I understood what she meant. Fable was sunbeams in a bottle. Naïve, and maybe even a little too trustworthy. She saw the good in every person she met. “I won’t say anything.”
Ivy nodded. “Dad watched Mom the entire night. She was dancing with friends, sipping her drink slowly because she wasn’t much of a drinker. He said he felt pathetic because he knew Darnell was watching her, too. Darnell and Mom had just gotten together and were only on their second or third date, but Dad couldn’t help himself. He knew if he couldn’t get her alone, even for just one dance, he’d regret it.” She stopped there.
“So, did he?”
Why was I asking?
Of course, he did. We existed.
“When there was an hour left at the ball, Dad lost her in the crowd. He said he remembered getting anxious, watching that infamous clock tick away on the far back wall. You know which one I’m talking about?”
The story was fascinating me. “Yes.”
“Dad climbed the steps to the left corridor. And there was Mom and Darnell, alone in the shadows inside a transparent dome. Which only meant one thing.”
“Sex magic.”
Sex produced magic. For it to work safely, the participants must all have witch blood running in their veins, their magic must have ascended, and the sex must be pleasurable for all involved. A timely state of euphoria led to the rise of magic. There were gatherings to support it. Encourage it, even. Sex magic kept the witches of Sacred Sea powerful.
“Dad turned to get out of there, but then Mom screamed his name.” She shook her head. “She screamedDad’sname, Adora. And when Darnell looked up and saw Dad, the dome disappeared. Dad saw her face, and that was when it hit him.” She didn’t have to say more. I already knew and felt my burning anger rising in my blood. My fingers squeezed around the mug, not wanting to hear the rest, but she continued anyway, “They weren’t producing magictogether. Darnell was trying to steal Mom’s magic, and she was terrified and crying, and Dadlostit.”
“I’ll kill him,” I said through my clenched teeth.
On the downside, magic could also be transferred through force. If not careful, the magic we were born with could be taken by another through sex. Though not all at once. It would happen gradually. Piece by piece until nothing remained but an empty vessel.
“And Dad forced me to marry into that family? After what Darnell did to Mom?”
“You know as well as I do that Cyrus is nothing like his father. And Viola? She did Sacred Sea a favor. She only agreed to marry Darnell to preserve the Cantini bloodline and have his children. Why do you think no one has seen Darnell in years? Viola took one for the team and weakened that monster so he could never fight back.” She raised her mug to me. “She’s a good woman. Difficult, but good. Without her, we wouldn’t have Cyrus at all.”
I hadn’t realized until this moment how similar Viola and I were.
How she was willing to have a loveless marriage as I was.
Ivy let off the counter and leaned into her hip. “Anyway, that’s the story. Cyrus has no idea about his father, and if I were you, I wouldn’t tell him. Viola would lose it.”
“It’s not my place to tell him.”
“You’re his fiancé,” she said, throwing it like a grenade.
“Right, but still not my place.”
She sucked in a breath. She let it go. “It still doesn’t feel real.” She looked up at me. “I love Cyrus, and that’s not going to go away just because of the order. While I wish you could understand how I feel, you’ve never grown close to anyone the way Cyrus and I have. Not even Kane.”
And I almost relapsed and told her about Stone. The words of how I could finally, somewhat, understand how she felt swirled inside my head. But these words never made it out.
She saved me by quickly saying, “Speaking of the witch, you should probably get back to him. Morning sex is his favorite.”
My head fell back. “Dammit, Ivy. I’m not having sex with him.”
“I’m not an idiot. You’re glowing like you just got fucked less than twenty-four hours ago. And it can’t be from Kane because you’ve never glowed like that with Kane.”
“Ivy—”
“Just go.”
I run,my soles slapping cold sand. I won’t stop until my toes sink into the bitter sea. I collapse on the shore, wrapping my arms around my knees, hugging them tightly, and look out into my ocean.
The tide comes in, frothy hands grabbing at the dress, trying to rip it from my body. The scarlet silk sweeps into her waters, and it looks like the ocean is bleeding.
