Page 19

Chapter Nineteen

Damon intercepted me as we came back into the house. “Cassandra, I need to borrow Maggie for a moment.”

She raised her eyebrows but nodded. “Tea will be ready in about ten minutes.”

I smiled weakly. Maybe she’d make it taste nice for once. Take it easy on Gwen?

Damon watched Cassandra walk into the kitchen before pulling me into his office, closing the door behind us. The room was soundproof, so I didn’t worry about warding.

“So, what was all that about?” he asked, his eyes searching mine.

“Cestis business,” I said, trying to dodge the question.

He was having none of it. “Maggie, I deserve to know what’s going on.”

I sighed. Cassandra hadn’t explicitly told me not to tell Damon. “All right, but you can’t mention any of this to Gwen.”

“Of course not,” he said. “She has enough to deal with. But before we get into this, how are you? This is,” he waved back in the direction of kitchen, “a lot. A half sister and maybe a father.”

“Well, there’s definitely a father. I’ve always known that.”

“You didn’t always know it might be Jack.”

“I’ve had my suspicions since I saw the photo. You know that.”

“Sure, but suspecting is different to knowing.” He pulled me close, hugging me before dropping a kiss on the top of my forehead. “Don’t worry, we’ll know soon enough, and we’ll make sure he doesn’t find out about you. He won’t get anywhere near you.”

“He’s had thirty-plus years to have something to do with me if he did know, and he’s never made the attempt. I don’t think he knows.”

Damon made a noncommittal noise. “Good. But I care about you, not him. Are you okay?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “Yes for now. Yes, it’s a lot, but for now, I’m all right.”

“A sister. That’s kind of cool, right? More family for you.” He sounded happy.

I pressed my face into his chest. “By blood. We’re still strangers. Which sounds bad, I know, but it’s the truth. We’ll have to take some time and see how things work out.”

“Do you want a sister?”

“Not sure that’s something you get to choose. It seems I have one.”

“Yes. But that doesn’t mean you have to be close. I mean, I’m not suggesting we kick her out onto the street, but if you need space I can find her somewhere else to stay. Or Cassandra can if she wants to keep an eye on her.”

“I’m not sure another rejection is what Gwen needs right now. And I’d like to get to know her. I just wish we could do it without….”

“Without Jack?”

“Yes. And without all the weird stuff.” I flailed an arm in a frustrated circle.

Damon caught my wrist, pressed a kiss to my palm. “I’m not sure there’s any circumstances where finding out you have a sister you never knew about at your age wouldn’t be weird to some degree.”

“Yeah, but there’s weird and then there’s weird .”

He put a finger under my chin, lifting it so I had to meet his gaze. “You eat weird for breakfast.”

I wrinkled my nose. “I’d prefer to stick to cereal. And I’m not sure how Gwen will take my weird. She came here to get away from the Fae and magic. I’m stuck with the Fae for now.”

“True. That’s something the two of you need to figure out. Once she’s happy no one’s coming from the realm to steal her back, she’ll relax about it all.”

Coming from the man who once broke up with me because of my magic, I wasn’t sure if that made me feel better or worse. He’d overcome his feelings about magic because he loved me. Gwen had no reason to care about me and my feelings other than a shared crappy dad.

“It would be useful if I could see the future,” I said. “See how it all works out.”

“I don’t know. I think it’s better not to know. Think of Morgain. That’s what her magic is, isn’t it?”

Lady Morgain could read the fates. And she constantly shifted form, moving through her own timeline, perhaps, to do it. “Not that much of the future. Just enough to win the lottery.” I lifted my head to smile at him.

His answering smile was cocky. “You’ve already won the lottery; you have me.”

I snorted. “Maybe you won the lottery when you found me.”

“Oh, I did,” he said, pulling me close again. I pressed my face back into his chest, wishing I could stay there forever.

“So, what can I do to help? Gwen doesn’t seem to need money, but if she wants to go to school here I can clear that pathway for her. Let her see we’re on her side.”

