Page 37

37

Vincent

E very evening with Luna was bliss.

The inn filled a little more each day, and Long Night was tomorrow.

I knew it didn’t matter anymore, that Darius wouldn’t sell the inn if it wasn’t at capacity, but I was so proud of her.

She was so close.

I had no doubt the last trickle of guests coming in for the festivities would fill the two remaining rooms.

I couldn’t remember ever feeling…

lighter.

“Vincent, are you listening to me?” Skye interrupted my thoughts, although maybe it was my fault for daydreaming during lunch.

“Sorry.”

She waved me off.

“I’m glad you’re all moony over Luna, but I do need you to focus long enough to answer this question about the accounts.”

I returned to the paper by day.

Patricia had not told me how she’d handled my parents.

Still, she must have done something, because she had not been removed from her position even though the paper had printed a story naming the Andiverons as the old fae family trying to keep the city divided.

The Osten Point, the leader of the wind fae, had not been pleased.

My parents were packing while I was having lunch with Skye.

The Osten Point had given them a mission: to live in a remote area on the continent’s eastern edge and report should anyone try to enter the caverns there.

No one entered those caves.

They were rumored to be filled with deadly traps the Compass Points could barely get through.

All of Sandrin saw the appointment for what it was—banishment.

The fae didn’t usually resort to imprisonment when social ostracization did the trick.

This punishment hit my parents where it hurt: their pride.

The city and the whole continent knew what they had done, that they’d been caught, and that they were being sent away to a pointless task because of it.

I ran my finger down the list she had questions about.

Skye was taking over the duties of managing the family estate and the Andiveron businesses.

“Right. This one is for the farm on the other side of the bay. You should probably go check on it at some point. This one doesn’t look familiar, but it’s small. You have time to figure that out.” I scratched my head.

My time away from the house had been longer than I’d realized if I had forgotten payments and business lines.

“That’s alright. I’ll ask Jeffrey about that one.” She swiped her hair over her shoulder.

Her brow pinched with the question I knew she’d wanted to ask since we sat down to lunch.

“Are you sure you don’t want this?”

I sighed.

“Skye. I was only afraid you didn’t want it. I thought you might be more interested in clothing design now, but I’m more than happy for you to run the house if it’s what you want. Don’t do it out of some misguided guilt, though.”

“I want it. Kristin’s shop was fun. I liked the work, but not as much as I’d hoped. ”

“I still can’t believe our parents let you work there.” I laughed.

“Though I’m glad they did.”

“I also don’t want you to think I’m throwing away the opportunity you gave me,” Skye said.

“You never acknowledge it, but I know what it cost you to get me the position with Kristin.”

I tapped my finger on the list, seeing that we’d finished.

“It all worked out. Truth be told, at the time, I wanted to make sure someone got something out of the situation. I’m glad it was you. And if you still like design, I’m sure you can start a new investment once you get your feet under you with all of this.”

She beamed at that.

Part of me worried about what else she might unearth in our parents’ records.

I hoped she wouldn’t bear the burden of anything she found alone.

I knew she was more than capable of running everything.

She was the elder; it always should have been her.

Father had insisted on it being me when my power presented, though.

While she hadn’t had as much training as I had, she picked it up quickly and conquered every challenge she set her mind to.

I was sure this would be no different.

We paid for the meal and left the restaurant.

“I’ll want to have meals regularly with you and Luna, if you’d like.”

“We’re happy to come to the house now that you’re running it.” I grabbed her arm, turning her to me.

“I never meant to leave you there, so isolated.”

“You didn’t. I chose to stay. You always seem to forget that part.”

I smirked as she headed back to the house while I returned to the paper.

I hoped she changed everything about how Andiveron House was run—except Jeffrey.

My mood was like a ray of sunshine even though the sky darkened early.

Arnold was writing a feature piece about my parents’ punishment for next week’s issue.

I brought him a sandwich with extra jam when I returned to the paper to celebrate .

“Vincent, will you be at the tavern tonight?” Daisy asked me as I dropped into my seat next to hers.

“Not tonight. We have to get ready for the Long Night celebration at the inn,” I replied.

“Oh, right. We’ll be coming out to Cliff House for the star show viewing tomorrow night with the others.”

“Tell Earl we bought the supplies to make Sweet Solstice Sips. Seraphina and Evelyn will run a makeshift bar on the beach.”

I couldn’t quite believe this was my reality.

No matter how different from my others, the column celebrating Cliff House had been a resounding success.

I’d received countless reader mailings saying they lived locally but wanted to come to the inn to watch the solstice sky and make their wishes.

So, Luna had decided to host a Long Night celebration.

Folk from the city came out to the cliffs for peace and darkness.

The woods on her property made it hard to see the star show, but the beach had the perfect view.

We’d decided to turn it into a proper celebration.

