Page 57

I hate this. All of it. Life would be so much easier if I was still living on the surface. But it wouldn’t be the same. Now that I’m in Valora, I can’t imagine my life without Bash, Halen, or my real dad. I never in a million years would’ve guessed him to be my dad, although now that I know, it’s obvious.

How did I not see it? My supposed uncle was more doting than my dad. And come to think of it, I can’t remember a time that Drake ever referred to me as his daughter. He often said “your daughter” when speaking to my mom. And it wasn’t like it was just because he was a jerk. Before my sister died, he adored Aria. I never put much thought into it though, because Mom always gave me so much attention. I just chalked it up to each of them having a favorite. But now it all makes sense. Either Mom preferred me because I was Tiberias’s child, or she was making up for the fact that Drake could barely stand me. He played the part of the loving dad only when he needed to.

Crash!

The door flings open and bangs into the wall.

“There you are!” Dad stares at me with wild eyes. Not in anger, but confusion or frustration. “Why did you take off like that?”

“Maybe because I told you I have to kill you!” Tears blur my vision, and I rub them. “I’m not doing that, by the way.”

He frowns, sits next to me, and puts his arm around me. “What makes you think you’d have to do that?”

“It’s in three different books!”

“What books?” He scratches his chin. “I’ve never read that in all of my study of the subject.”

“In the academy’s fourth-year library and in the public library—the secret part of it.”

“Are you sure?”

“I read it with my own eyes!” I exclaim. “Three different books!”

“Yet I’ve never seen it once.”

I scoot back from him. “You don’t believe me?”

“I wouldn’t be a very good king if I believed everything I heard, now would I?”

“I’m your daughter. You should take me seriously.”

He hesitates. “I do. Is what you read why you killed my brother?”

“I did that because it needed to be done.”

“Did you know what was in those books when you did it?

I don’t answer the question. “He had to be stopped!”

“But I was more than prepared to do that myself. I’m the one who called for the battle to the death.”

“He tortured Halen and Bash!”

He holds my gaze for a moment. “Did you know about the books when you did it?”

“Yes.”

“I’d like to see those books. Verify their authenticity.”

“How would you do that?”

“It’s complicated, but I can show you if you’d like.”

I nod. “But they’re gone now.”

“The books? Gone? As in stolen or checked out?”

“I didn’t ask.”