“Well, I’m not entirely sure what her side is,” I said. “And I don’t want her to think we’re just going to throw money at her and try and buy my way into a relationship with her.”

“No. I don’t want that, either,” Damon agreed. “But I can talk to people when she’s ready. She’ll still have to meet the academic requirements, but a recommendation will help.” He let me go, stepped back. “So, what did Cassandra want?”

I sighed. “She’s concerned about Gwen’s magic. If it is Jack. The half-Fae, half-witch thing.”

“She agrees that’s a problem?”

“It’s uncommon and Cassandra is concerned it would make Gwen a target for you-know-whats. And it could also make the Fae…uneasy.” I threw up my hands. “I don’t know. I’d like a rewind, please. Life was a lot simpler before that damn door opened again.”

“I agree,” Damon said. “But this is where we are. So deep breaths and one step at a time, like usual.”

“Okay. But is it too early for a whiskey?”

“Yes,” he said, “but how about head-banging sex instead?”

“Not while Cassandra is in the house. Thank you, but no.”

“We could make out a little,” he said, stepping into my space.

“That’s the best idea I’ve heard all day,” I said and let his kisses chase the world away.

When we got back to the kitchen, Cassandra was standing by the open French doors, talking softly but fiercely to someone on her datapad. I could smell mint and other things in the air and our largest teapot sat on the counter, steam issuing gently from its spout. Whatever tea Cassandra had made was steeping away. Gwen was still at the table, looking somewhat wild-eyed and nervous, Lianith on her lap. Which meant Cassandra hadn’t banished the nixling from the room.

I waved Damon over to the counter, making gestures I hoped he would correctly interpret as ‘find something to eat with the tea’. When he started rummaging in cabinets, I went to sit with Gwen, wondering what Cassandra had said to her.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

Gwen’s eyes darted in Cassandra’s direction and her fingers stroked Lianith’s fur faster. “She’s very intimidating.” She was nearly whispering.

“Comes with the territory. You don’t get her job without knowing your shit and knowing how not to put up with any. And you’ve dealt with the Cestis in the UK. As long as you’re not committing a crime, their bark is usually worse than their bite.”

Gwen smiled tightly. “Their bark can be unpleasant, though.”

“Something in particular you’re worried about?” I asked.

“She said I’ll need to learn magic, if Jack’s our father. Said I need to control it, even if I don’t use it.” She looked queasy at the thought. Or perhaps ready to run again. Better to nip that idea off at the bud.

“She’s right. You could hurt yourself otherwise. You don’t want that, right?”

She bit her lip. “I don’t know.”

“Basic control shouldn’t take long. You said you learned some magic in the realm.”

“A few charms. Not real magic. Anyone can do a warming charm or freshen a room or clothes.”

Those didn’t sound so basic to me. “Well, if you can do those I’m sure it wouldn’t take you long to get to the point where the Cestis are satisfied your shields are adequate and you’re not going to set anything on fire.” Or herself.

“It’s not the same out here, is it? How do we even know if I can learn?”

“You’re half-Fae, half-witch. I think you’ll be okay. The Cestis will help. They want you to do this. Uncontrolled magic is unpredictable.” I didn’t know what Cassandra might have said about learning to shield. “And you can protect yourself, once you know what you’re doing. Stop anyone taking advantage. If you know shields and wards, you won’t have to worry. You don’t have to use magic for anything else.”

If she wanted to stay away from the Fae and away from magic that had to appeal, right?

Her expression turned mulish. “You have shields and wards and you get into trouble.”

“I’m…different,” I said.

“Because of the demon?” Her fingers tightened in Lianith’s fur and the nixling narrowed her eyes at me.

“Not my fault,” I thought at her.

“No speak demons.” Lianith’s tone was adamant.

“She brought it up.”

But Lianith was right. Better to keep Gwen’s thoughts off demons for now. “Because I’ve agreed to help in the magical world. But you don’t have to if you don’t want to. Learn how to protect yourself, and then you can go off to school and find a job and live whatever life you want to live.”

