Part 28 (1/2)

Please sit down, said Professor Earls, and then we will begin the tale. It is not a short one.

Chapter Thirty-Nine.

We had flown all this way and I was already very surprised. I wonder what all Dacer had known when he sent me here. After all, he never did anything casually. As Sip had once said, you really need to be determined to put neon pink eye shadow at least twice a month, not to mention the blues, greens, oranges and yellows. I eyed the table. Id sit, but I needed a.s.surances first.

Not until you tell me whose elemental signature is on this house, I said.

Very well, she said, putting her spoon down. It is your fathers. At least, I believe that to be true.

I cant say I was surprised, given that I had spent years wondering about my father and thinking that it was completely insane and nonsensical that he had been alive not ten years ago, and yet there were no paranormals now living who had known him. Of course, most of the people who had known him had probably been elemental, and the separation between paranormal types had been far worse in the generations before ours. For that matter, even now there was nothing to say that if I had had other elementals to live with in Astra, and other elementals to go to school with, I would ever have been friends with Sip and Lisabelle.

But the reality was that all of my good friends were non-elementals. And surely my father must have known other kinds of paranormals as well. It was endlessly frustrating that I didnt know who he was, and that no paranormal had ever come forward to admit to having known him.

Why didnt you say so earlier? I asked bitterly.

Earlier as in earlier in your visit or earlier since your arrival at Public? she asked.

Both, I gritted out. Ever so slowly I lowered myself into the chair after Lough righted it.

I didnt say so earlier in the visit because I wanted to be sure. Of course its you. That hair, that chin, those slight freckles, she smiled a little. I didnt want to startle you. As to why I didnt say so earlier during your years at Public, it was for two reasons. One should be obvious: fear. The demons wanted the elementals killed. If there was a hint that I might be helping you, well, then theyd come for me, too.

What made you change your mind now? I demanded. Its been years.

We appear to be losing anyway, said Earls. That, and I dont have that long left to live in any case. As you can see, Im old, and Im not in the best of health. If they come for me now, I dont mind.

It was a selfish reason, but it was also one I could understand.

They killed my granddaughter a week ago, she said softly. She was the only family I had left in the world. I had wanted to keep them from retaliating at me through her. If they hadnt killed her, I might not have contacted you through Luc. Now Im simply hoping her sacrifice wont have been in vain.

Im sorry, I said. The womans eyes were dry, but some sadness is beyond tears. If Id come to understand anything in the past three years, it was that. The ache in my chest for Lisabelle and Keller was always there, and neither was even dead . . . at least as far as I knew.

Yes, well, she would have wanted me to do this anyway. I just never told her, because I didnt like the idea of being scolded by a six-year-old.

I took in a sharp breath at the thought that the demons would kill a child.

Yes, well, as much as Id like to feed your anger, it wasnt intentional, she said, reading our collective expressions of horror. She was merely in the wrong place at the very wrong time.

So, I said, my whole body trembling, who was my father? He was an elemental?

Yes, she said. Asher Nascaro was definitely an elemental.

He was royal? Sip gasped. Nascaro is the royal family.

He was the younger son of the king, she said. Somewhat removed from the throne, but royal nonetheless. At the end, when the king had died and his brother a.s.sumed the throne, he became the heir to the heir.

Lough and Sip were both staring at me. Thats not possible, I said.

Why? she asked. Did your mother say otherwise?

My mother didnt say anything, I said bitterly. I always tried to find out, but I couldnt.

Did she leave you anything? Earls pressed. A diary? She had a journal she loved dearly and wrote in every day. I do believe it was one of the things Asher liked about her.

I shook my head, feeling overwhelmed. I was used to performing the Power of Five spells, but I had felt as if my elemental heritage was lost to me. Now, seemingly out of the blue, I had come face to face with a woman who had known my father.

Sip, seeing my distress, took over. Did you teach him? she asked.

I did, she confirmed. He was a rascal of a pupil, but we all loved him. He had a brightness and a curiosity that was a relief after all those students who merely wanted to sleep through cla.s.s.

What. . . . My voice broke and I tried again. Do you know what happened to him?

Earlss face darkened and she shook her head. I tried to find out, but I couldnt. The last time I saw him he was here with your mother, who was very pregnant. I suppose you were already somewhere safe.

How do I not have any memory of this? I asked, shaking my head. Ricky and I were not that close in age; I was seven years older. If my dad had been around when my mom was pregnant with Ricky, wouldnt I have some memory of it?

It isnt your fault, said Earls. It was a very traumatic period. Theres a good chance your mother paid a small fortune for a memory charm to make you forget.

I dont want to forget, I said angrily. I want to remember everything.

So, you dont remember your father at all?

I shook my head. Recently, sometimes I think Im seeing flashes when Im sleeping. I see a man, but I dont know who he is. He has brown eyes, and they seem kind. Hes tall with a wide smile, and I think I see some of Ricky in him. But is he Rickys father?

Yes, breathed Earls. Your brother is most definitely Ashers son. Richard was his older brothers name. I have a feeling Richard died. Well, I know hes dead now, but I have a feeling that he died and they didnt tell anyone, so that the demons wouldnt realize how thoroughly they were winning.

What a game, said Lough with distaste. Charlotte, are you alright?

I was staring around the table. I knew this would happen, I whispered. I mean, it never made sense that I didnt remember and that no one knew my dad. There were lots of elementals, but not that many. Maybe if he had been European or something, but I didnt think that seemed likely.

Some of your fathers bloodline is European of course, said Earls. He is royalty, after all. But no, your father grew up here and attended Public, like all his family before him and his descendants to this day.

But what happened to him? I pressed again. You said you saw him with my mother and they were afraid?

Your parents were never supposed to marry, she said simply. She was not considered to be a suitable partner for a royal heir. It was all well and fine if they took up together in college - he was expected to have some dalliances, after all - but by the time his family realized it was more than a dalliance - that he was very serious about her - it was too late. They may already have been married, I have no idea. She didnt have any family, poor girl.

She didnt grow up in a paranormal family? I asked. My mom had talked about her younger years, but she had made her early life sound normal.

Well, said Earls, Im not sure. She was only ever in one of my cla.s.ses, but I knew she had no family. I also know that as a dream giver, its unlikely she had family left.

So she spent her whole life knowing who she was? I said flatly.

As much as any of us do, dear, said Earls. Your parents came here a few years back, because I was a mentor of your fathers. They had you when they were very young, you see. Once Ashers father found out about the child - that is, you - they were not allowed to speak to each other. Your mother took you and set you up in a small town and took care of you. Asher visited you and your mother whenever his father left the country. He wanted to renounce his t.i.tle and take care of Grace and you, of course, but she convinced him otherwise, at least thats how he told it.

The demons were already very powerful, and the elementals knew it was only a matter of time before they became the next targets. Ashers family needed him.

So did my mother and me, I said angrily. The thought that my mother had had to raise me alone infuriated me.