Faustine (13 page)

I devoured it in silence, and then looked up at Mom, who was picking at her plate. “Mom, have you heard from Dad at all?”

“Faustine, I’m not an idiot. I know he’s been missing since you came home.”

I nodded. “Any idea where he might be?”

“No. But, honey, he’ll show up. I’m sure the appropriate authorities are trying to locate him. He’ll come back. He has to,” she said, a tear rolling down her cheek.

“Mom, how much do you know about all the demon stuff?”

“Probably not as much as you. I knew something was up when you asked to meet Alexandra–very unusual. Care to tell me what that was about? Much as I enjoy shopping with her, I wouldn’t trust her as far as I could throw her. Be careful.”

“Mom, Dad named me as his successor.”

“Well, that’s just ridiculous! Successor? What was he thinking? What about his older children? Besides, he’ll be back.”

“He named me, so that’s just the way it is.”

She shook her head. “Well. I won’t allow you to move to London....”

“I don’t have to,” I reassured her. “I’m going to govern via proxy. I have the details worked out, so there is no need to worry about that. The coronation is next week. I want you to come.”

“Hon, I still think this is an awful idea. I mean, you’re just back from St. Moritz, just started at a new school. You really ought to concentrate on that.”

“Oh, believe me, if I had any choice, I would! I want to respect Dad’s wishes, however, and being the demon sovereign places me in a better position to find him.”

She nodded. “I’ll be there, right by your side, and help you in any way I can. I’m glad you felt you could confide in me,” she said gratefully.

I debated telling her about Peter’s death and Kismet’s disappearance, but decided against it. That information would make her freak, and she’d have Tessa contain me in my room for like–forever.

She suddenly reached for her cell phone on the table beside her, but then stopped and looked me up and down.

“What?” I asked concerned. “You don’t like this color on me?” I asked, looking down at my shoes.

She laughed. “It’s an appropriate color, don’t you think?”

“I guess. Red’s a bit cliché
,
though.”

“I was actually about to call Manuel and ask him to come over. You’re going to need something spectacular for the coronation.”

I wondered if I could find a way of accessorizing my
something spectacular
with Ryker.

W
atching Ryker kick the soccer ball around with the rest of the varsity team was boring, even though he did look kind of cute in the green team shorts. It was just a practice; surely he could take a little break and let me know why he needed to see me so urgently. Normally, I wouldn’t mind hanging out in Central Park, but today, a slight drizzle sprinkled down on us. It was just a mist, but catastrophic for my hair. I looked at the girls gathered by the sideline. I’d say at least half of them looked like they would rather have their legs waxed than hang out here, getting a natural afro for all their hair-straightening efforts. I was tempted to bail. But Ryker apparently needed to talk to me
urgently
, and right after practice would be his first opportunity. So, I twiddled my thumbs as I waited. Would it be a punishable offense to bring out a book and read while I waited? As I reached for my book, the whistle blew, and the sweaty bodies came running up to the sideline.

“Wassup?” I asked, while trying not to inhale the putrid aroma oozing from Ryker. Blech.

He laughed as he planted a kiss on my forehead, and surreptitiously slipped me a note. Then, he was gone. To the nearest showers, hopefully.

I waited until I was safely in my room before I retrieved the crumpled bit of paper from my bag and peeked at it. It had my half sister Katerina’s contact information scribbled on it. How on earth had Ryker managed to get hold of it? I didn’t really care how, I was just grateful that he had passed it on to me.

So, now I could track down Katerina. The address wasn’t far from my building. Perhaps I should walk over there and introduce myself. I didn’t know anything about her, though. I didn’t even know what she looked like. Now that I had a last name–Miller–the best option was probably to look her up on Alexandra’s database. I had to head over there shortly anyway, on my way to visit with Edith.

I had persuaded Neave to accompany me to Edith’s. I felt I needed my own witch with me, to scope Edith out. Neave wasn’t enthusiastic when I told her that we were visiting the sovereign witch of New York.