She didn’t look entirely convinced, but she no longer looked as though she wanted to bolt for the door.

An improvement.

Damon, as though sensing it was a good time to interrupt, came over with a plate of cookies and crackers. And, accepting the inevitable, four empty mugs for Cassandra’s brew. “Snacks,” he said with an encouraging smile.

Gwen’s answering smile attempted to be grateful and she took a cracker, pretending to nibble at it. I still wasn’t hungry, my stomach tight and uneasy. I was trying to stay calm for her sake, but the knowledge I could be Jack’s daughter still swam through my brain, making my thoughts slosh together uneasily.

Cassandra ended her call and joined us. I started to ask if her tea would be ready, but something in her expression changed my mind. “Is everything okay?”

“I have the name from the database of the man who matched with you.”

So fast? Sometimes I forgot the sheer power of the Cestis. Cassandra asked and people sprinted to do her bidding.

“And?”

“It’s not Jack Miller. At least, that’s not the name on the account, and the ID used to open it matches the name.”

I blinked. Wait, it wasn’t Jack? That seemed all too easy.

“What was the name?” Gwen asked.

“Edward Wheatley,” Cassandra said.

The cracker shattered in Gwen’s fingers as her hand clenched, spraying crumbs in every direction.

“Gwen? Does that name mean something to you?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Not Edward. But John Wheatley Cornelius is the name on my birth certificate. The fake name, I mean.”

“Yeah, that’s not a coincidence,” I muttered. My tiny spark of hope that it wasn’t Jack sputtered and died. “Damon, does Mitch or whoever is overseeing the hunt for Jack have a list of known aliases?”

“We have a few. Not enough, unfortunately.” He pulled out his datapad and started typing furiously.

“Can you find out if Wheatley pops up anywhere?”

“That would be sloppy. Jack isn’t sloppy,” Damon said but he kept typing.

“He could have tried to leave a clue for Gwen?” I said.

“I doubt it,” Gwen muttered. “He could’ve just used the same name. But it’s nearly twenty-three years since he used the name on my birth certificate. He probably forgot.”

“I’ve got a search happening to see if we can get any information on this Edward,” Cassandra said. “IDs can still be faked if you have enough money.”

Lack of money not being a problem for Jack.

“Thank you,” Damon said. There was something fierce and focused in those laser blue eyes. He’d been looking for a new lead on Jack for weeks.

And I knew who else I could ask about names Jack might use.

If I wanted to owe Usuriel a favor. I gritted my teeth in frustration. Better to try the regular way before I went looking for answers from the Lord of the Nichtkin.

“Okay. So Damon’s team will dig into the aliases, Cassandra’s people will verify the ID. We’ll get an answer. In the meantime, I think there’s been enough excitement for one morning. I, for one, need to blow off some steam. Gwen, want to come kill some virtual bad guys with me?”

“No,” Gwen said firmly.

I blinked. “Sorry?” Damn it, was she mad at me for all this? Hardly my fault, but maybe I was the nearest target.

“I want to know more about Jack,” Gwen said. “About why you’ve all been looking for him.”

“He did bad things,” Cassandra said bluntly.

“Yes, I know. But what bad things?”

“Most of it is falls under the category of confidential,” Damon said.

Gwen’s chin jutted out. The defiant expression on her face made me suck in a breath. For the first time, I saw a resemblance. My sister was as stubborn as me. It almost made me smile. Almost. I stifled the urge. Gwen probably wouldn’t see the funny side.

“You don’t think I have a right to know if you think he’s going to try to find me?” Gwen asked.

Cassandra matched her chin tilt, folding her arms across her chest for good measure. “You said you didn’t want to be involved with magic. So we can’t tell you about Cestis investigations. That information is need-to-know only.”

“So is the Riley Arts investigation,” Damon added.

Gwen didn’t back down. “Don’t I fall under the category of need to know? If he’s my father?”