I was trying to sneak out early to help her, and I was about ready to make my escape.

“Vincent, a word.” Patricia stood leaning against the door frame of her office, arms folded over her chest.

“That doesn’t look good,” Daisy said quietly.

I swallowed, tending to agree with her, but reached for a little of Luna’s eternal optimism instead.

“We’ll see.” I stood and walked to Patricia’s office.

“Take a seat.” She gestured to the chair before her desk.

I did, but the whole thing felt too familiar.

Wasn’t this how the investigation into Darius had begun?

“You did well with the story I gave you.”

I tended to disagree.

I’d fulfilled the task, but I hadn’t pressed forward once we found out it wasn’t Darius.

Clearing his name had been such a relief, I’d forgotten to ask the bigger question: if not Darius, who was bribing the governor?

While I’d gotten there eventually, it had been a close call.

“You may not have had the answer when it would have been more convenient, but under normal circumstances, putting in the work and chasing down the lead, even to determine it was false, would have been enough. It wasn’t your fault that powers beyond your control were working against you.”

Powers beyond my control…

I didn’t care for her phrasing, especially when she was the one who had made the call, but this was a job for her as much as it was for me.

I had no idea what kind of leverage my parents had had on her and how they had applied it.

They were resourceful when they wanted to be.

Too bad it was in the service of terrible initiatives.

“Thank you,” I said.

“I’m glad we found a solution that worked for everyone.” I was not new to the world of power.

I’d been raised to respect it and to wield it.

It was disappointing to know that the paper wasn’t beyond the influence of power in the city.

The paper was supposed to be a tool that kept power in check.

It was supposed to report truths, even when they weren’t flattering.

Though everything had worked out in the end, the paper had disappointed me regarding our position on the feature story.

Only the outpouring of support for the change in “Benefits of Magic” kept me satisfied with my employment.

“I know you were interested in doing more here,” she started.

“To write feature stories, to have more of a platform to influence change in the city.” She gave me a knowing look.

“Is that still your goal?”

I folded my hands in my lap before responding.

To have a platform to influence change in the city was still a desire I held close.

Yet, now that I’d realized the ability to build community through “The Benefits of Magic,” I wasn’t sure things needed to change so drastically for me to do it.

I hadn’t responded when Patricia kept speaking.

“I didn’t think it would be a quick response. So, while you’re pondering, let me run an idea by you. You showed adeptness in accounting when you brought the data to clear Darius’s name and the evidence to condemn your parents. I knew you were from an old fae family; I didn’t realize that meant you were trained to run an estate.” She tapped her finger on her chin as if she didn’t quite comprehend this detail.

“I understand you plan to stay on. You don’t intend to run your family home in their absence.”

“That’s correct.”

“Interesting.” She didn’t actually sound that interested.

“As it happens, the new governor was…not pleased with your parents’ ability to influence the paper on top of everything else.”

That had been another quick change.

My evidence had made it clear that Marion had accepted bribes from both sides of the school issue.

She hadn’t decided what to do with them, but the citizens weren’t happy she’d accepted them.

An emergency election had been held, and she’d been replaced.

“So, the new governor put a vote before the city council that provides funding for the paper from the people, since she believes it’s them we should truly be working for. The vote passed, and now she needs someone to manage the reports between our office and the city council meetings. She asked if you would be interested.”

My mouth hung open in a way my parents would have hated.

The thought made me happy, so I let it hang open for a few moments longer than necessary.

“The people are going to fund the paper?” I asked, not sure I’d heard her correctly.

She nodded.

“No more private donors. It leaves too much room for…undue influence.” She tapped her nails on the desk.

“We’re supposed to be the voice for the people, the ones investigating the Compass Points and the city leaders. We’re supposed to keep power in check with the truth.”

“And do you agree with this appointment?” I asked.

I couldn’t quite tell where Patricia fell on this.

Was this her once again caving to someone in power?

“I suggested your name to the new governor,” she said matter-of-factly.

“As long as you can keep writing ‘The Benefits of Magic.’ We’ve received excellent feedback on the new direction of the column.”

I finally let a full smile break across my once-stoic face.

“This sounds great. When do I start?”

“You’ll have your first meeting with the governor after Long Night. You’ll agree on format and reporting frequency, and we’ll take it from there.”

I stood, reaching to shake Patricia’s outstretched hand.

“Thank you.”

“Thank you, Vincent. The article about Darius was not going to be my finest moment.” She pursed her lips.

“I didn’t know what to do, but you didn’t stop fighting. You gave me the solution I didn’t know I needed, and I can’t thank you enough for that.” She coughed as if she’d said too much.

Clearing her throat, she added, “Now, I think you must be going, right? I hear you have a Long Night celebration on the cliff to prepare for.”

I dipped my chin and headed for the door.