You are my daughter, my only heir.”
“You can go to hell,” I said. “Both of you. I never want to see either of you again.”
“Olivia,” Gabriel said, “You cannot walk away. There is too much to discuss.”
“That is exactly what I am doing,” I said, barely aware of my surroundings, my pulse in my throat.
“What did you think would happen when I found out that you both had lied to me?” I continued. I grabbed my purse and began to walk away. “Did you really think this would end happily?”
I turned my back on the only mother I’d ever known, my newly discovered father, and walked away. I did not look back, my forehead burning with anger and humiliation. All the years I had wondered and asked about my father and my mother had known who he was. And then there was the Council. There had never been a real opportunity for me there. It was a setup from the start, from the minute Gabriel knew of my existence.
Looking back, it seemed even worse than that, for he must have known I had skills—like becoming invisible, or the telepathy—that I could not even imagine possessing. And he sat back and watched them unfold, an owner watching his pedigreed animal prance and kick to the pace of its trainer. I felt sick, wondering if anything or anyone I’d come to rely on could be trusted.
William and Josef trailed alongside me, saying nothing while they raced to open the door to the apartment. They were right to treat me gingerly. I was infuriated, horrified at being betrayed and unsure of whom to trust. Once we were inside the apartment, I turned to face William, my hands clenched at my sides.
“Did you know Gabriel was my father?” I asked. “Did he set this whole thing up so we would meet? Are you my compensation for him dragging me into his intrigue? Did he promise me to you in exchange for being my bodyguard?”
William glared at me and then picked up one of the nineteenth-century vases in the room and threw it against the wall. I winced at its impact, exploding into a thousand pieces.
“Give me some credit, Olivia,” he said. “I am 181 years old. Do you really think I would agree to an arranged marriage to a human?”
“Ohhh, but I’m not human, not one hundred percent anyway. I’m part witch, a fact you seem to have figured out some time ago.”
“I only suspected, but I wasn’t certain,” he said. “Gabriel told me you were his daughter the night Aidan died. He intended to tell you everything in Paris, but your mother got there first. He swore me to secrecy. He wanted to be the one to tell you. As usual, you fled the scene before you gave him a chance to explain.”
“Explain what?” I barked. “How he tricked me into joining the Council? How he lured me into his convoluted schemes, putting my life in danger, while failing to let me know he was my father? How can he possibly provide a satisfactory explanation for any of this?