Cassandra shook her head. “We don’t know that for sure. And I’m sorry, Gwen, but we don’t know you very well either.”

“What, you think I’m working for him?” Now she looked mad, not stubborn. Her eyes burned almost silvery. Curious, I peeked at her energy field. Brighter. But not like she was actively using magic. Interesting.

“Well, you have turned up here at a very coincidental time,” Cassandra pointed out.

“Because I wanted to get away from this kind of thing, not because my evil father sent me.” Gwen’s voice was sharp.

“Couldn’t she sign an NDA?” I interrupted. Provoking Gwen into a rage didn’t seem like a sensible plan if we wanted to avoid accidental magical outbursts. “Or whatever the Cestis equivalent is?” Or both, if necessary. “It’s not unreasonable for her to want to know.”

Damon and Cassandra gave me identical ‘you’re on her side?’ expressions.

I raised my eyebrows at them, adding my own chin tilt to let them know I was, indeed, on her side. “Well?”

“Is that a good—” Cassandra started

“I understand what an NDA is,” Gwen interrupted. “I’m not an idiot.”

“If I bind you to Cestis confidentially,” Cassandra said sternly, “you’ll most likely end up in jail if you break it.”

“Same if you break a Riley Arts NDA,” Damon added. “I have the best lawyers in the country, and I pay them well. Plus, I can get you blackballed in the industry. Which won’t matter if you’re in jail.”

Sheesh. Talk about bad cop, bad cop. “Back off,” I mouthed at him.

He ignored me, keeping his attention on Gwen. “So, if we tell you, you don’t get to tell anyone else. No matter what you find out. You talk to one of us, you talk to Maggie. A few others we okay. Anybody else and the consequences will be unpleasant.”

Gwen threw up her hands. “Who am I going to tell? I don’t have any friends here on the outside. I spent my teen years in a boarding school full of girls I didn’t have much in common with. I never really had a best friend. Even the ones I was friendly with have probably forgotten who I am now. My mother is unknown. My ‘aunt’ dropped me the second her legal agreement was over and, as far as Aubrey knows, left the country for parts unknown. There’s just me.”

I tapped her foot under the table, nudging it with mine, hoping she’d take it as a ‘not just you now’ gesture of support. For a few seconds she ignored me, then gave a tentative tap back. Her posture eased a little.

“What about Fae?” Cassandra asked. “Do you have friends in the realm?”

“Does it matter if I’m never going back there?”

“You think that now. But things change.”

“Well, in the unlikely circumstance I change my mind, I’m sure you could get Lady Cerridwen to put a binding even more effective than yours on me. The Fae have ways of making people stay silent, too. The kind you probably don’t want to know about. I want to know the truth. I’m sick of lies and being kept in the dark.”

Understandable.

Cassandra gave her a hard stare before turning to Damon. He nodded sharply.

“Very well. Give us a moment to talk,” Cassandra said.

“We can go to my office,” Damon suggested.

The two of them hurried out, leaving Gwen and I sitting in silence.

“Fight?” Lianith asked.

“Just a disagreement. Everything is okay.” Hopefully.

“Tell big witch, trust.” Lianith nudged Gwen with her nose and Gwen patted her a little more calmly. “Keep Gwen safe. No tell secrets.”

I blinked at her. Apparently nixlings picked their own sides.

“Trust,” Lianith repeated firmly before closing her eyes and starting to purr, the noise loud but soothing.

Gwen didn’t look particularly soothed.

“It’s not personal,” I said, knowing damned well it must feel personal to her. “Cassandra and Damon, they have responsibilities to uphold. The kind of responsibility you and I can’t really understand. I don’t think anyone can, unless they’re in the same position. They have to follow the rules. And keep everyone safe.”

“Aren’t I part of everyone?” Gwen asked plaintively.

“One part. But in their jobs, sometimes the greater good beats the individual. Particularly for Cassandra. The Cestis keep the peace between witches and normals by doing what they do. We don’t want to go back to the bad old days. So the Cestis keep secrets. Actually,” I tilted my head at her. “I’m surprised Aubrey or someone didn’t give you some version of this speech already.”