“Edith?”

“Yeah! Do you know her?”

“Not exactly. I know
of
her. She doesn’t associate with common witches like me unless she absolutely has to. I’ve been to events she’s presided over. She’s quite a character. She appears very flaky, but is apparently super sharp. Her only weakness seems to be Michael Bolton. She turns to mush in his presence,” Neave snickered. “She’s from the Boston area, you know, originally. But she spent a lot of time in Mississippi before she was summoned to New York. She talks in a southern-Boston-mix. She’s hard to understand at times.”

“Interesting. I would have assumed that the sovereign witch had to be a native of New York.”

“No. Witch sovereigns are elected. It’s not the same as the demon sovereigns where the current sovereign selects his or her successor. Edith ran an awesome and very successful campaign. Like I said, she’s sharp.”

“Does she know you, or about you?”

“I can’t imagine any reason why I would be on her radar,” Neave said, shaking her head.

We decided that we weren’t going to reveal to Alexandra that Neave was a witch–she was good at shielding herself–unless she was directly asked. Lying would not be a good option, but we would try to keep it secret if we could.

Neave and I appeared as any other Upper East Side friends off for a wander around the Madison Avenue stores as we made our way to Alexandra’s apartment.

“Oh, you brought a friend? It’s lovely to meet you, but I’m not sure this is a good idea...” Alexandra muttered when I gently encouraged–pushed–Neave through the front door.

“Queen Alexandra,” I said, formally. “May I present my friend, Neave. Since Luke is unavailable, Neave will be by my side today, to assist me.”

“It may be more appropriate to have a demon assistant. No offense, Neave. If you really feel the need for one, I can offer you someone from my New York...” she stopped, and then suddenly smiled. “Why didn’t I offer him to you in the first place? Silly me, I should have known that you would need a replacement for Luke. A human is hardly appropriate. My nephew, Matt, would be perfect. I can call him right now, and then you can send your little friend home.”

“Thanks for your offer, Alexandra. I really appreciate it. But with all due respect,
my little friend
stays, for now, anyway. She knows my needs better than anyone else. We’ve been friends for years. Besides, Taylor knows her as well. We’re all friends at school, and Neave may be able to support Taylor during the tracking, or at least before. I bet she’s terrified.”

“She is,” Alexandra confirmed. “She keeps backing down and then changing her mind again. She’s resting in my bedroom at the moment.” She paused, looking Neave over.

I was so hoping that Neave had her shield up, surrounded by nothing but human trivial thoughts to fool Alexandra.

Alexandra finally nodded. “You’re right. Neave could be an asset. I’ll agree to take her along as part of my group. I’ll go wake up Taylor.”

“Alexandra, hold up. Just one more thing before we go. Two actually, but let’s start with this,” I said, handing over the slip with Katerina’s information. “I was wondering if I could check up on her using your database?”

She peered at the scrap of paper. “That address is just a few blocks from here,” she remarked. “I haven’t had a free moment to search for her yet, so this is very useful. It’s not urgent, though, is it? Let’s look into this when we get back.”

“Well, I’d at least like to reassure myself that she’s safe, considering....”

“Call her,” Alexandra suggested. “Her phone number is right here, on this slip,” she pointed out.

Duh. Of course. I punched Katerina’s numbers into my cell and waited for someone to pick up. But what would I say to her? I was still considering and playing through various options in my head–all of them lame–when my thoughts were broken by a deep but female voice.

“Hello?”

What should I say?

“Hello? Who’s this?

“Hello. Is this Katerina Miller?”

“Yes. Who are you?”

I immediately hung up.
Um, I am your half sister, uh, half demon.  What are you? Half demon, too, or did my dad have an affair with yet another kind of paranormal?
No. Definitely not a conversation one should have over the phone.

Alexandra and Neave were eyeing me with smiles playing on the corners of their lips.

