Page 26

“Time for those answers?” Phineas asked, the ghost of a smile across his lips. “I did hold up my end of the bargain, after all.”

“You did,” I replied through my teeth, crossing my own arms over my chest in a protective manner.

Phineas nodded towards the door with his head, his salt and pepper curls falling across his brow. His men quickly filed out of the small shop, out of ear shot. He pulled a chair out from the table and sat, his legs spread wide, a smirk across his lips.

“Go on then, don’t let me stop you.”

I wanted to wipe that smirk right off his smug little face.

“What is this place?” I asked instead, Phineas’s gaze narrowing on me.

Alastir’s forehead creased as he met my gaze. A moment passed before he answered.

“This used to be my home,” he replied, a sad lilt to his words. “I grew up here. Raised my children here.”

Children? I hadn’t known him to have any. And I hadn’t known that Alastir grew up in The Shadow. Many Shades who weren’t as well off did, but I hadn’t imagined that he was one of them. He ran a successful charm shop in Prins out of a generously sized town house.

“I didn’t know.” My voice was soft.

I could see the emotion flood Alastir’s gaze as it flitted to Phineas once more. What was the connection here?

I turned towards Phineas—my gaze shrewd. “How did you know where Alastir was?”

“I knew he would be home,” was all he said.

Home.

Nothishome, but home. As if they had shared it together.

My gaze darted between the two of them once more, the puzzle pieces slowly falling into place.

Alastir sighed. “I was raised here by my parents. When I had my first child, I raised him here, too. Only a certain sort of clientele frequents a shop in The Shadow, therefore I moved the main store to Prins and had my youngest, Thomas, take over operations here.” He nodded towards the young man mopping up the spilled liquid across the room. I hadn’t even noticed him reappear from the storage room.

Thomas was his son.

“And your oldest?” I asked, my brow quirked.

Deep down, I already knew the answer. A long moment of silence passed between us as we waited for his reply. Finally, he sighed, running a hand through his beard.

“Phineas,” he replied, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

Whether it was with affection or disappointment, I couldn’t quite tell.

“So you knew to come here, because this was your home, too?” I asked, glancing back towards Phineas.

He nodded in response, eyes downcast. I had never seen him without his smug expression, and the vulnerability that crossed his gaze surprised me.

Alastir was Phineas’s father.

It took me a moment to wrap my mind around it—how it could all make sense. Alastir was kind and gentle, but alsoincrediblypowerful. Phineas was nothing but trouble.

“If Alastir is your father, why would you need to get the information from us? Couldn’t you simply ask him yourself?” I asked as I watched him prop one leg up on his knee and sit back in his chair.

“I could,” he replied, “but he wouldn’t tell me. My father stopped telling me what he sees many, many years ago.”

“Because all it brings istrouble,” Alastir hissed. He turned his attention back towards me. “You made a bargain with him? To save the girl?”

I nodded in response. My gaze met Tess’s from across the room and she appeared equally surprised by this turn of events as I was.