“They did. The ‘no talking about demons or Fae to any normals’ part, at least. Even most witches. Not that I know how to tell who’s a witch.”

“You don’t?”

She squinted at me. “You do?”

Right. She’d only done magic in the realm. You didn’t have to look for the energies in there. You could just assume that everyone had magic and were using it to some degree most of the time. Or could do so as easily as breathing whenever they wanted to. “Witches can see other witches using magic. When we choose to look.”

That didn’t seem to help.

“Look at what?” Gwen asked.

“At the energy fields.”

Gwen still regarded me as though I was talking gibberish. Or maybe sprouted an extra head.

“Like an aura,” I added.

“Auras are real?”

Okay, so she’d been exhausted and medicated in the hospital. So maybe she hadn’t understood what Meredith meant when she said she wanted to check her aura. “Well, energy is real. And witches can see it. I’m not sure the old hippy version of an aura was ever true. Maybe there were people with very weak magic who caught glimpses of the energy field, but never knew what it was before the witches went public.”

“So you can see magic?” Blonde brows drew down. “Can you show me?”

“I think it would be better to wait until Cassandra gives the okay. I take it Fae don’t do the same thing?”

“I don’t know about out here, but in the realm it’s more a sensation. If you’re paying attention, you can sense the magic flowing to and from people. Unless they’re cloaking what they’re doing. That makes it tricky. You learn to recognize other signs. But you see the magic? Like a color or something?”

“Yes. But I can also feel the energy sometimes. It’s different for different people. Yours is kind of a smoky blue. I think the smoky part is a Fae thing. Cerridwen and Callum have it, too.” I stopped for a moment. Her energy was blue. So was mine. Mine lacked the smoky tinge but it was blue. Another confirmation we were sisters.

“Huh.” She looked intrigued, despite herself. “Do you think Cassandra will show me how to see them?”

“I think she’ll insist on it, if it turns out Jack is our father. It’s part of controlling magic, learning to see the energy. At least for a witch. If not, well, I’m sure we could ask Callum if there’s someone who can teach you the Fae equivalent. Or one of the tanai, if that’s what you’d prefer.” If she wasn’t half-witch, Cassandra would be less concerned. We could leave it up to the tanai to explain to her what she might be able to do out here if she wanted to. Before Pinky had done her favor for Cerridwen and wound up being trained with me, she had lived quite happily not using her magic, so maybe it wasn’t a problem for them.

Gwen sighed, and reached for another cracker, this time taking a proper bite. She chewed, swallowed. “This is not what I intended when I came here. I thought it would make things simpler.”

“Well, you couldn’t have predicted exploding light bulbs or finding out you have a half sister.” I hesitated. “How do you feel about it? Be honest. You can say it’s weird if that’s how you feel, you won’t hurt my feelings.”

“Is that how you feel?”

I half shrugged. “It’s weird, but not bad weird. Does that make sense? I’d like to get to know you, if that’s what you want. But we don’t have to be in each other’s pockets, if it’s not. Maybe it’s like meeting a new friend…we have to see if we get along.”

She nodded. “It is weird. But…you saved me, back in the realm. You’ve always been nice to me. I’d….I’d like to get to know you. I don’t know if I’m going to be any good at being a friend or a sister. My aunt, well, she was chilly. She did all the right things, but she wasn’t affectionate. During my holidays, she took me to museums and lectured me about art or whatever. We went to the theatre, or movies she deemed suitable. When we were home, I had chores or stuck to my room. She wasn’t sociable. We definitely didn’t hang out. Not once I was old enough to be at school. She played with me when I was little, but she didn’t love me. Not really. Though I didn’t know any different at the time.”