“Well, what was I supposed to say? The main thing is that we know that she’s okay–for now, anyway. Alexandra, could I ask you for a favor? Could you send Matt over to Katerina’s to keep an eye on her, without her knowledge, of course.”

“Of course,” Alexandra confirmed. “I’ll make the call now.”

There was one more thing I needed to talk to Alexandra about before we went to Edith’s. Kismet. Why was she so special anyway? No one seemed to give two hoots about saving my father or Luke, but they were going all out to rescue Kismet. Luke had been beside himself when she had disappeared. Why was she so important?

“Alexandra,” I said, when she’d made her call. “How much do you know about Kismet? Why are you so eager to help find her, but not Luke or Dad?”

“Didn’t Sebastian tell you anything at all about Kismet?” she asked.

“No. I didn’t even know of her existence before she disappeared.”

“Does the London faction know that she is missing?”

“No. I haven’t even told Dorian.”

“Good.”

“Why?”

“For one thing, it could turn into an international crisis. I really don’t need that right now. We need to find her before anyone else finds out that she’s missing.”

“Why?” I persisted. “I don’t understand what makes her more special than say, Peter?”

“Faustine, Kismet is Suman’s daughter.”

Okay. I totally hadn’t expected that. Wow, Dad really played the field. Shame on him. “I’m not going to pretend that I’m not surprised. I am. Suman didn’t say anything when I met her. But then, we were never alone, so I guess the circumstances weren’t ideal.”

“The circumstances will never be ideal for Suman to talk about it. Their mating was not consensual.”

My jaw literally hit the floor. Dad had raped Suman? That was... I didn’t have the words to even imagine such a thing. Why?

“I’m sorry, Faustine. I tried to say it as delicately as I could.”

I nodded. I never thought of my dad as some kind of saint. He was a demon, after all. But to rape someone? That was just... hideous. I could feel my eyes welling up–very undemonly–but I felt more human than anything else in that moment. If Dad walked through the door right now, I swear I’d cut my ties with him forever. I was glad that Neave stood beside me as my knees buckled. I leaned on her for support.

“Have a seat, Faustine. I’m going to get you a snack,” Alexandra said, and disappeared into the kitchen.

“Sheesh, Neave. What am I supposed to do now? I should let him rot, wherever he is. How could he?” I could see that Neave was just as shocked as I was and at a complete loss for words, so I just laid my head on her shoulder and wept.

Once I was all cried out, I looked up to find Alexandra observing me silently. She pointed to the rare steak in front of me.

“Eat,” she ordered. “Neave, what can I get you? I have bacon, mac and cheese, ice cream....”

“I’m fine. I ate before I came and have a bottle of water right here,” Neave reassured her, taking a gulp from the bottle.

I dove into the steak and, instead of devouring it in a few gulps like usual, I chewed every bite thoroughly, enjoying every last drop of juice. I started to feel whole again.

“About Kismet,” Alexandra hesitated. “Did you want to know the rest?”

I nodded. She couldn’t possibly share anything more horrifying that she already had. Or could she?

“Suman was near death after the... attack. She remained in a coma until after Kismet was born. The demon council claimed Kismet, and she was taken to be cared for by one of your father’s staff. Once Suman regained her strength, she went on a mission to reclaim custody of Kismet, which she did after a long and bloody battle that almost brought the demon and angel domains to an end.

“Once Kismet went to live with Suman, she immediately noticed that Kismet was
different
. Now, we are used to all kinds of
different
, hybrid paranormals. They are fairly common. Kismet isn’t just a hybrid paranormal, though. She is some sort of transformation. Her genes are unique. She is not demon or angel or anything in between. She is a year older than you, and we are still trying to determine
what
she is. She has unique powers and amazing stamina for someone so petite. Most of all, she has an innate goodness that seems to bind her to those around her. It flows out of her, enveloping all those around her, and one is instantly drawn to her. This is why,” sighed Alexandra, “everyone who has ever been in her presence will do whatever it takes to keep her safe. It’s like she
is
goodness.”