“What happened here?”
“I mistakenly used magic in front of an angry mob. They thought I was an abomination and attacked me.”
“Why would you do that?”
“They were going to kill a man who didn’t deserve it, and I was trying to stop them.”
“Ah, so you were being a hero.”
“More like a fool.”
He grinned now. “Hmmm, that, too.”
Cheeky bastard.
“So, what’s the big urgency to speak with me?”
“I have visited your city’s barrier and managed to easily slip through. Most magical folk would be able to pass it, just not humans or vampires. Also, it wasn’t constructed by Theodore.”
“Wait a second, what?”
“Magical folk can move through it,” he repeated.
“No, not that, the other thing,” I said, flustered.
“Ah, yes. It wasn’t constructed by Theodore. In fact, it shows all the signs of being a witch’s doing.”
“Was it Rita, Theodore’s daughter?” I asked.
“I’m certain it wasn’t. Actually, I know intimately the person who did it.” He made meaningful eye contact with me, and it took me a second to understand.
“Are you saying it was Emilia?” I asked in disbelief. “When I spoke to her, she acted like she knew nothing about who constructed it.”
I quickly thought back to that conversation, and it suddenly all made sense. Emilia had basically said the barrier was a good thing because it would keep the humans from fleeing the city and informing the outside world of the supernaturals living here.
Roman watched my face as though he was reading all my thoughts. “I believe Emilia constructed it to bide herself some time. I suspect she wants to cast a mass memory cleanse of the human population so that they won’t remember that vampires and magic exist. It’s one of the most difficult spells to cast, especially for a witch who is not yet a sorceress.”
I eyed him speculatively. “Could you do it?”
He looked at me like I’d just insulted him. “Of course I could do it.”
“Okay, I’ll rephrase that question. Will you do it? Something needs to be done about the humans, and I think that forgetting everything that’s happened these past few weeks will be the best solution. That way they can go back to their normal lives without living in fear.”
Roman eyed me speculatively. “I might do this for you, but only if you give me something in return.”
I bristled. “What do you want?”
His blue eyes gleamed. “I want you to allow me to train you to become a sorceress.”
I stared at him, saying nothing for at least a full minute, my mouth hanging open in surprise. When I finally gathered my senses, the best I could come up with was, “Uh … what?”
“I have never had a granddaughter before, so I have never had the opportunity to pass on my knowledge to another person. I want to pass on that knowledge to you, Tegan, if you’ll allow it. Besides, haven’t you considered the negative aspects of your mortality? You will age and die while your vampire lover will remain exactly the same as the night you first saw him.”
I narrowed my eyes and folded my arms. “How do you know about my vampire lover?”
“I’ve been doing my research,” he answered with a knowing smile.
Suddenly, I remembered Alora’s vision where she said I was older, but I hadn’t aged. The idea that I might actually become a sorceress in the future was a little overwhelming.
“I need time to think about this,” I said, rubbing at the back of my neck, where a tension ache was forming.
“That’s quite alright. I need a few days to gather what I need for the mass memory cleanse. I’ll also need to find Emilia.”
“Theodore has her,” I volunteered.
Roman grimaced. “Ah, that makes things a little more difficult but not impossible. But not to worry, I will find her.”
“Could you get Rita for me, too, while you’re at it?”
Before he had the chance to respond, Ethan appeared at the edge of the roof and climbed easily to the top. His face was free of expression which usually meant he was either bored or pissed. In this particular situation, I was going with pissed.
“Who is this?” he asked in a low voice.
Yep, definitely pissed.
I placed a hand on his chest, meeting his gaze when I replied, “Ethan, this is Roman, my grandfather.”
“How did you …”
“I didn’t,” I cut him off. “He found me.”
“Mr Cristescu,” Roman said, getting to his feet. “It is an honour to meet you. Or should I be addressing you as governor?”
Ethan shook his head. “I have no interest in titles.” He reached out and shook Roman’s hand, and there was a moment of silence as they measured each other up. I held my breath, waiting for them to break the handshake.
Finally, they did, and Roman’s attention went away into the distance. “I must be going. I’ll be in touch soon.” With that, he made a couple of strange hand gestures before disappearing into a cloud of silver and gold smoke.