“At least she did all the right things. My mom didn’t always do even that,” I said. “But I was lucky. After she died, her parents—my grandparents—took me in and they did love me. But I know what it’s like, having a rough childhood.” Mine had been rough in different ways to hers. It didn’t sound as though she’d ever worried about there being enough money or having to pack up and leave in the middle of the night. So hopefully, unlike me, she didn’t know what it was like to go hungry. But neglect took many forms. “And hey, we both like games, that’s a start.”

Gwen was probably farther down the gaming rabbit hole than I would ever be. Like Nat had been. But since I’d dated Damon I’d had an increased appreciation of VR. After I was sure I wasn’t going to be stalked by a demon in a game again.

“A start,” she agreed.

I studied her face, but found no trace of me. But maybe I couldn’t see it. I had my mother’s eyes and hers were that icy blue. But I couldn’t argue with the DNA. She was my sister. I wanted to know her.

I tried to think of something to suggest, something we could do together. Sister bonding time. But Damon and Cassandra came back into the room before anything sprang to mind.

Gwen shifted in her chair. “What did you decide?”

Damon nodded. “Mitch called. They found another Wheatley in the list of aliases we have for Jack. Spelled slightly differently, but I think it’s enough for now. Unless Cassandra’s team finds proof that the guy in the database is real and living his life somewhere, we’re going to assume it’s Jack.”

Well, fuck. I tried not to let the slice of jagged fear that hit my stomach at the news show on my face.

Gwen wasn’t so well controlled. She looked scared. “So, what happens now?”

Damon held up his datapad. “Now, if you want to know more, you sign an NDA. And Cassandra does whatever she needs to do with you from a Cestis point of view.”

“Oh, we have NDAs as well,” Cassandra said.

“Sure,” Gwen said, holding out her hand for the datapad.

“Wait,” I said.

She frowned at me.

“You need to read it. Never sign anything without reading it. It’s like asking a Fae for a deal without agreeing the specifics.” Even if she’d not signed many legal documents in her life, she should understand the analogy having spent the last four years in the realm. “I’ve signed a lot of NDAs for clients in my time, do you want me to talk you through it?” I wasn’t an attorney, but the woman who’d helped me set up my business from the legal side of things had taught me the traps to watch for in NDAs early on, once she heard I was going to be a consultant.

“I want to know.”

“I’m sure you do. And I’m not saying don’t sign, I’m saying understand what you’re signing, okay?”

“Okay, explain it to me.”

Damon looked amused and maybe a little proud. He passed me the datapad and I scooted my chair round next to Gwen. I took my time talking her through each of the clauses of the Riley Arts agreement. It was basically identical to the one I’d signed when I’d first met Damon. This was, possibly, even broader. After that we worked through the Cestis one, with pauses to ask Cassandra to clarify several points. But in the end, I sat back. “Up to you now.”

“It’s fine.” Gwen grabbed the datapad, scrolled, signed and added her palm scan when asked to. Then repeated the process for the second NDA before handing it back to Damon. “There. So. Tell me about Jack.

Cassandra cleared her throat. “Maggie, can you ask Lianith to leave the room.”

Lianith raised her head, eyes narrowed. “Trust,” she said.

“She says we can trust her,” I said.

Cassandra stared at the nixling. “I’m glad to hear that. But as a show of good faith, I would prefer you to leave. After all you can’t sign the kind of…contract…that Gwen just did.”

Lianith made a trilling noise, clearly disgruntled. But she jumped down and stalked out of the room.

Cassandra watched her go and then made a little ‘go on’ jerk of her head in my direction.

Right. Apparently I was going to do the honors. How do you tell your sister your father is a criminal genius? “Jack made his money in tech. He came up with a few early innovations in holographics. Those made him rich. Then he moved into investing and got richer.”

Damon nodded at me, not disagreeing with anything.

I explained about meeting Jack at the Serenity Falls tournament. Gwen listened in silence. When I got to the part about Jack locking me into a game, she said, “Wait, what? How is that possible?”

“It shouldn’t be,” Damon said. “And we’ve already rolled out updates to prevent it happening in any VR environment I control.”

“Can you only do it to someone with a chip?” she asked, looking distinctly freaked out.

