Our family has made enemies, and I confess that I have turned allies into more enemies. I will not compel you to read this book, but I impel you to. It may well be a deciding factor in your survival. Use all tools I’ve bestowed on you. We are powerful, we hold a noteworthy position, and this is much of the reason we have the enemies we do. Chances are good you will need to use everything at your disposal to survive them.
As the sins of the mother pass to the daughter, I’ve passed my enemies and the debt on to you. I won’t ask forgiveness or understanding. I suspect you may find those things when the time comes for you to bear an heir and visit these wrongs on them.
Yours, R.D.T.
I was never good at sitting still when stressed. Now that there were no more pages to go through, I found myself pacing.
“We have answers,” Rose said, as if reassuring me.
“I don’t like these answers,” I said, raising my voice a little. “That old bitch.”
“It doesn’t sound like she had a lot of choice,” Rose said.
I spun around to stare at her. “You’re awfully sympathetic to the old woman who has your name,” I said. “Can we verify, again, that you’re really a female me?”
Her face settled into a serious expression, as cold as mine was heated. I was breathing hard, and my sutures were hurting where I clenched my hand.
“Ask me anything,” she said. “Anything about growing up with mother and father.”
I didn’t respond, scowling and looking away instead. I was fidgeting with my good hand. She was right.
“We’re allies, Blake. Allies, understand? Look, the letter said a magic user can’t lie, right? I’m a unicorn from outer space, and I can’t speak English. See?”
I broke from my pace, crossing the room to the bookstand, where I snatched up the book that was open on it. I tossed it down on the desk. Essentials.
Another series of books, in a stack in the corner, where the lawyers had left them. Famulus, Implementum, Demesnes. Orange, purple and green cloth covers, respectively, they all matched otherwise, in size and the script on the spines. I glanced each one over, then tossed them onto the desk, where they rewarded me with a series of satisfying impacts.
I found Dramatis Personae. I flipped through it. There were tabs. One for ‘allies’, which was virtually empty, with only the lawyer’s number.
Enemies… they took up almost all of the remainder.
It didn’t make a sound, much less a satisfying thud, when I added it to the pile. I was left without anything more to throw. Nothing I wanted to risk, in any event.
“Are you mad at me?” Rose asked. “We’re supposed to be allies, Blake.”
“I’m not… no, I’m mad at this,” I said. “Look at this. How many books do we need to read, here? How many books do we need to read a day, just to keep up?”
“Maybe that’s the cheat? If we’re both the same person, technically, can we argue that the eldest child of Brad and Christina Thorburn has read half the books?”
“I don’t know,” I said.
“There are answers. See? Look…”
She turned away from the mirror, heading to the nearest bookshelf.
I saw her stop. She remained where she was.
“Rose?” I asked.
She didn’t move.
I felt a bit of anxiety, and turned away, walking over to that same shelf, on my side of the mirror.
The Worst of the Others.
Devils and Details.
Dark Contracts
Classifying Others: Fiends and Darker Beings.
Hellfire: Bindings
Infernal Wrath
Pacts and Prices
I tried to swallow, but my mouth was too dry. I didn’t know much, but I knew this was a bad idea of the worst kind.
These were the books that held a place of prominence on grandmother’s bookshelf. These were the tools she expected us to employ.
No small wonder she’d made the enemies she had.
These books? They each had the same set of initials on the spine. R.D.T.
She’d written them.
1.04
I finished toweling myself dry and wrapped the towel around my waist before I opened the shower curtain. I used my fingers to comb my damp hair away from my face before approaching the mirror.
I could see Rose’s reflection, her hair pressed flat where the back of her head pressed against the other side of the mirror, looking the other way. The mirror in the upstairs bathroom was a part of the pedestal sink, surrounded by florets.
It was an uncomfortable setting, with unfamiliar things in unfamiliar places. Having someone, something like Rose nearby. Strange smells and tastes, with even the water having a taste to it. It was drawn from a local well, according to Rose. I had been forced to use the only shampoo available, and the smell of it was thick and cloying in the humid air of the bathroom.