Damon’s brows shot up. “I’m not sure. I don’t think we’ve tested it with just a headset. Jack used a cuff that covers the chip.”

“We should test that,” I said. “A headset, I mean.”

“How do you test it?” Gwen asked, eyes wide.

“We have a VR environment set up with the kill switch programming disabled. Once you’re in, someone has to let you out,” Damon said

“And people volunteer ?” Gwen squeaked.

“Well, my team trust each other. And it’s only a select few.”

She squirmed uneasily. No need to ask what she thought about it.

“Callum can get out of it without any help,” I said, trying to be reassuring.

“With magic?”

“Yes, though we’re not entirely sure how it works. I’ve done it a few times, but I can’t do it reliably. Maybe you could, as you’re half-Fae.”

She shook her head, “I don’t think I want to try.”

“That’s fair. No one will make you. And, like Damon said, there’s nothing to worry about in any regular game.”

“What did he want?” Gwen asked. “Jack, I mean.”

“We’re not sure. Me, maybe.” I glanced at Cassandra.

Who only flapped her hand at me. “Tell her the rest of it.”

So I did. That Jack had hinted at working with darkness, not to mention had summoned imps and burned my house down in his escape.

When I finished, Gwen had lost all the color in her face again. I put a hand on her forearm. “It’s okay. It’s a lot, I know, but he can’t get to us here.”

The fact that he hadn’t been seen in the US since fleeing was one of the few things helping me sleep at night.

“He’s working with a demon? That can’t end well,” Gwen managed.

“Not for him, no,” Cassandra said. “People who make deals with demons usually end up dead. One way or another.”

Gwen swallowed hard. “You actually think he wants to summon one? What can that bring except death and destruction?”

So she’d learned something about demons in her time in the realm.

“Demons are masters of persuasion. They convince people it’s all going to work out. Well, people they don’t outright take over,” Cassandra said. “People who try usually want power or money. They all underestimate how powerful demons are. They think they’ll summon a demon and control it, rather than the other way around. That they’ll be the exception. Which is crazy, but by the time someone starts summoning imps, they’re not completely sane by any usual measure. They’re not thinking about death and destruction. But we are.”

The Cestis didn’t let a witch who had been tainted by demons live. I’d been tested for demon taint twice. I was under no illusions what would have happened to me if I’d failed.

“Which is why you need to learn some basic magic,” Cassandra said. “Hopefully you’ll never come anywhere near Jack, but if you do you need strong shields and some control of your magic. If you don’t control it, someone else might be able to control you.”

Okay, so she wasn’t pulling her punches now.

“Right,” Gwen said, chewing her lip. “Maggie, how did your mom meet Jack?”

“I don’t know. We only have that one picture of them. But my mom went off the grid well before she had me. Managed to stay under the radar. The Cestis didn’t know I existed until she died. Which was not long after I turned thirteen. Once my grandparents found me and registered my birth properly, they knew about me.” Or so I assumed. “But I didn’t show any power, so they left us alone.”

“You didn’t show power at thirteen? That’s when it happens for witches, right?” Gwen asked.

“My mom bound my power,” I said. “There was nothing for me to use.”

Gwen was all wide pale blue eyes now. “To a demon. How did you survive?”

“As far as we can tell, it was because Maggie didn’t consent herself. The demon used her power, but couldn’t take her over. Whatever Sara did, the rite she used protected Maggie,” Cassandra said.

“But your magic did come in?” Gwen asked.

“When I met Damon, I got a chip to help him with a job. We think the chip changed my energy signature enough to somehow break the bond. Like Cassandra said, we don’t know anything about the binding, or how my mom did it, so we don’t know why having a chip broke it.”

Cassandra muttered something under her breath. My mother was fortunate the Cestis had never managed to get their hands on her.

Though, either way, I’d still have lost her. It was an old pain, but sometimes it still stabbed me like new. I bit it down and summoned a smile. “And that’s enough of a history lesson. Cassandra, is your tea ready?”